Scrap the ‘Growth Mindset’ and Focus on What You Have Achieved This Year

Here’s to celebrating the smaller wins over chasing traditional age-related milestone goals.

Image provided by the author.

At 27, my life looks very different from how I imagined it would 10 years ago.

I don’t own my own home, I am constantly broke and live paycheck to paycheck, I don’t have a career that I love, and largely, I live each day wondering what I’m doing here and why.

In many ways, I feel very insecure about the course of my life and where I’m supposed to be. It feels like everyone around me is married with babies, getting the keys to their first home, or at least climbing the corporate ladder and having amazing careers.

I’ve done none of those things yet, although the dawn of a new decade is creeping around the corner, and I feel like these are all boxes I should be ticking off.

Many days I feel behind, confused and a little disappointed about the course of my life and where it has taken me. I felt this during the pandemic when I was on furlough, and it felt like my life was on pause, but I never expected to keep feeling it almost five years later.

I usually dread the beginning of a new year as it forces us to confront the passing of time and if I’ve…