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Summary of The Defining Decade 

Short summary

Are you blowing through your 20s? Are you wondering if aimless fun is the right way for your twenty-something-year-old to be spending their years? Then this book is for you. “The Defining Decade” by popular author Meg Jay, is an important guide for life, opening the eyes of understanding for everyone who’s had questions on the way forward in the 20s and breaking the yoke of common misconceptions about life and timing. Once you get this, you will never look back.

Table of content

  • Summary of The Defining Decade
  • About the author
  • What is The Defining Decade about?
  • Who should read The Defining Decade
  • Topics in The Defining Decade
first key point

The work that we do during our twenties is what builds our identity capital and ensures our place in the economic ladder

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You might work long and hard from the moment you leave college, but it is still highly unlikely that you will have gotten to the job of your dreams by the time you hit your twenties.

With this in mind, say you were given the opportunity to work a regular job as, say, a waitress, or something more unusual like a comic-book translator. What job would you pick?

If your answer was the comic translation job, then you’re headed in the right direction. Taking up unusual jobs impresses employers as these jobs build your personal assets known as identity capital, and make you stand out. Regular jobs don’t build identity capital.

It is not like identity capital doesn’t include regular things like college degrees and other more conventional assets, but almost everyone these days has those. What matters now is how much new experience and problem-solving abilities you now have.

Unusual jobs build identity capital and as such, they present opportunities for better jobs. Employers will choose someone with high identity capital, having unique experiences, over one with just formal qualifications, so when searching for short-term jobs, it’s best to pick the one you think would increase your identity capital.

As much as it is good to take on small jobs while waiting for your dream job, long stretches of underemployment which have you working jobs that don’t let you exercise your full potential can cause depression, and employers can see these long periods as periods of inactivity.

A study showed that people in their twenties who were underemployed for periods as short as nine months, became even more depressed and unmotivated than their peers who had been unemployed. Accepting underemployment can make you abandon your goals and forget that you are worthy of better employment.

To an employer, stretches of unemployment and underemployment are in the same boat as they are of the popular notion that joblessness is associated with depression and heavy drinking.
second key point

Our long-term wage growth is somewhat dependent on the job we choose in our twenties

Is there really anyone who is ready for a serious career in their twenties?
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third key point

It is important to expand your circle and groom connections to improve your chances of a successful career in the future

fourth key point

You have fewer options in your twenties than you are led to believe, but this is a good thing

fifth key point

In our twenties, it isn’t only our careers we should be looking to build, but our relationships also

sixth key point

Pushing your marriage forward in life does not mean that you’d have a better relationship

seventh key point

It is between the ages of 20 and 30 that our brains mature

eighth key point

If having children is on your agenda, it’s best not to put it off

ninth key point

Conclusion

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What is The Defining Decade about?

Who should read The Defining Decade

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Do you find yourself staring at your computer for long minutes, unaware of time slipping by? Do you enter a room and suddenly cannot remember why you stepped in the first place? Is it a herculean task for you to sit through ten pages of a book without reaching for your phone? If yes, your focus needs some work and fast.

Actually, yours is not a unique situation. Many adults like you have issues concentrating on a given task. However, in this fast-paced world of ours, you can’t afford to be not focused at all times. Thankfully, this article comes to your rescue! With the tips and tricks from Hyperfocus by Chris Bailey, you will get in the top percent of folks who have mastered the art of concentration.