Every generation gets a new name that says something about them; Millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, got the name because their oldest members reached adulthood around the turn of the millennium. According to Britannica, this generation is unique because they came of age during major technological developments.
They’re also the first young adults to integrate the Internet and social media into their daily lives. Unfortunately, the Great Recession of 2007–09 greatly impacted millennials, as many were just entering the workforce then. Despite that, they have built strong careers, but inflation has made it a struggle to buy homes.
Turning 30 can be a wonderful experience for some people, but for many it can bring about feelings of overwhelm. According to ReachLink, which exists to connect people with mental health support, this stage of life can trigger anxiety, identity panic, and make people feel pressured to change themselves.
Psychologists have noted that people tend to experience heightened meaning-seeking emotions just before a new decade, as round numbers can act as mental finish lines. That’s why folks might feel like they have a lot to prove before this big birthday, which can fill them with worry.
Anyone who’s just turned thirty knows society’s expectations seem to flare up right about then. This could be because of the ‘Social Clock Theory’ by sociologist Bernice Neugarten, which explains that society maintains an unspoken timetable for life events. That’s why many millennials were told to get a job, marry someone, and have kids in their late twenties or early thirties.
These arbitrary dates might not fit everyone’s timeline, but when loved ones pressure people to follow them, they can start to feel overwhelmed. It also doesn’t help that the median age for marriage in the United States is 28 for women and 30 for men, which might lead folks to feel like they’re falling behind their peers.
Millennials have learned a lot of life lessons after turning thirty, and one of them is that time is extremely fleeting. According to Alex Amorosi, who is a yoga instructor and level 3 Reiki master, people experience a huge shift in perception when someone they care about passes away.
Unfortunately, many folks have to grapple with this as they get older, and it can teach them a lot about the pace of life and how important it is to make memories with the ones they love. It can also be a wake-up call to take their health seriously and work on themselves.
A fun life lesson people learn in their thirties is that everyone is winging it, just like they are. Very commonly, millennials or even some Gen Zs feel like they are still a kid at heart and that everybody else seems so serious, but the truth of the matter is that everyone tends to feel that.
With work and other life responsibilities, folks might try to cover up that childlike part of themselves, but certain situations can bring it out again. That’s why it’s important not to take aging as a bitter pill, but to enjoy the changes that come with it and go with the flow.
For many millennials, turning thirty seemed like something to fear, but Flash Pack, which curates adventures for people, explains that most folks’ scientific genius peaks in their mid-to-late 30s. This is evident in society, where many famous inventors and scientists had their career breakthroughs around this age.
Marie Curie received the Nobel Prize in physics for her work on radioactivity around the age of 36, while Sigmund Freud coined the term “psychoanalysis” just before his 40th birthday. Many revolutionary ideas and inventions emerged during this stage of life, which should assure many of us that we aren’t falling behind.
