https://larrybathen.wordpress.com Just another WordPress.com weblog Mon, 18 May 2009 13:43:42 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ https://s0.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.png https://larrybathen.wordpress.com https://larrybathen.wordpress.com/2009/05/18/personal-growth-for-the-next-generation/ https://larrybathen.wordpress.com/2009/05/18/personal-growth-for-the-next-generation/#respond Mon, 18 May 2009 00:06:44 +0000 http://larrybathen.wordpress.com/2009/05/18/personal-growth-for-the-next-generation/      As I sit here on this beautiful Sunday afternoon, just one week after my 27th birthday, I start to reflect on where my life has led me. I have always been interested in personal growth. I spend a lot of my time reading on the subject, but what have I really done? Sure I have dabbled in a few business ventures, as I’m sure many of you have, but I always end up back to where I am most comfortable – working hard at my job and collecting my paycheck. Don’t get me wrong I am very happy in my personal life, my wife and I have a wonderful life together and I couldn’t be happier at home; it’s my professional life where I lack ambition. This time of reflection has got me thinking. I have been creating websites for quit some time now, why not create one to hold me accountable for achieving the things I want most in life. This site will take you through my progress in my personal growth and what I consider to be personal growth for the next generation.
     So what is personal growth for the next generation? Our generation doesn’t want just one job or even just one career in their life. They want to have options in where they live, what they do, the hours they work. There is a significant need for work/life balance. There’s no question that people have always strived for personal growth. People have always striven to better themselves and their position in life. What worked for our parents and grandparents is not applicable today. In the past a person’s entire identity revolved around his job and the company he worked for. Everything he did revolved around bettering his position at work and in his community.
Life and growth were focused so much around work for good reason: loyalty. Employees were loyal to their employer because that company was loyal to them. The company took care of its employees with adequate pay, regular promotions, and job security. It even took care of them after retirement with pension plans thanking them for years of service by supporting them for the rest of their lives.
     The world has changed. You and I and the people of our generation face a completely different reality than that of our parents and grandparents. Jobs like this no longer exist. They say the average person graduating college today will, in her lifetime, have seven different jobs in three different careers and four of those jobs she will be asked to leave involuntarily. Company loyalty no longer exists; we have seen it time and time again over the last few years. Company A lays off 10,000 employees nationwide, company B fires top 10% of salaried employees and replaces them with lower paid recent college grads. And pension plans? They’re a thing of the past as well. We now have a 401(k) which is indexed with the stock market. Granted it is better than not saving at all and can be a good savings plan, but as we have seen in the last couple years, the stock market has a mind of its own, and these “company retirement plans” have become almost obsolete.
     The old philosophy of, study hard in school so you can get a good job and the company will take care of you, is no longer valid. We now have to take care of ourselves. We do this through career development, investments, entrepreneurship, and personal branding. We need to distinguish ourselves from our jobs and become our own personal brand. We need to look forward in our careers by developing ourselves to be assets in our industry, not just in our company. We need to stop prioritizing company loyalty and start learning everything we can to move toward achieving our own goals. We need to start planning for our own retirement through investments and entrepreneurial ventures. We need to live our lives with no regret.
     What is personal growth for the next generation? It’s the idea that we are capable of so much more. It’s my journey of discovering what I am capable of and my process of applying those things to my life.

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