DAYnamics Show Fundamentals: Intentional Adulting

Adult Dynamics and Adulting isn’t a finish line you cross; it’s a practice you build. In this discussion, we unpack what “adult dynamics” really means beyond age, and look at the choices, values, and tools that shape a grounded, self-led life.

• Clarifying when you felt the shift to Adulthood happened
• We share honest stories about stepping into responsibility, managing more complex relationships and finances, and navigating the shift from external rules to internal guidance. 
• You’ll hear how asking better questions—especially “why” and “what do I prefer now?”—turns hard moments into useful data. 
• We dig into practical strategy DynaTools that actually stick.

Join us on this journey of Adult Dynamics! 

Links Supporting the Show:

Blogs:

Adult Dynamics: The Power of Being Authentically You 

Do You Have Ulterior Motives? Intentions and Authenticity

Embracing Self-Judgment: A Journey Toward Conscious Kindness

Videos:

Vehicle Videos #70: Intro to Adult Dynamics

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome & Adulting Theme
• 2:24 What Makes Someone An Adult
• 5:14 Personal Milestones Into Adulthood
• 9:54 Definitions: Age, Maturity, Independence
• 13:34 Comparing Paths Without Comparison Traps
• 18:54 Adult Milestones: Career & Money
• 24:14 Long-Term Relationships And Growth
• 28:54 Personal Growth And Asking Why

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:30

Hello my dynamics community. It's your host, Marianna, here to welcome you to the Dynamics Show, where personal development and wellness meets real life. We know that there's no one size fits all path, but your unique journey is your greatest gift, so let's uncover the reason that you are here and explore what's possible together. Let's align with our dynamic well-being daily. Today our discussion recording will be about exploring the subject of one of our dynamics, adult dynamics. I'm not sure exactly what it's going to be titled, but it will be about adulting. I have the pleasure of being joined by if you haven't heard her met her or listened to her before. We're doing this whole year together of these dynamics. It is Makota. Makota, welcome. Thanks for having me. And welcome, welcome. Glad that you could uh join us on this, even though you're not feeling 100%. I appreciate the adulting part of this and getting through what needs to be done.

SPEAKER_02: 1:49

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01: 1:50

It's very fitting. Yeah. Awesome. So we usually ask the question why this subject? Well, again, we're doing all of the dynamics from the dynamics series, as dynamic show is a part of this dynamic series. And now we're on adult. So, Makoda, I'll just ask you up front, what do you feel when you think of adult dynamics? What's the first thing that you think of?

SPEAKER_02: 2:21

Well, I just think about the day-to-day choices and expansion of adults, really, and how just kind of like how dynamic series is that we kind of go from kid dynamics to teen dynamics, and now we're going to that adult dynamics. It's the progression of how are the themes and how are the things that we talk about able to progress as our viewers go into adulthood and how they can progress through that.

SPEAKER_01: 2:47

Yes. Before it was kid tween, teen, young adult, yes, and then adult, but we just we wrap that whole adult into one thing. So that's true. And you've gone through it because you're 26, so you've well again, depending on what definition you for age-wise, some people say you be adult as young as 18. And then if you look up the definition, which we'll go over in a bit, it says it could be it's more of a a maturity thing. And so, or being of age, and depending on what country you live in, depends on what number that might be. But that doesn't always mean you feel like an adult or you want to be an adult or you're ready to be an adult. Very true, yes.

SPEAKER_00: 3:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 3:40

Again, we're covering the specific dynamic because it's time. So we have adult dynamics this month, and then next month it is emotion dynamics. So it should be fun. Very fun. Yes. So before we get right into it deeply, I like to set the tone for our time together. As it's more than just a podcast, we're here to remind you that flowing through each one of us is this dynamic energy that is ours to use every single day. And that's why the day in dynamics is capitalized. It is a daily choice to live dynamically. Take a moment and center ourselves, be fully present, and listen with an open heart and mind. Since we know that what we focus on expands, and part of being dynamic is constantly changing, being open to new ideas, and always becoming something.

SPEAKER_00: 4:40

So let's start by asking the question can you relate our audience and our listeners, our community to wondering why adulting can be so challenging sometimes?

SPEAKER_01: 5:03

That that shift, and when did you find that shift sort of happened for you? Was it organically 18 or was it 21 or was it or was it just a natural progression? So, community audience and listeners, you can answer that for you. Makoda, you're my guest here. So let's have the conversation and discussion about when do you feel like you were an adult?

SPEAKER_02: 5:31

Well, for me, I felt like it was after I had graduated with my bachelor's, so maybe a bit later than many people might consider it, but I was 24 at the time. And I felt that that was my first big milestone into adulthood because I could finally feel like I was out of school and that school would allow me to get you know a big girl job and to be getting a full-time job and be getting those benefits and starting to save up and thinking about the future. And that was kind of the realization that that was the first real milestone, maybe in my head, of being an adult, even though I have been considered an adult way before that, but it made me feel like I had actually grown up a little bit to continue and finish something so massive in my life.

SPEAKER_01: 6:19

Yeah. Yeah, that's awesome. And that's good to sort of know that point where you sort of feel like, okay, well, I feel this now, you know, like I feel it. Because when you look up the definition of adult online on, you know, Oxford Languages or dictionary.com or even AI, it talks about defining an adult as a person who has fully grown or developed. Well, I don't know, the whole maturity level and the whole like the way someone's physicalness and and their mental and emotional and spiritual side develops. And then the other definition part is a person who has attained the age of majority and is therefore regarded as independent, self-sufficient, and responsible. Does self-sufficient mean, I wonder, you could still be living with roommates, or you could still be living with parents or guardians or friends, or by yourself. You could still fit all of that. You could still be independent, self-sufficient and responsible. I don't know how do you feel about it, but like adult could be, there's not an age you can put on in being an adult, per se.

SPEAKER_02: 7:38

I definitely agree because everyone's journey is completely different, and that's something that as an adult, now that I've had to realize is you know, maybe you'll go on social media, or maybe you'll go and see some of your old classmates and realize that maybe their life path to being an adult and what their choices were is completely different from you. And they might have had all those milestones earlier than you, or maybe they're behind you and there's no limit on when that moment of adulthood happens because it's all all the circumstances that provide for your life and not for everyone else's. So that's a nice thing to think about is that it is a journey for every single person to go on, and it's not necessarily about whatever people are doing around you.

SPEAKER_01: 8:21

Yeah, and that that's a good explanation from your perspective.

SPEAKER_00: 8:27

Again, everyone has a different life path, right?

SPEAKER_01: 8:31

Being an adult is we can follow the definitions of it, but the definitions sometimes aren't even as clear. Define what you think is an adult with however you want it to be. Right. With the choices that you make. And the choices uh, yeah. We do have like milestones in adult life. Do you want to go over a few of them? That sounds good. Career development. You mentioned it before, like you finish your school, so then you could go to a career. So do you think career development is part of an adult life?

SPEAKER_02: 9:11

Yes, I definitely think so. When I look at all the other jobs that I had beforehand, they were all part-time or freelance or not really like high stakes, I guess you could say. But after getting my bachelor's degree in education, my first real big job was being an elementary school teacher. And that really felt like I was stepping into adulthood, especially because most of my co-workers were older and had so much experience that I felt like I was in a field that valued being an adult in a way. Whereas other ones, I had a lot of co-workers that were just getting out of high school or maybe were just starting college. So the age group that I was working with felt less adult and more playful, I suppose.

SPEAKER_01: 9:53

Yeah. And then you you're responsible for kids. Yes. That's a big thing. Yeah, that's right. Okay, good. So the next one, financial independence, managing your own money and making responsible choices with it. How do you feel about that key point?

SPEAKER_02: 10:10

That's definitely a big one. I think the biggest thing that I've talked to about is that when you first get your big girl job, your first one is that it's being able to manage that amount of money that you're pulling in. When you had those smaller jobs, maybe you weren't making as much. And so you were a lot more lenient with how much you were spending. And it's kind of having that balance between, okay, now I can buy bigger things for myself, but I also want to start saving up for ventures or moving out. So it is a big adult thing to have those financial abilities.

SPEAKER_01: 10:44

Yes. Then yeah, you're thinking about longer term, like, okay, do I want to rent a house? Do I want to buy a house? Do I want to travel? Do I want to like focus it just on the career side of things? Like there's there's all these things, okay. How much do I want to save? Like there's all these questions that need to be right and answered for you. Exactly. Yeah, perfect. Long-term relationships, building deep friendships and romantic partnership. You have a fiance, yes, and long-term relationships, like even you know, you think about family, you think about friends, you think about, like it says, romantic partnerships. You guys have been together for what, seven years? Six and a half years. Six and a half years, and a lot of that sometimes has been long-distance stuff and both going to school and both doing careers and then seeing each other, but still being able to have that bond. Like six and a half years, you think about that, is when you were 20, right?

SPEAKER_02: 11:56

Yeah, we started dating before either of us were in school, either of us had had big jobs. We were still, you know, both living with our parents. And so it's just crazy to think about how much we have changed since that point. That I've gotten my master's degree and I have a full-time job, that my fiance has an apartment and a car and also a full-time job, and has also graduated with a bachelor's, and that over those six and a half years, we've gone from kids in my mind and teenagers to, you know, getting into that adulthood that we're continuing into now.

SPEAKER_01: 12:27

Yes. Oh, and don't forget to mention if you if you didn't hear the last podcast that she also has her master's now. Masters in adulthood. Yes. Also masters in your education. What's your what's your full title?

SPEAKER_02: 12:42

It's a master of education and advanced teaching for K to 12 specialization.

SPEAKER_01: 12:47

So we're so proud of you. Congratulations. Thank you, yes, on this podcast. Sure, from all anyone that listens to it as well. The number four, personal growth, setting and achieving goals and learning new skills and being open to new ideas and growing as a person. That really sounds like being dynamic, actually. Yes, very dynamic. There is there's so many words and verbiage in here. And I get this off of the research that I was doing. It almost sounds like your personal growth is all of that, anyway. So which goes to show that so many of us are dynamic and and never think of ourselves as that. But how about are you for personal growth and your your thoughts on that?

SPEAKER_02: 13:35

Well, I definitely think that it's almost like a scaffold of the ones that we've talked about. It's that, you know, once you get a bit older and you have education, you have financial stability and you have those big relationships that your world completely opens up, whether by the people that you're meeting or the places that you're able to go to, that you're able to grow and try new things and hopefully be more open to the world around you. And I think that that's the best time to have personal growth is when you're becoming an adult, is what it feels like.

SPEAKER_01: 14:05

However, I think you can have that personal growth at any age. I just don't, I don't know if we're as conscious of it back then, you know, when we're younger, that we're having growth. If there's more more conscious parents and guardians and coaches, teachers that uses verbiage like that, that then they would know that you are you are growing right here. You're you're having this growth.

SPEAKER_02: 14:34

And I think that I would just say if you haven't, if you're not using that, maybe just use that verbiage a little bit growing along the way and evolving and what other words is is used in your household or or that'll make it a lot easier for when they get older if you start that at a young age, that they won't get kind of shell-shocked and scared when they're thrown into the adult world and they've never had those words said to them or those experiences, so that helps them transition easier.

SPEAKER_01: 15:06

I I still remember hearing, oh, adulting is challenging. Well, because I think for me, if you're preparing those that do have children or are guardians of kids of some kind, if if you're just teaching them along the way how to be the skills and responsible and and all the stuff that you know that they're gonna open their life up to as they go. Well, still enhancing the being kids and having fun and and all that stuff as well. But that if we're teaching that in schools more, that would be great.

SPEAKER_02: 15:45

That would be great. Yes, I agree as a teacher.

SPEAKER_01: 15:48

Yes. Now, number five, starting a family or choosing not to. So deciding what family means to you. Now we've done family dynamics. Yes. We know that family is what you choose it to be, which may be with kids, without kids, biological family, blood family, and then who you choose it to be. I mean, we had a a big list of what they consider family to be, right? So uh what do you think about the the part about starting a family or choosing not to? I mean, I think when they say choosing not to, because you have family usually even through friends, if you don't have any like direct family, uh do you think that probably mean like having children? Because people have pet families. Sometimes that is because they they just choose not to have bring kids in, but their family is maybe pets or nieces and nephews or fostering. There there could be so many things, both animals or children that way.

SPEAKER_02: 16:56

So very true. And I think that's a really big one because not that everyone does this and that is their own life path, but for me, I wouldn't want to expand my family without feeling like I was following all those other boxes that we mentioned beforehand of financial stability and having a career and having, you know, people that I could support and that could support me in that journey. And so I know some people have different life paths, and for me, I'm excited to be able to see that in my future and know that that's a possibility to have children or to have animals or both, and that that'll eventually be part of my adult life and that that expansion for myself.

SPEAKER_01: 17:38

Yeah, that's awesome. And I think we've always been so open with you around setting you up along the way to go, we're not gonna do a lot of this stuff for you. How many uncomfortable conversations you might have had to have? Oh, I don't like doing this, I don't like doing that. Okay, well, that doesn't matter. You know, it's time for you to take responsibility and whether it's finances or whether it's just choices that you're making along the way, or whether it's choosing who you want to be in your life and who do you want to be as a person and all that stuff. It's an individual choice of stuff and that who do you want to be in the middle of it all.

SPEAKER_02: 18:20

Yes, I I tell my kids that every day when they say, Oh, I I don't know how to do this. I don't remember, I don't I can't do it. And I said, Well, you can and you will, and that's just it. You know, you you'll find a way to do it and you will do it, and that really motivates them to think, okay, well, I can do it, and I will figure it out, even if it's not today, even if it's in two weeks, that they will eventually get to that point that they do know how to do it, or they do know how to be confident in that skill. And so even for me being an adult, I don't like doing phone calls. I don't like going talking to people over the phone. It has to come to that point that I have to and I will, even if it's uncomfortable, and that the more I do it, it'll be just an easy thing for me to do.

SPEAKER_00: 19:01

Right.

SPEAKER_01: 19:03

Good point. And just that thing, it's like I said, from one step and then the next day, you feel like, what are the skills are we learning along the way and the themes and the and the values and virtues and all that? It's almost like the the key underlining things that will help you at any age. And then by the time you get to be an adult and adulting, that it's just a natural flow, you'd feel more comfortable, more known versus unknown. But I mean, life is that anyway, you're going to come up against everything. That's what about exploring at any age is gonna do. Adulting just means that a lot of times you're doing it with a more mature brain that's developed, and more mature mind, your emotions, your health, your well-being, your spiritual, your relationships, all that is just more developed and and more mature ish and more conscious of what you're doing. Exactly. Yeah. Now, do you oftentimes think about do you ask yourself more why now as an adult? Why am I doing this? Why why did I do that? Why do I believe what I believe? Why am I doing this or that? Or did you ask yourself that as a kid and teen as much as you do as an adult now?

SPEAKER_02: 20:32

Yeah, I definitely think that I ask a lot more why. I think when I was not in the adult mindset, is that a lot of the choices that were around me were kind of just that I had to do it and I didn't really think about why I was doing it or why someone was making me do this or why someone was making me feel this way. I kind of just was in a way breezing around and trying to figure myself out. So I wasn't really thinking about what I would want to do or asking myself why I did something. But now that I have more control over the things that I do, the ways that I act, I kind of ask myself a lot more before and after situations of why I did that or how that would benefit me, or why was I thinking that way. And I think that's just the natural process of becoming more of yourself and having your own personality and becoming who you need to be is to ask yourself questions and that you don't always gonna like the answer that you give yourself, but at least you'll be able to have that internalized conversation and know how to do better in the future.

SPEAKER_01: 21:41

Right. And then the thing about anything is like, okay, well, if I don't like this anymore, I don't like the choices I made here, then what do I prefer? So there's there's the why questions, and there's a what do I prefer now instead? I we did a or I did a podcast about mistakes, and I was like, sometimes I don't necessarily agree with the word mistakes because I feel like is it a mistake or is it just an error, or is it just a choice that I get to choose something different on now? Because sometimes I understand the test part, like if you make a mistake on a test and then you usually never forget it, or if you make a mistake being mean to someone, I understand that part. I'm talking more the philosophical side of it where it's like, is there any mistake or was everything just meant to be the way it was supposed to be in that moment for you to evolve or learn or have the contrast of it so you can choose what you want to choose instead and know what you really want.

SPEAKER_00: 22:46

Exactly. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 22:48

Anyway, you guys all figure out what you what verbiage works best for you. There's some words that if they're not feeling right, I always say go to the definition and in and look at three or four sources of what uh societarial and dictionary styles and even the AI now is defining it as, and then decide what works for you. And then you can define it differently. So, listeners, audience, community, how are you doing with this information so far? Is it making sense? How do you feel about adulting and everything that is for you? I mean, we're just touching the overview of it. We're not even getting into real deep stuff yet. That's very true. Yeah, but we only have we always said that we want our podcasts 30 minutes or less. So we're just that's why we're getting into it. And then we always I usually have more conversations on text and emails later from this than than continuing. But I think in 2026 we'll be delving into it just a little bit more. Now tools for practical tools for adulting. Do you want to just go over a few as we uh finish up our podcast? Sounds good. Okay, so be you. That's simple for some people, but yeah. Well, the gift is you. And people don't understand that there's no one else like you. There's no one else with your DNA, with your thoughts, with your emotions, and being you is the gift. Authenticity is sometimes it's not always appreciated, right? Or acknowledged, or even whatever, but it's being you. How do you feel like about you, your journey on being you?

SPEAKER_02: 24:45

Well, it's ever evolving, and you'll become more of yourself as you get older, and that's just how it goes. And that's a big part of adulting for sure, is being okay with that.

SPEAKER_01: 24:55

And and who do you want to be? And being always being open to change because you're always becoming something. So, what do you want to become? Do you want to feel good or feel bad? And everything that that goes underneath that. Uh, journaling, gratitude or otherwise. Do you ever thought, have you journaled, whether it's handwriting journal or whether it's making notes, uh, voice texting to yourself, whether it's like I do, these podcasts.

SPEAKER_02: 25:24

I I definitely don't think I've done it enough. I've done it at certain points in my life, but definitely not something that I've personally done. I think that it can be helpful for a lot of people, especially if they're going through a tough situation. They want to get clarity and be able to go back and kind of realize that they did get through it. That's a really good way to look at journaling.

SPEAKER_01: 25:45

Yeah. Or or being able to just express your emotions in the moment or in the day and how you're feeling and just really that self-care, because self-care is all ages. Right. Okay. So there's a few more that we'll get through really fast. Wealth planners, staying on top of your financial stuff.

SPEAKER_02: 26:03

What do you I definitely think that wealth planning or having, you know, just a hard line of how you spend your money. Like for me, I always try to put a big amount of my money into savings, and then I don't touch that savings. Right. And that kind of helps me, even though I do like to spend some that I can only have a certain limit.

SPEAKER_01: 26:20

Right. And remember, wealth is not always money. So we did wealth dynamics, right? And we have the resources of that. So you can go back and listen to that and read the blogs. Wealth is so much more than just the physical money and the version of that opening up our mind more around what is truly wealth. Planners or even planning everything that wealth is, knowing all of that and opening your your evolution around the word wealth. Yes. Health practices.

SPEAKER_02: 26:57

Yes, I definitely think that as you get older and it's a good tool to have again health in terms of how you eat, how you treat yourself, how active you are. I think all those things become hopefully easier as you get older because you have more access to the way that you want to do that that works for you.

SPEAKER_01: 27:13

Yes, and and your overall well-being of health, too, right? Because there's even the health of your wealth and the health of your relationships and the health of the physical and the health of the mind. So again, health dynamics we've already done. And so again, you can go back to that. Support networks, so family, friends, support groups, professionals when you need help. I think I had a session the other day because it is important for those that are sharing resources or show sharing energy or doing healing work or creating, they also need support from family friends and maybe even someone else that's appear to them. So, how do you feel about support?

SPEAKER_02: 27:57

I definitely think support networks are important because it helps with your own growth and their growth as well, if it's a very good support system.

SPEAKER_01: 28:04

Yes. Mindfulness. So managing your stress and staying present in the moment, like what works best for you around that.

SPEAKER_02: 28:12

I definitely think that it's important to be mindful and to manage what you need in that moment and what's most important for you. As an example, I took today off of work because I realized that it's more important for me to be healthy than it is for me to, you know, have a bad day and get, you know, maybe upset at the kids because of how I'm feeling. And so being able to be mindful of my own reactions and choosing that.

SPEAKER_01: 28:35

Yes. And again, we have mind dynamics that you can go back with the resources and figure it out. Time management. So keeping track of your schedule and priorities. How important is that to you?

SPEAKER_02: 28:47

I think it's really important. I've had a big struggle with that since I like to procrastinate quite a lot. But being able to just have the harder deadlines for myself makes it a lot easier to get things done. And if there isn't a hard deadline, it can make it so that I'm doing it last minute. And that's something that I'm slowly getting better at. And, you know, again, part of adultsing that sometimes you don't get hard deadlines and you just have to do it when you do it.

SPEAKER_01: 29:09

Yeah. And then dynamics go to any of our dynamics and view the resources around them. So I think that's also one of the tools because our whole focus is about offering resources and then you figuring it out, what you want to do with them all. And doing more research. You could agree with what we say or not agree with what we say. It doesn't really matter to us. What matters is that you find out what serves you the best in any of the subject matters in any of the podcasts, blogs, or any of the resources that we offer. Right. Okay, our dynamics community, take a moment to reflect on the show. What has it made you most aware of around living a dynamic life when it comes to being an adult and what resources will you use? How will you make this information uniquely yours? And what will you become from this? We can't wait to hear about it. You know you can reach out through dynamicsseries.com, dynamicshow.info, and let us know. What now? So we challenge you to take action, share this episode with someone who may need it, and explore the past recordings to keep the conversation alive. Because your dynamic journey does not stop here. Or anytime. There's so much more waiting for you. And we invite you again to follow, subscribe, share, support, shift. And then keep in mind, all materials are shared on this show, are copyrighted and meant for informational purposes. And until next time, we say thank you, thank you, thank you for tuning into the Dynamic Show. Makota again, thank you for continuing being a guest on these different dynamics. I love your perspective. I think that it's important that we can have discussions about certain subjects. What we take away from this is what serves ourselves. Or we take away, oh, maybe, oh, I'll try this. Oh, that was a good thought. Let's do that. You know, there's so many things that can come from having a discussion with someone else and getting different perspectives.

SPEAKER_02: 31:17

Yes, I definitely agree. Thanks for having me on this.

SPEAKER_01: 31:20

Yeah. So again, thank you, thank you for your time and your knowledge that you're sharing with our community. Align with your dynamic well being every day and make it a dynamic day. Make it a dynamic day. Thank you, everyone. Thank you.