I’m sitting on the edge of my bed, earphones in, replaying “These Days” for the third time. The line that hits me like a punch every single time is: “too young to feel this old.”
I pause the song, stare at the ceiling, and suddenly it feels like the words aren’t lyrics — they’re my life summarized in seven syllables.

Because honestly… I’m tired.
Not sleepy tired — soul tired.

All I can think about is one question that keeps sitting on my chest every night:
How am I going to be rich?
Not rich for clout. Not rich for show-off.
Rich because survival doesn’t negotiate, and life has already shown me that nobody is coming to save me.

I’ve spent two years hustling to the core — grinding, trying, failing, standing up again — and now a part of me wants a shortcut. Just one break. One win. One moment where all the sweat finally pays off. I keep telling myself that I deserve some instant gratification after everything I’ve been through.

But then reality taps my shoulder like a stubborn creditor.

Two years have passed… and truth is, I’ve been on a slow grind, not a breakthrough grind. That realization stings. It forces me to ask myself the hard question: Do I keep grinding slowly, or do I look for a faster route?
What even is the “fast route” when every move feels like a gamble?

I’m lost. I’m confused. I’m restless.
But quitting is a luxury I wasn’t born with.

My mother is depending on me now that school is over. There is no Plan B. No uncle with connections. No inheritance waiting. I am the backup plan. I am the safety net. I am the entire strategy.

That’s the weight I’m carrying on my shoulders as the song keeps echoing in my mind — too young to feel this old, too pressured to breathe, too ambitious to stop.

The New Hustle Culture: A Generation Running on Panic

Walk into any campus cafeteria, TikTok comment section, or late–night Telegram group and you’ll find the same energy: fear.
Not ambition, not drive — fear.

Young people in their early twenties are carrying a pressure that didn’t exist a decade ago. The urgency to “make it now” is suffocating. You’re barely 21 but already you feel like you’re failing because you don’t have a car, a thriving business, a skill that pays, or a lifestyle that matches what influencers are flaunting.

You open your phone and someone your age is buying land. Someone else is in Dubai. Another one just “closed a deal.” It doesn’t matter that half of it is smoke and mirrors — the pressure is real.

The Death of Patience: Instant Gratification Is Becoming a Drug

This generation doesn’t just want results; they want results that hit like dopamine shots.

Why learn a skill for six months when you can watch someone on TikTok claiming they’ve made 300K in a week? Why grind through failure when content creators are selling “passive income secrets” that promise riches in 14 days?

Real talk: instant gratification has rewired the brain. Youths are addicted to the feeling of progress instead of the work required to create progress.

Scroll. Like. Share. Manifest.
But don’t learn. Don’t build. Don’t fail forward.

And that’s where the mental breakdown begins.

The Job Market Has Collapsed — And Youth Know It

This isn’t a motivational blog. Let’s tell it as it is.

There are no jobs.
Not enough for the hundreds of thousands graduating every year.

Kenyan youth especially know this too well:

A degree no longer guarantees employment

Internships are unpaid or underpaid

Even entry-level roles demand “3–5 years experience”

Nepotism runs half the hiring

The economy is contracting, not expanding

You end up with thousands of young adults who followed the script — go to school, work hard, get a good grade — only to find that the script is dead. And nobody wrote a new one.

So the pressure builds.
Then it breaks.

Real-Life Moments That Capture This Crisis

These aren’t statistics — these are everyday realities:

1. The Campus Graduate Who Learns the Truth After Graduation

She finishes a degree in IT. Top 10 in her class. Full of hope. Sends 200 job applications. Gets zero callbacks.
She starts doubting herself.
Not because she’s unskilled — but because the market is oversaturated.
She spirals into depression quietly.

2. The Young Man Who Wants Success Fast

He hears a friend “made 150K in crypto.”
He empties his small savings chasing the same.
Within days it’s gone, and so is his peace of mind.
He starts thinking he’s cursed, not realizing he simply skipped the learning curve.

3. The 22-Year-Old Who Cannot Tell Parents He Has No Path

Every day he wakes up pretending he has direction — but deep down, he’s lost.
Parents don’t understand mental health.
Society mocks struggle.
So he suffers in silence.

4. The TikTok Pressure Cooker

She sees her age mates traveling, soft-lifing, and living aesthetics.
Meanwhile she’s living at home, fighting for data bundles.
She starts believing her life is “behind schedule.”
In reality, those influencers are also drowning.

No Skills, No Patience — The Perfect Storm

Many youths want success but not the grind.
Not because they are lazy — but because the digital world has trained them to expect shortcuts.

Learning a skill takes time.
Building a portfolio takes time.
Developing discipline takes time.
Creating opportunities takes time.

But if you’re trained to chase “quick wins,” you will always feel behind.
You will always compare.
You will always feel depressed when progress is slow.

Depression Has Become the Default Setting

Early twenties youth today are dealing with:

• Identity crisis
• Career pressure
• Economic instability
• Social comparison
• Parental expectations
• Zero financial stability
• No safety nets

This isn’t weakness.
This is a generation drowning in external pressure, internal confusion, and societal expectations that no longer match economic reality.

And because they don’t see a path out, they internalize failure.
That’s how depression creeps in.

So What’s the Way Forward? It’s Harsh, But It’s Real.

a) Learn hard skills — not just soft motivation

Copywriting, coding, design, editing, sales, data, marketing — pick something.
The market rewards competence, not vibes.

b) Be willing to take the long road

Anything worth having takes time. Five years of skill beats five months of hype.

c) Disconnect from the illusion of online success

Most “overnight success stories” are edited.
Your journey is slower but real.

d) Redefine what success looks like at 20–25

Instead of cars, apartments, and titles, focus on:

• Consistency
• Skills
• Network
• Momentum
• Mental stability

e) Build from where you are, not where social media places you

Your life isn’t late.
Your path isn’t wrong.
You’re just in the grinding phase everyone pretends they never had.