TED TALK: WHY 30 IS NOT THE NEW 20?

In this talk, the psychologist Meg Jay talks about the 20s decade and goes against the popular belief that the "30s are the new 20s".

Nowadays things like marriage, having kids or finish your degree and start working happen later than it did years ago. Some time ago, people in their 20s did all those things and everything happened earlier in life, but nowadays people tend to settle down and in their 30s. Because of this, some people sees the 20s decade as some throwaway decade, in which the things you do don't have to be necessarily important or relevant for your future life. That's why they believe it's okay to, for example, according to Meg Jay's thoughts before, date any guy or sleep with whoever you want, even if they're not good for you, just because you know that, as it is happening in your 20s, it won't be relevant in your life.

In this talk, Meg tries to make the people see that your 20s are still an important decade, in fact, as she says, those years are the key years in the development of the adult version of a person and the things that normally happen in the 20s decade are the ones that have the most impact on us. Through examples of two of her twentysomething girl patients, Alex and Emma, she explains the significance of the 20s and the importance of making right decisions during these years. Jay says that all those life events happening later, shouldn't stop you from start planning and making important decisions in the 20s decade, and she stands out the importance of not living these years like a irrelevant period of time, because then, when you reach the 30s, you will feel pressured and in a hurry to start settling down, and you will not make the decisions sensibly.

After thinking about what Meg Jay says in this talk, I can say I agree with what she says, but with some touches to clarify. I think she's right when she says that we mustn't flee from all the important decisions during our 20s, because as she says, then we'll feel pressured and we won't think mindfully the decisions we make in our 30s. But I don't think the 20s should be a "30s preparing decade". We shouldn't spend all those years thinking about the future and planning everything for our 30s. It's okay to take advantadge of this events delay in life, and see the 20s as a period of time to form yourself, to have fun, to try new things and to make mistakes and learn from them. But always thinking a little bit about the future, to make sure we enjoy the next different period of our lifes, the 30s.

VOCABULARY:

Twentysomethings: people who is between 20 and 30 years old.

Kick the can down the road: to defer conclusive action with a short-term solution.

Growth spurt: it is a sudden growth.

Arsonist: someone who sets property on fire.

TED talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/meg_jay_why_30_is_not_the_new_20#t-26167