In the pilot episode of Friends, there’s one quote that truly resonated with the viewers. Towards the end of it, previously spoiled brat, Rachel (played by Jennifer Aniston), is getting ready to start her life independently. And that entailed letting go of her credit cards from her father and starting to earn her keep. With her new friends cheering her on, she snipped each credit card. Then, her closest friend, Monica, hugged her and said, “Welcome to the real world! It sucks. You’re gonna love it.”
Every budding young adult hears this or a version of this saying at least once before they started working at professional jobs. But the thing is, it’s much easier said than done. We suddenly had to deal with bosses, bills, taxes, and the often elusive work-life balance. It turns out, the real world truly sucks.
But it can be managed. All we need to do is to master the art of adulting. And one of the best ways to do that is to have the right guide. So here are four books that we can check out.
Career Development with What Color Is Your Parachute?
The biggest that young adults need to do is to transition from college to their career successfully. Most of us already had a taste of this from our internships and part-time jobs. But, as many people already know, working full-time jobs is very different. So we must get used to the fact that our days navigating classes, dining halls with free food, dorms with roommates and dorm assistants, and frat parties are over. We can do that with What Color Is Your Parachute? A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career By Richard Nelson Bolles.
This book is considered the Holy Grail of career development for new job hunters. Since its publication in 1970, it has been updated, revised, and reprinted to keep up with the times. With this book, we’ll learn about building our resume, navigating job ads on the internet, staying sharp and presentable during interviews, etc.
Financial Management with The One-page Financial Plan
The next most overwhelming thing that budding young adults have to deal with is money. Before, they had to rely on allowances from parents and other financial support, and earnings from part-time jobs. But now, we have full autonomy over our own money. We have to deal with bills, taxes, and other expenses while staying financially stable. As Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) likes to say, we have to “secure our hard-earned money today.”
And what better way to do that than to listen to what a leading financial advisor from The New York Times has to say? With the book The One-Page Financial Plan: A Simple Way to Be Smart About Your Money by Carl Richards, we will learn about budgeting, saving, and even investing.
Productivity and Organization with The Bullet Journal Method
Back in school, we might say that we’ve already mastered productivity and organization. We are disciplined enough never to miss deadlines and appointments with our professors. But what we must remember is that professional life is much, much busier than college life. So it would be best to upgrade our methods for productivity and organization. And we can do that with Rydell Carroll’s The Bullet Journal Method: Track the Past, Order the Present, Design the Future.
Through this book, we will learn about a system that keeps work and life in check with a bullet journal. Like any day planner that we might have had in the past, the bullet journal is the best way to keep track of our tasks and events. It makes sure that we’re always on top of things.
Self-care and Self-love with The Headspace Guide to Meditation & Mindfulness
The most common misconception about adulting is that productivity and results are gold. If we don’t constantly perform well in our jobs and further our careers as quickly as we can, then we’re not making the most of it. This is not right at all. The truth is that work-life balance is the key to true success in adulting. All of the previous books tackled productivity and making smart decisions. But this fourth and last book is all about taking care of ourselves by letting go of the pressure.
Andu Puddcombe’s The Headspace Guide to Meditation & Mindfulness is all about managing stress and anxiety by taking a few moments throughout our day to focus fully on ourselves.
Some people might say that reading books about adulting is not important. It’s because adulting is something that we can figure out as we go along. But this isn’t true for everyone. Some of us need a guide to show us the best practices and the right path. So we’re lucky that we have these books to turn to.s