Oh my goodness adulting is hard! And I'm barely even adulting now! I say that being an adult is hard because well, first of all, everything cost money.

When you're hungry you have to buy food; either to cook at home or if you're on you're lunch break at work and don't have any food at home to bring to the job then you have to spend money. That bra you love so much doesn't work like it used to, now you have to buy some more along with clothes that once fit you but that freshman 15 hit you too hard. For my college buddies out there, you have to pay a storage bill. Everything costs money! But there's so much more to being an adult that managing money, there's decision making. Congrats to people my age, we're finally able to make our own decisions in life, but how the hell am I supposed to do that now? I went to Walmart the other day and it took my 15 minutes to try and figure out which razors I should to buy.

In one of my previous articles, I was seeming pretty melancholy about my birthday and getting older and things of that nature. That's because that's how I felt. But for this article, I'm nervous as hell and just wish I didn't feel so under prepared and overwhelmed for...well I guess life. But that doesn't matter honestly because life is just going to keep going regardless if we'll ever feel ready or prepared for it. As this summer progresses, I'm learning a lot about myself and I realize that I, Gabbie, have no motivation and lack any kind of ambition. The only thing I ever thought about and wanted in my life thus far was to be a filmmaker. But I realize now that isn't enough. I need goals. I don't aspire to be anything but a filmmaker, but what am I going to say? What kind of voice do I have? What purpose will my films have? So I'm asking everybody else, what are you goals for yourself in life? Besides the career that you intend to pursue, what do you want to achieve with your skills? I never really thought about it to that extent and I think that's why I'm so damn sad all the time.

I always tell people, including myself, that if you don't have passion, you don't have anything. Now I'm saying that you need to have a passion for something and goals based on that passion. If not, then you won't have discipline and you'll feel like you lack purpose. I feel like I lack purpose right now, and honestly, it's making me feel really crappy right now. You know what goals make you do? They make you plan and give you something to work for. Every year since I was 13, I make two lists on my birthday. I make a goal list and a wish list and I limit how many I make according the age I'll be turning the following year. I'm an extremely lazy person so only three things get crossed off the goals list because I don't make attainable goals. It's almost as if I write two wish lists. But since I"m getting older and my life is in my hands, I'm writing attainable goals and working on completing them. All of them. And I urge people out there to do the same. If you're turning 20 next year like I am, make twenty goals for yourself and spend the year achieving them.

There's so many things I want for myself and I know that I'm not going achieve them by sleeping all day and watching old episodes of Naruto. But, with the new knowledge that I have about making goals and creating plans to achieve them, I think that's one of the secret strategies to being successful.