“But which generation am I?”

#1 question around the topic of generations today…

Photo by Ryan Johns on Unsplash

It really is the #1 question around the topic of generations today…

I promise I will help you zero in on the answer by the end of this post!

But while I have your attention, there is a very important point I’d like to share with you. 

Almost everyone seems to miss this crucial element — and it’s part of why you may feel so confused, so uncertain about generations. 

To truly understand generations, we must view them along a progressive path. 

The interconnection is essential to understanding any generation.

Generations reveal where we are now and where we are heading!

Aren’t you curious to know? 

Here is an example of what generational dynamics can help us to see. 

In the days of old, our society was fueled, rewarded, powered, based on competition. If you are over 40 years old today, it is likely that you experienced this first hand.

Did you know that today, competition as an incentivizing approach is diminishing and collaboration is increasing?

If you asked me to draw an example of these trends, it would look like this: 

This is just an illustration; not info based on data or research.

But observed cultural changes such as this can aid us in knowing what to pay attention to. Since culture is dynamic (ever-changing) we gain great insights when considering how change is occurring. 

I hope your curiosity has kicked in. There is so much we can know! 

But for now, as promised, I’ll show you how to determine your core generational identity and hopefully enable you to remember it going forward without pause.  

Not a question you expected? 

Well, most Americans achieve this milestone so it’s a shared cultural marker in itself.  

If I ask you to recall your teenage years, which decade do you associate it with? 

This is where we are going to start.

Why?

Starting with one's birthdate to figure out one’s generation is hard to do. 

If you are like me, the era of my birth is a blur. I can attempt to imagine what life was like during the year I was born but I have no affinity for the time.  It’s an abstract concept.

Skip starting with birth years.

Let’s tap into our life experiences and memories to ground our awareness of generational progression.

Our high school years provoke emotional remembrances (good and bad). LOL! Thinking of that period in our life is something that we do almost instinctively. It is easy. For many of us, we may have more of an emotional awareness of that time than any other decade in our lives. (Really, think about this. It’s one reason many people never let go of their teenage years and seem stuck in time. They likely are.)

Decades…

Our culture has turned decades into one of the most romanticized concepts today.

50s poodle skirts, rocking around the clock and shiny big cars 
60s The Beatles, make peace/not war, civil rights
70s Rock and Roll, disco, muscle cars
… you get the idea. 

It’s packaged nostalgia that keeps us dreaming of those good old days.

Okay, let’s use our awareness of the decades and our awareness of our high school graduation year to find our core generational identity.

Take the year of your high school graduation and subtract 20 years.
(This is the only math problem in this post!)

Here’s how mine looks as I graduated in 1977. 

This will likely go back a few years before your actual birth. That’s okay.
We are working on a level where “close enough” is perfect.

The 20th year prior to your graduation indicates which generation you would be considered a part of if generational affinity was ONLY based on birth years.

I call this our core generation.

Now, I’m going to ask you to take a leap with me.

The most simplified way to track/remember which years generations begin or end is again, to view culture based on the decades.

When we do this, the generational birth year boundaries would look like this color-coded chart. (Remember, we’re working with “close enough” for our variables.)

Here’s mine revised to indicate the generational placement: 

What’s yours?

Determining your full generational affinity is much more complex than this. That’s what my upcoming posts will expand on. But for many of us, it is likely that we will identify with the generational personas associated with the era of our childhood, including adolescence.

Knowing our core generation enables us to move forward and grow our understanding of generations today.

I think I may know what some of you may be thinking.

It is the #2 question I hear about generations.

Photo by Quaritsch Photography on Unsplash

It sounds something like this…

“I don’t want to be put in a box!”
"I’m not like everyone else!”
"These ideas are overly-simplistic and don’t relate to me.”

I understand. Your concern is important. I assure you, as you learn more about generations you’ll realize, no one, no unique individual, can be defined by a generational persona.

You and you alone will determine your generational affinity and identity.

I will show you how to do this for yourself.

If you are just jumping into understanding generations with this post, be sure and catch the post where it all begins.

Wondering why generational articles often leave you more confused than before you read them?

Stay tuned. Stay curious!