Summary Of The Defining Decade By Meg Jay

Our twenties are our fundamental years, where we are finally adults who can decide on our own terms what we do and don’t want to do. With this freedom, there are many possibilities where we can set a path. Most of us start our twenties in college, but after our educational days, what should we do? In the book “The Defining Decade” by Meg Jay, she goes through the talks she had with twentysomething clients to give advice. Each chapter acknowledges different issues we have or will encounter someday, taking us into small stories of each client’s struggles and what happens in the end. To convince readers that the twenties are vital to our future foundations of life. Utilizing the book, with a focus on Identity Capital and The Unthought Known, to understand

Our life experiences, both big and small, create a story that can be reflected in our identity, thus creating a building block for our ideal future. In the first chapter, “Identity Capital” is an important theme, followed by other chapters in the book. As Meg Jay defines it as our collection of personal assets, these are the investments we make in ourselves, either from our hobbies, activities, or experiences. These moments imprint our identity and personality, which can later be used for careers, relationships, etc. She talks to a client about how working at Starbucks does bring capital, but with the career the client wants, working at Starbucks won’t bring vital identity capital to her resume. With our twenties and us living in an unknown job market, we tend to take jobs that would help us the most financially, which isn’t inherently bad. But we shouldn’t keep doing the same part-time job for years because of the worries of the job market. More than ever, the job market wants people who have experience that can be utilized in their career. In the book, it is mentioned that most of our salaries were earned in the first ten years of our careers. Which emphasizes the growth of