Wondering who Millennials are? I take a stab at it in my first post.

2016: The Year Of Millennial Exploration

2016 will infamously go down, on the internet, as surreal. It was considered, by millennials, as one of the worst years in our millennial history due to terrorism attacks, election outcomes all over the world, and of course the continuation of the world thinking millennials suck.

Why? Because we are such a large group of individuals (we make up 25% of the U.S alone), 75.4 million to be exact, that we have started to truly effect the outcome of things. This matters to other people, to older people, and they are not always pleased with the way in which we are changing the world.

Millennial Motives

Last year everyone had questions about millennials. What would we do, what wouldn’t we do, and why were we doing or not doing these things?More importantly would our decisions even sway anything?

Turns out, our decisions did sway a lot of things and no, millennials do not meet in hipster dive bars to plan out how we are going to ‘mess up’ the economy. I’m not an economist, however anyone who keeps up with the world news can see for themselves that structures all over the world are changing and millennials responses are only a natural way to survive and adapt.

Politics and Marketing

When it came to politics this year bloggers and journalists couldn’t figure out who we’d vote for or if we would even show up. In the retail industry and automative industry we arrived late to the game and reshaped the market (purchasing less, purchasing online, etc;). Marketing to us became a challenge as we forced companies to use social media, who in turned used social media influencers and caused us to roll our eyes.

Guys, just because someone ‘cool’ is wearing it doesn’t mean we are going to buy it. We are not the baby boomers and our opinions are harder to sway. You need to show me the value in your product or I don’t want it; quality over quantity.

Houses and Tech

We are moving but for the most part in 2016 we weren’t buying houses. This caused economists to start predicting the next “recession” this time being blamed on not the banks, but the generation who can barely afford to buy groceries yet alone a house.

On top of that we proved in 2016 that we are a tech savy generation who loves using tech. We love using technology for sharing, for traveling, to find love, to communicate, to manage our finances and honestly the list goes on. Most millennials love technology because we remember what life was like before it and find life easier with it. We adapted to technology as teenagers and young adults (those that are now in their mid 30s) and we are now defining it as we continue to explore and create it within our careers.

Uber, Airbnb, and NeighborGood are just three of the apps that have blown up in the last few years to create the new “sharing economy”.

Travel and Wellness

According to many surveys, including AARP and Topdeck Trave, Millennials travel overseas more than any other generation and we do it to immerse ourselves in different cultural experiences and to try new foods. Generation X and Baby Boomers, on the other hand, travel more for relaxation, to escape reality*, and typically travel domestically.

With the internet and technology literally at our fingertips at all times this shouldn’t be a shock. The internet and technology has made travel more affordable, with sharing apps, and has made booking a trip as easy as a texting your friends, picking a location, and buying an all inclusive Groupon. The reason why we travel also is a no brainer, social media is the window to the world and seeing all these amazing things just makes us want to experience it in real life.

*In this slide deck presented by AARP different generations were surveyed on their type of travel, why they travel, where they travel and when they typically travel.

Millennials are also health conscious and we aren’t into diet and workout fads. Instead we are becoming obsessed with living and practicing a healthy lifestyle by making better choices with our food and activities. However, we are supposedly killing gyms as we prefer online at home workouts and boutique studios.

Side Note: I teach fitness classes and prefer teaching in boutique studios as they offer more of a community feel and allow more 1–1 time with students.

Gyms are taking notice and so are instructors as they continue to try to reinvent the gym atmosphere to attract our generation. The problem is no one knows the right formula yet. However, Millennials want a few things in the gym: short informative classes that show us results in a cool environment with other like-minded people our age.

Whoever creates that experience is golden.

The Exceptions

Now, there are always exceptions to these things. I know plenty of millennials who have purchased apartments and/or homes, like flashy items, use an agent for travel, and spend hours lifting weights. However, in 2016 we proved that that is NOT the majority of this population by participating in surveys and showing up, or not showing up, for large gatherings and events that shaped industries and governments.

What’s Up for 2017?

Millennials are predicted to spend $200 billion in 2017, and $10 trillion in our lifetimes, so don’t fret that we are going to ruin the economy by not spending money. When we have it to spend, we spend it however we spend it with care.

There are already projections that we will yet again shape other industries including; food, banking, fashion, and music.

Just remember, when it comes to Millennials we care more about quality and experiences over quantity and flashiness.