Gen-X Realists ‘Self-Navigators’ Bring Pragmatic Approach To Dealing With Challenges
They’ve been called Generation X, characterized as slackers and cynics and criticized by their baby boomer parents.
But while the rest of society focused on a doom-and-gloom scenario of the future, these young Americans have created a new way of looking at the world in which they are masters of their own universe.
This new view has spawned a new age in American society - the “Age of Self-Navigation,” according to the findings of a new study published in the American Demographics magazine.
“We were upset because we felt that Generation X was getting knocked for being slackers, for not having a lot of planning skills, but what we were seeing was the exact opposite,” said Chip Walker, global trends director of The BrainWaves Group, the company that conducted the study.
In polling, conducting focus groups and interviews with adults for marketing projects, Walker found there was “a huge emphasis on practicality and achievement and not having dreams that are unrealistic, and if you want to do something, putting your money where your mouth is.”
These “Self Navigators” now represent about one in four Americans. They tend to be 35 and younger, have relatively small households and share the defining trait of self-reliance. They are young people who aren’t intimidated by the idea of starting their own companies and doing contract work.
They do not plan a career that revolves around climbing the corporate ladder. They instead focus on beating the new economy at its own game.
But don’t mistake these Navigators for yuppies. They aren’t focused narrowly on their personal fortunes, power and success in business.
They’re more well rounded and more interested in personal relationships and fun, compared with the superindividualist yuppies who are known more for striving for success at any cost, Walker said.
The Navigators don’t have a lot of time for baby boomer idealism and break-the-bank policies. And their views have created an ironic generation gap in which young folks are telling their elders that they need to be more responsible and realistic.
The Navigators are “irritable and angry because they feel like they’re having to take up the slack of older people with things like Social Security and problems with the economy that they are inheriting,” Walker said. “They’re like, ‘We’re coming in here as realists to clean up the mess.’ “
Instead of running in fear from a new economy that has shocked boomers with downsizing and stagnant incomes, Navigators are embracing the change, welcoming a time when they won’t have to work the same job for 30 years, and an era when opportunities are better than ever for those who know how to fill a niche in a fast-changing new world.
“The culture has gelled with people under 35 in a way that we haven’t seen since the baby boomers came of age,” Walker said. “It’s a sea change.”
xxxx HERE’S A NEW LOOK AT US The “Age of Self-Navigation” has reordered the broad demographic groups into which Americans are categorized, according to BrainWaves researchers. Here are the groups they have identified:
Self Navigators: 26 percent Predominantly young Americans who reject time-honored traditions. They believe: “It’s up to me to create my own well-being.” Achievement is important, but personal relationships are too.
Post-yuppies: 29 percent Young suburban and urban Americans who emphasize achievement and power. The most individualistic people, they place less importance than other Americans on relationships. Family Values Boomers: 28 percent Those people closest to the “average American,” they emphasize relationships, tradition and enjoyment and place less emphasis on power and achievement.
Hard-core Traditionalists: 18 percent Older Americans who strongly emphasize tradition and fitting into society. They are less interested in fun and excitement than other groups.
Source: The BrainWaves Group, Market Facts, American Demographics Figures do not add up to 100 percent due to rounding