When people are satisfied materialistically, they typically become philanthropists.
Bill Gates is a prime example of this, but so is Mark Zuckerberg, Oprah Winfrey, Richard Branson, Tony Robbins… the list goes on and on forever, and includes millions of not such high profile names.
I truly believe that once we get to the point where we feel money isn’t ever going to be a concern in our lives, we move past our own survival and look to how we can help others… life focus changes because we still need a purpose.
Generations before me have had to work so hard to provide for their families.
Things have never been at our fingertips like before.
It used to be a big deal to buy fancy things, especially if you didn’t live in the city…now you can buy fancy things for $500 per month, or have anything delivered right to your door with very little effort.
It used to be a big deal to know stuff and find information…now the Google machine lives in our pockets.
Everything is cheaper and easier than ever to get, and getting more so everyday.
Minimalism is becoming a thing, and being taught now because stuff is so readily available, it’s harder to have very little than it is to have a lot.
The millennials are different than us because they can and always have had anything and everything they want.
When they are first born they already have an infant swing, vibrating seat, infant bumbo chairs, toys, 15 outfits, disposable diapers, and a stroller, even babies born into financial hardship have most of these things as the rest of society is throwing their stuff away.
So what do the millennials want?
Since they are satisfied materialistically because their parents have been satiating them with stuff since conception, they want to have meaning and purpose beyond that in their lives.
They don’t ask their parents easy questions because Google answers those. They are asking hard questions.
Their sense of purpose won’t come from more money and more stuff, it’s going to come from doing work that matters.
They are going to be driven to make the world a better place.
Children are always motivated to be better than their parents, but the millennials are not going strive to do it materialistically…as a society, we have plateaued there… they are going to clean up the areas we have been slacking.
They will clean up the environment, help feed starving children, build houses in countries that don’t have housing, educate people who don’t have access to information.
The millennials will be motivated and want to partner with people who are saving the world. I’m excited for it and I hope to help them.