We are living in the age of teen prodigies. When you scroll through TikTok or Instagram, get ready to see 16-year-olds launching businesses, winning science olympiads, running in the Junior Olympics, editing short films, and journaling about it in their painfully aesthetic journal. The pressure?

Immense. The expectation? Be everywhere, everything, all at once.

This is the pressure to “have it all” as a teen. And spoiler: it’s not just exhausting - it’s unrealistic and honestly, a little toxic.

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The Myth of The Balanced Perfectionist

Social media has created this idea that if you just organize your colourful planner and drink iced matcha lattes, you can become this perfect teen who has school, sports, social life, skincare and mental health all under control. But real life is way messier than a “Day in My Life” vlog.

Trying to do it all isn’t the same as thriving. It’s like sprinting on a treadmill at max speed, hoping no one sees you trip. Even the people who look like they can handle anything? They’re probably burning out too - they just don’t post the part of them crying at 2 am about chemistry homework and a college app essay.

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Take the Quiz: Which ’90s Movie Character Are You?

Are you ready to travel back to the iconic ’90s and discover which unforgettable movie character matches your personality? Take this quiz to find out!

So… Why Do We Still Try?

Because everything - from college admissions to Instagram tells us that average isn’t enough. That rest equals laziness.

Colleges want well-rounded students, but not just any kind. They want the varsity-captain-volunteer-startup-founder-class-president kind. Your feed is filled with glow ups, productivity hacks, and hustle culture. It’s no wonder that we’re all trying to level up like life is a video game we’re trying to beat.

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But Here's the Truth: No One Has It All Together

Not your straight-A friend. Not the kid who went viral on TikTok. Not even the ones who say they're fine.

Behind every "perfect teen" is someone just trying to stay afloat. Everyone has gaps - whether it's in their mental health, family life, social life, academics, or just basic energy levels.

And newsflash: that's okay.

You aren't a failure for needing a mental break. You aren't falling behind because you're not building a resume at 14. You're not lazy if you choose sleep over studying sometimes or therapy over trophies.

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What Should We Be Aiming For?

Forget "having it all". Try having enough - enough time to rest, enough energy to do what matters, enough space to breathe. Real success isn't about stacking your life to impress future colleges or others. It's about building a life which you feel excited to live in.

Take up space in your own way. Maybe your "main character moment" isn't going to be viral. Maybe your best achievement this month was saying no to something that drained you.

Normalize being average at some things. Normalize doing stuff for joy and not your college app. Normalize not always having your life together. That's not failure - that's being human.

Final Thoughts

You're not here to be a teen robot. You're here to grow, mess up, learn, unlearn, feel things deeply, and become a real person - not a perfectly optimized productivity machine.

The real flex? Choosing peace over pressure. Balance over burnout. Living over proving.

Because no one has it all—and the ones pretending to have it all? They're probably just as tired as you.