
Quarterlife
The Search for Self in Early Adulthood
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $15.75
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Satya Doyle Byock
About this listen
An innovative psychotherapist tackles the overlooked stage of Quarterlife—the years between adolescence and midlife—and provides a “fascinating” guide “on how to navigate and thrive—rather than just survive—these odd years” (PureWow).
“Quarterlife is an insightful, revealing look at the messy and uncharted paths to wholeness, and a powerful tool for anyone navigating early adulthood.”—Tembi Locke, New York Times bestselling author of From Scratch
I’m stuck. What’s wrong with me? Is this all there is? Satya Doyle Byock hears these refrains regularly in her psychotherapy practice where she works with “Quarterlifers,” individuals between the ages of (roughly) sixteen to thirty-six. She understands their frustration. Some clients have done everything “right”: graduate, get a job, meet a partner. Yet they are unfulfilled and unclear on what to do next. Byock calls these Quarterlifers “Stability Types.” Others are uninterested in this prescribed path, but feel unmoored. She refers to them as “Meaning Types.”
While society is quick to label the emotions and behavior of this age group as generational traits, Byock sees things differently. She believes these struggles are part of the developmental journey of Quarterlife, a distinct stage that every person goes through and which has been virtually ignored by popular culture and psychology.
In Quarterlife, Byock utilizes personal storytelling, mythology, Jungian psychology, pop culture, literature, and client case studies to provide guideposts for this period of life. Listeners will be able to find themselves on the spectrum between Stability and Meaning Types, and engage with Byock’s four pillars of Quarterlife development:
- Separate: Gain independence from the relationships and expectations that no longer serve you
- Listen: Pay close attention to your own wants and needs
- Build: Create, cultivate, and construct tools and practices for the life you want
- Integrate: Take what you’ve learned and manifest something new
Quarterlife is a defining work that offers a compassionate roadmap toward finding understanding, happiness, and wholeness in adulthood.
©2022 Satya Doyle Byock (P)2022 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
-
Trauma and the Soul
- A Psycho-Spiritual Approach to Human Development and Its Interruption
- By: Donald Kalsched
- Narrated by: John Telfer
- Length: 17 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Trauma and the Soul, Donald Kalsched continues the exploration he began in his first book, The Inner World of Trauma (1996)—this time going further into the mystical or spiritual moments that often occur around the intimacies of psychoanalytic work. Through extended clinical vignettes, including therapeutic dialogue and dreams, he shows how depth psychotherapy with trauma’s survivors can open both analytic partners to "another world" of non-ordinary reality in which daimonic powers reside, both light and dark.
-
-
Reading voice is annoying
- By Leah Khaghani on 10-07-22
By: Donald Kalsched
-
Real Self-Care
- A Transformative Program for Redefining Wellness (Crystals, Cleanses, and Bubble Baths Not Included)
- By: Pooja Lakshmin MD
- Narrated by: Pooja Lakshmin MD
- Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Real self-care is an internal, self-reflective process that involves making difficult decisions in line with our values, and when we practice it, we shift our relationships, our workplaces, and even our broken systems. Using case studies from her practice, clinical research, and the down-to-earth style that she's become known for, Pooja Lakshmin provides a step-by-step program for real and sustainable change. Real Self-Care is a complete roadmap for women to set boundaries, move past guilt, treat themselves with compassion, get closer to themselves, and assert their power.
-
-
Important topic but flawed insofar as it claims to want to reach a general audience
- By A.P. on 11-06-23
-
The Creative Act
- A Way of Being
- By: Rick Rubin
- Narrated by: Rick Rubin
- Length: 5 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Many famed music producers are known for a particular sound that has its day. Rick Rubin is known for something else: creating a space where artists of all different genres and traditions can home in on who they really are and what they really offer. He has made a practice of helping people transcend their self-imposed expectations in order to reconnect with a state of innocence from which the surprising becomes inevitable. Over the years, he has learned that being an artist isn’t about your specific output, it’s about your relationship to the world.
-
-
Rick is Art
- By Ira Henke on 01-17-23
By: Rick Rubin
-
The Defining Decade
- Why Your Twenties Matter - and How to Make the Most of Them Now
- By: Meg Jay
- Narrated by: Meg Jay
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York Times best-selling psychologist Dr. Meg Jay uses real stories from real lives to provide smart, compassionate, and constructive advice about the crucial (and difficult) years we cannot afford to miss.
-
-
Really enjoyed this as a parent too.
- By J. Summerfield on 07-21-21
By: Meg Jay
-
Platonic
- How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make—and Keep—Friends
- By: Marisa G. Franco PhD
- Narrated by: Marisa G. Franco PhD
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How do we make and keep friends in an era of distraction, burnout, and chaos, especially in a society that often prizes romantic love at the expense of other relationships? In Platonic, Dr. Marisa G. Franco unpacks the latest, often counterintuitive findings about the bonds between us—for example, why your friends aren’t texting you back (it’s not because they hate you!), and the myth of “friendships happening organically” (making friends, like cultivating any relationship, requires effort!).
-
-
Too much and yet, not enough
- By Kali on 04-05-23
-
The Quarter-Life Breakthrough
- Invent Your Own Path, Find Meaningful Work, and Build a Life That Matters
- By: Adam Smiley Poswolsky
- Narrated by: Adam Smiley Poswolsky
- Length: 6 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Have you ever known that you needed to make a change but felt unable to do anything about it? Have you ever felt like you aren't where you are supposed to be and wondered how the people around you managed to find their purpose in life? After realizing that his well-paying, prestigious job was actually making him miserable, Adam "Smiley" Poswolsky started asking these big questions: How do you actually find meaning in the workplace? How do you find work that makes your heart sing?
-
-
attacks conservative ideals and people throughout
- By Mark McClure on 01-13-18
-
Trauma and the Soul
- A Psycho-Spiritual Approach to Human Development and Its Interruption
- By: Donald Kalsched
- Narrated by: John Telfer
- Length: 17 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Trauma and the Soul, Donald Kalsched continues the exploration he began in his first book, The Inner World of Trauma (1996)—this time going further into the mystical or spiritual moments that often occur around the intimacies of psychoanalytic work. Through extended clinical vignettes, including therapeutic dialogue and dreams, he shows how depth psychotherapy with trauma’s survivors can open both analytic partners to "another world" of non-ordinary reality in which daimonic powers reside, both light and dark.
-
-
Reading voice is annoying
- By Leah Khaghani on 10-07-22
By: Donald Kalsched
-
Real Self-Care
- A Transformative Program for Redefining Wellness (Crystals, Cleanses, and Bubble Baths Not Included)
- By: Pooja Lakshmin MD
- Narrated by: Pooja Lakshmin MD
- Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Real self-care is an internal, self-reflective process that involves making difficult decisions in line with our values, and when we practice it, we shift our relationships, our workplaces, and even our broken systems. Using case studies from her practice, clinical research, and the down-to-earth style that she's become known for, Pooja Lakshmin provides a step-by-step program for real and sustainable change. Real Self-Care is a complete roadmap for women to set boundaries, move past guilt, treat themselves with compassion, get closer to themselves, and assert their power.
-
-
Important topic but flawed insofar as it claims to want to reach a general audience
- By A.P. on 11-06-23
-
The Creative Act
- A Way of Being
- By: Rick Rubin
- Narrated by: Rick Rubin
- Length: 5 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Many famed music producers are known for a particular sound that has its day. Rick Rubin is known for something else: creating a space where artists of all different genres and traditions can home in on who they really are and what they really offer. He has made a practice of helping people transcend their self-imposed expectations in order to reconnect with a state of innocence from which the surprising becomes inevitable. Over the years, he has learned that being an artist isn’t about your specific output, it’s about your relationship to the world.
-
-
Rick is Art
- By Ira Henke on 01-17-23
By: Rick Rubin
-
The Defining Decade
- Why Your Twenties Matter - and How to Make the Most of Them Now
- By: Meg Jay
- Narrated by: Meg Jay
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York Times best-selling psychologist Dr. Meg Jay uses real stories from real lives to provide smart, compassionate, and constructive advice about the crucial (and difficult) years we cannot afford to miss.
-
-
Really enjoyed this as a parent too.
- By J. Summerfield on 07-21-21
By: Meg Jay
-
Platonic
- How the Science of Attachment Can Help You Make—and Keep—Friends
- By: Marisa G. Franco PhD
- Narrated by: Marisa G. Franco PhD
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How do we make and keep friends in an era of distraction, burnout, and chaos, especially in a society that often prizes romantic love at the expense of other relationships? In Platonic, Dr. Marisa G. Franco unpacks the latest, often counterintuitive findings about the bonds between us—for example, why your friends aren’t texting you back (it’s not because they hate you!), and the myth of “friendships happening organically” (making friends, like cultivating any relationship, requires effort!).
-
-
Too much and yet, not enough
- By Kali on 04-05-23
-
The Quarter-Life Breakthrough
- Invent Your Own Path, Find Meaningful Work, and Build a Life That Matters
- By: Adam Smiley Poswolsky
- Narrated by: Adam Smiley Poswolsky
- Length: 6 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Have you ever known that you needed to make a change but felt unable to do anything about it? Have you ever felt like you aren't where you are supposed to be and wondered how the people around you managed to find their purpose in life? After realizing that his well-paying, prestigious job was actually making him miserable, Adam "Smiley" Poswolsky started asking these big questions: How do you actually find meaning in the workplace? How do you find work that makes your heart sing?
-
-
attacks conservative ideals and people throughout
- By Mark McClure on 01-13-18
-
I'm Glad My Mom Died
- By: Jennette McCurdy
- Narrated by: Jennette McCurdy
- Length: 6 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother’s dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called “calorie restriction." She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, “Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn’t tint hers?” She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, email, and all her income. In I’m Glad My Mom Died, Jennette recounts all this in unflinching detail.
-
-
Unexpectedly poor narration
- By Glitchzig on 08-10-22
By: Jennette McCurdy
-
Everything I Know About Love
- A Memoir
- By: Dolly Alderton
- Narrated by: Dolly Alderton
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The wildly funny, occasionally heart-breaking internationally best-selling memoir about growing up, growing older, and learning to navigate friendships, jobs, loss, and love along the ride. When it comes to the trials and triumphs of becoming an adult, journalist and former Sunday Times columnist Dolly Alderton has seen and tried it all.
-
-
Loved it
- By Jessica on 04-02-20
By: Dolly Alderton
-
Greedy
- Notes from a Bisexual Who Wants Too Much
- By: Jen Winston
- Narrated by: Jen Winston
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
If Jen Winston knows one thing for sure, it’s that she’s bisexual. Or wait - maybe she isn’t? Actually, she definitely is. Unless...she’s not? Jen’s provocative, laugh-out-loud debut takes us inside her journey of self-discovery. Greedy follows Jen’s attempts to make sense of herself as she explores the role of the male gaze, what it means to be “queer enough”, and how to overcome bi stereotypes when you’re the posterchild for all of them: greedy, slutty, and constantly confused.
-
-
A beautiful read for anyone under the Bi+ Umbrella
- By Amazon Customer on 10-08-21
By: Jen Winston
-
Atlas of the Heart
- Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience
- By: Brené Brown
- Narrated by: Brené Brown
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Atlas of the Heart, Brown takes us on a journey through 87 of the emotions and experiences that define what it means to be human. As she maps the necessary skills and an actionable framework for meaningful connection, she gives us the language and tools to access a universe of new choices and second chances - a universe where we can share and steward the stories of our bravest and most heartbreaking moments with one another in a way that builds connection.
-
-
Perfect
- By Mandy on 02-16-22
By: Brené Brown
-
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
- A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed
- By: Lori Gottlieb
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 14 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One day, Lori Gottlieb is a therapist who helps patients in her Los Angeles practice. The next, a crisis causes her world to come crashing down. Enter Wendell, the quirky but seasoned therapist in whose office she suddenly lands. With his balding head, cardigan, and khakis, he seems to have come straight from Therapist Central Casting. Yet he will turn out to be anything but.
-
-
It was like a hallmark movie being waterboarded into my ears for 15 hours
- By Amazon Customer on 10-01-19
By: Lori Gottlieb
-
Four Thousand Weeks
- Time Management for Mortals
- By: Oliver Burkeman
- Narrated by: Oliver Burkeman
- Length: 6 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nobody needs telling there isn’t enough time. We’re obsessed with our lengthening to-do lists, our overfilled inboxes, work-life balance, and the ceaseless battle against distraction; and we’re deluged with advice on becoming more productive and efficient, and “life hacks” to optimize our days. But such techniques often end up making things worse. The sense of anxious hurry grows more intense, and still the most meaningful parts of life seem to lie just beyond the horizon.
-
-
Make TIME for this one...
- By Ethan Babbage on 08-12-21
By: Oliver Burkeman
-
Rest Is Resistance
- A Manifesto
- By: Tricia Hersey
- Narrated by: Tricia Hersey
- Length: 5 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What would it be like to live in a well-rested world? Far too many of us have claimed productivity as the cornerstone of success. Brainwashed by capitalism, we subject our bodies and minds to work at an unrealistic, damaging, and machine‑level pace—feeding into the same engine that enslaved millions into brutal labor for its own relentless benefit. In Rest Is Resistance, Tricia Hersey, aka the Nap Bishop, casts an illuminating light on our troubled relationship with rest and how to imagine and dream our way to a future where rest is exalted.
-
-
What an experience
- By makeba jones on 10-26-22
By: Tricia Hersey
-
OK Boomer, Let's Talk
- How My Generation Got Left Behind
- By: Jill Filipovic
- Narrated by: Emily Tremaine
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Baby Boomers are the most prosperous generation in American history, but their kids are screwed. In this eye-opening book, journalist Jill Filipovic breaks down the massive problems facing Millennials including climate, money, housing, and healthcare.
-
-
Millennial Attorney Leadership
- By Amazon Customer on 08-26-20
By: Jill Filipovic
-
The Myth of Normal
- Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture
- By: Gabor Maté MD, Daniel Maté
- Narrated by: Daniel Maté
- Length: 18 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this revolutionary book, renowned physician Gabor Maté eloquently dissects how in Western countries that pride themselves on their healthcare systems, chronic illness and general ill health are on the rise. Nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescription drug; more than half take two. In Canada, every fifth person has high blood pressure. In Europe, hypertension is diagnosed in more than 30 percent of the population. And everywhere, adolescent mental illness is on the rise. So what is really “normal” when it comes to health?
-
-
Bought book after hearing podcast...
- By Adrian on 09-14-22
By: Gabor Maté MD, and others
-
The Perfectionist's Guide to Losing Control
- A Path to Peace and Power
- By: Katherine Morgan Schafler
- Narrated by: Katherine Morgan Schafler
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We’ve been looking at perfectionism all wrong. As psychotherapist and former on-site therapist at Google Katherine Morgan Schafler argues in The Perfectionist's Guide to Losing Control, you don’t have to stop being a perfectionist to be healthy. For women who are sick of being given the generic advice to “find balance,” a new approach has arrived.
-
-
The Life Changing Book I didn’t know I needed
- By S. RINCON on 04-23-23
-
Rising Strong
- How the Ability to Reset Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead
- By: Brené Brown
- Narrated by: Brené Brown
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Social scientist Brené Brown has ignited a global conversation on courage, vulnerability, shame, and worthiness. Her pioneering work uncovered a profound truth: Vulnerability—the willingness to show up and be seen with no guarantee of outcome—is the only path to more love, belonging, creativity, and joy. But living a brave life is not always easy: We are, inevitably, going to stumble and fall.
-
-
A Gem, But Not Her Best
- By Gillian on 08-26-15
By: Brené Brown
-
The Road Back to You
- An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery
- By: Ian Morgan Cron, Suzanne Stabile
- Narrated by: Ian Morgan Cron
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Enneagram is an ancient personality type system with an uncanny accuracy in describing how human beings are wired, both positively and negatively. In The Road Back to You, Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile forge a unique approach - a practical, comprehensive way of accessing Enneagram wisdom and exploring its connections with Christian spirituality for a deeper knowledge of God and of ourselves.
-
-
Wow, what an amazing book! I loved it!!
- By Maria on 06-09-18
By: Ian Morgan Cron, and others
Critic reviews
"Absent the structured rites of passage that enabled our ancestors to emerge from childhood into adulthood, how is a young person supposed to grow up today?... Quarterlife is a valuable guide to the perplexed in those seas. Filled with illustrative examples, Byock provides tips, clues, and guidance for those who otherwise feel alone.”—James Hollis, Ph.D., Jungian Analyst and author of Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life
“For decades now, there's been a crisis—psychological, existential—among America’s young adults, one that has been hiding in plain sight. I know of no one better to address it than Satya Doyle Byock, who has made attending to this age group her life’s work. Quarterlife is compassionate, specific, forceful, lucid, and very wise. It is the book a lot of people have been waiting for, whether they know it or not.”—William Deresiewicz, author of Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite
“I’m obsessed with this book. If you’re a younger millennial, or a Gen-Zer and trying to figure out why do I feel this way, why don’t I feel satisfied, why do I always feel like I’m behind?—this is the book for you.”—Anne Helen Petersen, author of Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation
What listeners say about Quarterlife
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 11-10-22
loved this book!
this book was so helpful, relatable, well written, and following the different characters made it entertaining. I devoured this book, and I am going to buy the hard copy. It also made me want to try going to therapy again.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- J. Manning
- 01-16-23
Very helpful, interesting, and insightful information
I really enjoyed this book and had never thought about this time of life and its unique challenges. It was very eye-opening with many ideas for how to navigate this time of life and suggestions and benefits for supporting people more during this difficult transition in life.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 03-06-23
As a young person, I felt seen
It’s like going to therapy without the personal therapist. Well written and full of great insights
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Robin Reif
- 09-07-23
Strongly recommend
Important in naming a life phase and the specific challenges that feel so freighted because the young person is apt to believe that decisions made now will affect the rest of their lives. As a former quarter lifer who felt that every decision had existential importance and a current parent of a 22 year old, I highly recommend.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 09-14-22
I enjoyed listening to this book
It spoke to an internal struggle that I have been trying to name for a couple of years in my 20’s- stability versus meaning. I identified heavily with one of the characters though all of them were relatable. I appreciated the encouragement given by the author. Would recommend to anyone in their quarter life.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Greg
- 12-09-22
Should be required in highschool/early adulthood!
Truly eye opening for me, I'm LONG past high school and at the far upper end of quarter life (or past it) but I wish I would have had this book years ago. It explained concepts I struggled to put into words and gave me the words\language to talk about those concepts. I am extremely grateful to have listened to this one.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Yixuan Chen
- 05-22-24
Amazing book for 20 somethings
Listening to this book has helped me a lot! I relate to the examples the author used. It sometimes feels like a therapy session. For an audiobook, the author has a really good rhythm to her reading too. I might give it another listen/read.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kaitlyn Stewart
- 12-23-24
Eye-Opening
I recommend this book to anyone in their teens and twenties, or anyone with children or loved ones in that age range. I feel like I learned so much from this read about myself and my experiences.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 11-29-22
Well done, would have liked to explore spectrums more
This book uses stories to convey the different places young people are at in their crises, connecting the currents of the present and past with real anxieties for the future. I would have liked to hear more stories of people not on the far ends of the spectrum of structure and meaning, the struggles that continue as we are in a place where we are seen and sometimes feel as though we are thriving, but then get lost in the struggle again. Thank you for your book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 09-21-24
The quarter life dilemma
I like how from a therapist point of view we are able to see how quarter life crisis effects all people from different walks of life. She tackles social issues, policy in need of reform and the toxic generational hazing seen In american society. She gives everyone in genz and melenials a voice that could possibly be drown out by politicians and spiteful policies made by people who "Figured it out, Why cant you?". I love how this book reminds people going through this struggle that we still have our whole lives ahead of us.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!