A guest blog from Emily, one of our colleagues at Everyturn, on the importance of following your own path, changing direction and figuring it out along the way!
“As a 26-year-old, self-proclaimed ‘baby adult’, I have a serious love-hate relationship with social media.
According to social media reports, 79% of adults in the UK have at least one social media account, meaning about 54.8 million of us are online. All my friends are there, all the new clothes I want are there, the meals I want to eat, the books to read, the places to go… they’re all there, but so are the pressures.
Now more than ever, social media is throwing these unwritten rules of where we should be and when we should be there at you, me and anyone who will listen. Whether it is the pressure to be buying a house, starting a family, having the perfect career, or the current trend of moving to Australia, social media has an opinion.
That’s the thing: when you’re constantly scrolling through everyone else’s milestones. It becomes far too easy to start measuring your own life with someone else’s ruler.
Life doesn’t come with instructions, and it’s hard not to slip into following someone else’s “rule book” without even realising it.
One minute you’re happily eating cereal for dinner in your favourite pyjamas, and the next you’re wondering if you should already have a three-bedroom house, a dog, a baby on the way and a colour‑coordinated pantry. It’s exhausting!
But it’s up to us now to unlearn this lie that everyone else has it all figured out. Because spoiler alert: they don’t.
And that friend who just posted a big announcement about buying her first house with her fiancé isn’t hiding something or being dishonest online. Not at all. What I am saying is that social media only shows us the parts people choose to share, the tidy chapters, the shiny bits. What it doesn’t show is that same friend saving for five years, working jobs she couldn’t stand, or dating a series of questionable men who her friends now refer to simply as “Mr. finance” or “the tall electrician”.
Her picture is real; it’s just not the whole picture.
And that’s the quiet trick social media plays. It allows us all to present our highlights so beautifully that it’s easy to forget about the messy middles and behind‑the‑scenes chaos, the parts no one thinks to post.
The reality is it’s okay not to be in the same place or reaching the same milestones as everyone else. Honestly, how dull would life be if we all had the exact same story?
It’s also okay to change directions. Grab the steering wheel and make that u‑turn. I’m 26, and I’m not embarrassed to admit I’m still figuring it out.
When I feel like I’m drowning, I try to remind myself that I don’t need all the answers right now. I’m still learning and exploring what’s right for me. I’m currently shadowing different departments at work (shoutout to Everyturn for supporting colleagues to explore and grow), and it’s shown me that it’s never too late to change. I’m learning what parts of my past roles I loved, struggled with and genuinely wasn’t keen on at all! It’s also helping me realise where I genuinely thrive. Turns out I love working with people but also need organisation and clear end goals in the work I do.
So go, take that online course, visit that country, save for the house, switch careers completely, enjoy your life and refill your cup. Everyone’s cup is different, and that’s what makes life interesting.
Don’t compare yours to what you see online, it’s always missing half the story.
Adulthood might be 90% guesswork, but that’s okay. We’re all guessing our way through different lives. Social media only shows the highlights, not the whole brilliant mess that makes life, life.
At 26, I’m not where I thought I’d be… and that doesn’t mean I’m behind. It just means my story is unfolding differently and I am learning that is completely okay.”
If you feel like you’re struggling with the anxieties surrounding the guess work that is life, we’re here to support you. Take a look at our services to find out more. We’re here to make sure that no one struggles alone.
