Quarter Life Crisis and how it’s affecting you. Millenials and Gen Zs

The Christian girl’s guide to navigating quarter life crisis.

You most likely have heard a lot about midlife crisis and the host of symptoms that come with it. But have you ever come across quarter life crisis? You may be experiencing it without even realizing it.

While midlife crisis affects people in their 40s to 50s, quarter life crisis affects younger people. It can happen anytime from their early twenties into their thirties.

What is a quarter-life crisis?

Forbes defines quarter-life crisis as a period of “intense soul-searching and stress.”

“A crisis involving anxiety over the direction and quality of one’s life which is most commonly experienced in a period ranging from a person’s early twenties up to their mid-thirties.” – Wikipedia

A survey shows that few Gen Zs and a good percentage of millenials, up to 86% have experienced a quarter-life crisis. This shows that quarter life crisis is more common than it is spoken about.
In the survey, these young people opened up about the different causes of their stress; some were about the greatly dreaded finances (AKA money), others involved career and business pressure. Not leaving out the pressure to get married, start families, and settle down.

Today, we’re going to be looking into quarter life crisis, the symptoms, age range affected, and the best ways to deal with and come out of it.

Quarter life crisis can be subtle in some cases and in other cases, it can be so severe that it affects the mental health of the individual involved. With the heightened level of social media consumption in our time, it has become easy to get invested in the lives of others, get thrown into the ugly room called comparison and sink even deeper into quarter life crisis.

One clear sign that a young person is likely in it is that they start becoming a jack of all trades; getting involved in any and everything they can lay your hands on, all in a bid to make some sense and meaning out of their life.

Just in case you still aren’t sure if you’re experiencing or have experienced quarter life crisis, these are a few more symptoms of quarter life crisis.

• Lowered self esteem
• Feeling purposeless and confused.
• Losing motivation even for things you love.
• An overwhelming feeling of meaninglessness. Feeling like you’re wasting time and not making progress.
• Always feeling indecisive.
• Always wondering “what next?”
• Feeling consistently anxious. Maybe even depressed.
• Abnormally stressed and fatigued.
• Fearful about making decisions even if they’re good ones.

If you are experiencing up to three of these symptoms and you’re within the age range of 21 and 36, there’s a high chance that quarter life crisis has her fangs on you.

Because human beings differ and their situations are unique, the dynamics of quarter life crisis can differ. The triggers also differ.
So while some people experience this without any external influence, for others, certain things trigger it.
The triggers can be:

• Transitional moments (graduating, moving to a new city, breakups, end of friendships, etc)
• Job loss, unemployment or underemployment.
• Living alone for the first time.
• Binging on social media pages nonstop.
• Grief
• Marriage
  Etc

Practical ways to handle quarter life crisis.

Quarter life crisis, if handled well, may be the vehicle that leads you to your best season yet. And may even set a beautiful tone for the rest of your life. Here are a few ways to handle it.

1. Understand that nothing is wrong with you.
   Quarter life crisis happens to 90% of people around your age. It’s a somewhat natural phenomenon. So you need to get out of your head and be fine.
   Allowing it hold you down indefinitely will only mean one thing – you’re going to be at the same spot for a long time.
2. State out your values.
   This phase is one that can lead you to making rash decisions that you ordinarily wouldn’t make. You must take some time to take an introspective look and have a conversation with yourself about the things you hold dear. Reflect on your past from a mindset void of judgement and decide to do better.
   Make your principles and values clear to yourself. Before you move forward, you want to be sure you know what you stand for.
3. Build healthy habits
   Instead of staying confused and anxious, why not begin to make yourself better for you.
   We are what we repeatedly do. Thus, the best way to become a better you is by developing better habits; reading helpful books, exercising, eating right, meditating, listening to good music, sleeping well, etc.
4. Get into a community
   Depending on where they’re at and who they are, this can look different for everyone.
   You may need to join a service department in your church, a volunteer program, an outreach, etc. If you have a group of friends, become more involved with them.
5. Speak with wise older people.
   What is a challenge to you is a past victory for someone else. Getting wise counsel. This may also come in form of useful materials like books, sermons, videos, etc.
6. Journal
   Since this is a phase, it is important to document how you feel in these moments and how you’re handling it. This may be someone’s survival guide tomorrow. Or maybe not. But you’re most likely going to feel better after journaling.
7. Become better at what you do.
   Your career, business, family, etc. There’s a higher level than where you’re currently at. Seek to get there.
8. Get closer to God.
   In the end, it all really boils down to God. He alone knows your past, present, and future. He knows what’s best for you and knows how to carry you through the different seasons of your life and usher you into your purpose and assignment.
   Nurture your relationship with God and prioritize it. Go on frequent social media breaks and retreats where you just focus on God and other important things. Pray for clarity and direction.
   Quarter life crisis may be the journey that leads you to find God.

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