23 September 2010

lack of motivation

I am really tired. Looking for some inspiration. Post what motivates you, pictures, quotes, etc.

14 September 2010

Proud to be a Millennial

If you are born between 1982-2000, you are a part of the Millennial generation. Why is it that we only hear about the negative attributes of our generation in the media? The media portrays us as these entitled, selfish, what’s-in-it-for-me, whiners whose parents over sheltered us and has yet to cut the cord. There are many people out there that perceive Millennials this way. Some Millennials are ashamed of being a Millennial because of this stigma.



Not me!


I’m one of those “proud to be a Millennial” kind of person. I mean, we have a lot to be proud of. Some other words that I would use to describe us are: global, conscientious, innovative, efficient, visionary, civic, entrepreneurial, cultural, and honest.


Did you know that our generation is:


-The most diverse generation ever existed. We don’t see color/race as an issue. We are no longer uncomfortable to be around those who do not look, think, and speak like us. In fact, we are very intrigued when it comes to learning new things about other cultures.


-The generation that actually gives a … about the environment. We know that our glaciers are melting, our water is getting polluted (the BP oil spill was not the first), our trees (that provide us oxygen) are being cut down in record numbers, our wastelands are toxic, and we’re not going to stand by and let that happen to us and the generations that come after us.


-We ask the question “how can we be more efficient in the work that we do professionally.” We think that it’s possible to be a successful achieving professional and still make time for our families and community. Our work doesn’t define us. We want to enjoy what we do, we want to put our passions to use, and we want to make sure that whatever it is that we do at work—“makes sense”. We may need a bit of guidance when we first start but we have ideas in our heads that are worth millions for corporations. We’re just waiting to be tapped. (Ex. A millennial at Cisco).


-We are the generation that will bring change into the workforce; we’re going to help shape the perception of work to have a more engaged, committed, and innovative workforce. (Ironically, opposite of what the media says we’ll do). We’re excited to switch out our executive chairs for balance balls. We’re excited to get rid of cube land and work in hip, industrial, open spaces.


Regardless of what generation you come from, Baby Boomers, Xers, or Millennials, we all would like more work life balance, time to give back to our communities, pay raises, meetings that don’t waste time, professional development, and flexibility in how we get our work done.


So what’s so bad about the changes that the Millennials will be bringing into the professional world?


So I ask you, which Millennial do you chose to be, one who denies their Millennial attribute or one who is proud of being a part of this unbelievably phenomenal generation? I choose the latter.

10 September 2010

Messages of the Universe

The Universe is definitely working it's magic!

So I was reading this random posting (originally posted over a month ago) from the Harvard Business Review, also commented in my last blog, and replied to a reader who was intrigued about my posting regarding Millennials.

Well the Millennial in me "Googled" who this person was. After reading a few blog posts he had I started to wonder, hey, this guy is definitely someone that I could learn from!

And then the magic:

The last blog posting I read from him leads me to Seth Godin and his posting about Passion and work! I love it! Check it out!

My favorite part "The future of labor isn't in less education, less OSHA and more power to the boss. The future of labor belongs to enlightened, passionate people on both sides of the plant, people who want to do work that matters."

BINGO. That's the key! Thanks Wes! Thanks Seth!

09 September 2010

Mentorship

Exerpts from my response to the Harvard Business Review question about mutual mentoring between a Boomer and a Millennial.

From the perspective of a millennial. We are hungry for mentorship, actually, I'd go as far as saying mentorship is a necessity when we enter the workforce. I say this due to the recent study of the development on the young minds of today's youth (Emerging Adulthood Theory, Jeffrey Arnett). When you provide a mentoring relationship for a millennial you are building some scaffolding that is crucial to their professional development. Let's face it, as much as I love being a Millennial, and I say this by no means to banter my generation, we are not in the same mind set as a 26 year old, 20 years ago. Those of you who are from generation x or boomer generation, I'm sure can see the difference. For those Millennials out there that don't agree, look at the TV series "Friends" during season one, Ross was 26 years old, married and lived on his own- paying for rent, Monica, who was even younger, was also living on her own, paying for rent. Rachel just got married (to Barry) and Phoebe had gone through some pretty traumatic life experiences. Ok, so it's TV and how real is that-- but think about it? How many Millennials do you know are paying for their own rent right now? I'm sure there are some, but I'll be honest in saying the majority of my friends still live with their parents.





Back to addressing how to engage in meaningful mentoring with a generation gap, the most important factor to getting the support and buy-in from both the Millennial and Boomer is to set the corporate culture that it is valued and looked highly upon when our Boomers and Millennials are mentoring each other. Once you set he stage (culture) to embrace these kinds of relationships, there's no hiding or pointing fingers, there's no pre-conceived expectations of what the relationship is suppose to look like, and lastly there is no resentment/shame for entering a mentoring relationship.


Once your culture embraces mentoring, everyone will want to be apart of it! ...

Read the rest of my response HERE.

07 September 2010

Passion and job

There are no tests or quizzes that you can take that will magically tell you exactly what you are destined to be. We are all unique and we know our selves the best: what our flaws are, what our dreams are, what our pet peeves are. How can a test (which millions of people are able to take, and the author has no idea who we are) tell us what professions we are "best suited" for? I don't buy it for a second.



I think that those who are able to find their passion and put it to use everyday are the luckiest people in the world. I bet they have a sense of fulfillment that only others in their same shoes can feel and understand. But I wonder how many of those people came to that discovery in their 20's let alone their teens- in high school?


Even at the age of 26, I'm just "exploring" my passion. Of course, I've taken a step in the right direction: understanding that in order for me to be completely happy in the work that I do professionally, I need to be using my passion to feed my skills to enjoy what I do. No, let me rephrase, in order to LOVE what I do. That's important: to love what you do. I mean, we spend typically, 13-15 hours of the day awake most of that at a job. You have to love what you do otherwise your life will be miserable.


So, where do we find passion? And, do we need to have a definite answer to the famous question: "what do we want to be when we grow up?"