Feel Like A Failure in Your 30’s? Here’s How To Make The Ultimate Comeback

If you feel like a failure in your 30’s, you’re not alone.

In fact, this phenomenon is often described as a “quarter-life crisis,” a period of intense questioning and uncertainty that affects many adults in their mid-20s to early 30s. 

Feeling uncertain and dissatisfied with one’s career and comparing oneself to seemingly more successful peers were cited as common triggers.

In a 2019 UK study for example, found that just under half (47%) of men and just over half (51%) of women in their 30s reported experiencing a life crisis. 

Several factors contribute to the prevalence of feeling like a failure at this stage of life:

The feeling is temporary: While it’s a common experience, feelings of being a failure are often circumstantial and tend to fade with time. However, persistent feelings can indicate a larger mental health concern. 

Unmet expectations: The 30s often mark a period of taking stock, where people compare their lives to the expectations they or others have for them. The gap between expectation and reality can lead to significant disappointment.

Financial pressures: Financial anxieties, such as debt and housing affordability, are major stressors for people in their 30s.

Social comparison: Social media exacerbates the feeling of being “behind” by constantly highlighting the successes and milestones of friends and acquaintances.

Work and career issues: Many people in their 30s experience disillusionment with their career path. A significant portion consider or make a career change during this decade.

Personal relationships: Questions about romantic relationships, marriage, and starting a family are common and can create feelings of being off-track.

How to Make The Ultimate Comeback in Your 30’s

The key to making a comeback in your 30’s requires a shift in mindset and perspective.

It will also require you to change what you consume.

That’s right — this means what you watch online, on TV, and what you do during your spare time that could be taking valuable time away from you.

See, making the ultimate comeback in your 30’s will require you to change who you are.

To change what you’re getting, you must change what you’re doing.

It Starts By Educating Yourself (And Setting Goals)

Start setting goals.

Take a notebook and write down your ideal life; get creative!

By the way, nothing in this notebook is far-fetched; seriously, go nuts.

1. Educate yourself: Read new books, and create a library of the topics you wish to gain knowledge in. Whether it be self-help books, day trading books, entrepreneurship books, or any other niche topic. Books are a great way to ingest someone else’s knowledge who already has the experience.
2. Take small (but real) action: Start taking action on creating the life it is you want to create. Have you been in a dead-end job and can no longer continue living that reality? Find ways to stand out, obtain a new skill set, and climb the ladder. Haven’t worked a job in years and don’t know where to start? Simply move, even if it means working for free for the experience. It will eventually pay off. If your goal is to lose weight after so many years of a negative compounding effect, start taking action fearlessly.
3. Stop comparing yourself to others: In a world where everyone’s lives seems perfect but ours, it’s easy to fall into a trap of unhappiness and lack of fulfilment. It’s important to learn to understand that no one’s life is perfect, no matter what they portray on social media. We all have much of the same problems at the core. Your journey is different. The important thing is that you lock in and focus only on what’s yours; and what’s yours is your decisions and actions.
4. Track your progress: You should be able to track your progress, whether that’s losing weight, counting your calories, or whether its the number of cold calls or cold emails you did to attract sales for your new startup. No matter what your goals are, tracking your progress will keep you moving forward. It will also keep you accountable. Know this — every time you put in the reps in anything you do, it’s one step closer to the macro-goal, now matter how far that goal is. Keep moving forward.

Success Isn’t About the Material Stuff

The cars, the houses, the watches, the nice trips, yes it’s all nice; but that isn’t what success is all about.

Success is about being proud of the person you have become, and are becoming.

It’s about keeping a promise to yourself, and to your family.

Honestly, it’s about going through the challenges and hard moments in life.

But most importantly, it’s about taking responsibility and accountability for your life.

If you feel like you’re behind while being in your 30’s, it’s not too late at all to turn your life around.

Not only do you have so much more life ahead of you, but you can decide exactly who you want to be, and what type of life you want to live right this very moment.

Take a look in the mirror, and envision who you could be.

It’s time to become a main character in this world.

Share this article — you might just be helping someone out today.