No Place to Hide

As you know the quarterlife crisis is due to the uncertainty that we face as teens, twentysomethings and thirty-year-olds. Uncertainty about our careers, the state of the world, relationships, paying the rent, our future, etc…

While paying the rent and student loans have a way of taking priority, much of our anxiety as quarterlifers stems from the changing times we live in.

Yes it's true! Despite what our parents and grandparents say...life is different today.

Now stay with me.

Did you know that in the year 1500 there were less than 500 million people in the world. If you were a quarterlifer back then you had little or no contact with the people outside your village and perhaps the neighboring village.

Now fast forward to the year 2006 where over 6 billion people inhabit the planet. (The World Health Organization reports that 400,000 people are born each day.)

Not only are there more people…A LOT MORE…but we are becoming increasingly interconnected. For example in 2000 a sixth of the planet was interconnected by the World Wide Web and that number is rising. With the development of wireless communication third world countries are now getting connected without having to lay down expensive cables or fiber optics.

So what does this have to do with your quarterlife crisis? A couple of things.

First, it is no longer possible to have a safe, small, compartmentalized life.

What’s that?

It’s what our grandparents created…for a time.

They lived in a United States that was predictable. They set it up that way. No one rocked the boat. They originated the suburbs where everyone had their own little square plot. Life was established. There was life at work, life at home and recreation with little connection between the three. Friday night at the bar was separate from Sunday morning at church. Dad went to work in the morning and came home at night...but no one talked about what that work was. Television shows like “Donna Reed” strived to show the perfect “put together” family. The problems of other countries and other people were not their problems. They attempted to create an island, an oasis, a life that was did not intrude on others or allow others to intrude on it.

Today it’s different. Big time. As quarterlifers we can’t even conceive of a life independent of others. There is no escaping the fact that we are becoming a global society. The problems in the Middle East become our problems. We know we are not islands. 9/11 was our wake up, but it continues today. For example yesterday an attack on a Saudi Arabia oil refinery caused the value of a barrel of oil to go up $2 in the US Stock Market. This price increase will cause the sticker price at the local gas station to climb. If it jumps like it did the Fall of 2005 the newspapers will once again be filled with SUV’s and full size pick-ups for sale, people will be taking the bus again, and families will be rescheduling their vacation time not to include the road trip this year. From our oil to our personal lives we are interconnected.

Second with the interconnection comes a bombardment of differing world views. Our parents and grandparents grew up with limited world views. That is not an attack on them. It’s just a fact of the times. Life was more black and white.

--Americans were good. Communists were bad.
--Christianity was right. Eastern religion was wrong.
--Corporate America was guaranteed security. Job hopping was foolish.

To be fair things did change in the 60s for our parents. Many of them actively sought out alternative views and ways of life. It was a hip and trendy thing to do. Yet today whether we are exploring them or not, whether they are “cool” or not, we are bombarded with differing views of the world.

As quarterlifers we do not live in the black and white, good and bad world that our parents and grandparents grew up in. We don’t have the luxury of having training wheels on as we head out into the real world.

With a single click of our mouse we are exposed to Jews, Catholics, Conservatives, Liberals, Environmentalist, Porn Stars, Priests, Asians, Artists, Architects, Athletes, Athiests, Christians, Hindus, Africans, Russians, War Scenes, Stock Market Numbers and on and on an on....

A single church in Vail, CO hosts six different religious groups each weekend. From a Jewish service on Saturday followed on Sunday by a Baptist service, Lutheran service, Presbyterian service, Episcopal service, and Catholic Service. Flip through your 200 cable channels and you’ll find someone speaking for or against every topic from politics, to education, to health. This smorgasbord of choices may be good long term (the jury is still out) but short term it leads to more confusion. It’s one more thing that isn’t established.

Because we are exposed to more than one religion, political view, philosophy, career, lifestyle, etc… From the beginning we are choosing our life’s path instead of following one laid down for us. This is much different than the life most of our parents and grandparents led. We are discovering ourselves in ways they didn't begin to until later in their lives.

The problem we have as quarterlifers is that we put pressure upon ourselves to have it all figured out from the beginning. It's not possible. In fact the more answers to our questions we discover will just unearth more questions. That's the journey of life.

Remember…as I’ve interviewed quarterlifers from around the world I have yet to meet anyone who has it all figured out. It’s okay not to have all the answers…no ones does. We live in a new world. One in which no one and I mean no one has ventured before. There are no rules for how it should be, look or feel. We are discovering them as we go. What we can do is share our stories. When we realize we are not alone and that others are going through similar uncertainity we gain confidence and strength.

What is your story? Are you experiencing a quarterlife crisis? Have you found solutions that work for you? Email me and let me know. jason@uploadexperience.com

Quarterlifers as Influencers

Baby Boomers may swell the population charts, yet it seems that quarterlifers--people in their teens, twenties and early thirties--impart a growing influence upon the market.

Certainly in areas of health care like anti-aging, wellness, surgery, assisted living, prescription drugs, and vitamins it is the influence of the aging baby boomers that has driven the billion dollar "wellness revolution."

But in the areas of technology, adventure sports, automobiles, and entertainment (just to name a few) it is today's quarterlifers who carry much clout.

It makes sense. Quarterlifer's in their late twenties and early thirties understand how to use these industries and are willing to pay:

$100 plus for a new iPod or cell phone
$200 plus for an X Box, Blackberry or Palm
$300 plus for a snowboard, rock climbing gear, snowshoes, or an SUV payment
$400 plus for a flat screen computer monitor
$500 plus for a high definition television

While quarterlifers in their teens and early twenties can't readily afford these items (not that, that stops many...hence the growing credit card debt) and Baby Boomers don't quickly understand them, it is the upper age quarterlifers who are buying these items and influencing others to do the same.

Here is an article I recently read titled:

Talking about whose Gen X? Infoworld, Netherlands - Feb 3, 2006

The author, Meg Mitchell Moore, points out how this influence results. One way is through the workplace. Quarterlifers learn the latest technology while in college and as they graduate and enter the workplace they take that technology with them. As Meg points out:

According to David Morrison, president and founder of Twentysomething, a young-adult marketing consultancy, a prime example of Gen X influence lies in the rapid adoption of PDAs 10 years ago. "When PDAs first came out I watched them become embraced by the business schools," he says. But it wasn't until those Gen X business school students graduated and entered the workforce with Palm Pilots in hand, showing them to their older bosses, that they really took off, he says.

A second way that quarterlifers are influencing the market place is through our embrace of the internet. We are gathering and sharing information through email, chat rooms, instant messages, and website forums. Gone are the days of a single big budget advertising message being spread across the country. Today you can go online and read the advice and experience others have had with the product you are interested in.

This has changed what people buy. It makes companies more responsible for their product. Gimmicks, mis-representation and hype don't cut it with quarterlifers.

A third way quarterlifer's have changed the market place is through our early embrace of our parents' lifestyle. We want the luxury and entertainment they experience...but don't want to pay a fortune for it. Take the wine industry for example. Once an indulgence for the rich, today liquor shelves are stocked with $6- $13 dollar bottles. As Meg pointed out:

The wine industry has also started listening to Gen X. "Gen X-ers have everything to do with the ratification of wine snobbery; they're not seduced by ‘wine for the rich,'" he says. "Gen X has created a larger platform from which wine companies and brands can create additional subbrands."

A forth reason why quarterlifers impart influence over the market is that parents and grandparents now actively seek out the advice of their children before purchasing new technology.

Once upon a time it was faintly embarrassing--for everyone involved--if parents asked their children for advice. Now boomer parents consistently seek Gen X-ers' counsel before making purchases, particular technology items like cell phones or digital cameras. Gen X-ers are more comfortable with online shopping, and more adept at navigating message boards or other online communities that publish product ratings or consumer opinions. "I doubt that there's a piece of technology that's bought by the older generations without the advice of a Gen X-er," says Fishman.

These are several of many reasons why quarterlifers are being targeted in the market place. Either we are the direct buyers of products or we are the major influencers behind the purchase for other groups.

Let me know your thoughts. Are their other reasons why companies are targeting us so strongly?