The Top 5 Worst Pieces of Advice That Baby Boomers Are Still Confidently Giving To Millennials & Gen Zers
--
Now, before I start roasting these Boomers, I want to say—I don’t think the Baby Boomers are bad people. My parents are Baby Boomers and they’re the best people. I do think that they (along with nearly all Boomers) give some bad advice for the modern world, which is what we’ll be digging into.
But, it’s important to remember that they think it’s good advice, and that’s why they’re always giving it to the generation that they raised. But, like most advice, it’s showing you a path to help you end up like them. To end up saddled in debt, stuck in a 9–5 career with work you don’t love doing that you rely on to pay down said debt, a husband or wife, and a house in the burbs.
I know some folks reading this right now are already reacting like—IS THAT SO BAD??? A house, a partner, and a job? It’s fine. For some, it might even be an absolutely wonderful life. My main thesis is that it’s not the only version of a successful life.
I grew up thinking that it was. I grew up feeling like a traitor for not wanting it. Wondering exactly when and how I would ultimately disappoint my elders.
I imagine we Millennials will also end up giving some of the same flavors of poor advice to the generation we raise. We’ll almost certainly follow the same basic pattern of giving advice that will lead to a copy-and-paste version of our own lives. The same types of goals, priorities, and benchmarks for success and happiness that we consider “correct” by societal standards.
I’m guessing the Baby Boomers didn’t like the advice they were given by their parents either. Some version of “Don’t ever have sex before you’re married and get a reliable factory job with the union.”
The thing about success and happiness is that each individual gets to define it for themself, and each generation struggles to match an outdated blueprint with what actually brings them real joy and deep purpose in today’s world.
Some of our Baby Boomer parents grew up disappointing their parents by “not taking over the family farm” or simply by not settling for being a housewife.
Is my life not good enough for you? That’s the heart of…
