A group of joyful boomers have a great time.
Giuseppe Lombardo/istockphoto

The whole conundrum of consciously trying to take advice from someone that you know deep down in your bones is in the right, but you’ve also created your own kind of mental block from doing so because you simply can’t stand them, is a very relatable debacle for many. When it comes to a situation involving a millennial trying to take the advice being given from a boomer who may or may not be on an ego-fueled power trip, it’s really a flip of the coin over whether they will or not. Maybe you’ll find yourself nodding your head in agreement with these positive boomer traits, or maybe they’ll only work to rev up your rage engine that much more.

1. Those breaks are crucial

An image of a clock placed behind a note saying "break time!"
BrianAJackson/unsplash

Burnout is no joke and can creep up on anyone at a moment’s notice. In a day and age when it can feel like the walls themselves are closing in due to the hyper-competitive job market out there and the fact that it feels like everything is climbing in costs, burnout is hitting far too many folks. In fact, 98% of Gen Z workers are apparently actively dealing with various symptoms of burnout. Thus, the value of giving yourself much needed breaks can’t be expressed enough. That can include deattaching oneself from your phone. Just a walk around the block can work wonders, if you also aren’t constantly reachable through texting or work messaging apps.

2. People pleasing is a hugely detrimental habit

An image of a person who is very burned out while wearing a blue sweatshirt.
Christian Erfurt/unsplash

Even calling it a habit could be not depicting an entirely accurate picture. Getting caught up in a vicious cycle of people pleasing can give way to wrestling with feelings of being taken advantage of, walked over, etc. It doesn’t have to be you getting into an unnecessary conflict just because you feel like saying no, but instead it can be providing that “no” in a way that isn’t emotionally infused. It does get easier over time.

3. Being a tough negotiator

An image of a person writing on a couple of documents.
Scott Graham/unsplash

It could be a generational thing, but there are plenty of boomers out there that are absolutely ready to bring their unapologetic, brutal A game to the table when it’s time to do something like haggle with a car salesperson.

4. Working on the small talk

A group of younger generation folks making small talk.
Alexis Brown/unsplash

Okay, granted, not everyone is built for keeping up with the small talk. Where my introverts at? However, with even a little bit of effort devoted toward working on those conversational skills, they can end up taking you a long way. It could translate to something like being able to more easily establish rapport in an interview that would’ve gone cold otherwise. All of the phones with their numerous distracting and mind-numbing apps aren’t helping the cause here.

5. Immediately replace possession without trying to fix it

An image of someone fixing their washing machine themselves.
Ekaterina Govorina/istockphoto

We can get far craftier than we give ourselves credit for. Just because something ends up being busted up around your home doesn’t mean that you need to immediately call the maintenance dude that you have on hand. In this day and age the wealth of DIY/fix-it-yourself videos available online are genuinely astounding. Plus, you’ll stand to save that much more money back into your pocket.

Meet the Writer

Matt has spent over the last 8 years as both a writer and editor, working in Seattle and Brooklyn, where he is now based. He loves escaping the tirelessly fast pace of the “Mad Apple” that is NYC by taking walks and runs through parks where he’s able to catch up on the latest tea about society from the city’s ever chatty, always hungry, occasionally maniacal, pigeons. They always have a lot to say. When he’s not taking his urban nature strolls, or dutifully combing the deepest rabbit holes of the internet to find the content that’s worth sinking your mind’s teeth into, he’s likely holed up at a dark-lit dive bar with a new book and/or some friends, or just as easily he could be on the hunt for the next addition to his steadily growing plant family.

These days Matt’s caught up in trying to provide folks as many vivid glimpses into the days long since passed as he can, through fun and engaging collections of hand-picked vintage photos.