The first draft of adulthood is messy for everyone. Nobody’s is clean.

Nobody arrives at the adult version of their life with it already working. The first pass is full of wrong jobs, wrong apartments, bad budgets and friendships that fade, and that is true for the people whose lives look sorted from the outside. You are comparing your rough draft to their edited posts. Everyone is revising.

When you feel behind, name one specific thing you are comparing and check whether you actually know the whole picture. Ask someone five years older what their first year out was like. Expect the answer to be messier than you thought.