31M and realizing I've lost most of my 20s. Did anyone actually turn things around in their 30s?
I'm 31 and I'm having a hard time accepting where my life is right now.
I still live with my parents in the small town where I grew up. I've basically spent my adult life doing seasonal jobs, I have no degree, almost no social life and my long-term relationship is ending.
I constantly feel like everyone else started building their adult life years ago while I stayed in the same place.
The weird part is that I don't actually want something extraordinary. I want fairly ordinary things: to live somewhere I like, have some friends, work toward a career, travel, meet people, have relationships, feel like I'm actually participating in my own life.
I've spent years telling myself that I'll change something "next season", "next month", "when I feel better", etc. And now I'm 31 and realizing how much time has passed.
So I'd really like to hear from men who were genuinely stuck in their late 20s/early 30s and eventually changed direction.
Not success stories where you already had a degree, career and social network.
I'm interested in the messy ones:
- What was your situation when you finally decided enough was enough?
- What did you actually do first?
- What changed your life more: moving, changing jobs, meeting new people, therapy, taking a risk, something else?
- Did you ever feel like you had "missed your window"?
- What do you wish you had done at 25 or 30?
I'm not looking for motivation. I'd really like to hear from people who have actually been through a similar "I wasted too much time and don't know how to restart" phase.