i know i’m a couple of days behind on getting this week’s words up. part of that is because work has been crazy this week, and part of it is because i had a hard time thinking of how to articulate exactly what i wanted to say. i hope you can forgive me for the delay and enjoy this week’s words of wisdom :]
success is an interesting word, and concept for that matter, because it means something different to everyone, especially for our generation i think. as millenials, we no longer look at success as a cookie cutter idea, everyone has a different idea of what it is and how to achieve it, which sometimes creates a divide between us and older generations who don’t quite understand what we are shooting for. we are a generation of instant gratification, quick movers, thinkers and we really don’t like to think that we’re limited by anything. we don’t necessarily see the path to success as just graduating high school, going to a good college, working hard, getting a good job and working your way up. not that these things aren’t important to our generation nor have they lost importance in today’s society; but more and more i see my peers put their experiences above their education. more emphasis is going into internships, networking and study abroad and less into actual classroom learning. college isn’t so much about sitting in a classroom anymore as it is a launch pad for our future, where we can determine how successful we want to be after. the pure and simple fact is that a degree earned today means something entirely different than a degree earned 10 years ago, let alone 20-30 years ago. what’s more, no one i know that’s our age is in a job at a company they want to work for forever: most of them see these first jobs out of college as a stepping stone. it’s no longer about working your way up within one company so you can have a career with them, it’s about learning and absorbing as much as you can and then bouncing to a new company and learning something completely different. i also see so many of us looking at how we can start something new, the internet and technology have opened up seemingly endless opportunities for us millenials. we are changing the definition of success because we are setting our own unique standards and we are constantly asking what’s next? how can we get to the next step? and when we fall flat on our faces (which we do, often) we get back up and try something new.
when i was a senior in college i heard people tell me and others around me all the time that you have to work for success, you can’t expect it to be handed to you on a silver platter. it used to drive me absolutely nuts! and still does – i don’t think we are looking for things to be handed to us, i just think we expect more than past generations. we want to excel, we want to move up and on and exceed our potential and find something meaningful that is for the here and now but also beyond the here and now. we want to work but we want to enjoy what we do, so we can enjoy the people around us, so we can travel, explore. maybe i’m just speaking for myself but these are my observations of our generation. and i’m proud to be a part of a generation who steps out of the traditional norms of success, and of one that wants to redefine what that word means and the ways in which we can achieve it!
here are some of my favorite words of wisdom about success from people much wiser than me:
1. “don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. and most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. they somehow already know what you truly want to become. everything else is secondary.” -steve jobs
2. “success isn’t about how much money you make, it’s about the difference you make in people’s lives” – michelle obama
3. “if you can dream it, you can do it” -walt disney
4. “success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.” -winston churchill
