A century ago, when a person turned 20 they would have been considered middle aged. Back then, the average lifespan of a human was a mere 40 years old. However, by today’s standards, dying at 50 is considered by society to be a premature death.

Medical advancements have allowed humans to nearly double the average lifespan in just a century’s worth of time.

However, the length of our lives isn’t the only thing that has increased. The choices made on how to schedule our lives have also changed accordingly. Although “30 is the new 20” is an over-used cliche regarding age, that doesn’t mean that the statement lacks validity.

On the contrary, there are too few people who understand the true concept behind the phrase.

Things that were done by 20 somethings are now being held off until the age of 30, such as starting families and entering the labor force. However, if the 30s are supposed to be the new 20s, then what do the 20s then become? Back to the teens? Uh-oh. Another 10 years of voice-cracking and hair growth in never before seen places. Awesome.

Thankfully, the extension of human life has not resulted in an extra 10 years of puberty. However, the onset of the early 20s can make a person feel like they are hiking blindfolded up a mountain, because there are so many choices and so few directional cues.

These past couple of generations have been given a gift in the form of time. Never before in civilization have people had such broad choices in deciding the profession that they choose to pursue. In essence, our generation has more power than any previous generation in deciding what’s truly the best path to take in the road of life.

A century ago, if grandfather was a shoemaker, then dad would be a shoemaker too, and so on. It was the way trade skills were passed on through generations.

Nowadays, the average student switches their major at least twice before they finally set foot on a path that will lead them to a career in their desired industry.

This newly acquired extra time has dropped in our laps like the inheritance of a dead relative, and some don’t know what to do with it.

20 somethings need to realize that this extended period of time should be used to make sure that we know what we want to do by the time we hit the age of 30. It may seem like the trail is hidden, but that’s only because 20 somethings haven’t found an occupation that fulfills them.

The one mistake that most 20 somethings don’t want to make is to end up trapped and listless. The current generation has the luxury of living a life full of passions before assuming responsibilities such as parenthood or a stressful job. The current generations have no excuse for not finding a career that won’t leave them full of regrets and missed opportunities.

20 somethings have it great when choosing their responsibilities, but those days won’t last forever.

Be smart enough to know that 30 is just around the corner.

It’s coming faster than some of us care to admit and when it does, we better be prepared for it.

If there’s one thing we definitely won’t have in our lives, it’s an excuse for life not going the way we planned.