Believe me when I tell you that I've probably seen the “lazy millennial” argument hundreds of times in the past two years, and to say that it's gotten old is an understatement.
A while back I was invited to speak at a conference to chat with some of the players in the financial services industry about how to reach millennials.
Every company in the financial sector (or any sector really) is trying SO desperately to figure out how to crack the code on influencing young people to buy their stuff.
Change is super slow with the big giants (some of them are still buried in using paperwork and excel), so they are working hard on this before we start really making serious money.
I was standing with a group of people before the chat that were all older than me, and the conversation went to millennials and how narcissistic and lazy they are, because of course it did.
Millennials are starting to value time and experiences instead of stuff and work
It was a little hard to keep from rolling my eyes as these people debated why young people are so dumb. They were supposed to be there to learn and adapt their marketing strategies, but instead they had already decided that they knew everything about millennials.
Truth be told – I get a little annoyed when I see people try to “diagnose” the 75 million millennials in America, when they generally have no idea what they are talking about.
Oh well.
But it did make me think a lot about what is going on with this generation, because I'm the textbook “left a job for better work-life balance” guy.
Related: Why a Lawyer Took a $50,000 Pay Cut
I'm not going to pretend to be the spokesperson for people my age, because everyone is so different. Some of you probably really enjoy “stuff” and working really hard, so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt if that's the case.
There's this really big shift happening right now where minimalism is becoming popular, people are cool with making less to work less, etc. It seems like a pretty large departure from the consumerism we kinda grew up with.
I think it's about information
Everyone has heard the data about millennials and how we would rather hold cash than invest, and how the great recession has molded our behaviors with money.
I think most of us could share a story about how our parents' 401k's were trashed or any number of financial problems during that time.
We've also heard the stats about work-life balance, which I think is infinitely more interesting than investing trends. I value quality of life much more than money (weird I know).
Related: Would You Take a $7,600 Pay Cut for Work-Life Balance?
To me, most of the way we approach the world is directly attributed to having access to the internet for the better part of our lives.
There are so many people that I've met online that are trying to achieve financial independence, retire early, change to jobs with location independence, etc. because they saw someone else doing it via social media or news websites.
It seems to really confuse older generations, because they literally can't relate to having so much access to information as they were developing their views of the world.
The radio and television were great, but don't really hold a candle to how impactful the internet is (older people can weigh in down in the comment section on that).
What it boils down to is that I think they commonly mistake young people “wanting to engineer a higher quality lifestyle” with “not willing to work.”
It's also about accelerated perspective
With the crazy increase in access to information, I really feel that millennials are painfully more aware of all of life's stages. In a weird way we've developed the ability to experience the biggest events of other people's lives whenever we want.
It's pretty crazy to think about…we don't have to do things for ourselves to get an idea of what it's actually like (having kids, buying homes, sending kids to college, etc.).
You can just open up Facebook and bizarro-experience someone else's reality, haha.
I know it's one of the things that drove me to quit my job and attempt to run this business. It's the reason you see people moving into tiny homes or RV's to avoid debt or travel more.
Millennials can “try it before they buy it”, which is kinda cool honestly.
Related: This Couple Sold Two Homes and Moved in to an RV!
The bottom line is this: don't let opinions about how you are “supposed” to live and work change what you want to do.
If you've ever wanted to change course financially or do something cool with your life, but didn't because your parents or friends think you're lazy – you've got to drop that.
I'm SURE people think I'm lazy…but I just don't care what they think at all anymore!
What you may not realize is that money drives everything, and the biggest companies in the world are about to normalize the crap out of the way millennials approach life so they can make as much as possible.
Also, 20-30 years from now we'll be complaining about the kids coming up after us (and I can tell you from my experience teaching them that they're even lazier than us). 🙂
Question for you:
If you could create the perfect work-life balance…what would it look like?
I really like your Internet theory. It makes a lot of sense. If the only lifestyles that you can see are the lifestyles of those around you, you will naturally believe that those are the only ways to live. It is much easier to buck the trends if you can find your own little niche of role models in some corner of the Internet.
I’m with you on quality of life over money. I walked away from an opportunity that would 2.5x my income, but also cause work to control my life. Most of the Boomers I talked to seemed baffled by my decision, while a lot of fellow Millennials got it.
Yeah I think it’s pretty interesting! Every boomer I’ve talked to just can’t understand why a young person would sacrifice earning potential. I’m really curious to see how the next generation is going to handle that as well.
Very thoughtfully written piece! This is the first article which I feel hits the nail on the head when it comes to Millenials. I watched my mom work 30 years at a hotel to be offered a small buyout and be replaced my automated phone machines. It taught me that in the end I was better off focusing my life around the things most important to me as opposed to this proclaimed company dedication. No one can wipe away the images of pain on a parents face once they realize all they’d work to develop had been stripped away from them in a heartbeat.
Dang thanks Trav! That’s a nice compliment 🙂
I agree man – I’m so sad to see what has happened to a lot of boomers at the end of their career.
I think we are starting to master the work/life balance. Partly because I feel like the line between work and life has gotten so blurry over the last 18 months since we left the 9-5’s. Now it’s all just stuff we love. And if we don’t love it, we don’t do it, or do less until we love it again. It’s like gardening, a 100 Sq ft is a fun hobby, 1 acre is a horrible part time job.
Oh that’s actually kinda cool that the lines are blurred for you! Must mean that you like what you do 🙂
Great post! I work in employee wellness and definitely see the trend of work/life balance increasing in importance for our younger generations (me included, proud millennial!).
It’s pretty cool! My prediction is that it will keep trending that way as technology gets better!
Puh-reach. If I hear one more millennial stereotype, I just might gag. I guess it’s a classic case of not understanding how tech has influenced people’s lives. Sigh.
I actually just got a new job that I’m super pumped about! I get to work remotely with occasional travel. I think I’ll be able to have a lot better work-life balance this way. I can do a load of laundry while I brainstorm white paper ideas, or wash dishes while I’m on a call (on mute, of course).
It blurs the lines between home and work a bit, but I’m okay with that. I like having the freedom to be at home while I work. It’s quieter and I can get so much more done. I love the flexibility that tech has brought into my life. 🙂
Congrats on the new gig! I think we are seriously going to see that lazy tag fade away in the next 10-15 years. This stuff just takes time. When I did the Salesforce talk that I mentioned in this post, I couldn’t believe what people from the big banks were telling me about how slow it takes for things to move there. Crazy.
It definitely wouldn’t be my current set up. One reason I like your blog so much is that I can relate. Being a teacher I get so frustrated with the status quo. Life is different today, we need to approach it that way, even if it appears we are lazy! My ideal would be a better balance of work/family time. But, my reality right now is what it is. I’ll keep working to improve it for the sake of my family.
Thanks! You’ll get there 🙂
Great article! And I agree, I’m tired of being called lazy, especially when I work up to 50 hours to make less than $20,000 a year!
But think of this, when my parents (part of the Baby Boomer Generation) their parents worked 9-5, came home and had family time. People would play bridge, be part of bowling leagues, after work choirs and many other things! Really, they had an deter decent work/life balance. I’m not saying “the good old days” are better what with the racial, gender and class discrimination that ran ramped; what I’m saying is that, technically, like farmer’s markets and buying from local craftsman, it’s not a new concept. Really, all of this is going back to a form of pre WWII living with technological advancements. Etsy is very much like old world markets, where you buy clothes, shoes, furniture, from craftsman, it’s just it’s online and you’re choices can now be world wide.
I feel like there’s a Renaissance where we’re starting to take the good, sustainable approaches used in previous centuries and pairing them with the new, digital age.
We’re in a completely unprecedented part of history and previous generations aren’t handling it well (from what I’m seeing). Any change in the status quo is something that people who BENEFIT from the current status quo don’t want to see. It will be interesting the see how things will be in 20 years when the people in the Senate, The House, Parliament, or any sort of political power will have grown up playing video games and posting their life on Facebook or Snapchat and who have falling lived in the digital age change the world
Hey Christa – that’s a really interesting parallel between the great generation and millennials. From everything I’ve been able to research so far, it seems like baby-boomers were also called lazy and entitled during their formative years. I’m sure we will end up doing the same thing to the next generation too!
Lol, I agree! And we already are! I find myself doing that already!
But calling the next generation goes back to even ancient Greece. Herodotus is known for writing about I and I think it comes from the fact that technology is always advancing because we don’t want our children to go through what with went through, and then when we make things better for them, like we always dreamed, we call them lazy because of what we’ve been able to provide. It’s a cycle that will probably never end, unless we as as society decide that train ourselves to think differently
As a boomer who left the corporate 17 years in to do what I was passionate about I truly love your articles. I have referred my daughter to your articles as she will graduate in May. Thanks for your posts.
Wow Kevin – thank you so much for the kind words!
I love working on my own business. Feeling productive is my drug of choice.
Part of it is knowing that I am not just putting in time. I only get paid for results. If I’m just sitting on my computer 60 hours a week, I don’t get anything more than I would for 20 focused hours. That allows me to say yes to more life experiences, like going to my wife’s school today and only working a few hours in the morning!
Man that’s a great point on focused hours vs. non-focused hours. Makes such a huge difference!
I read an article a little while back about how the problems car/SUV manufacturers are having marketing to “Millennials.” I’d like to think writers such as you are having an impact on this.
Not that I want them to fail I just hope this gives rise to a new market strategy hopefully around making cars more affordable/efficient/long-lasting. (Though self-driving is bound to change things drastically whether we /they like it or not)
Haha maybe we are! They just don’t make a lot of sense to me with the prices as crazy as they are.
I hear this all the time in my job in the healthcare industry. Especially because EVRYONE I work with is a baby boomer. My manager even told me about a training they have to attend about managing millennials in the work force (a training developed by an older generation and taught by an older generation). I like to point out I’m a “millennial” and the typical response is “yeah, but you’re different”. Really not though. Work life balance is at the top of my priorities, especially since having my son. It’s why I’m putting in the work after he goes to bed to get a side hustle going so I have better flexibility with what I can do.
I am currently 38 so I am somewhere in between the generation of Boomers and millennials. That being said, I probably lean more toward millennial thinking because I am actively trying to reduce debt so I can pursue a job that I love where money is not my number one concern. I envy those who know what their passion is and would do anything to pursue it.
We just don’t live long enough to be miserable – I think you’re doing the right thing (although I am a little biased)!
Bobby,
I’ve got to be honest with you. As a Gen-Xer who is starting a transition from public education to financial coaching for my post education career, I have been blown away by your generation. I bought into all the stereotypes for millennials, but after working and interacting with your generation, I’m very impressed. I find millennials to be very hard working and creative but the fact that they look at problems differently has caused the older generation to label them. Because we all know that different is automatically wrong! (eye roll) I actually think your generation is getting more things right than previous generations have because you are discovering that the best things in life are not THINGS at all. They are relationships and the experiences that go along with such. I’m working on an article that lays out why millennials may actually be the next “Great Generation”. I hope to call on you as a reference in it. And as a previous post said, I too pass your articles on to my millennial son as a source of inspiration! Keep it up and God bless you!
Thank you so much Bruce! Yeah I just see so much creativity and millennials doing hard work. Of course there are lazy ones, but that’s the case with every generation. I also don’t think it’s too crazy to demand better working hours and more enjoyable jobs, especially because technology allows for more efficiency.
I have a masters degree in occupational therapy with a minor in psychology so this isn’t just my opinion but actually has some reasoning behind it. The problem with today’s kids is actually the fault of our parents and grandparents. They grew up in a time where there was no such thing as abundance and some of them even lived through the Great Depression. As a result, they wanted a better life for their children and grand children so they gave these kids everything they wanted and more. As a result, these kids learned they don’t have to work for anything and that everything should be handed to them. Parents and grandparents love their children so much they can’t live seeing them “suffer” so they support them financially. This explains so many things wrong with this generation. Why should they go work for something when it can be handed to them for free? And better yet why should they go work for minimum wage when they can stay at home, collect government benefits, and granny’s loving financial support? They have learned it’s literally more financially advantageous to not work than it is to work and that’s the underlying problem. They are actually making the smartest financial decision presented to them.
I think you’ll be surprised that the things that are perceived as “wrong” now will just turn into the norm later. Seems to happen with every generation. Boomers were a bunch of lazy, drug obsessed hippies right? 🙂
Super good write up, Bobby. I read through this post a few times because it was so good!
I feel like each week I get closer to taking the leap away from a high paying “corporate” job. I need to develop a more solid plan for when/if I take the leap. However, part of me knows that if I develop a plan that makes taking the leap feasible – then, I just might do it 😬
Thanks! Yes – please have a solid plan!!!!
This is so true. It seems like a huge shift in work-life balance. Millennials seem to have a much better understanding that experiences and more free time equal a happier life.
It’s definitely hard for older generations to even understand that Millennials can make a living from home. Freelancing, blogging, youtube, e-commerce, etc have opened the doors wide open for a rush of new entrepreneurs. I think Gary V has a grasp on this massive swing and is becoming the voice and role model in helping many make the switch.
Lastly, it’s crazy to think how much the internet has changed over the last 5-10 years. There are literally hundreds of people making a full time living by posting photo’s on Instagram! CRAZY
Yeah I find it hard to believe that I actually do this for a living. No idea what I would be doing 50 years ago.
I could not agree more! I’m not sure if the Internet has to do with it, but I want pretty much nothing about my parents lifestyle. They would probably be horrified if I told them I wanted to build a tiny house and work part time. I just genuinely can’t understand why we are supposed to spend 50ish years of our lives working constantly – it’s never made sense to me!
Yeah I guess boomers just valued different things than we do! Seeing them work so hard and still not retire is pretty depressing.
“Who cares?” is becoming my philosophy toward life these days. I spent the majority of my life caring what other people thought and it got me nowhere. I did the usually route endorsed by my parents and hate it. I went to school, got the accounting degree (fun stuff), and have doing “normal” for 10 years.
Normal sucks. “Normal” helped get me in debt. “Normal” wouldn’t have paid off my loans. My mother still rolls her eyes at me when I mention I paid off $20,000 in student loans. I guess avoiding thousands of dollars in interest is stupid. Go figure.
We were house poor living in an expense area. We realized our screw up (although we were encouraged to “buy as much house as we could afford” by our parents) and corrected course. We live in a house on my salary and in a cheaper area.
I believe that our generation’s minimalism trend is a direct rejection of our parents’ “let’s use our homes as an ATM and buy everything on credit” mentality. That’s why those guys rolled their eyes and thought you were crazy. To them, you honestly were.
But, millennials are at the age now where we can call your bluff. Have fun still working while we enjoy the FIRE lifestyle.
Can you tell this topic “fires” me up? Thanks for sharing!
Haha no problem! Can’t believe she rolled her eyes when you paid off the debt!!!!!!
Seriously! Haha. My wife and I bring it up now just to get that reaction from her. It’s become a game.
Love your blog! I have people tell me frequently.. You’re sooo different than your generation. Honestly, I think I just handle the older generation better! My dad has struggled so much with the idea that my husband and I are unsatisfied with our jobs. We work low paying jobs and are frequently looking to improve our income but not at the expense of spending our whole day doing something we dislike or that just plain bores us. My dad’s view is that a job it to make money and then you come home and live life. Hate to use YOLO, but that mentality is what gives us this idea that we don’t want to waste 8 hrs a day doing something we don’t believe it. We all grew up seeing our parents work jobs they didn’t like and complain about them at home. We’re just looking for something different. 🙂
Exactly! Why repeat the same stuff again? 🙂 Thanks for the kind words about the site.
As a fellow millennial I 100% agree with the boomers’ alleged looking down on us. Recently, my girlfriend and I just had our first baby. While unexpected, he has been an amazing surprise. I am currently at a job where I make a liveable salary, but no where what I could make if I used my Corporate Finance MBA. However, having to commute to NYC to make 2x what I’m making would decimate what little free time I actually do have. Im okay with it for now, however, I feel boomers, outside of my parents, look down upon the fact that I’m not maximizing my earning potential. Little do they know though, I don’t care!
Wow that’s great Sean! Congrats on your baby 🙂
Yeah man – live life the way that you want to. It’s really not too complicated of a concept haha
Location Independence is huge for me, though I’m not even close to achieving it. I want to experience life more than 1 week a year, the standard vacation time given the first few years at a job. I am taking steps in my personal life to get closer to that goal, just not in my professional life yet.