Who Let Me Become an Adult?
Who let me become an adult? It feels like I was handed the title, and well, I have my things together, and I’m doing everything I’m supposed to do. It feels like I woke up one day, they said, “Oh, you’re an adult now, you’re doing all these adult things.” No one gave me a guideline. No one gave me anything. I’m stuck on TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram trying to be an adult, as well as reading lifestyle books. One thing I realize is I’m trying to be an adult that I would be happy about, not an adult that everybody else wants to be happy about, and that’s a bit hard because now I have to nitpick and pick from different devices that are gonna make up who I am.
Core Values
To be an adult, you have to have these core values that you live by, and it’s funny because many people don’t realize that they have these core values, yet they speak them consistently whenever they’re meeting new people or even on dates. When someone asks a question—what’s most important for you—and you say stability or honesty, when they ask you who you want in your future and you say someone who won’t betray me, that is a core value that you cherish and you share with other people. I am 25, and it’s time to reevaluate some of my core values to see what is so important, what is not, and then expect them to change when I am 30.
Turning 26
As we start this new year where I will be turning 26, I will say that I do feel like I’m OK. I’m not over-thinking, I’m not overly emotion—I’m doing OK, which is kind of a scary place to be because when you’re doing OK, that’s when you want to do things and do better and grow. On top of that growth, there is a big possibility of you going through pain. I’m just striving to grow and do better, and I’m starting to get my mindset ready for the pain ahead.
While I don’t want the first two week of the year to guide what the whole year will start off as. it definitely shows me a glimpse of some of my obstacles and pushes me to take action before the whole year is truly ruined. Learning to pivot to ensure that I don’t get stuck in a rut. I’m a hundred percent looking at how I react to the bad things that happen versus focusing on the bad things that I can’t control.
My Current Core Values
Since I started with core values, let’s list out the core values that still are important to me.
Financial stability. This will never change. Coming from a poor background, I will consistently fight for my financial stability.
Discipline. This has become a new word that I’m slowly adapting to because I’m realizing everything that I have accomplished could not have been done without discipline and the initiative that I took to stay on this path.
Honesty. Honesty is the best policy, which is why it’s one of my core values. Also, I’d rather someone be honest with me than lying, because the moment you lie to me is the moment I will not trust something that comes out of your mouth ever.
Trust. This one is a big thing that I don’t give out often. As of right now, I think there might be only two people that I fully trust with my whole heart, and that would be my parents. I don’t give it out, but I know once I give it out, I expect that person to show me that I gave it to the right person and I didn’t falter with my judgment.
I can go on and on and have like 50 different values, but these are the ones that I would like to focus on and kind of see where that leads me. They are also the ones that are in my mind consistently. While there are other values that I may have, these are the ones that stick.
Revisiting Values
Now, they say you should revisit your values regularly. I say regularly sounds like a yearly thing, not like a quarterly thing, because I still have to live my life, and the moment you are stuck in revisiting and reevaluating and looking at these things consistently, that is when you take away from your life.
For some reason, I don’t know how this happens: I always set goals in January, and I don’t forget them, but I don’t look back at them. Throughout the months I start working on things, and by the end of the year I realize the goals—except for January—I accomplished them. And it’s like my mind kind of ingrained the goals in my brain, so then as I was going month to month creating my little goals, I was creating things that were going to eventually accomplish the bigger arching goals—something to try out.
Habits
Everyone always says create new habits, create new habits. I’m gonna say I’m tired of creating new habits. I’ve done it. I’m in the process. I think I have enough habits. If you’re consistently creating habits, then you’re gonna get tired one day and all the habits you have will fall.
I need everyone to stop following a trend. I need everyone to stop doing things other people are doing just because other people are doing it. It might not work for you. Sometimes you don’t need that 20-step skin routine, and someone else may have it, and it’s not just because it’s gonna make their skin better, but it also is kind of their way of being stress-free. That might not be your stress reliever. That might actually cause you pain having to do this because one person told you, “Here’s the 20-step routine.”
Find your habits that will make your life better. Do not follow what other people are doing. I like to journal. I like to put things down and try that—it makes me feel better. Other people jotting things down is a hassle. It makes them stressed. Find your thing and stick to it. Don’t create new habits consistently and then allow them to fall off. Create habits only when they are necessary.
Like, if I’m learning a new language, there’s gonna be a new habit to help me learn that language quicker. But I’m not gonna create a habit like doing a dedication every single day when I know it’s a hassle and it’s hard for me to do that. If I want to slowly get into the dedications, maybe I do it on a monthly basis—maybe even a yearly basis—to see how I can get more comfortable with it. But I know I am not a weekly gratitude person or any of that. Every person’s personality is different. Find your thing.
Looking Toward 2026
For 2026, I’m moving. I’m hoping for peace. I’m hoping for structure. I’m hoping to thrive. And I will be pushing myself every single day to get all the things that I want for 2026.
Leave a Reply