Revised and reissued for a new generation, The Defining Decade has changed the way millions of twentysomethings think about their twenties -- and themselves. Our "thirty-is-the-new-twenty" culture tells us the twentysomething years don't matter. Some say they are an extended adolescence. Others call them an emerging adulthood. In The Defining Decade, Meg Jay argues that twentysomethings have been caught in a swirl of hype and misinformation, much of which has trivialized the most transformative time of our lives. Drawing from more than two decades of work with thousands of clients and students, Jay weaves the latest science of the twentysomething years with behind-closed-doors stories from twentysomethings themselves. The result is a provocative read that shows us how work, relationships, personality, identity and even the brain can change more during this decade than at any other time in adulthood -- if we use the time well. New in this updated edition: * Up-to-date research on work, love, social media, the brain, friendship and fertility * 29 conversations to have with your partner * A social experiment in which "digital natives" go without their devices * A Reader's Guide for book clubs, classrooms or further self-reflection The Defining Decade shows us why, rather than a developmental downtime, our twenties are a developmental sweetspot. They are a time when the things we do-and the things we don't do -- will have an enormous effect across years and even generations to come.

In this seminal new study of resilience, Meg Jay tells the stories of a diverse group of people who have overcome trauma in their childhoods to go on and live successful lives as adults. These are the 'supernormal', who having shouldered greater than average hardship as children defy expectation and achieve better than average success as adults. But how, and at what cost? Whether it was experiencing parental divorce, or growing up with an alcohol or drug-abusing parent, living with a parent or sibling with mental illness, being bullied, living in poverty, being a witness to domestic violence, suffering physical or emotional neglect, the people Meg Jay introduces us to are all survivors. She explores what they have in common that made it possible for them to transcend the trauma of their early years and to build successful adult lives. And she asks the questions: What was the cost of developing those powers? And having survived, even thrived, how do you go on and build a trusting, fulfilled life? Drawing on her clinical experience with survivors of childhood trauma, Meg Jay documents ordinary people made extraordinary by the experience of all-too-common trauma. Bringing together personal, scientific and cultural knowledge Jay gives a voice to the experience of the 'supernormal', furnishes them with the tools to better understand themselves and take full advantage of their strengths, and gives a window into their world for those who seek to understand them.