By Trina

This Saturday will mark my 25th year of life on Earth. Unlike many other birthdays, this one is a major milestone year for me. My life isn’t exactly planned out, but there are things I would like to do by the time I reach 25, 30, 40, 50, 65, etc. This year the annual event has caused me to do a deeper than normal self reflection, and I’ve been brutally hard on myself.

The first thoughts that came when I realized that I was actually going to be 25 were very negative ones. I haven’t gotten a masters degree, I’m not living in the downtown of a glamorous city, I’m not in love with my job, I’m not one step away from engagement which will lead to marriage prior to 30 and children prior to 35, I haven’t lived in Europe, I’m still 10 lbs heavier than I want to be, I don’t have enough money for the down payment on a house, I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up…and the list goes on and on. I began to feel bogged down by my disappointment with myself.

By Will

I never thought I would forget who I am. Reading around the internet these days there are a lot of blog inches dedicated to not losing your identity when you lose your job. I wasn’t surprised to read the statistic from here quoting that in a poll of more that 12,000 respondents, 30% reported that their personal identities are defined by their career. It make sense. Ever had a colleague make the joke “I spend more time with you, that I do with my wife”? Spend the majority of your time doing something, it will begin to feel like part of who you are.

By Daniel

The last time I left you I was having brunch with a gorgeous girl from LA and then taking a step back from life over a beer with my mentor. These past few posts have felt like a throw back to MTV’s Diary circa 2002.  Deep insights and revealing stories all around this thing we call a quarter-life crisis. “You think you know… but you have no idea”.

This is cringing at the thought of settling, the crossroads of life direction, and of course the new responsibilities and decisions of a different life stage. Welcome to team angst,  with the unrelenting feeling that happiness may be a fish you can’t catch.

So how to deal? Sifting through blogs and articles this week I couldn’t help but see things through these quarter life lenses. Here are some of my take outs from my literary dine-ins.

Your Calling is Something You Grow Into

In last month’s New…

By Trina

We live in a world that teaches us from the beginning not to talk to strangers, and it’s not shocking that when we get older we have trust issues with our fellow humans. I am usually skeptical of every other person around me and hope they won’t try to rob or sexually assault me (that might be the scared little small-town girl inside of me). Then there are the times where you let your guard down, and some jerk store takes advantage of you – that’s right, you know who you are car fixer guy in Woonsocket, RI. On the flip side, I find it hard to trust the people I work with on a daily basis. It seems like everyone has some sort of anti-you agenda, and this planet is every man for his/herself.

That is why when I boarded my plane last night from Fort Lauderdale to Dallas I had every intention of sitting down, writing a superb LA article I had promised to Dan (hadn’t a clue what to write) and not talking to any strangers. Enter: adorable 30-something Texan blonde woman. She started talking to me about how she was a little nervous about flying. It seemed harmless enough, so I chatted to her about pretty surface level topics (weather, flying, why we were both in town, etc). After all, I couldn’t start my article during taxiing anyways, right?

by James

A year has passed since I took up my current role and those 12 months seem to have flown by without respect for my highly analysed career plans that mean I should have been promoted by now! Although, my role title, salary and office position haven’t changed in these 52 weeks, I have learnt an awful lot about working in the corporate world.