I do things this way because I am a millennial
I have heard this statement many times from a few young people, trying to justify why they do things the way they do things. Each time I heard this, I always remind the speaker that I am a millennial too! Our actions are largely based on who we are and not on what we think we are. A millennial is referred to as a person reaching young adulthood in the early 21st century. For clarity purpose, popular media typically use the early 1980s as stating birth years and the mid-1990s as ending birth years for the millennials.
The urban dictionary highlighted that there are two wings of millennials: Generation Y (people born between 1981 – 1991) and Generation Z (people born between 1981 – 1991). Both of these two groups are millennials and the main disparity between them is technology. Apparently, Generation Y grew up on personal computers, cell phones and video game systems, while Generation Z are the tablets, smartphones and apps babies.
Millennials are likely the most studied and talked about generation to date. The older generations believe that millennials are best known for feeling entitled, overconfident and impatient. They assume that millennials feel that everyone owes them something. Millennials are deemed as people who are full of mock empathy, mock sympathy, mock grief and mock outrage. Mainstream media has also drawn a picture of millennials as lazy, narcissistic and entitled selfie-lovers. It is not uncommon to hear remarks such as ‘can you believe what that millennial just said? What’s wrong with these kids today?
Likewise, the workplace is still trying to understand, accommodate and make room for some of the ideas and idiosyncrasies that the millennials bring to the table. Millennials think differently from the rest of their predecessors, millennials act differently from the rest of the generations, and millennials expect to be treated differently from the rest of the generations. At work, millennials are generally considered to be self-absorbed and spoiled and even if the spoiling is not entirely their fault, they still get blamed for being shallow. Caught in a generation that values showing off what they have got on social media, millennials are quite accustomed to projecting their highlight reel in place of their true selves.
If you want to know what the millennials think of themselves, then here it is – Millennials consider themselves as overachievers who just are not understood by their bosses and everyone else They are the only generation to fully understand the concept of work-life balance and to actually want a fulfilling career. They are not as willing as their predecessors to sacrifice their personal life for career advancements. They work hard and play harder and want to be at a company that appreciates the desire for balance. I mean can you really blame them?
To say I am appalled by all the biased negative perception of millennials is an understatement. I am a millennial too and I cannot be any more different from these stereotyped biases of my generation. However, let it also be said that many millennials have helped in influencing these preconceptions. Some millennials are indeed lazy and insatiable. No employer is good enough, no job is worthy enough and doing just the minimum has become a lifestyle. They say the mantra of the millennial is ‘follow your heart’ and some indeed just follow their heart. They apply for a new job, they show up for the interview all singing and dancing, they start the job and then they lose interest in it just as quickly as they have started. They don’t waste any time moving on to that next big role at that big firm. These set of millennials are opposed to adhering to workplace rules and they do expect special treatment just because they are millennials.
Millennials are genuinely the most entrepreneurially minded generation thus far. In a recent survey in the US, only 13% of the survey respondents said that their career goal involves climbing the corporate ladder to become the CEO, a huge 67% said that their goal involves starting their own businesses. However, many of the businesses set up by millennials unfortunately fail. An article on enterprenuer.com emphasized that the first reason for failure is because millennials forget the No. 1 rule of entrepreneurship, which is to stay in business and not jump from one idea to another.
Second, millennials don’t understand the difference between innovation and entrepreneurship. Innovation is the process of using one’s imagination and making it real while entrepreneurship is the action of monetizing the innovation. It may well be that a lot of failing millennial entrepreneurs are only just millennial innovators.
We have all heard by now what people really think of millennials and honestly, we would never be able to change the deeply rooted perceptions about this generation. What must we millennials then do to live a meaningful life? We have to find a way to discover happiness somewhere that is not a workplace, an organization or a material good. It can start with waking up and taking a deep breath when you look in the mirror tomorrow morning. Ask yourself what you need in life that transcends the tangible. Decide on what you want to pursue and stay pursuing it well. When we start to chase the things that truly matter, only then will we be able to truly succeed. I am a millennial too! Are you?
