Coping with a Quarter-life Crisis

Recently we’ve been chatting about the dreaded quarter-life crisis and the impact that it can have on your life. If you missed the first part of the conversation, then get up to speed by clicking here.

The worst thing about a quarter-life crisis is that it has the power to completely suck all/any joy out of your life. Rather than life being the fun adventure that it should be, when you’re suffering from a crisis, everything just feels like one long, boring struggle after another. How lame, right?

Ladies, the good news is that the quarter-life crisis is just a temporary thing and that with a little contemplation and action, you can get yourself out of its clutches for good.

If you’ve been feeling more ‘blah’ than ‘boom!’ lately, here are a few suggestions to help you shake off the cobwebs, ditch the stress and start feeling like yourself again.

Are you ready? Let’s get started…

Sort out your finances: This may seem like a dull place to start, but trust us, you will feel so much better when you’re on top of all your bills and payments.

Write down the due dates of bills and how much each of them is expected to cost you. See how much money you would have to set aside from your wages each week in order to cover them.

Write down the amount of money you owe in student (or other) loans. Draw up a plan of action that will help you tackle these payments. Maybe you can afford to pay off a tenner a week?

So often, we tend to hide from our financial problems. Unfortunately hiding from the problem won’t do you any favours. Instead it’s better to sit down, take responsibility and map everything out. Draw up a payment plan and stick to it religiously.

This way your bills will get paid on time, you’ll feel more in control of your finances and, god forbid, if anything ever happens with your bank account, you have a detailed written record of all your payments and lodgements. You never know when it might come in handy.

Reassess your life: One of the main reasons why people start to have a quarter-life crisis is the fact that whether they’re aware of it or not, some part of their life is not working anymore. Maybe their chosen career isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Maybe that person that they thought was ‘the one’ has quickly turned into ‘the wrong one’ or maybe, they just feel like they need a dramatic change.

If you find yourself in the depths of a quarter-life crisis it’s important to take stock and reassess your life.

Sit down by yourself and have a think about your ambitions and dreams. How does your current situation reflect all the hopes you have for yourself. Are you on track or are you so far away from the life you want that you have no idea where to start?

The best thing about being a human is the fact that we have the ability to change ourselves and change our course whenever we want. Nothing is ever set in stone.

So have a think, be honest with yourself about what areas of your life aren’t working. If it helps write down where you want to be heading and draw up a plan. What steps would you have to take in order to achieve one of your dreams? Could you take any of those steps today?

Rebuild your confidence: If you’re going through a quarter-life crisis, chances are your confidence will have taken a bit of a bruising. During this time, we often feel unsure of ourselves – we second guess our decisions and tend not to have much faith in ourselves.

Therefore, it’s so important that we flip the script as quickly as possible and start cultivating some of our confidence back.

Start by picking a mantra such as “I am confident” or “I can do this!” and repeating it over and over to yourself. Do this every single day until you start to feel your confidence rising again.

Inject some passion into your life: Nothing gets rid of a quarter-life crisis faster than some enthusiasm and excitement. What are your passions in life? What gets you excited? Is there a hobby that you’ve always wanted to try? Now is the time to do it.

Actively go out of your way to enjoy your life. Take up that painting class, go out dancing on a Tuesday if you feel like it. Make yourself happy and watch that quarter-life crisis disappear faster than you can say: “Of course I’d love to try some underwater yoga!”

Rather than seeing a quarter-life crisis as something bad, why not choose to see it in a positive light? A quarter life-crisis forces you to look at your life and get rid of anything that isn’t working. If you approach it with some optimism and an open mind, you could learn a lot about yourself.

In fact, your quarter-life crisis could inspire you to achieve bigger, brighter and better things for yourself.

Quarter-life crisis? More like quarter-life upgrade, right?