Millennial Life Crisis was a term first coined by lifestyle YouTuber Monica Church in 2016 when she uploaded her first video to her vlog channel, Millennial Life Crisis. At the time, Monica felt like she was living in a place of unfulfillment and confusion. She had dropped out of college to pursue a career on YouTube but had yet to discover exactly what this meant for her and her career. Four years later, this vlog channel has over 375,000 subscribers and has inspired a podcast also called Millennial Life Crisis, where Monica and Shelby Church, her 25 year old twin sister, discuss their experiences of being in their 20s from adulting and personal finances to moving to a new city and buying a house.
Millennial Life Crisis is a term that has since been adopted by millennials to describe their quarter-life crisis. A millennial is someone who reached adulthood in the early 21st century which, depending on your source, could include anyone born between 1981 and 1996 or 1982 and 2000. A quarter-life crisis has been defined by clinical psychologist, Alex Fowke, as ‘a period of insecurity, doubt and disappointment surrounding your career, relationship and financial situation’ which most commonly occurs between your early 20s and mid-30s.
Recently I have found myself relating more and more to how Monica felt back in 2016: unfulfilled and confused. What is my purpose in life? What have I achieved in the past 23 years? Am I where I thought I would be 10 years ago?
23 is a transitional age. You have just graduated from University and are entering the world of full-time work for the first time as a post-graduate. You are constantly torn between the desire to travel the world whilst you are young and have no commitments and staying home so you can move out of your parents’ house, climb the career ladder and purchase your own property. Your Instagram feed is a stark contrast of engagement and pregnancy announcements and the typical club night-out photograph. Especially when a quick Google search is enough to inform you that you are the same age as some of the world’s most talented artists such as Zendaya, Camilla Cabello, Hailee Steinfield, Simone Biles and Chloe Grace Moretz, it is easy to feel inadequate in comparison.
Similarly to how Monica used her vlog channel to document her millennial life crisis, I want to use this blog to do the same. I want to document my life from this point onwards, the ups and the downs, but overall how I am changing my life to overcome my millennial life crisis. I have decided to describe this journey as ‘Project Better Me’ because the purpose of this journey is to become a better version of myself and to start comparing myself to who I used to be rather than to others.
This journey is not about quick fixes, it is about creating sustainable healthy habits that will ultimately lead into me living the life I want.
Have you ever had a Millennial Life Crisis?
justhannahhere.wordpress.com 
OMG OMG OMG YESSSSSS !!! I’m so happy you have started posting again and am so excited for this series 🙂 xxxx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you babe xxxx
LikeLiked by 1 person
I remember listening to Taylor Swift’s song 22 back in 2012, I was just 16 back then. So, I don’t really understand what it’s like being 22. And when I turned that age I finally understood when she sang “We’re happy, free, confused, and lonely at the same time” 😂 Now, I’m 24 and still feeling all those things 😅.
Being on this age, it’s like we want to do everything because we feel like we’re losing so much time. 20’s is fun but it can also be so stressful 😅😨
LikeLiked by 2 people
Same! I feel like when I was younger, I thought that everybody older than me had life figured out, but it turns out that they were just as lost and confused as I was and that never really goes away! I think there is always going to be new challenges as you grow older from when is the right time to buy a house to when is the right time to have a baby. You just get confused and lost over different things as you get older!
Thank you for reading and commenting. 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes exactly, it’s just like a cycle, same type of problems but at a different age. 😅
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love this Hannah! Super excited to come along on this little journey with you – I agree with everything you said here! It’s nice to know you’re not alone in feeling this way sometimes .xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can already tell I’m going to love this series. I love this concept of when you said you wanted to “start comparing myself to who I used to be rather than to others” – that was like inspirational haha! Everyone should live their lives like this instead of comparing themselves to others xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much, that means a lot to me 🙂 Haha I love that quote too xx
LikeLiked by 1 person
The only time you don’t have any big crisis and living is easy is a childhood! After that there’s always something! I can say it doesn’t get any easier in time. I’m now 40 and I’m still confused. The things that are making you confused changes over the years but it doesn’t go away!
LikeLiked by 1 person
As a child, I don’t think you have enough awareness of the world to have a crisis! Haha, guess I have all that to look forward to!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, for me this mature age confusing meant for years mainly to taking care of my parents and last year the burial of my father…but we all have to face these things sometimes. The limitations of life really hits on face when you bury your familymember. That makes the real confusion!
LikeLike
Yes to the millennial life crisis. Especially, like you pointed out, when you compare your inactivity to most people’s successes. There is this unspoken understanding that you must have it all figured out. And I get that about 23 – a whole lot of confusion! I keep thinking it’s the one age I can’t ever look back on fondly. So far anyway. Have you read ‘The Defining Decade’? Puts the 20s into perspective at least a little.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have not but I have heard about the book before. Would you recommend it? 🙂
LikeLike
I do recommend it. It is a fast read too so not too bad all around.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am very much so in the midst of a millennial crisis, and like you, unfulfilled and confused. Except I am 27, and feeling much the same as I did when I was 23, perhaps it’s a 20s-something thing or perhaps longer. I’ve done so much in my twenties but struggling to achieve anything that provides me stability, even with a much better job than I had a few years ago, I still struggle to make it through the pay cycle.
I don’t know about you but theres something blissful about your early twenties when you are beginning your millennial crisis, you’re almost excused for doing the things you do along with all your poor choices because you’re young and naive and figuring yourself out. Fast forward a few years, and people on social media born after 1999 are achieving things at 20 and 21 on social media that you still haven’t quite reached pushing 30. Out of touch with the latest social media apps, pop culture and missing the boat when it comes to opportunities, travel and everything else glorified on social media, does anyone else find themselves mourning the fact that we are sort of irrelevant on the Internet?
LikeLiked by 1 person
As someone who is on the cusp of Millennial and Generation Z, I can definitely relate to parts of what you have said. To be honest, I do not really consider myself part of either. I view Millennials as those older than me with stable jobs & children whilst I view Generation Z as those younger than me who are on TikTok and Snapchat, both apps which I have never found the appeal of. I strongly believe that everyone’s lives follow a different trajectory and that people peak at different ages. So what if someone is having their peak at 20?! My peak is still yet to come and that is okay. It’s important to remember that everyone progresses at different rates and that for some people, the best is still yet to come. Good luck with your crisis!
LikeLike