GLENN

Simon Sinek: There's Not a Problem With Millennials, But...

Simon Sinek, motivational speaker and author of Together Is Better: A Little Book of Inspiration, joined Glenn in studio today for a lengthy discussion about the Millennial generation. While there are troubling trends Sinek noted about Millennials, he also pointed to other generational traits that are neither good or bad, but a byproduct of early experiences.

"Every generation is impacted by whatever's going on during their formative years. If you grew up during the Depression and the Second World War, during rations, probably you're a little miserly," Sinek said.

RELATED: Accomplishment Builds Self-esteem, Not Participation Trophies

One significant challenge facing Millennials is technology, which breeds isolation and loneliness. Ever the optimist, Sinek offered tangible ways for parents and Millennials to reverse this trend.

Enjoy the complimentary clip above or read the transcript below for details.

GLENN: Let's get into a couple things. Because you just gave a really good assessment of the problem of millennials. The problem with millennials and how -- I shouldn't say it that way.

SIMON: That's how it's phrased to me.

GLENN: Yeah.

SIMON: I had an answer because every time I spoke anywhere, someone would invariable raise their hand and say, "So we're having problems leading our millennials. Or can you address the millennial problem."

GLENN: And you and I -- in fact, everybody in this room, we totally agree with you. There's not a problem with millennials.

SIMON: There's not a problem with millennials.

GLENN: Right. You want to explain.

SIMON: Yeah. So I got the question all the time, so I had to fashion an answer. As is my nature, I sort of talked to a lot of people and made some observations and tried to share what I observed and broke it down into four basic observations: Parenting, technology, and patience, and environment. And really quickly, I won't do the whole thing -- but basically, parents themselves -- this is not like me judging parents. But if you go look at the data, it's not psychologists. It's parents themselves who, as their kids got older, looked back and said, "I think we did some things wrong. I think we screwed this up a little bit."

And there's an excessive amount of coddling, you know, Purelling the heck out of anything, you know, literally and figuratively. And what happens is a generation grows up overly coddled with a lack of independence. So you can argue that, to some degree, parents bear some responsibility, which I think is not unfair.

The other is technology, which is a hard one because no one can argue against the fact that technology has been a huge benefit to us in our lives and made certain things a lot easier. However, everything comes at a cost. And the cost of excessive amounts of technology are multiple -- are multi-faceted. One, there are addictive qualities to technology. Social media and cell phones, specifically. There's a chemical called dopamine that is released. When we -- when our phones go -- bing or buzz or flash, that's the same chemical that's released when we drink, when we smoke, when we gamble. Almost all addictions are dopamine-based addictions. In other words, it's addictive. And like all addictions, in time, you will waste time, waste resources, and most importantly, destroy relationships. And that's exactly what we seem to be seeing.

I talk to a lot of young people, and they freely admitted that their friendships are superficial. That though they have fun with their friends, they wouldn't turn to their friends in hard times.

GLENN: Wow.

SIMON: They freely admitted that there's a sense of loneliness and isolation that they struggle with, and that they struggle to ask for help. They all sound tough. Like -- this is a Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat world. We're good at curating our lives, you know, filtering everything to show the world how we want it to be seen. But there's a distinct lack of social skills to literally ask for help. And, you know, millennials often say we want feedback. What they want is positive affirmation. They're not very good with negative feedback.

STU: That's so true.

SIMON: And one of the big criticisms that was lodged against that answer, was how can I generalize and categorize an entire generation?

GLENN: Well, because at some point, you have to.

SIMON: Well, the fact of the matter is, one can make generalizations; otherwise, you wouldn't have disciplines like psychology or sociology.

But also, every generation is impacted by whatever's going on, during their formative years. If you grew up during the Depression and the Second World War, during rations, probably you're a little miserly. You know, we made fun of our grandparents.

GLENN: Until our grandparents died.

SIMON: Right. My grandparents collected everything, wouldn't waste anything.

There's nothing wrong with them. It's just that they grew up -- they came of age in a time where that's what they learned. And so it lasted the rest of their life. It's a generation based on what they went through.

If you came of age during the 1960s and '70s, during the Vietnam War and Richard Nixon, you're a little cynical about authority and government.

It's not -- these are fair generalizations. So we have to consider that there are things that have happened in the formative years of this generation, largely technological, that has an impact.

GLENN: So how does this -- how does this generation turn out? Let me take a pause. You think about that. What does that mean now for the coming generation?

(chuckling)

[break]

GLENN: Simon Sinek is with us. He's the author of a new book Together Is Better: A Little Book of Inspiration. He is the author of Start With Why and Leaders Eat Last. If you have not read those books, you need to read those books.

Truly a guy who can get down to your core on who you are and why you're driven to do the things that you are. The good things. When you find those things, you're going to be totally transformed and life becomes so much easier.

Simon, we were talking about millennials. And I guess we only got through half of the points on what's affecting millennials.

STU: Yeah, it might be too long. Maybe people should just go and check out the whole thing. Because it's worth it. What is it? Fifteen, 20 minutes?

SIMON: Fifteen minutes.

GLENN: It's really, really good. Tell us where you think -- what does this mean -- what does the generation -- the millennial generation look like in 20 years?

SIMON: So the statistics -- the trends are already kind of alarming. And I think we need to take note of the trends, which is, we see suicide on the rise amongst this generation. Addiction to prescription drugs on the rise. You know, people who criticize this talk say, "Yes, suicides on the rise amongst other generations too."

Yes, but let's -- you know, this -- we want to see it decline in the younger generation, not increase.

GLENN: Yes.

SIMON: I give you a perfect example. A friend of mine, she's working with me over at my apartment. She's 27, 28 years old. And about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, she opens up her bag and pops a pill.

So I say to her, "What's up?" You know. She goes, "I'm just taking an Adderall."

I said why?

She goes, I'm having trouble concentrating.

I said, that's because it's 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Like, everybody has trouble concentrating at 3 o'clock in the afternoon.

But for some reason, the intense pressure that I think her generation has on her, both to be individuals, but also to perform, there's a sense that she literally believed that a dip in her concentration in the afternoon would -- there was something broken in her brain.

So she's medicating with these Adderall to keep her focus intense.

That's impossible.

GLENN: Really bad.

SIMON: It's really bad.

So my fear is that the trend data is alarming. And if we don't intervene, it's only going to get worse.

School shootings is another one. There was one school shooting in the '60s. Twenty-seven in the '80s. Fifty-eight in the '90s. Over 120 in the past decade. Seventy percent of them perpetrated by kids born after the year 1980. These school shootings are done by kids.

GLENN: Yeah.

SIMON: And it's an antisocial behavior like suicide.

GLENN: Right. I know you're going to disagree with this, but it's not the gun. It is a sign -- it's a cry for help. There is something wrong.

SIMON: There's -- and it's a -- they're feeling lonely and isolated.

GLENN: Yes.

SIMON: Which is exaggerated by things like technology. Because you can have an entire friendship and social life online without ever having to go outside and meet other people. And I'm hearing some of the struggles that parents are having. A 14-year-old -- people I met who have a 14-year-old who struggles to answer the front door because there's a person there.

GLENN: Oh, my gosh.

SIMON: Or I make a joke that this young generation, when they're using their phones -- Google Maps to get from A to B. You know, walking through a city and their phones die, that they'll spend more time looking for a charger than simply asking someone for directions.

And sort of a fear or a lack of skills to ask for help, you know. Or admit that they need help.

And so what that creates is isolation and loneliness.

GLENN: This is really not good.

SIMON: Now, here's a scary, scary statistic. Guess which demographic has the highest rate increase for suicide in America right now? Not absolute number, but highest rate of increase. Girls, ten to 14. It's doubled. It has doubled. Amongst men, it's Baby Boomers that have the highest rate of increase, but number two is boys ten to 14.

PAT: Jeez.

TV

WARNING: The Fed Is COMING for Your Money! | Ep 264

The recent atrocious shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, further reveals just how sick our nation truly is. And unfortunately, there are few honest conversations currently taking place about fixing it, because our corporate media is too busy blaming conservative news outlets like the Daily Wire. Tonight on Glenn TV, Glenn speaks with Daily Wire host Michael Knowles, who both addresses the blame and also explains how the Daily Wire plans to handle the accusations: "We’re safe here. I hope. We are upping that security now." Then, Glenn looks at the imminent changes facing the global financial system. A new economic order is coming, and the U.S. DOLLAR doesn’t seem to be in the plans. What will that new financial system look like for YOU? And is the federal government’s new payment portal, called FedNow, the beginning of a digital dollar or central bank digital currency? Glenn answers all these questions, and then he is joined by former Assistant Treasury Secretary Monica Crowley. She exposes the FedNow system for its hidden, ulterior motive: “It will be the END of your economic freedom.”

RADIO

‘Like TERRORISTS’: 6 demands far-left activists just made to insurers

The climate crisis continues! At least, that’s what the far-left wants you to believe. In fact, they believe this crisis is SO drastic that they’re willing to make INSANE demands about the ways companies do business. In this clip, Glenn reads from a letter sent to insurers from a group of some of the largest climate organizations. But it’s more than just a letter, Glenn explains. Their 6 demands read more like a threat: ‘We’re going to turn the machinery of public-private partnerships against YOU,’ Glenn interprets, ‘and run you out of business.’

RADIO

Glenn: Here's the REAL reason they INDICTED Donald Trump

‘It’s amazing how insidious darkness is,’ Glenn says. ’[And] it’s amazing how distracted you can become.’ Thanks to the far-left’s unforgiving efforts, President Donald Trump has now been indicted. It’s a historical moment for our nation — and it symbolizes a major turning point from which we may never fully recover. But it’s all a distraction. In this clip, Glenn unveils the TRUE reason the far-left is going after Trump: ‘They NEED you for cover.’

Transcript

Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors

GLENN: This little simple microphone that sits in front of me, and has in front of me almost every day since I was, you know, 13, 14 years old.

Has been my best friend in ways. Because you are -- you don't understand how important you are in my life.

I feel like I know you. And I -- when I meet people, they say, it's like you're my best friend. It's like an old friend that we've been together for years. And you have me at a disadvantage. Because you know everything about my life, if you're a long-time listener.

You know the names of children. You remember when I adopted my son.

You know my dog's name. And I know nothing about you, it seems.

But that's not true. I know you, because I know -- I know your values.

We're like-minded. And honestly, we are just searching for those things that are true. Those things that bring happiness. Those things that bring meaning.

I've lived a life of no meaning. I've lived a life, where I was worshiping the gods of America, fortune. Fame.

And it was meaningless and empty. And I drank my way through it.

My mother, when she died, I was 15 years old. She committed suicide. She was an alcoholic. She was addicted to prescription drugs. At a time when nobody ever talked about that.

And I hit a place in my life where I was about to do the same thing. And luckily, I was, quite honestly, too much of a coward to do it.

Thank God for cowardice. At least in that example.

I didn't know how to live. I just knew that death was in front of me. If I continued down this road, it would mean death.

I would either drink myself to death. Drug myself to death. Or I would kill myself. Because there was just nothing in my future.

And I couldn't find happiness. It seemed as though all truth was nothing more than a lie.

It's amazing how insidious darkness is. It's amazing how it can play on. It's amazing how distracted you can become.

I just looked up at my monitors here in my studio. And I see the headlights. Trump facing 30 counts related to business fraud. They're speaking about it on CNN.

Trump indictment stuns nation as Fox news. Donald Trump indicted, says MSNBC.

And Senator Warren is on CNBC. We need to hold those failed bank CEOs accountable. Do you remember the movie the Ten Commandments?

Do you remember they were free? The people were free. God freed them.

And then the minute they were at the Red Sea. You remember Edward G. Robinson. And he's like, yeah. See, I told you. This is bad. See.

Where is your Moses now?

And he immediately stands up and says, see, this guy led you to death. And Moses, I mean, I can't even believe to understand.

Charlton Heston said, behold the hand of God. That's not really what happened. You didn't stand there on that cliff.

He went down to the water. Had to walk in, into the water first.

His back was up against the wall. He had to take the step, stand in the water.

And while the people were condemning him, God moved because of his faith.

And then as soon as -- as soon as they got up across the water, you know, he goes up to the mountain and he gets the Ten Commandments.

I mean, you know, it took, what? Forty days. And they were like, oh, we've got to have orgies. And we have to build a golden calf. Good God.

Eric J. Robinson. I'll make you a leader, see.

They worshiped the things their hands had made.

How many of us are worshiping the things our hands have made? How many of us are looking at our phone all the time?

Technology has now become our God. Money has become our God.

I'm here in Dallas. In sound proof studios. And I just heard the thunder outside. How appropriate.

Today is a turning point. Today, this microphone in front of me, a device that I've had in front of me for almost 50 years, is unforgiving.

There's a lot inside of me today. And I am no different than you. I've had enough. I've had enough.

You know, I don't know about you. I mean, I see -- I've been watching this -- this slow motion car wreck. This train, headed towards us for 20 years. That we've been crossing the Atlantic in very slow motion. And the engines were on full speed, and the captain at night is like, keep those engines going. Let's make record time. We can do it!

And when the ship was in port, it was on fire!

There was a coal fire, down at the furnaces. And it wasn't in the furnace.

It was the coal pile, that was on fire.

Well, burn it up fast! We can make it. This ship is unsinkable.

And I've had 20 years to count the lifeboats.

I've had 20 years telling people, hey, maybe you shouldn't be playing shuffleboard right now. There's trouble. Anybody want to send a western union telegraph, maybe early?

When all the other ships have their telegraphs on?

We are -- we are at the iceberg. And the reason why this is happening to Donald Trump is because they need you. They need you to riot. To burn. To shoot. To target.

They need that. Because everything is about to collapse. And it can't be blamed on them. Because they're the ones, who are going to say to the rest of the world, see. This is what happens. This is what happens when you let free people be free.

That's why we've got to put a lid on it. Instead of the rest of the world looking at the elites. All those with answers. And say, look what you have done!

You have collapsed our economy. You and your expert advice have devalued the dollar.

You and your experts have taken the greatest nation to ever bless the earth and flush it down the toilet.

We are no longer a superpower. And they need you for cover!

Pray for your country like you've never prayed before. Pray that every single American that sits behind one of these today, understands the gravity of their words. Lord, may you humble all of us in these days.

I would prefer, you know, kind of a gentle reminder. But if it takes behold the hand of God, we will take that as well.

But humble us, Lord.

May we turn back to you.

RADIO

This TERRIFYING plan could RESET FOOD throughout the WORLD

Europe is in turmoil, especially now with protests rocking both France and Israel. But there’s growing unrest taking place in the Netherlands, as well, but for an ENTIRELY different reason. In this clip, Glenn reads from Thomas Fazi’s recent article in UnHerd, called ‘The Great Food Reset has begun.’ His piece details how Dutch politicians are pushing certain agricultural policy onto farmers there which could COMPLETELY disrupt food systems around the world. It’s time we stop arguing about smaller issues here in America, Glenn says, because it’s all a distraction. Issues like THIS one are real, are happening, and will have HUGE impacts on every single one of us. The time to pay attention is NOW.