Don't make promises you cannot keep, unless your goal is to hurt someone.
Millennials know that practically better than anyone. They were fed a long and impassioned series of advice, hyper-focused on the importance of getting a college degree in order to find a good job. They were also force-fed traditionalist ideals of getting married, having kids, and buying a nice house with the money they'd be making from that great job, of course.
But for most Millennials, the proverbial rug was ripped out from under their feet and their futures disappeared in a blink of an eye, because somewhere between graduating high school and earning that college degree and racking up debt, the world around them changed, thanks to 9/11, economic crisis, a technological boom, a pandemic, and multiple wars.
Suddenly, there was a huge wave of people who couldn't find a job that covered their basic necessities—or couldn't find a job *period*—let alone one that allowed them to save up for that dream life they were promised if they just "worked hard."
Now, those Millennials are between their mid-thirties and mid-forties, facing the familiar midlife crisis that the generations before them addressed by changing their hair, their relationship, or their car. But these previous generations were stressed about the fact that their life was half over and that there was still so much more they wanted to do.
Some Millennials have pointed out:
@mikemancusi/Instagram
@mikemancusi/Instagram
@mikemancusi/Instagram
Millennials are stuck looking back, feeling grief for what they were promised and did not receive, but also feeling nostalgia for the life they grew up with that they'll never be able to replicate, because it predates the digital age and the pandemic.
Comedian Mike Mancusi addressed this in a recent video on Instagram, stating that Millennials are going to have to face their midlife feelings just like anyone else, but they're going to have to approach it differently than buying a Lambourghini.
Mancusi challenged Millennials instead to pursue something that brings them happiness, and arguably, this must be something that they can do for themselves, with or without residual income resulting from it, because if they're doing it from a place of joy, then it's something that society cannot take away from them.
Mancusi explained:
"We were told the blueprint to follow. We all followed it. And here we are, unfulfilled."
"We look back and go, 'Wait a minute. I was told to do all these things, I did them, and still, I'm not happy.'"
"That is a way different crisis."
"You have to find something else to do."
"Whatever you want to call it, a hobby, a passion, but it has to be something that's for you."
You can watch the video here:
Fellow Millennials agreed with Mancusi, and some shared what they were already working on.
@mikemancusi/Instagram
@mikemancusi/Instagram
@mikemancusi/Instagram
@mikemancusi/Instagram
@mikemancusi/Instagram
@mikemancusi/Instagram
@mikemancusi/Instagram
@mikemancusi/Instagram
@mikemancusi/Instagram
@mikemancusi/Instagram
@mikemancusi/Instagram
Millennials get blamed for a lot of things, like being lazy and eating too much avocado toast, but the generations before them would have little to say if they really pointed out how the world shifted beneath their feet as they grew up.
Now that they're a little older and can make decisions for themselves, it's best for them to focus on the things that will bring them joy, with or without money, and to really lean into the fact that even if they cannot depend on others, they can absolutely depend on themselves.
@BoLoudon/X