Episode: 549

Episode Title: Our Reasons Don’t Matter

What if you’re having trouble convincing young people to take a step forward? Here are two pieces of advice, coming up next on The Perna Syndicate.

Ep 549 show:

You’re now in The Perna Syndicate—hello and welcome! Yesterday we talked about inspiring young people to move forward with reasons that carry weight with them. The thing is, those reasons aren’t necessarily the ones that carry the most weight with us. 

If you’ve ever wanted a young person to take a step, to make progress in some way, you’re not alone. Whether as parents, educators, or even employers, we all deal with the younger generations on a regular basis. And sometimes, it just seems like the things that motivate us don’t have any impact on them. 

If you’ve ever found yourself in this situation, I have a couple words of advice. First, we can’t focus on the punitive consequences if they don’t take action. I’m not saying to remove any consequences, but in general, young people are more motivated by the positive results they can achieve rather than possible punishment if they don’t. 

Second, step back and think about what truly motivates Gen Z. They work to live, they thrive on the attention of social media, and they are remarkably entrepreneurial. They want to make a difference in the world—and they absolutely have to have a human connection with the authority figures in their lives, or they won’t move forward. 

This is just a quick gut check here as we work with this talented generation. It’s not our reasons for moving forward that matter—it’s theirs. 

Join me again tomorrow on The Perna Syndicate for a conversation on why Education with Purpose naturally leads to Employment with Passion. It’s going to be great—see you then!