The Paradox of Choice
May 11, 2009 in General Information
Inspired by a post by Rebecca Thorman at Modite: Gen Y Needs Boundaries
I like motivational talks. Like this one from Gary Vaynerchuk. I get all excited and pumped and ready to work.
Then I get stuck. Interminably stuck. Because I’m really excited and pumped to work, but for what? I’m a lucky person, but I wonder is this it? Really? Because I thought there might be more.
Marcus Buckingham of the Wall Street Journal gets it. “This is a deeply anxious and insecure generation,” he argues. “On the surface they look self-confident, [but] deep down they know that they don’t actually know what it takes to win.”
Apparently it’s going to take a decade of wandering for us to figure it out. New York Times columnist David Brooks describes this new Generation Y life stage as the Odyssey Years – a decade of exploration and experimentation (via Tammy Erickson).
This is part of my comment on that post:
Personal discipline, integrity, and accountability are issues that every generation has to deal with. I suspect that Gen Y will do a good job of it, especially as the current economic situation is creating an environment of limited choice for almost everyone.
Pressure makes diamonds, folks.
In that spirit, I give you a TED talk by Barry Schwartz:
