21 - The Adult-ing Scale
This experiment has already gone on a lot longer than I thought it would - if posts were human years my newsletter has finally reached the respectable adult age of 21! It can drive now!
I'm going to take a short break over Christmas to build back up my backlog of posts, and take a rest. I'll likely start posting again in January; if you miss the posts, let me know what you want hear about and I'll aim to write about it!
Hope you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year with the people you love :)
Anyway - on to the post!
A recent framework that's been a fun thing to bandy around with friends and colleagues - the Adult-ing scale.
It started at work, when a friend and I were faced with a big decision that we thought could only be made by an 'adult'.
"We need an adult level 3 to make this decision"
"What? What level does that make us?"
"Well, level 1 right? We're plebs!"
We had a discussion of what the levels even mean - and came upon this as a first pass:
- Level 1: you're still living at home
- Level 2: you're moved out
- Level 3: you've bought a house
- Level 4: you have kids
The idea behind this one is the amount of dependence you have on other people, which turns into dependence by yourself after moving out, slowly getting your life together enough to be able to take on responsibility (debt), and then having others become dependent on you.
However, many people raised very valid concerns:
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What if you want to rent forever?
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What if you live at home, but you're a CEO?
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What if you own pets and you don't want kids?
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What if you've moved out but you're still immature as a person?
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Why are you using a life path from the 1950's?!
These are all really great thoughts, and I think what it helped to illuminate was that it's not the milestones that actually build up the picture of what level you're at, but a combination of responsibility and maturity. Each of these previous milestones is a way to show that you have responsibility (through debt, independence or dependants) but there is an element of maturity that can also display if you're an adult in other ways (your job, how you come across, your thought patterns on how you view independence etc.).
In a true consultant style, the 2x2 looks like the below:
I don't 100% agree with this approach so far - I enjoyed the simplicity of the first Adulting scale. But this one sort of shows that even if you have no responsibilities per se, but you're quite a mature person, you'll come across as more of an adult. People who have a lot of responsibility (house, pets, kids) might not be mature and get to Adult Level 2 as well.
My favourite view on this was at a client, who mentioned that they get their parents to iron their delicates.
Don't know where that fits on this scale but I feel it transcends Adult Level 3 :D
Where do you sit on this scale? Any thoughts on how to improve it?
Chat soon :)
✔️ Real Life Recommendations
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Oneplus Phones - I have owned a OnePlus One and a OnePlus Five in my life, and each one has had flagship features at a drastically lower price point. I have found it quite a reliable phone, and they last a really long time. Yes, they're Android, but if I was going to buy the latest iPhone I could probably buy 2 or 3 of these OnePlus phones. If you're feeling a bit stingy and/or want to move to a solid yet cheap phone, take a look at these guys!
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Salamanca Market - recently went down to Tassie to see a friend and we went as a group to Salamanca Market - an open air market that sold a variety of food, drink and other knick knacks. It's very touristy, but has one of the best oyster places I found in Tasmania (the best is Get Shucked on Bruny Island) as well as a variety of gins to try around the place. Highly recommended if you're down in Hobart!
🚌 Adventures on the Information Super-Highway
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2019 Best Illusion of the Year - this is so cool!! It goes up, down, left, right, just by hiding and showing certain crossover points. What a lovely illusion!
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The No-Stats All-Star - a fascinating piece written by Michael Lewis (of Moneyball and The Big Short fame) about an NBA player who, despite not having the best stats in the league, was one of the most effective players when he was on the court - he would increase his team's performance, and shut down his opponents. A really interesting read!
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The Bus Ticket Theory of Genius - Paul Graham was one of the co-founders of Y Combinator, one of the most successful incubators in the US. He writes these really interesting pieces - and recently released this one about genius. The bus ticket theory is about wasting a lot of time diving deeply into super random topics that no-one really finds that valuable...but that habit can aid you to become an expert later in life.