Great post Peter!

Excuse me? I'm not going to change the world? Way to rain on my parade!! Just kidding! I think that Generation Y (and I still have my doubts that I am part of Generation Y) has grown up hearing that America is that land of opportunity. That we can be anything. We have so many more opportunities available to us. Also, with more people going to college and being successful, and just more people in general, there has been increased pressure, an increasing of pushing to be great and all in one night.

*shrug* just my 2 cents.

@Kristina: America IS still the land of opportunity. How has it changed? I love that this country gives us the freedom and largest amount of possibility to achieve our dreams.

@Peter: I feel that this post is confusing having lofty goals with having no sense of direction. These are two completely different ideas. If you are focused and take steps to achieve specific and outlined goals, you can indeed achieve them. The problem your friend has is that he is lacking goals to reach.

@Olivia: It is common for people to disguise negativity by saying that you are just trying to be realistic. I agree that being 'realistic' with your opportunities is self defeating. I would go on to say that our desire to change the world is something to be envied.

@Rob: If we are not #1, we should strive to become #1 and not accept mediocrity because half of the world is below average.

@All: How do companies reward those who have been working the same job for 30 years? They are laid off in an effort to cut costs. If you did not enjoy the years spent working, then you have wasted your time which could have been spent with your family or doing things you feel passionate about. This sense of entitlement will force us to question these kinds of jobs and instead perform jobs that will help us to rise out of the recession a stronger country.

I think we do dream big. Is it too big? I don't think so. Although the ideas might be lofty, even if we decide to take this extremely risky road and "change the world" mentality, at least you tried it. Even if you fail miserably, those stepping stones seem important and can help to shape Gen Y.

It's funny because I can agree with the conversation you and your friend had, I seem to have that a lot as well: not wanting to settle. I see it as, to each their own, and that even we leap really big you're going to learn no matter what and if you don't try you may never know...

@all thanks for your comments!

@Kristina You make another great point. On top of all of the opportunity, the competition and the pressure is much greater than before. Ever since gen y’ers were in middle school they have been pushed to be the best in school, in sports, or whatever else. In some ways the competition makes us strive to be the best, but too much pressure can be detrimental if not handled correctly.

@benjamin It’s two separate ideas, but they go hand in hand. I believe that Gen Y has very lofty goals, but has no sense of direction in attaining them. That’s where the problem comes in. I would say that my friend has goals, even if their vague, it’s the lack of direction that he’s missing.

@mehnaz. Thanks! And I completely agree. I feel like Gen Yers thinking that planting a tree or getting someone to not litter isn’t meaningful, but they fail to realize that every little steps count. You can’t get the whole world to not litter if you don’t stop one person first.

@grace Although I agree with what you have to say, I think that comes down to more of a personality thing. For me personally, yes I agree it’s better to take a risk and if you fail, then you take it as a learning experience. But a lot of people (at least from what I’ve seen) don’t have that same mentality. If they fail, then they get really down on themselves, really worried, and will be scared to fail again in the future. For someone like that, it’s better to have a realistic, attainable goal, so that way they’ll have a couple accomplishments under their belt if they decide to go for a bigger, larger goal later down the road.

@natalie well said. So much of a job comes down to the environment, the people you work with, etc etc. That’s not something you can predict from just a job description or even an interview or two. Sometimes those factors are just out of your hands and as much as some people like to have everything planned out, there is a high sense of variability in any job that you take.

Doesn't anyone recognize that ALL change starts locally? That if you work hard and make a difference in your local community, that the changes ripple out from there? Often it takes time, energy, hard work and persistance to make a change around you, but it's rewarding to actually be able to see the differences your efforts have made.