The defining decade

This is the book I would like to recommend to all twentysomethings.  It voiced out all the concerns, confusion, struggles and frustrations we faced as grow up from teenagers to adults, from students to working class.

The feeling after reading this book is i don't have much time left before stepping into my 30's so what to do to make the most of my 20's? It covers topics such as work, relationship, body and mind but the topic I am interested in is about work.

Identity Capital is the investment we make in ourselves, the things we do well enough, or long enough that they become a part of who we are.

Helen's life got going when she used the bit of capital she had to get the next piece of capital she wanted.
How does what you did before relate to what to do now, and now might that get you to what you want to do next?

Instead of identity crisis, what we should focus on is to accumulate our identity capital, in short, what you are known for. It is the thing that people should think during university and preferably get some rough ideas when they graduate. If you start exploring the answer as you kick off your career, you will realize you waste pretty much of time like me.

I started my career in marketing because it's the thing I could convince others I could do well and it's job I got the highest chance to be hired. After working for 1.5 years, I think my identity capital is quite empty, indeed. If I would feel proud of myself as people referred me as a marketing professional, not really.

But I do hope that the experience could help me get into place I want to be in. Need to start prepare now.

Learning about the digital art world and making connections in the industry, she could raise capital in untold ways.

"I think I thought life should be grand, in whatever way you define grand. Grand was As when I was in school. Then I thought maybe it would be amazing job or guy. I felt my life should be big!"

You can't think your way through life, the only way to figure out what to do is to do - something.

The author also mentioned a term called "Underemployment" that I think it's difficult to avoid as twentysomethings because they don't have lots of work experience and intense competition. They are sometime accused of being too ambitious. I think it's a dilemma that can't found a solution easily.

This is the time to be connecting, not just with the same people having the same conversations about how work is lame or how there are no good men out there, but with those who might see things a little different.

This is the inspiring one about weak ties. People who help our career advances are not our best friends who share the up-and-down in our lives but someone we are not really close with. So start build your network now. How to meet and connect with more people?

Twentysomethings like Ian were raised on abstracted commands: "Follow your dreams!", "Reach for the stars!", but they often don't know how to get what they want or sometimes, even what they want. (The unthought known, Erik Erikson)

Ian's search for glory was the lure of being different, so he displayed what has been called a common symptom of youth: the dread of doing what has been done before.

My university experience made me believe that my graduate job should be grand, working on projects, meeting different people, busy with challenges. Turn out it was so ordinary that I was responsible for tedious and repetitive tasks. Was I underemployed? How should I changed the situation? Maybe it's one of the main reasons of why twentysomethings change their jobs frequently. We ought to adjust our mindset and expectation to job and career and realized achievements could not be done in 3-month time.

Goals are how we declares who we are and who we want to be. They are how we structure over years and our lives.

I think we all know the importance of goal setting but don't really do it or find it difficult to do. I am fascinated by the feeling of moving towards goals.

The future isn't written in the stars. There are no guarantees. So claim your adulthood. Be intentional. Get to work. Pick your family. Do the math. Make your own certainty, Don't be defined by what you don't know and didn't know.

Best wishes to all twentysomethings!