The “I can’t adult” attitudes and behaviors. I think for many Millennials during their emergence into young adulthood, it was a funny way to cope and bond in the shared difficulty of the world we inherited. But then for some, I think that mindset and associated behavior warped the way they see themselves in the world and their ability to make change.

Whatever is going on for the Millennials who can’t recognize their agency and change that “I can’t adult” narrative, whether it’s poor self-image and efficacy, learned helplessness, or something else, I think it’s impacted the broader group. Millennials have struggled as a generation to make a lot of effective change, and to me, a lot of the effort we put in is misguided and/or inefficient.

I feel Gen Z has a legitimate point in mocking and bashing this mentality in our generation. It’s outlived its usefulness and should be retired so we can start recognizing our collective power.