- Have you ever sat and wondered what it would be like for you as a millennial to lead a Gen-Z lifestyle?
- If you’re ready to trade in your rinse and repeat grinding lifestyle, here are some tips on how you can adopt a Gen Z lifestyle
- It will be hard- probably exhausting- but adopting a Gen Z lifestyle will give millennials the best of both worlds
Adulting is exhausting, and let’s be honest…millennials got the short end of the stick. We grew up chasing degrees, craving an insatiable job security and homeownership before a certain age, only to find ourselves drowning in work emails, burnout culture and unaffordable rent because there was no way our parents expected us to be waking up in their houses past the age of 25.
Meanwhile, Gen Z is out here prioritizing self-care routines, sherehe, working remotely in exotic locations, vlogging for social media and earning big bucks from online content, and rejecting the corporate or entrepreneurship grind for a life of good vibes and InshaAllah- and the occasional national maandamanos (demos) when they feel like it.
So, if you’re ready to trade your “rise and grind” mentality for “romanticizing your life,” let’s talk about how you can soft launch your transition into Gen Z mode—no age limit required.
First, we need to drop our parents’ (Gen X) mentalities drilled into us about the grind. Like Gen Z, we should consider a flexible work-life balance that prioritizes freedom, remote work and side hustles unlike showing up in offices from 9am-5pm, and only working a total of about five hours in a day.
Millennials also need to embrace a digital first approach to much of their lives. Online platforms and digital gadgets are what Gen Z are using for instant communication and consuming content. Set aside the physical newspapers and magazines- books even- and embrace digital platforms that make life so much easier.
Also, millennials need to change their communication style. Gen X drilled into us how we should speak and behave but that got many nowhere except having various childhood traumas. Gen Z have their slang, emojis and super casual conversation styles that sometimes seem more effective than communication styles millennials are used to. Millennials can learn to ditch the email chains for quick DMs and lowkey adopt some Gen Z phrases which wouldn’t make situations awkward.
Dress codes and aesthetics are what can help someone guess if a person is a millennial or a Gen Z. Seen a woman in skinny jeans or bell bottoms? Probably a millennial. Black khaki pants or skirts and headed to work? Millennial. Gen Z are known for being bold with their fashion choices. They prefer to experiment unlike millennials who enjoy playing it safe in terms of comfort and practicability.
Millennials are the generation that ushered in the digital age but their adoption of internet spaces for activism and social awareness is slower compared to Gen Z. Millennials were raised to work within the system and cause no disruptions but this is an alien concept to Gen Z. They are loud and bold, direct and digitally mobilized. You only need to remember how they made the Kenyan government toe the citizens’ line during the June 2024 national demonstrations and had a controversial Finance Bill shot down. Millennials, therefore, need to engage in more of Gen-Z style advocacy beyond private WhatsApp groups. They need to keep up with the movement in order to ‘feel like’ a Gen Z.
Yes, it will be tricky changing lifestyles because of what culture has taught us while growing up; and erasing that will be impossible but there is always room for unlearning things that no longer serve us. It may also be an exhausting endeavor considering Gen Z are quick and daring judging by their constant online engagements but as they say, ‘luck and fortune favor the bold.’
Within limits, millennials can lead a Gen-Z lifestyle. Embracing it- whether fast or slow- may help us have the best of both worlds.
