有天20歲的她來到Meg Jay辦公室說：
「我知道我男友不適合我，但這段感情不能當真，對20幾歲的我來說，只是打發時間罷了。」又說：「每個人都說，我只要在30歲前展開事業就沒問題。」
但之後她卻說：「我的二十世代即將結束，卻一事無成，我最好從大學畢業那天就開始投履歷表。」
這樣的情景你在身邊看過嗎? 你現在不當真，以後就會發生。
晚買房、享樂主義、晚找正職工作，更晚成家立業，這些現象都不能讓30歲變成新的20歲世代，更不表示20幾歲的人就應該變成人生發展的停滯期，而應該是最佳的發展時機，千萬別讓這段時光白白流逝。
Meg Jay說：「二十幾歲的約會就像玩大風吹，大家四處遊蕩、樂在其中，但30歲左右，音樂逐漸停止，大家開始就座。我不想成為唯一站著的人，所以我選擇和丈夫結婚，因為他是我30歲時離我最近的那張椅子。」
如果你正巧在20歲到30歲間，千萬別這麼做。
要如何有效發展20到30歲間的黃金10年呢？有三個建議：
1.累積身分資本，2.掌握弱聯結，3.選擇你的家庭，
別受限於你不知道或不曾做過的事情，此時此刻的你，正在決定你的人生
(延伸解釋)
1.累積自己的身分資本：
進行某些增加自我價值，或有助於達成理想中的自己的事情，並且進行有意義的工作探索，因為這是最有價值的投資，而且透過身分資本將衍伸更多的身分資本
2.掌握弱連結：
新事物往往來自我們的弱連結(ex.朋友的朋友)， 20-30歲世代的人，往往身活圈似的，有著相似的思考模我式、相近的說話方式，相近的工作地點，但所有新的發展跟新的人群機會，幾乎都是來自你的舒適圈之外。
3.選擇自己的家庭：
家庭的選擇是有意識的選擇，選你所要而非只是打發時間。一拖再拖的後果會發現很多事是無法同時兼顧的(工作、嗜好、家庭、進修...)，而經營婚姻的最佳時機，正是在結婚之前；用看待工作般的用心看待愛情，20世代正是最好的時機。
So over the next weeks and months,I told Emma three things that every twenty something,male or female,deserves to hear.
First,I told Emma to forget about having an identity crisis and get some identity capital.By get identity capital,I mean do something that adds value to who you are.Do something that's an investment in who you might want to be next. I didn't know the future of Emma's career,and no one knows the future of work,but I do know this：identity capital begets identity capital.So now is the time for that cross-country job,that internship,that startup you want to try.I'm not discounting twentysomething exploration here,but I am discounting exploration that's not supposed to count,which,by the way,is not exploration.That's procrastination.I told Emma to explore work and make it count.
Second,I told Emma that the urban tribe is overrated.Best friends are great for giving rides to the airport,but twentysomethings who huddle together with like-mind peers limit who they know,what they know,how they think,how they speak and where they work.That new piece of capital,that new person to date,almost always comes from outside the inner circle.New things come from what are called our weak ties,our friends of friends of friends. So yes, half of twentysomethings are un- or under-employed. But half aren't, and weak ties are how you get yourself into that group. Half of new jobs are never posted, so reaching out to your neighbor's boss is how you get that unposted job. It's not cheating. It's the science of how information spreads.
Last but not least, Emma believed that you can't pick your family, but you can pick your friends. Now this was true for her growing up, but as a twentysomething, soon Emma would pick her family when she partnered with someone and created a family of her own. I told Emma the time to start picking your family is now. Now you may be thinking that 30 is actually a better time to settle down than 20, or even 25, and I agree with you. But grabbing whoever you're living with or sleeping with when everyone on Facebook starts walking down the aisle is not progress. The best time to work on your marriage is before you have one, and that means being as intentional with love as you are with work. Picking your family is about consciously choosing who and what you want rather than just making it work or killing time with whoever happens to be choosing you.
