Stop Asking Kids What They Want to Be When They Grow Up

 All around, the blind faith in satisfaction from knowledge work and how being very good at it can build wealth are becoming as out-of-date as having large families. 

The Financial Times, Noema and more document the necessary shifts in the way humans approach the requirement (at least until policy makers come up with something more realistic) that they have to support themselves by the sweat of their brow. 

So, instead of pestering children with the dream of making a living doing what they love, from the get-go socialize them to put together a life through other values. Already, the successful white-collars who still have jobs are turning to pursuing hobbies and taking refuge in fantasies about disappearing. 

Sure, driving that is the role of AI in reconfiguring jobs, as well as work in general. When I had been working full-time in communications I derived tremendous satisfaction from really digging to research the speech, article or ad. 

Currently, much of that heavy lifting, which I still do to market my boutique for intuitive coaching/tarot reading, can be handled by ChatGPT. Any value I create is through developing sources for insider perspective. 

In addition to AI, though, is the hardening of realities in this stage of capitalism for what it takes to achieve, hold and grow success.

Last Sunday The New York Times focused on an elite law firm - Paul, Weiss. There, the usual includes ruthless power moves, seeming greed, driving out a trans and little control even by star partners. That control could be less and less if firms like Paul, Weiss and Quinn Emanuel let in outside investors such as private equity firms. Smirk. So are you going to encourage your child to become one of those top lawyers?

A third force resetting all values is this: Uncertainty as the new usual. Why invest one's youth, dreams and hopes in preparing for a profession which is shrinking or might no longer exist. Already the entry-level slots in so many sectors, including large law firms, are being downsized. 

Those of us who enjoyed our paid labor might be the last generations to have that luxury. 

A bright spot, though, is that some youth I talk with have blown off the whole career construct. Instead, they don't go on from high school to invest in academic degrees or certifications. They live by their wits. That includes setting up micro enterprises such as selling used merchandise, walking dogs and running errands. 

The universal solution? Don't have kids. But those who have already reproduced have to communicate that paradigm shift: Paid labor might provide nothing but income. 

Careers. Forget all that. It’s about earning a good living, no matter what.

Complimentary consultation with Jane Genova, StreetSmart Coaching (janegenova374@gmail.com)


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wachtell Partner Romancing Associate in Central Park: Let's Talk About Power

  Would red-haired 40-something Nathaniel Cullerton be so appealing to a 20-something if he hadn't been a partner in an elite law firm and she was an underling at that firm?  That's what most of the coverage of the kissing incident in Central Park by the two Wachtell lawyers doesn't touch. Here is the video by Tik Toker Jay Guapo of their romantic break in the day. It was foreign-policy expert Henry Kissinger who observed: "Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac."  Since then, organizations have recognized how that reality can create major problems in the workplace. Typically, those take the form of a manager type engaging in an intimate relationship with a subordinate or at least a person with less status. Another issue is that such arrangements can breed favoritism. The subordinate gets goodies others don't. The rest of the organization seethes in resentment.  In addition, it can also trigger penalties for "non-compliance." The subordinate resists th...
Read more

America Not Hiring in 2026: Back to Golden Age of Solopreneurs?

 For hiring, 2025 was a brutal year to search for a job. The Wall Street Journal reports that 2026 could be worse: "At a gathering of CEOs in Midtown Manhattan this month organized by the Yale School of Management, 66% of leaders surveyed said they planned to either fire workers or maintain the size of their existing teams next year. Only a third indicated they planned to hire." The WSJ adds that pullback from adding manpower could be temporary. But given shareholders' demand for cost-efficiency and the continual improvements in AI, chronic unemployment could become standard. However, there is a solution. An old-fashioned one. That's becoming a solopreneur, that is setting up your own business without partners or employees. The model dates back to ancient times.  The golden age of the solo business owner in America had been from the late 1800s to about the mid 1920s.  There had been a wave of immigrants, discrimination against them and few jobs. They drove pushcarts ...
Read more

Scott Barshay's Leadership at Paul, Weiss Torpedoed, PR Nothing But a Joke, Sympathy for Brad Karp

  Last week was a bad, gone worse and worse, one for law firm Wachtell.   This week starts out as what could upend the new leadership of Scott Barshay (The Decider) at Paul, Weiss.  Today's very long-form article in The New York Times  by Michael Schmidt and Jessica Silver-Greenberg depicts Barshay negatively. Understatement. He is rolled out as one-dimensionally power-driven, abrasive, divisive and downright naive about the power of the media. About the latter, he blew off any concern about the media's response to the law firm's removing from the website the Center to Combat Hate.  An example of the beating delivered Barshay? Here is the NYT coverage of the response by some at Paul, Weiss when Barshay was hired: "But there was unease among some at Paul Weiss. Partners and associates learned from lawyers at Cravath that some people there were not unhappy to see Mr. Barshay go. His ego made him difficult to work with, the Paul Weiss lawyers were told." No ambigu...
Read more