Millennials- the word itself seems to provoke eye rolls, but I never understood why. We’re  (yes, me too) just another generation trying to navigate our current reality. Which, in my opinion is a very different and often difficult reality than anyone has ever experienced before. With the world quite literally living online 24/7 and everyone being more on the go now than ever before, have Millennials found the secret to happiness, travel, entrepreneurship and BALANCE? I know we all like that solid answer. So mine? – No. The answer is a swift no. 

 

I think we’re trying. Trying really hard with the cards we’ve been dealt! Most research you can find shows that millennials are now about 35% of the workforce, dominating Gen X and the baby boomers. Millennials are on the hunt for flexibility where 9 to 5’s are OUT and working on the go from a WiFi connection is IN! But how? That’s the question! And does that lead to happiness? Are people who work on their own terms more happy? I would say yes, because that’s what I do! And I’m extremely happy! I run a full time e-commerce business, where I can put my family first without missing out on life’s everyday moments. A business that gives us the freedom to travel more and to DREAM more. It seems so many people in their 40’s stop dreaming. They hang their dreams up on the shelf and just hope they can keep spinning that hamster wheel!

We are a GIG economy through and through and by 2020 it’s said that around 40% of the American workforce will be a GIG Ecomony. 

 

What’s that? – a GIG Economy is a free market system where temporary contract positions are KING. For millennials this is HUGE. This means not being tied down to a  bill paying job and more room to expand, to grow and to learn. More room to put themselves out there in a multitude of opportunities while truly enjoying their day to day life. This is where I believe happiness is won, travel is had and growth is gained.

 

I believe an advantage to this quick on the go life we now live in is, millennials have learned to be more flexible than other generations. Millennials aren’t afraid to leave one career to pursue a new passion. From taking jobs over seas just to see the world, to leaving home after college to travel for a year abroad, to truly having endless opportunities to be entrepreneurs thanks to the internet. Millennials have the entire world at their finger tips ( like no other generation has), all while fighting the stigma of lazy, entitled children ( yes, some can be- but not all) . Trust me when I say, I get it, there’s always a bad apple … but that’s not all of us! 

 

For most millennials I think success in life is about love and family equaling happiness rather than material things ( home buying for this generation is an all time low).

Documenting all the memories. And when it comes to bringing home the bacon and living life to the fullest without missing a moment…. I’d say millennials have got it figured out!