What they don't realize is that most of the ages they attach to those goals don't exist. A recent survey from found that the average age Americans think you should land your dream job is at 29, buy your first home at 30, and earn six figures by 35. They also reckon you should be debt-free at 41 and ready to retire at 58-but they're in for a shock, that's 6 years earlier than the national average age of retirement.
It's one thing to put on your CV 'I wrote a paper on this topic', but it's another thing to say 'I'm going to put this on my skin and carry it around with me for the rest of my life'. It's a different level of connection.