05 Apr 2014

I’d like to start today’s article with a bit of audience participation.

Raise your hand if you get pissed off when a webpage won’t load for you in less than ten seconds?

Now assuming most of you are currently sitting there with your hand raised, do me a favour and raise your hand if you remember living with dial-up internet. Now obviously technology has drastically improved over the last 20 years but our generation seems to continually grow more and more impatient and this is drastically impacting how we live our lives.

Most of our parents graduated university, worked for the same company for years, bought a house and had a family. That was the plan, it certainly wasn’t easy but it was straightforward.

Times have changed.

Go to any trendy city bar and I guarantee you that you will find someone in their mid to late 20s complaining that they will never be able to afford to own a home in Sydney whilst drinking a $12 beer, or that they can’t combine their work and social life if they want to be successful. Much of generation Y can’t grasp the fact that they won’t own a home before their 30th birthday or that they aren’t getting yearly promotions. Their impatience is weighing them down during the years that they should be living life to the fullest.

Guess what? Welcome to the 21st century.

As a generation we need to realise that life doesn’t revolve around how much money we make. Is renting a house for a few more years that bad if it allows you to explore the world? So what if you didn’t get your ‘dream job’ straight out of uni? If you’re good enough you will eventually get it. We tend to stress about things that are completely out of our control.

People always complain that they “never have enough time,” yet how many hours do you spend on Facebook or listening to bloggers who are just as lost as you? A lack of time is a mind frame, everyone has 24 hours in their days, the only difference is some people know how to use them.

So here’s a tip, next time you’re sitting at work hating your life, instead of getting angry or impatient, set yourself a goal. It might be something small like catching up with friends or it might be planning a new holiday. It’ll help because it’s constructive and it gives you something to work towards.

If there’s one way I like to look at life it’s this. Imagine your life is a car ride down the coast. You can either speed so that you get to the end as fast as possible. Or you can enjoy the ride, take in the sights and go at your own pace.

At the end of the day, you still end up at your destination. I know which option I prefer.

by Max Thorley