Accomplishments

I struggle with the notion of accomplishments. My life, career and goals have changed so much over the last decade that it's difficult to find a way to measure my achievements. It can also be a bit disheartening to even try, mostly due to the constant changes and the things I had planned to have done by now. I never thought that I would be applying to graduate school at 24/25, I thought I would have graduated by then or at least be about to. I never thought I would change jobs and career paths as much as I have or take as much time to travel.

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It's often a struggle when I see my peers posting on various social media sites about amazing jobs, promotions or likewise because I always thought I would be in that position. For me it's really important to take a deep breath and remember how happy I am from the choices I've made and, equally important, that I am in no rush to get wherever it is that I am going.

I highly doubt that I am the only one of my peers who feels like this. I even believe that it's very possible that many of the people whose posts I feel jealous of may not feel as secure, accomplished or driven as I perceive them to be. I think that this is a difficult time in life because so many of us are still just trying to figure out who we want to be and what we want to do but may feel pressure from family, friends and society to have had that sorted out long ago. It's unrealistic to expect everyone to figure out what they want to do before they graduate college. And I'm just now starting to realize that I am OK with taking more time to figure that out.Throughout college, and afterwards, I jumped at most opportunities that presented themselves to me because I wanted to gain as much experience as possible. Looking back, that wasn't exactly a mistake because I did learn a lot but it also hasn't put me in a position to really expand my career beyond administrative positions. It took me a few years to figure that out but I have spent the past four months or so taking a step back and really trying to figure out what it is I want to do and creating a plan to get there, something I am now very excited about.

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I also think it's important for us 20-somethings to not judge our achievements solely on occupational or educational successes. This is another thing that I have spent a lot of time grappling with. Just because I don't have my dream job or didn't graduate UCLA Law, doesn't mean I have failed.And any time I spend thinking that it does, is just time taken away from find successes.

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