The Impatient Generation...
Take it slow, get into a blue chip firm, ride your way to the top, where you will enjoy stability and a relaxed retirement afterwards. This is great career advise right? Obviously the present crop of twenty somethings do not think so. I have been in a few career goals themed debates myself. It is also commonplace to hear the above-forties complain about the level of impatience displayed by the twenty-somethings. They often conclude such statements by giving you an earful of the merits of patience.
Is patience still a virtue when it comes to making career choices? Would you advise your little cousin to take up a job at AT&T rather than a similar job at Google, where he/she could ride the hype machine for a while and jump ship when the hype finally crests? This post at the Careerist, put my opinion on this issue in a concise manner. .
Surely there are a variety of social and cultural factors influencing impatience, but as far as I’m concerned, the big reason for all this impatience is one thing: family.
Tying the desires to be successful to family commitments. suggests that patience is definitely not an optimum strategy that would resolve this problem set.
Luckily, I am 23 years old and most likely won’t have this family until at least my mid thirties. If you do the math this leaves me with about a decade to become a successful business person. Once the wife and kids come, the career must take a backseat. This is why I’m so impatient!
You should read the full article .
As a Nigerian the zeal to make a difference is heightened. It would only be fair to say our folks had it better than we did, in terms of stability and Government support. Also the thirty something year old Nigerian has seen a great country gone bad. He has a vivid idea of the potential in a country like ours and he has enough energy and enthusiasm in him to attempt to bring forth change. Many more reasons can be attributed for the position taken by the restless generation, the you-can-do-it-doctrine, the opening up of the global economy, foreign media. I know I am sort of impatient and I have a plethora of reason for my impatience. Are you impatient? What are your reason? I'd be more interested in knowing what makes young Nigerians a hustling breed?
15Comment(s):
I have to get mine bro. No need for philosophy.
Anonymous that mentality is retarded and unfortunately many Nigerians feel that way too.
@Jummy that is a bit harsh innit. Thanks for coming by anyway. @Anon I feel you a bit, but it is wise to have a vision of why we do what we do.
I've always been so impatient all my life. The results had been encouraging and some other times, not so encouraging. Personally i can't relent in trying to become that somebody. It has nothing to with getting married or the likes, just a personal belief that 'the earliest dog eats the fattest meat'
Moreover, i believe i'm in that optimal age that the brains works twice as fast as before or later, so i have to use it to the fullest now it's still new (smile)
i also have always been impatient, this is my drive, yes i have lost many opportunities, and gained many more.but what i have gained far outweigh the losses.
i don't want to be the typical stereotypical naija, retire at 70, with over 30yrs at the same job,being patient, waiting for the top position that will never qualify for becos , now i am too old.
i want to retire early, with enough time to truly enjoy the fruits of my labor..and that is my own 2cents.
I've been changing jobs every two years and since I started it six years ago, it's been working for me(financially and status-wise).
I don't expect my parents' generation to understand it; both worked at public sector for 35 years and retired and it paid out for them cos they got to the top of their career.
But that route doesn't work anymore.Retrenchment, downsizing, rightsizing and restructuring are now corporate buzzwords. And the capitalist dogma we folow teach us that we are paid for the current job only. Doing it well means you are only doing what you were paid for and does not earn you a promotion.
So, like the Igbo proverb, since the hunters have learnt to shoot without missing, the birds have learnt to fly without perching.
I tend to be impatient but I rein it in, cos I know I could hurt myself and my loved ones if I make the wrong move at the wrong time, so I pipe low and I'm still piping low. I know it's only a matter of time, but it really is hard waiting...At the moment, though, I'm versatile and flexible and make the most of what I have...
I'm not African and so have a 2nd hand view at best, but I see parallels with Ghanian economist George Ayittey's "Cheetah Generation," discussed here:
http://www.ethanzuckerman.com/blog/2007/06/05/the-cheetah-generation-faces-the-blind-leading-the-clueless/
the quicker i get there, they quicker i can change if things are not going right, now i can still go back to school for another degree still change career, still get another wifey,still try another country more opportunities before we get old. older=less flexibiltiy. it aint easy man, i just want to be secure and comfortable
Thanks for coming by guys. I find it interesting that not one person claimed to be patient. Hmmm hmmm
I guess the impatience comes from the fear of not knowing what lies ahead and that makes everyone, including me, strive to accomplish a million things in a day if possible. And of course, we all want to be more successful than out parents. Thanks for stopping by.
I repeat, I have to get mine. No matter what. Jummy you are the retarded one.
ok, i tink i'm the one that's going to break the jinx. I'm a fairly patient guy, and i think it's true that lots of young pple in naija are in a hurry to live pimped out lives (result yahoo yahoo). but all the same being patient and going thru the process helps build one.
Times have changed. Impatience is what triggers folks nowadays to do big things especially young folks but at the same time, you don't want it to get overbearing cuz you might lose sight of where you want to go and end up on the other side of the track.
At the risk of appearing maudlin, I have to thank you for linking to Brazen Careerist. I've just spent two hours reading their articles. What a find!