Listen to this blog: https://anchor.fm/meghan-greenwood/episodes/Adult-Up-with-3-Cs-e12r6v2

Think back to your fondest childhood memory. Perhaps it was a family vacation or playing with friends. Likely, you were carefree and happy…and more than likely, you had people to take care of you.

While I am a firm believer in revisiting those airy times whenever possible, I also realize that with adulting comes responsibilities.

Besides the unavoidable chores, bills, and maybe caretaking, there are a whole host of other duties that fall onto the shoulders of adults – most of which, we don’t typically point out until there is a problem.

For example, communication, such as stating facts, answering questions, and maintaining schedules. It is one of our most important responsibilities in both work and personal life. We may have a phone at our fingertips at all times, but how often are you waiting for a response? There have been countless instances where I am in a state of flux because I haven’t yet received an answer…to my inquiry about the kids’ school to the IRS letter to the friend who said she might be able to meet me. But I am no saint. Besides emails that get pushed to the bottom of my Inbox never to see the light of a Reply, I have dropped the ball on following up with a bill and keeping the kids’ activities in check a time or two. Nobody’s perfect. The goals here are to keep improving and be cognizant of the receiver.

Another example is commitment. And I don’t mean legally to our partners and kids. Commitment to work, friends, events, and ourselves. We sign on to do a job and we’re expected to produce. We tell our friends that we’ll make their event and then we need to act on it. We want to lose weight or save money or relieve stress and the only one that can really make it happen is us. The key takeaway here is to keep trying, no matter if you fail time and time again. And if you have never been one to follow-through, there are accountability programs out there that can help – wink wink nudge nudge!

The last example is composure. During childhood, we are expected to slip back into moments of illogical behavior, such as yelling, crying, and generally being spoiled. Biologically, this is happening because our prefrontal cortexes have not yet fully developed. However, after you’re officially part of the adult world (for the purposes of this example, let’s say early 20’s since 18-year-olds still tend to be going through brain development), you must keep a level head. One of the best ways to do this is to think before you speak. Counting down from 5 and some deep breathing may also help. If you lose your cool, it may hurt your reputation or worse. I am certainly not an expert in this department either, but I do realize that composure is like a muscle. The more you train it, the easier it becomes. Visualizing the ramifications can also keep you on the right path.

C-C-C. Three responsibilities that can really help you adult up.