How I’m navigating through my mediocre mid-20s

Everyone my age (mid-20s) living in my city (Toronto) right now seems to want the same thing: to be someone great.

They want to start their own business, have it skyrocket, and make millions; they want to be a viral social media star landing deals with brands whose commercials they used to watch on TV; they want to climb corporate ladders until they’re the youngest director to ever grace a company’s “About Us” page. Same thing, different font.

Everyone wants to make it to the top, whatever “the top” means to them.

Except for me.

I’ll preface this by saying, I’m employed full-time. I work hard when I need to, and I like to think I’m incredibly efficient: my output is enough to validate my role at my company, while saving me from overexerting and burning out. I’m no stranger to putting in the work.

But as the long-term effects of the pandemic begin to show themselves in my life, there’s one thing that’s becoming more and more obvious to me: I am awfully unconcerned with being someone great. It’s just not a priority for me.

I know what you’re thinking: how can I not want to do something great with my life? We’re only given one life to live, and we should try to leave a mark while we’re here — blah, blah, blah, and the rest of that philosophical stuff. Let me explain how I came to this self-realization.

It’s COVID’s fault (isn’t it always?)

Two years ago, I was in my early 20s; one year away from graduating teacher’s college, with an already completed Bachelor’s degree and a general plan for my future. Then, COVID hit. I lost two of what I thought to be my prime years of living. But in the midst of the pandemic chaos, I was still able to find a job working from home in a creative industry that I enjoyed.

Fast forward to today: I’ve worked my way up to a full-time, decent-paying corporate job that I don’t necessarily love, but still makes me happy. Yet, everyday I’m bombarded with content that makes me feel like I’m not doing enough. Content that pushes the idea of being the best version of yourself, reaching the metaphorical top, living a life that’s unequivocally great.

My question is: great, to who? The top, according to who?

For some, this is reality. They don’t feel fulfilled until they’ve done something that makes people stop and say, “That’s really impressive”. I truly commend those people, because they’re still doing what makes them happy. It just happens to be on the path of personal and/or career growth.

But what I’ve come to realize is that I don’t have to follow the same narrative. My “great” doesn’t have to be what everyone else thinks it should be. I don’t have to subscribe to hustle culture, and always strive for more than what I already am. When COVID put the whole world on pause, I feel like I lost time: I was thrown into my mid-20s and I had to find a ‘career’. I couldn’t do things I wanted, like a huge backpacking trip, or trying out different job paths, because that’s what people in their early 20s do. I was expected to start the ‘something great’ right at that very moment. And looking back, I hate that. I wish I did what I wanted and not what I thought I needed to do. I wish I took the time to grow the way I wanted to, not the way I was seeing other people grow.

Today’s society sees growth as something you don’t get until you push yourself to be more, but I think we’ve forgotten that growth can also happen naturally. You don’t have to constantly push yourself to get there. Sometimes, you stumble into it. You can literally grow into growth. As you get older, you develop more knowledge and hone your skills, and you’re naturally able to do more. I, myself, am learning to be comfortable with the idea that I don’t have to propel myself into milestones and accomplishments; they’ll happen when I’m ready, and when it’s right for me.

Right now, I’m focused on living life in a way that makes me truly happy: travelling the world, going out to eat because it combines two things I love (i.e. friends and food), reading for leisure, playing a game of League when I’m stressed. That’s how I want to live my life, and I don’t want to feel guilty for it.

I guess, this is a long way of saying: everyone has their own goals and timeline for achieving them. Some may think the life I want to live is mediocre, plain, unworthy even. But to me, these little things are, inherently, great. This is how I want to spend my time, and anything that doesn’t lend to this lifestyle is not a priority for me. That’s not to say my mindset is permanent — two months from now, I might have an outlook on life that’s more career-focused. But right now, this is what’s important to me.

I just want to live my mediocre life in peace. Or, better yet: I want to live the life I want to live, the one that makes me happy, in peace. That’s all.