It’s a tough time to be a millennial. They’ve taken on some difficult circumstances, which have left them frustrated and stressed out. The cost of living is rising, wages are going down, the good jobs are leaving the country, and we’re left with a huge mess to sort through.
Because of this, millennials are angry and disenfranchised. But there’s not just one point of view or mindset emerging from the chaos.
Consider this example taken from the blogging platform Medium. There was an employee who wrote a letter to her boss, the CEO of Yelp. In this letter, she passionately details how she feels her childhood dreams and ambitions have been crushed. Life feels unfair to her, as it’s been incredibly difficult to survive in a city like San Francisco.
In her troubles, she blames everyone. Her boss, the company she works for, society, and the economy. Of course, she revealed later that she was let go after publishing this letter. Her troubles didn’t end there.
Not long after, another millennial, just a couple of years older, wrote a strong and scathing letter of her own, debunking the first woman’s claims. You see, she, too, had endured the same type of tough going while living in New York City, and she wasn’t having it.
This is only one story in what can be described as two completely opposing mindsets from the same generation. One side whines about not having opportunities and the other side says to ‘suck it up baby!’.
Even though millennials do have a mess they’re forced to figure out and clean up, it goes to show how both sides choose to deal with the tough situation they were thrust into.
There seems to be an inherent gap in how millennials were taught to deal with difficult circumstances. There’s a popular meme currently making the rounds about how nineteen year olds in the 1940’s were storming Normandy, but today they demand safe spaces.
This post isn’t designed to pick on Millennials, but there’s an important message here. You see, what they have to go through today isn’t any different than what previous generations went through. Each time, they endured. They fought through it. They did their best to make the world a better place for their kids and grandkids.
No matter what generation comes after us, there will be obstacles. That’s life! It’s a given that you’re going to struggle. How far you get in this life, how successful you become, will be determined by how much crap you can take and keep pushing on.
We were all taught by our parents that perseverance breeds strength and grit. The cliche saying of ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’ is true. Those of us who endure tough times always come out the other end better than when we went in.
Except today’s millennials think they’re too good to endure anything. If it’s not easy, if it’s not handed to them, then they’ll complain. This is the generation of participation trophies instead of working hard to earn one.
It’s this attitude that’s keeping them from opportunities, advancement, and growth.
In ten years, Millennials will consist of nearly 75 percent of the workforce. When it comes to hiring, companies will have to ask themselves what type of workers they want to take on. What mindset do they need to have to be successful? Is it worth bringing them on and training them, or a waste of money if they’re going to leave at the first sign of trouble?
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