I wrote these articles on the other generations years ago, and since I wrote those initial drafts a brand new generation has emerged that deserves our attention. Born from 2010 onwards, Generation Alpha is the first generation born entirely in the 21st century. They’re the children of Millennials and younger Generation Xers, facing problems that…
I’m Generation X, but I was spending too long at work to have kids early enough for them to be Millennials. My kids, however, belong to Generation Z. Generation Z were born after the turn of the century. They’re post-9/11. They’ll inherit debt from the financial crisis. They’ll face global warming, and the transition from…
Let’s move on to the Millennials, also known as Generation Y. Born from the early 1980s until before the turn of the century, they are achievers. They’re networked. They’re team-oriented. Yet the Millennials also live in a world that has moved even further away from the stability available to the generations before them. Millennials have…
I was born in the 70s. In fact, anyone born after the mid-60s to the early 80s is said to be a member of my generation too. I am a member of Generation X. We are the non-Baby Boomers. If you simply look at the numbers, we’re also a minority. We’re the post-boom generation sandwiched…
This article leads us into looking at each generation in turn, so that we can understand those generations a bit better, so that we can see where we ourselves fit, and where we can use our skills from the generation we fall into to benefit us in society today. Let’s start with the oldest generation…
You don’t exist in a vacuum. You’re part of something bigger, whether you want to be or not. Society shapes you, your choices, your problems, your possibilities. Understanding how society works, understanding where you fit within it, understanding the forces acting on you, that’s not abstract academic stuff. It’s essential context for understanding why you’re…
We’ve spent this whole module talking about the people around you: how to spot the ones who’ll genuinely harm you, how to read an interaction, how to handle conflict, how to repair after a letdown, how to ask for help. This last lesson pulls it together into something practical: actually building the support network that…
Most of us are far more comfortable giving help than asking for it. Asking feels like exposing weakness, like admitting we couldn’t manage on our own. That instinct is almost entirely backwards, and understanding why can change how you build relationships for the rest of your life. The Ben Franklin Effect Benjamin Franklin had a…
Is there an actual number that separates a thriving relationship from a failing one? Researchers Marcial Losada and Barbara Fredrickson believed there was, and put a figure on it: 2.9013. That’s the ratio of positive to negative interactions they proposed as the tipping point between relationships that flourish and relationships that languish. Below 2.9013 positive…
It’s going to happen. Someone you trusted, relied on, or genuinely liked is going to let you down. Not the genuine villains we covered earlier, ordinary, well-meaning people who simply fail to come through when it mattered. How you handle that moment says a lot about the health of your relationships going forward. The Cost…