Yes, it's important to factor starting a family, if you want one, into your plans, but some people won't have that option for financial reasons or lack of partners who're ready to settle down. Some of the messages might strike some young women as a bit idealistic. That said - I think the key word is counterbalance. I read this in my early thirties and felt that a lot of the messages - about the rewards that come from sticking at difficult jobs, making commitments and generally acting like a grown-up even if you don't feel like one - were sensible and a good counterbalance to the messages you often get from misty-eyed old duffers/your mates/the telly about what being in your 20s 'should' be like.

A Reader's Guide for book clubs, classrooms, or further self-reflection.A social experiment in which 'digital natives' go without their phones.29 conversations to have with your partner-or to keep in mind as you search for one.What a decade of device use has taught us about looking at friends-and looking for love-online.Up-to-date research on work, love, the brain, friendship, technology, and fertility.The result is a provocative read that provides the tools necessary to take the most of your twenties, and shows us how work, relationships, personality, identity and even the brain can change more during this decade than at any other time in adulthood-if we use the time well. In The Defining Decade, Meg Jay argues that twentysomethings have been caught in a swirl of hype and misinformation, much of which has trivialized the most transformative time of our lives.ĭrawing from more than two decades of work with thousands of clients and students, Jay weaves the latest science of the twentysomething years with behind-closed-doors stories from twentysomethings themselves. Some say they are an extended adolescence. Our 'thirty-is-the-new-twenty' culture tells us the twentysomething years don't matter. Revised and reissued for a new generation, let it change how you think about you and yours.

The Defining Decade has changed the way millions of twentysomethings think about their twenties-and themselves.

The defining decade 20 book