Why Millennials Are Right and Everyone Else is Wrong

Millennials get a bad wrap for a lot of things. Mainly because we’re the most entitled and self-absorbed generation in history.

I don’t disagree.

A lot of millennials are entitled and self-absorbed.

It comes down to whether we use that so-called entitlement and self-absorption for the greater good or not.

Let’s look at the facts: Millennials are poised to reshape the economy in ways never done before. The unique experiences we crave and get high off of will change the ways consumers buy and sell. That’s powerful.

The whole new idea and belief encompassing millennials is that work and happiness go hand in hand — This is the kicker for all of the controversy between millennials and everyone else.

If we’re unhappy in any area of our lives, we take action to change it. And we do it the second we feel disrespected, unheard or mistreated. This area of unhappiness most often revolves around the workplace. We’ll never settle for mediocre management, poor treatment or unreasonable working hours. And why should we? Why are we being punished for standing up for ourselves just because every other generation before us was too scared to do it?

I do believe that you — millennials, baby boomers, anyone — must put in the work — the hard, excruciatingly long, slow and painful work — to get to where you want to be in life. There is no other way around that. But accepting and realizing that hard work must be accomplished first to get ahead in life does not equate to succumbing to the ridiculous rules and restraints that so many corporations will never take the time to understand why those old ways of getting things done does not work in today’s world.

Why is aggressively going after we want viewed as selfish?

Don’t misconstrue our confidence and fight for equality as entitlement. Don’t misinterpret our curiosity and genuine yearning to make the world a better place for selfishness and self-righteousness.

We want to do all of these things because we want to learn. We want to learn how other people on the other side of the world live. We want to play a major part in the way businesses are run. We want to make real, positive change in the world.

We’re outgoing. We are risk-takers. We’re adventure seekers. We have strong personalities and strong opinions. And we shouldn’t be apologizing for that. We should be embracing who we are and what we stand for. And I think we are doing that.

Let’s continue to do it.