Unmasking Millenials

Millenials get a lot of crap today for being lazy, offended, and requiring participation trophies. Companies have a hard time determining how to fulfill their needs and I might also guess that millenials are often victims of imposter syndrome. Of course, everything is also a labeled ailment of which to take pride, as well.

I'd like to present the positive reasons for all these perceived negatives. Millenials differ from their predecessors mostly in having grown up with the internet--the great equalizer and divider alike. It has opened the eyes of our generation to both the mundaneness of our own lives and the potential for instant stardom. It has also shown us the world for what it is and opened our eyes to the plights of others while simultaneously hiding much of the negative aspects of our friends', family's, and neighbor's lives.

It's easy to see how rough others have it and wish to do something about it. It's easy to see how good we have it yet struggle anyway and not realize that those close to us struggle as well. Knowing we can be an instant success like the 8-year-old on YouTube if only we'd try, it's easy to feel like a greater failure to struggle with #FirstWorldProblems while others are starving and oppressed. The fact is, Millenials are all too motivated.

Companies struggle with Millenials because Millenials want to change the world and companies have offered to proof-read requirements documents or peer-review flow charts. Millenials are offended because they see injustice and want to make a difference. These strong desires mixed with the feelings of failure due to comparing with mystical internet entities have left them feeling worthless and tired--like imposter super heroes. Of course, the silly older generations tried to fix this by giving them participation ribbons and trophies but that was never what Millenials were about. It's insulting and always will be.

Millenials simply care more than the other generations can fathom. If they can learn to see things a little more realistically and visualize a clear path to non-instant success, this world will become Star Trek Utopia in a matter of decades from when they begin to rip the reigns of power out of the stale hands of the old-fashioned. Get your kicks in now, because the world is due for greater and faster change than other generations have previously conceived. Millenials have some growing to do, but those who survive the frustrations and futilities of their struggling egos will go on to change the world.