Millennials
Millennials and who are they? As a therapist I see attention turning to the era we refer to as the Millennial Children of today. There are hard cold facts and statistics for this group born 1980 – 2000. Lets look at some startling facts and findings with this age group we refer to as the Millennials.
Millennials
Facts and Findings
- We see a spike in the reported incidences of narcissistic personality disorder. It is showing three times higher for those in their 20’s as apposed to the generation of those comprising 65 and older.
- Millennials received so many trophies for participation that they feel entitled and that they should be promoted within a year of joining a new company. This is regardless of the fact that they are actually performing well at work or not.
- They love to watch social media fame based obsessed shows and follow the stars lives. It is reported that 3x as a many girls in middle school consider their dream job to be a personal assistant to a famous celebrity.
- In a 2007 survey, it revealed that over four times as many picked the job of assistant over the option of being the CEO of a Corporation.
- Their growth is so severely stunted that when asked about how they might get out of a dangerous situation many responded in a group study that they would “feel the right way to respond and therefore never get themselves into a situation that could be threatening.”
- Results from a 2012 University Poll states that there are more people between the ages of 18 to 29 that live at home with their parents and not a spouse.
- They are lazy, entitled and feel they do not have to work for anything.
The Millennials
Social Media
Thanks to social media the Millennials have no idea how to have conversations with others, how to shake hands and look someone in the eyes. At close to 80 million going strong, this is the biggest age group currently in the United States. Due to globalization, the social media, and exporting Western culture along with the speed of change, millennials are more similar worldwide to each other than any other older generation. It does not matter, rich kids, poor kids, these young adults are entitled, have little to no idea how to live life outside of their phones and have little to no interest in anything other than themselves.
They are the most threatening and yet exciting generation now than the time of the baby boomer and the advancement of social revolution.They are not trying to create a revolution they are lost without any structure. They are full of social anxiety and double guess themselves constantly. With the Industrial Revolution individuals were much more powerful and they could move to new cities and start businesses and create organizations, etc. Now with the Information Revolution individuals are empowered because they have been handed the technology to compete against these massive organizations. They are professional hackers, bloggers that newspapers cant keep up with. Apps are taking over entire industries and YouTube has new directors every day so say goodbye to the studios. The real truth is that the Millennials don’t really need us at all. That is why many are scared of them.
How To Help The Millennials
1) Help Them to Set Up Priorities
Setting up priorities is a great step one. Many have poor time management skills. Sit down with them. Together model how to prioritize a day to day schedule. Walk through it with them. What and why is one thing a high priority vs. a low priority? Teach them how to work within time frames and with deadlines. Stop making decisions for them. Let them struggle if they need to fumble at first. That is fine.
2) Eliminate Wasted Time
They treasure and value their time over financial independence and gain. Helping them to eliminate the waste of time on low priority issues is key. They will soon set their focus on those high priority issues. You are doing them a huge favor. They are great at multitasking. They are able to do homework, text, Skype at the same time. Help them to engage in one main area of focus so that the job at hand is done well. It will help draw them away form distractions.
3) Teach them Good Habits for Critical Thinking
Most managers and business owners will tell you that their top complaint with this generation is the fact that they second guess everything. Have a clear understanding of what good judgment is first. It is not the same as ones mental capacity or their IQ. It is the ability to see connection between cause and effect. To use discernment. Teaching them to think down the road with a long term goal is important. Play out sequences and the counter moves needed before making a decision. Have them understand and then master the Why,When, Where, Who and How.
We have a responsibility to help this generation. Like it or not, the parents did not do that great of a job. It’s OK though. Together with help from mentors, counselors ( individual therapy, family therapy), school programs, career counseling etc. we can help to re parent this lost generation called the Me Generation or the Millennials.
