Gen Y Women: Is “Crazy” the New Normal?

Ladies and Gentlemen, I’d love your feedback on the topic of “today’s woman.” Do we put too much pressure on ourselves?  Why do we want it all and is this a good thing, or not? Men: what do you think?

I’ll use my own life as an example.

• I passed “crazy dog person” a long time ago. My yellow lab Giada might as well be a human.  If you heard me talk to other dog owners at the park or saw me on a day-to-day basis you’d understand what I mean. You might also laugh at conversations I have with my boyfriend about Giada’s daycare plans, vet visits and special outtings.

• I passed “crazy ideas person” a long time ago as well. For a long time this was a setback- a thorn in my side.  Why?  Because I couldn’t pick one idea and run with it.  Every week I had a new glorious idea that seemed to be “the one.”  I would get beyond excited about it, skip the due diligence part then have no idea where to start while maintaining this blog and my day job.  Then things would fizzle. Thanks to advice from my mentors and lots of reading, I am slowly learning how to handle all these ideas and do something with them- one at a time.

• Point 1 + 2 = my newest creation: chidogoan.com (coming soon!). This idea has been evolving in my notebooks for several months.  No matter how many good ideas I get, I always come back to this one- tweaking, researching, even (gasp!) writing a business plan.

• Lately, more than ever, I’ve realized that my DNA is quite…well, special. I happen to be the spawn of two really happy recovering workaholics (they are also familyaholics, if that’s even a word).  When I was little, I used to wonder how the hell my Mom and Dad did it all.  I knew they loved their coffee, but it had to be more than that. Now I find myself doing the same thing they did: sometimes waking up at 4 in the morning because I want to work on my “side hustle” as much as humanly possible while maintaining a very busy day job and a life.

• Shit. I’m 26 and I’m already turning into my mother! My Mom seriously did it all.  She ran 3 successful companies over the years, made lunches with smiley faces on the napkins, stood out nationally in a very male dominated industry and then came home to do laundry and make spaghetti.  I’m sure she had days where she felt like a chicken with her head cut off, but somehow it all worked out.  Although I’m not a mother yet (well, not to a human at least)  I can already tell I have this “crazy woman” gene too.

• Like my Mom, I enjoy playing several parts: corporate career woman, entrepreneur and domestic diva all at once. Am I supposed to pick ONE (or maybe two) of these roles instead of all three? Is this the new normal?

• People I’ve dated have suggested I “relax” and “slow down.” These people aren’t for me.  I like always having a project, overcoming a challenge and growing something that’s my own.  I don’t really like watching TV and it takes me a while to get into “vacation mode” while I’m away. What’s wrong with that? Do other women embrace the chaos like me?

Now my questions for you:

• How have Gen Y women voluntarily changed the role of women?

• Do you think a majority of Gen Y has “side hustles” because we’ve been brought up during a time of Corporate Collapse (Enron), September 11th and a recession? Are we using our “side hustles” as career insurance?
• Many Gen Y women say they’d rather work for themselves than climb to the top of the corporate ladder.  If this sounds like you, what’s your motivation?