Generation X"--the 40 million or so people born between 1965 and 1976--understands it is living in a world of uncertainty where neither the govern ent nor private employers offer lifetime financial security. This is Cheap Jerseys Online , however, the next generation of responsible adults, bright young people with families to protect and nearly 40 years until retirement.
Generation X was the backbone of Operation Iraqi Freedom and continues serving the US effort to bring peace to the Middle East. None had to be there. They chose to be there by becoming Marines, soldiers, sailors Cheap Sports Jerseys , airmen or Coast Guardsmen. For example, our son, Bill, 32, was finishing a four-year Marine Corps enlistment when September 11 changed his life plan. Completing Officer Candidate School and The Basic School would mean another four-year commitment-but one he gladly made. After receiving his commission Cheap Authentic Jerseys , Bill was assigned to Okinawa, and recently returned from an 8-month deployment to Iraq.
So don't mistake Gen-Xers for Baby Boomers. Generation X detests labels--including the "Gen-X" tag it's had to live with--and unlike their Boomer parents, has no illusions about the future.
Gen-Xers are...
? Boldly putting their own stamp on business. Launching hi-tech and other types of companies at a record clip Cheap Jerseys Wholesale , Gen-Xers are less tied down by old notions of bureaucracy, and they're ready to try out their own management styles. Yet, they view financial prosperity as a by-product of a well-rounded life, not the main event.
? Risk-takers. Surveys find adversity, challenges Cheap Jerseys From China , and the high risk of failure, far from discouraging Gen-Xers, have produced a tough, even ruthless edge. Resilience, the willingness to abandon a losing project and try again Cheap Jerseys China , is fundamental.
? Delaying marriage and starting families. Maybe it's because they've seen so many Boomers end up in divorce court Cheap Jerseys , the so-called challenge of being single in a couples-oriented world no longer squares with the demographics.
As a result, Xers also are:
? More stable when they do marry, Xers are about nesting and making a house a home. Today's newlyweds are typically more mature, well-established and have higher incomes than in the past.
? Rediscovering traditional family values. Appalled by the moral relativism and situational ethics of their parents' generation--the Clintons were the last straw for many young Americans (Al Gore and John Kerry amusing poseurs) Xers similarly don't buy the notion that the government-as-nanny-state knows best. Their message: It doesn't take a village, stupid Wholesale NFL Nike Jerseys , it takes parents!
? Redefining the family-career challenge. Boomer women may have opened the door to the workplace, but their daughters are facing the family-career challenge in their own ways. "I have talked to women of all ages about balancing work and family life. What has surprised me the most is the difference in outlook between women my age, 27, and women just 10 years older," says Elizabeth McGuire Wholesale NFL Jerseys , a graduate student at John Hopkins School of International Studies: "But most women I know who are in their 20's are dissatisfied with [family-career] alternatives. Concerned about infertility, many of us want to have children while we're young. And though many of the dual-career couples I know who have nannies are wonderful parents and have successful careers, it seems their relationships with each other have suffered. While others debate whether day care is harmful to children, we are more worried about avoiding the frenetic pace these families seem to keep."
In a word: Gen-Xers are unique. They don't do things or look at the world the way their parents did, and they have to be approached and worked with accordingly.
What This Means To You
Marketing and selling to Generation X is a work in progress. That means you can take what you do best and creatively wing it based on what you know about this unique mar etplace. Declares motivational speaker and author Wholesale Jerseys From China , Sue A. Hershkowitz, CSP, "Look for ways to twist the familiar and success will beat a path to your door."
We say: Gen-Xers may not beat a path to your door, but you can show them the way.