Boys in Late Adolescence Looking For Jobs

Although I am an “adult psychiatrist” on paper, in reality I have seen plenty of young men who fit into my criteria of 18-or-over but to me are functionally children.

They usually think I am functionally — well, grandmother-like — so from the moment they see me they have very little interest in listening to what I say.

Granted, since I see folks who have already done something to get themselves into the mental health system, the young folks of whom I am thinking may not be an accurate cross-section of young human male humanity.

Still, they all say almost exactly the same thing.

“All I need is a job.”

Some go on about how much money they ought to make, while some just say “as much as possible.”

Selling education to them seems virtually impossible, although I can usually get at least a laugh by extending my arms heavenward — Like Joshua in the Bible, which is why the Mormons called the desert trees that reminded them of this “Joshua” trees.

With arms properly positions, I usually yell “Go to medical school!  Take my job.”

The customary response is usually either “I’m not smart enough” or “I don’t want to work that hard.”

Oy!

Several of them actually do have some skills — usually computer related, for they all seem to stay home and poke around on computers all day.  Or maybe it’s just Xbox/Playstation skills.

I started wondering a little while ago if some of them could start their own businesses, although this was clearly something I am poorly equipped to advise them about at best.

I have since heard about entrepreneurship and wondered if it is actually possible to teach such skills, not to mention such mindsets.

It seems so.

This Washington Post article interviewed the president of a media company who said what I think is the most important factoid of all. “Kids have started looking up to entrepreneurs the way we looked up to athletes and rock stars.”

American Society has changed a bunch since I was born and my Parents-Of-Blessed-Memory started a college fund.

My Grandfather-Of-Blessed-Memory, realizing my brother was unlikely to be a “college type,” suggested that he get a trade and we all raise some capital to help.

Of course, my Brother-Of-Blessed-Memory had Asperger’s, and was a bit short on interpersonal skills.  This solution is not for everybody.

Everybody needs a plan as a function of who they are.

What their talents are.

Bill Gates was a Harvard dropout and my Harvard-Snob father would never believe such a creature could come to any good – much less revolutionize the world and become the richest man in America.

The world is more “wide open” now.

I idolized neither athletes nor rockstars – mostly scientists, doctors and Jerry Lewis.

The effectiveness of entrepreneurial education may not (yet) be measured by the kind of “academic” research I am used to looking at, but that does not mean it doesn’t work.

There has already been some codification of the necessary business skills, as well as the interpersonal skills involved in networking.

There is also teaching starting to happen in groups, as those who have taken this route share information with each other.

Once again, the Washington Post seems to be at the forefront.

The steps this articles recommends may seem commonsense, but simplifying the pitch to minimize personal data, talking to potential customers before speaking to investors, all seem to put forth a kind of thinking which seems more alien to me than looking at the structure of a foreign language.

We are talking about a sector well enough identified that it knows what it wants from government and is already seen as an important force in a projected “economic recovery.”

The reality and the rules may both be changing too fast for anyone but the internet savvy to keep up with the story.

My own view might be a bit simplistic, but I have always felt for any professional direction the inspiration, the motivation comes first.  Commitment is required.  If you’ve got enough, it seems the rest falls into place. This seems somehow natural and organic. In France, when life was trying beyond description, I taped up a little piece of paper on the wall at my bedside, so I would see it each morning. It said, “Do you remember when you said you would do anything to be a doctor?”

More formal, structured teaching of necessary skills seems to be emerging.

The question that remains for me, is whether a particular psychology is relevant?  Moreover, is it something you have got or something you can grow?

In other words, can I recommend this path to anybody in particular?

In theory, it fits into the construct of “Positive psychology.”  It seems as if the entrepreneur must believe he or she is producing something of worth, something of redeeming social value.

This is a career of risk, stress, and financial pressures.

I came from a family where everyone sought security.  I mean, one of the reasons my family endorsed medicine as a career for me was — and they said this — that I would “always have a job.”

Frankly, they had no idea of the volatility of this sector.

But even in the worst of time, it has not had the amount of variability I have seen described in the financial life of the “pure” entrepreneur, who has given up the day job in favor of a total commitment to a new company.

It is a kind of “resilience” — loosely defined as the ability to bounce back from failure.  It has actually been fairly well studied.

I am delighted to be able to report that you can, if you want to, grow your own.  The great folks from the American Psychological Association have actually provided a roadmap. Some of the recommended steps may seem superficial if you are not under stress at the time that you read this.  Things like trust and perseverance.

Those lovable psychologists even give you a self-evaluation questionnaire.

Mental health professionals can be helpful if wanted or needed.  I mean, I can’t find any kind of a list of how many entrepreneurs use them.

People generally want to appear stronger than they are and do not share that kind of data.

I can add that having someone to love and who loves you is at least as precious for the (potentially shared experience of) the entrepreneur as for anyone else.

I think people still need the initial passion the good idea, the belief in same at the outset, as well as the knowledge and expectation that will have to be enough to get you through the tough times.