I Am Everything and I Am Nothing: Defining Self and Livelihood for the Millennial Generation
The first time I was paid to write something was a little over a year ago. It was the first of a few articles I did for GoGirl Finance on financial responsibility and young women. Until that point I’d thought of myself as someone who wrote, but definitely not a writer. Now, with a few thousand followers on my blog and monthly ad revenue, I still feel uncomfortable introducing myself as a writer, unsure if I’ll be branded a fraud by the secret writer’s society I am sure exists in the shadows, waiting to correct people like me who claim a title we haven’t earned.
In today’s uncertain job market, with millennials striving for success in multiple fields at once and hoping something takes root, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to define what we do. Instead of taking jobs they don’t love in exchange for stability, many college graduates (and non-college graduates) are choosing unpaid internships paired with part-time jobs and side hustles to make ends meet. We will do anything to pursue our dream career and know that our time is the greatest asset we have.
I’ve been asked “where do you see yourself in 5 years” a lot recently. It’s an awkward question because I have no idea. I’m involved in tech but I also have found the very beginnings of success as a writer. I love building companies, but my side hustle, catering, has been taking up a significant portion of my time lately. I find myself fitting perfectly into the “new normal” for young people in the work force. I have my hands in so many pots, it’s hard to tell which is which.
I’m don’t see myself as a writer, a founder, a chef, or an entrepreneur independent of the others. What do I put at the top of my (nonexistent) resume?
I am an amalgum. A blend.
We are moving past the era of well-defined careers. It’s an exciting prospect, but also daunting. With fewer labels come fewer perceived limits. All of a sudden you aren’t expected to stay in the same career for 10+ years. You have the freedom to pivot and jump, going to where the most opportunity lies. At the same time, this lack of focus also means that you are at your maximum bandwidth at all times, with little room for anything but our work it’s hard to not have one’s personal life (and sanity) suffer. But we’re ok with this.
So what am I? I am everything and I am nothing. As Millennials we are blessed to have more opportunity than ever before. To take advantage of that opportunity we must be intelligent, flexible, and quick. When jobs do not appear, we must make our own, and when times are tough we must come together to help one another.
Gone are the days of guarantees, but the days of opportunity? They are alive and well.
As a recent college graduate I am starting to feel similarly. Thanks for this great post.
Reblogged this on Life On An Asian Island and commented:
This has nothing to do with Singapore, but it resonates with me – as a much older ‘jack of all trades, master of none’, I see the same questions for my oldest who is about to jump in to all this. She’s also one that has many interests, and no ‘one’ niche. I think this is great. And, I am excited that my daughters and son will have the opportunity to say “I am everything and I am nothing” . Thank you, Pippa, for putting words around a scary, and exciting, time.
This was so eloquent and very well said. Thank you for writing this reflective piece describing the situation so many millennials are in. However, I must say you are lucky and accomplished to have such a blend with variety… some of us are still flailing to find any ventures we are even mildly interested in. I suppose with so many pathways that are all possible, there is the burden of the paradox of choice. What to do, what to pursue?
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