The Grown-Ups Are Talking

Abby Thayananthan
  • 5.0 (1)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

The transition from college students/recent grads into fully-fledged adults can be a scary one. How do we 'adult'? And how do we know that we're doing it right? In this podcast, my guests and I reflect on all things 'adult'- working life, navigating adult relationships, following our dreams, making mistakes, dealing with rejection, and a lot more. We're going to figure out who we are as newborn adults together, and I'm so excited to have you here with me! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. 3H AGO

    64. Should You Do A Master's Degree?

    If you've ever finished undergrad and thought what now? !-- this episode is for you. A master's degree can feel like the obvious next step. It sounds impressive, it keeps you in education a little longer, and it gives you something to say when people ask about your plans. But is it actually worth it? And are you doing it for the right reasons? In this episode, I'm joined by two friends and classmates, Nasreen and Ed, to reflect on our year doing an MA in Podcasting- yes, that's a real thing- and have an honest conversation about graduate school: what it costs, what it gives you, and whether it's actually necessary. We talk about what led each of us here, how a master's compares to undergrad life (it's more fragmented, more self-directed, and a lot less social than you might expect), and what we genuinely took away from the experience — academically, professionally, and personally. We also get into the harder questions. What were the paths we didn't take? How different would things look if we hadn't done it? Are there fields where a master's is genuinely valuable — and others where it's just a very expensive way of buying time? My honest take: I don't think a master's is for everyone. A lot of people do one to delay a decision rather than make one, and that can cost you serious time and money without much to show for it. But I also think there's a version of doing a master's that isn't really about the degree at all — it's about opening a door into a new chapter of your life that you couldn't have planned in advance. That's what it was for me. You don't have to do it right after undergrad. You don't have to do it at all. But if you have a real reason — a specific goal, a genuine curiosity, a sense that it might take you somewhere you actually want to go — it might be one of the better investments you make. Not just in your career, but in yourself.

    34 min

  2. 6D AGO

    63. How to Build Your Dream Life

    This is Part 3 of the Dream Self series-- and this is where everything you've been building finally comes to life. If you've been following along, you've already done the deeper work. In Part 1, you got honest about what you actually want from your life- not what you think you should want, but what genuinely lights you up. In Part 2, you started getting to know the version of yourself you're working towards. Now, in this final instalment, we're getting into the part that most people skip: actually making it happen. Because here's the thing: vision without action is just a daydream. And action without structure is just chaos. So in this episode, we're building the bridge between who you are now and who you want to become, one concrete, practical step at a time. We start with goals-- why setting them is one of the most powerful things you can do for your wellbeing, performance, and sense of self, and how to set them in a way that actually sticks. Then we get into the real magic: systems and habits. You'll learn why motivation is never the answer (and what to rely on instead), how to design your environment so that your good habits become the path of least resistance, and how a collection of small, consistent actions compounds into something life-changing over time. We also talk mindset, because none of the practical stuff works if you're paralysed by perfectionism, self-doubt, or fear of what other people think. We get into how to build confidence through evidence, how to let go of the need to have it all figured out before you begin, and why consistency- even in tiny doses- is the thing that will change everything. This episode draws on research from positive psychology, habit theory, and the work of people like James Clear, and it's packed with real examples from my own life of what it actually looks like to build systems around your goals-- the wins, the things that didn't work, and the adjustments I made along the way. If you've ever had a big dream that never quite got off the ground, if you keep starting things and not finishing them, or if you're someone who knows exactly what you want but can't seem to close the gap between where you are and where you want to be, this episode is for you. You don't need more motivation. You need a plan. Let's build it.

    37 min

  3. MAY 13

    62. The Toolkit for Building your Dream Life

    This episode is the bridge between dreaming and doing. Last week, we designed your dream life; this week, we're talking about how to actually prepare to build it. But before we dive into tools and systems, there's a big caveat I want to get into first: the most successful people have the smallest gap between idea and action. You don't need to know everything before you start. The learning happens as you go. From there, we get into the practical stuff- how to reverse-engineer your dream into a personal curriculum, how to find the right people and role models to learn from, and how to filter the overwhelming amount of content and "experts" online to find the voices you actually trust. We also talk about the difference between passive consumption and active learning, and how to build a system that keeps you growing consistently, not just in a burst of motivation at the start. We cover the tools and formats worth your time: podcasts, books, Substack, Sublime, YouTube and more, and why the real goal isn't to consume more, but to build something with what you take in. If you've ever felt stuck between knowing what you want and feeling ready enough to go after it, this episode is for you.

    39 min

  4. MAY 6

    61. How to Design Your Dream Life

    How to Design Your Dream Life (Part 1 of 3) | Finding Your Purpose, Identifying Your Values & Building a Life You Actually Love Do you feel stuck in a job you don't love-- but you also don't really know what you want to do instead? Uninspired, unsatisfied, or just going through the motions? This episode is for you. The good news? You've already done most of the work. The answers are hiding in plain sight: in your YouTube watch history, your saved Instagram posts, the books that changed your life, the moments that made you feel most alive. You just need to know how to notice and capture them. In Part 1 of this three-part series, I walk you through a practical framework for designing your dream life: how to notice what's already lighting you up, how to reflect and make sense of it (including a powerful AI prompt, the dream day exercise, and how to ask your friends the questions that unlock your self-awareness), and how to capture and visualise it into something real and concrete. I also share how reading Just Mercy led me to law, how becoming obsessed with podcasts led me here, and why I'm heading to Harvard Law School this year while building this show-- and what all of that taught me about chasing the feeling, not the plan. Part 2 is about learning your way into the life you want. Part 3 is about taking action. But it all starts here. The Grown-Ups Are Talking is a podcast about navigating adulthood--relationships, identity, money, career, and purpose. Keywords: how to design your dream life, how to find your purpose, figuring out what you want from life, life design, finding your passion, feeling lost in your twenties, identifying your values, dream day exercise, vision board, self-discovery, personal development, career change, finding direction in life, intentional living, twenties podcast

    58 min

  5. APR 29

    60. Introducing... The Grown-Ups Are Writing!

    Today's episode is a little different. I'm introducing something I've been building-- The Grown-Ups Are Writing, a brand new Substack newsletter and companion to this podcast. In this episode, I'm reading my very first post: why I started it, what I want to create, what you can expect, and why, in a world drowning in content, I think building something of your own still matters. If you've ever felt the itch to create, or you're just curious about what's coming next in the TGUAT world, this one's for you. Subscribe to the Substack! I'd love to see you there: https://substack.com/@thegrownupsarewriting?utm_campaign=profile&utm_medium=profile-page

    10 min

  6. APR 22

    59. What Should We Optimize for in Our 20s?

    Everyone has an opinion on what you should do with your 20s. Work harder. Travel more. Say yes to everything. Build your savings. Figure yourself out. But what if nobody's actually stopped to ask the right question first? In this episode, I'm laying out the three camps many of us fall into: the grinder, the experience collector, and the traveller- and taking an honest look at what each one gets right, and where each one might leave something missing. Because for some people, the relentless focus on work comes at the cost of ever figuring out who they are outside of it. For others, saying yes to every experience means never quite laying the foundations for the life they actually want. And sometimes, constant movement can start to feel less like living and more like running. I've personally felt the pull of all three. But everything here is information, not instruction. What works for me might not work for you. The question I want to leave you with: are you optimising for the life you actually want, or the life that just looks good from the outside?

    25 min

  7. APR 15

    58. Still in School in My 20s-- And How I Actually Feel About It

    What does it mean to spend most of your 20s in education? After finishing my master's degree and staring down three more years of law school, I've been sitting with a feeling I haven't talked about on this podcast before-- the quiet fear that I'm always going to be a student. Or that I'm behind and it feels like everyone else is further along. In this episode, I'm reflecting honestly on what both sides of the coin have actually taught me. Because I've been the student romanticising a salary, and I've been the employee daydreaming about freedom-- and the truth is, the grass is almost always greener. I get into: - What working taught me that school never could (and vice versa) - The real pros and cons of both - Feelings of comparison that are almost impossible to avoid in your early 20s - Why I started this podcast alongside my degree, and what I'm building toward Whether you're employed and considering grad school, currently studying and wondering if it's worth it, or just trying to make sense of where you are right now-- this one's for you.

    24 min

  8. APR 8

    57. Adulting When You're South Asian

    What does it really mean to grow up when you're caught between cultures, expectations, and versions of yourself? In this episode, I'm joined by a guest who knows that tension intimately. We get into what it looks like to come of age as a second-generation South Asian woman in the West-navigating the push and pull of feeling "too Western" in some rooms and "too traditional" in others, and how that shapes the adult you're still becoming. We talk about the quiet grief of losing cultural connection, what it means to stay connected to your roots when the spaces that held them start to disappear, and the particular weight of growing up in an immigrant family-where your parents sacrificed so much, and that love doesn't always come without expectation. We also get honest about the things nobody really talks about- the guilt that comes with not maximizing your earning potential, the gaps in how South Asian families taught us (or didn't) to talk about feelings, relationships, money, and mental health, and what we'd want to do differently for the next generation. It's a conversation about identity, independence, and what it looks like to build a life that honors where you came from without being confined by it.

    45 min
See All (69)

About

The transition from college students/recent grads into fully-fledged adults can be a scary one. How do we 'adult'? And how do we know that we're doing it right? In this podcast, my guests and I reflect on all things 'adult'- working life, navigating adult relationships, following our dreams, making mistakes, dealing with rejection, and a lot more. We're going to figure out who we are as newborn adults together, and I'm so excited to have you here with me! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information

  • Creator
    Abby Thayananthan
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    69
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Abby Thayananthan
  • Show Website
    The Grown-Ups Are Talking