The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter—And How to Make the Most of Them Now

by Meg Jay

Confidence is trusting yourself to get the job done—whether that job is public speaking or sales or teaching or being an assistant—and that trust only comes from having gotten the job done many times before.

“The twentysomething years are a whole new way of thinking about time. There’s this big chunk of time and a whole bunch of stuff needs to happen somehow.”

Present bias is prioritizing the rewards and consequences of the here-and-now over the rewards and consequences of the there-and-then.

When clients get tired of doing something, and I get tired of hearing about something, that often means it’s time for a change.

Present bias is especially strong for twentysomethings who put a lot of psychological distance between now and later.

almost every twentysomething client I have wonders, “Will things work out for me?” The uncertainty behind that question is what makes twentysomething life so difficult, but it is also what makes twentysomething action so possible and so necessary.

Don’t be defined by what you didn’t know or didn’t do. You are deciding your life right now.