I'm not a Millennial...
Well, technically I am. But I don’t really identify as one. At least I don’t identify with most of the negative traits that come with the term Millennial. You’re now probably rolling your eyes thinking “Jeez… Here we go again. One more Millennial who wants to complain about all the negatives in this word, and distance himself from the masses. A typical characteristic of a Millennial”. You’re correct. But hear me out.
First thing’s first. What’s the definition of Millenials?
Millennials, also known as Generation Y (or simply Gen Y), are the demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years, with 1981 to 1996 being a widely-accepted defining range for the generation. (source)
Being born in the early 80s, this makes me by definition a Millennial. I’m fine with this. In fact, I even like that I’m part of a generation that is known by a special term and not just a letter of the alphabet. Where I start going sour, however, is when I get broadly determined based on my year of birth. I believe I was born early on in the Millennial age bracket that I, in fact, take most of the traits of the previous generations. It also helps that I grew up with people from that generation.
In general, Millennials are considered to be less loyal in the workplace, non-team players who always look for ways to benefit at an individual basis, self-centred, tech-native, work smarter not harder, impatient, environmentally-aware, curious, and wanting instant-gratification and recognition.
On the other hand, Gen X are broadly considered hard-working, direct, feedback-seeking, team-players, independent, the first generation to “have it easy” in life, well educated, tech-savvy, conservative, loyal to a single employer, investors, and likely to deep into their pension to pay for current affairs.
The start of a runt
Looking at the different characteristics side by side, I somehow feel closer to the Gen Xers. That’s mainly due to my work ethics and work-hard, play-hard mentality. On an individual basis, I’m very loyal to my team, supporting and siding my team-members’ actions and opinions, and I don’t jump ship on the first opportunity or when things starting going south.
I wasn’t born on the internet. I was there when it started becoming mainstream, so I have a good understanding of how to use it to my advantage. However, I’m not socially prone and don’t know how to promote myself on social media. Yes, I’m aware that it’s an oxymoron the fact I’m using a blog post to state this, or that I post pictures on Instagram and have a YouTube channel. But I’m only using them as distribution channels for sharing with friends and family, not for advertising.
Furthermore, I’m a strong believer in the “everything has it’s time and place” theory, meaning I’m happy with not achieving perfection right here, right now, and instead work hard towards that and learn throughout the process. I’m very driven and want to accomplish great things in life, but I’m aware that I need to learn a few things first before I get there, so I’m fairly patient. And I’m loyal. Even though I’ve so far worked for 5 different employers in my 14-year career, I don’t jump ship that easily, as I form strong bonds with the companies and I work for. The fact that I’ve changed 5 companies is more of a characteristic of the times we live in.
Don’t call me a Millenial
Do I have traits of a Millenial? I certainly do. I’m curious, environmentally-aware, I don’t like labels, and I’m very determined to accomplish great things in life. Yes, I’m a Millennial, but I’m fairly hybrid, having traits from both generations. We live in a world where things evolve much faster than 60 or even 80 years ago. Socioeconomic factors change by the year, so does the environment. Technologic advancements are not making the headlines they once used to, only because it’s expected of humans to progress and evolve in a much faster pace. Mobile internet only became mainstream in 2008-9 (I know because I worked in the industry at the time), electric vehicles only started become popular thanks to Tesla, and new vaccines are now been developed within 10 months.
Where I want to get to with all of this, is that it’s not right to generalize and broadly characterize people based on their birth-year or overall generation. If we still want to “group” people based on their generation characteristics, then maybe the generations need to become shorter, as no decade is the same any more and this significantly affects how people grow up.
Until next time…
