The Four Stages Of Life - Stage Two: Self-Discovery[2]

In Stage One, we learn to fit in with the people and culture around us. Stage Two is about learning what makes us different from the people and culture around us. Stage Two requires us to begin making decisions for ourselves, to test ourselves, and to understand ourselves and what makes us unique.

Stage Two involves a lot of trial-and-error and experimentation. We experiment with living in new places, hanging out with new people, imbibing new substances, and playing with new people's orifices.

In my Stage Two, I ran off and visited fifty-something countries. My brother's Stage Two was diving headfirst into the political system in Washington DC. Everyone's Stage Two is slightly different because every one of us is slightly different.

Stage Two is a process of self-discovery. We try things. Some of them go well. Some of them don't. The goal is to stick with the ones that go well and move on.

Stage Two lasts until we begin to run up against our own limitations. This doesn't sit well with many people. But despite what Oprah and Deepak Chopra may tell you, discovering your own limitations is a good and healthy thing.

You're just going to be bad at some things, no matter how hard you try. And you need to know what they are. I am not genetically inclined to ever excel at anything athletic whatsoever. It sucked for me to learn that, but I did. I'm also about as capable of feeding myself as an infant drooling applesauce all over the floor. That was important to find out as well. We all must learn what we suck at. And the earlier in our life that we learn it, the better.

So we're just bad at some things. Then there are other things that are great for a while, but begin to have diminishing returns after a few years. Traveling the world is one example. Sexing a ton of people is another. Drinking on a Tuesday night is a third. There are many more. Trust me.

Your limitations are important because you must eventually come to the realization that your time on this planet is limited and, therefore, you should spend it on things that matter most. That means realizing that just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should do it. That means realizing that just because you like certain people doesn't mean you should be with them. That means realizing that there are opportunity costs to everything and that you can't have it all.

There are some people who never allow themselves to feel limitations — either because they refuse to admit their failures, or because they delude themselves into believing that their limitations don't exist. These people get stuck in Stage Two.

These are the "serial entrepreneurs" who are 38 and living with mom and still haven't made any money after 15 years of trying. These are the "aspiring actors" who are still waiting tables and haven't done an audition in two years. These are the people who can't settle into a long-term relationship because they always have a gnawing feeling that there's someone better around the corner. These are the people who brush all of their failings aside as "releasing" negativity into the universe or "purging" their baggage from their lives.

At some point we all must admit the inevitable: life is short, not all of our dreams can come true, so we should carefully pick and choose what we have the best shot at and commit to it.

But people stuck in Stage Two spend most of their time convincing themselves of the opposite. That they are limitless. That they can overcome all. That their life is that of non-stop growth and ascendance in the world, while everyone else can clearly see that they are merely running in place.

In healthy individuals, Stage Two begins in mid- to late-adolescence and lasts into a person's mid-20s to mid-30s. People who stay in Stage Two beyond that are popularly referred to as those with "Peter Pan Syndrome" — the eternal adolescents, always discovering themselves but finding nothing.