Are You An Adult?

Steven Barnes
2 min readDec 5, 2022

It isn’t as silly a question as it sounds. Just for fun, look at the question of maturity in the animal kingdom:

  1. Adult animals can hunt or gather to provide food and shelter
  2. They can fight, run, or hide — they have the ability to repel predators, or evade them.
  3. They can mate and reproduce. (Note: they can certainly choose not to. But being healthy and stable enough that you COULD is always desirable)

That seems simple. What are the human equivalents?

  1. Adults must produce the resources necessary to survive in the adult world. Money.
  2. Adults must care for their physical and mental/emotional health, as well as contribute, in taxes, funds to provide protection. Diet, exercise, rest, mental health.
  3. They create happy, healthy, lasting love relationships.

In other words, they have expertise in the domains of body, heart, and head. How can you learn these things, if you don’t have them?

  1. Take responsibility. Admit that you desire health, success, and love.
  2. BELIEVE IN YOURSELF. If you don’t currently have those skills, believe you can and will acquire them.
  3. Study Role Models. Find people who are successful in business, especially those who are enjoying the journey. Find healthy fit people over fifty and find out what they are doing. Find grandparents who are still married and in love.
  4. Commit to MASTERY. This is…

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Steven Barnes

Steven Barnes is a NY Times bestselling author, ecstatic husband and father, and holder of black belts in three martial arts. www.lifewritingpodcast.com.