How was life, really? I hadn’t ever asked myself this. I was too busy, always focused on finishing the next deliverable or hitting a bigger target. And I was living the dream—so of course everything must be great.

Still, this rubric of adult goals—the smooth development of stability in Quarterlife then the search for meaning in midlife—has long dominated our understanding of adulthood. Like many other long-held cultural beliefs, it begs for reconsideration.