The thing we did right was that we never stopped.

The thing we did right was we never stopped.

The early millennials haven’t really learned the skill of grit, at least not on a group level. Some of the grittiest people I’ve met have been millennials, but looking at us as a group, I think we’re pretty bad at showing grit.

Because we never had to.

I had a conversation with my mom about my little brother, born 05. He doesn’t really need a job at the moment as he doesn’t really spend any money. Sure he buys the occasional skin in Overwatch and sometimes a sandwich on a break. That’s about it. He gets 300 sek/month or something like that (approx 30 EUR). And he rarely spends it. As we talked about it, I realised that at that age, I got all of my allowance, which is 1100 sek, and I worked extra at a grocery shop, meaning I had about 4–5000 sek/month. And I had hobbies which meant I spent most of it every month, and I paid some essentials like my phone, a console and so on.

The point is, My brother doesn’t need more money. He could probably get more allowance from my mom, but that’d just make him less prone to getting a job. And even less prone to sticking with a job he doesn’t like.

I think the same goes for a lot of people in my generation, the even older millennials than my brother. It certainly applies to me if I’m comparing to my moms husband who’s born in the 80’s. We’re just not going to pull through when things get hard.

I could pull up numerous anecdotes to prove my point. Conversations with classmates both from my gymnasium and the University I’m currently studying at. Or conversations I’ve had with managers in corporations that are trying to employ millennials. Or all the reading most of us have done on what millennials behave like on the job market.

I think grit is essential to becoming a grown up. I think it’s essential for mental health. I think it’s essential for accomplishing big things, if that’s what one wants to do.

As the skill is just that — a skill, there are numerous ways of practicing and exercising it. And it’s vital that it’s done, both for ourselves and the people around us.

Many jobs require social relations on a quite intimate level. Teaching, nursing, medicine, social work to name a few. And of course our relationships require social relations.

Without grit, none of those things will last very long. A teacher who gives up on their students because their job gets hard isn’t a very successful teacher. A Social worker who gives up on its addicts isn’t going to help them make a substantial change. The list continues.

What I want to say with all of this is:

1. Grit is important, and make sure you exercise the skill in yourself.

2. Help people around you exercise it in a friendly manner. None of us are helped by people saying that Millennials don’t have grit.

3. Help people understand why they don’t have grit for the task you’d like them to do. It might be something completely different than their upbringing making them spoiled.