As told by Thought Catalogue, there are plenty of ways us 20-Something ruin our youth including “letting themselves get out of shape”, “staying involved in destructive relationships”, and even number twelve “remaining bitter.” The underline theme of these is a lack of motivation.
Let’s check out a real life example. We all know television shows target an audience 5-10 years younger than the age of the actors/actresses on the show (think of all of the sitcoms about high schoolers that middle schoolers watch). The same goes for 20- and 30-somethings and the message relayed isn’t the best.
“How I Met Your Mother”
This is a show of a group of friends living in New York City who hang out at a bar retelling stories of their days. Only one or two of the group of six are happy with their jobs. They are shown drinking in the afternoon time and time again. None of their lives are completely on track, but they are enjoying the ride to finding their way.
There is nothing wrong with this. Personally, I absolutely love the show and would rather find out details about Barney’s job then find out who the mother is, but it isn’t setting too great of an example. Sometimes, Ted will come out of nowhere and whip everyone into shape as he did on Christmas in front of the theater playing “It’s a Wonderful Life” but this doesn’t happen all that often.
Be sure to take the right lessons; laugh and learn from their mistakes without making them yourself.
“Friends”
This show follows a very similar pattern, although they are at a coffee shop. Out of all the cast members, Monica and Chandler seem to have their lives pretty in order (aside from stability at work which is what was lacking from Lily and Marshall also).
These shows make it seem like its okay to take all the time you need to get your life started. There is nothing wrong with taking your time as there is no one timeline that everyone should follow, although there is a slippery slope from this idea to losing all motivation.
No matter if the next step you are taking is applying for jobs, starting your next semester of college, choosing a college, returning to school or anywhere in between, be sure to not only think of where you want to be by year’s end, but also how you can get there. Sitting at a bar or coffee shop at 2 o’clock on a Tuesday with your best friends might sound appealing, but it will be much more satisfying to be at the bar or coffee shop sharing stories about the job your passionate about.