The Millennial generation is in trouble.
Recent articles from The Atlantic Magazine and Time Magazine have referred to the Millennial Generation as the “Unluckiest Generation,” the most “Narcissistic Generation,” and the “Laziest Generation” ever.
Unemployment and underemployment numbers for high school graduates stand between 70% and 80% at the time of this writing, twice what it was just ten years ago! The economy has changed dramatically since the 2001 and 2009 recessions, and it is unlikely that prospects will improve for young people in the near future.
The situation isn’t much better for college graduates. When 36% of college graduates show no cognitive gains after four years of study, and only 51% can find full-time employment after exiting a higher education system with an average price-tag of $72K (public) to $140K (private), it seems that the college paradigm may not be the ultimate launchpad we once thought it was.
Here’s the deal:
The fundamental problem is the breakdown of the character of the nation, the disintegration of family and fatherhood, the shattering of the work ethic among young men, and the escapist, purposeless zeitgeist (the spirit of the age) among the youth. With these realities it’s no surprise that 70% of young men are not “grown up” by 30 years of age (up from 30% in 1970). In fact, the average video gamer is now 33 years old.
But things haven’t always been this way.
In the past, children were raised by their parents in family economies. Fathers worked with their sons. Mothers worked with their daughters. Mentorships and apprenticeships were common, especially for young men who needed to learn a trade. Because of this practical discipleship, young men and women not only understood their purpose in life – they were prepared to pursue it.
What would Jesus do?
Though man’s education systems are declining, God’s program of relationship-based, character-focused, and life-integrated education has never been more effective. Mentorship prepared 12 men who change the world 2,000 years ago, and it’s still the most powerful method for launching young men and young women into life today.
In preparation for life, there are three key elements that must be integrated as best as possible on a daily basis. These elements are knowledge, spiritual exercise, and life application. The tendency in modern education is separate these things, but to separate knowledge from worship and life usually produces pride and an empty, useless sort of knowledge.
The beauty of mentorship is that it brings all these pieces together.
Good mentors will always be interested in the character of the student. A Christian mentor will also be interested in the student’s ability to be humble and reverent before God. Finally, mentors aid the student in actually applying his knowledge into work, manufacturing, problem-solving, and economic trade. Whether a young person pursues the entrepreneur track or the college-corporate track in life, he still needs good mentorship to launch him into his calling.
Best of all, mentorship is the ideal way to avoid the horrible predicament of the person who’s still wandering around California trying to “find himself” at 28 years of age, having changed his major six times and spent himself into $120,000 of debt. That’s because mentorship gives students a true taste for life, to better hone in on their calling. How is a young person really going to know the best application of his gifts, talents, and abilities, unless he has actually applied his or her gifts in real life?
Kickstart: Launch Your Life
In 2013, LifeLaunch produced the ground-breaking mentorship program, Kickstart – a step-by-step video curriculum designed to help students launch their lives NOW with clear vision, through powerful mentoring relationships and real-life application.
Features:
Designed for young men and women, ages 15+, this breakthrough self-study program includes:
- 29 powerful training session on 4 DVDs
- Faculty of seven leading businessmen, mentors and education experts (Kevin Swanson, Gary Powers, Woody Robertson, Steve Riddell, Dave Tucker, Erik Weir and Geoffrey Botkin).
- A 300 page full-color companion guide and workbook
- myKickstart, a step-by-step personal launch planner
- BONUS FEATURE: Four real-life mentoring stories on DVD
Topics include:
Life Vision, Calling & Vocation, Character & Fear of God, Goal Setting, Time Management, Motivation, Problem Solving, Networking, Finding & Engaging Mentors, Communication, Deportment, Asking Questions, Job Shadowing, Interviewing, Getting Jobs & Opportunities, and Entrepreneurship
We’re glad you asked. Start a Kickstart Study Group.
Our mission is to help students achieve significant change in their lives through the Kickstart program. And in order to achieve this result, we truly believe that additional accountability and guidance from mature men will be crucial to the success of most students who attempt the Kickstart program.
At the same time, we’ve also noticed that there are many men interested in mentoring and investing in the lives of young people around them, but without a clear, pre-planned path to follow, they are either unsure of how to go about the mentoring process, or they lack the time to create their own mentoring program from scratch.
The Mentor’s Guide for Kickstart
1. Provide these young people with the essential guidance, personal insight, and accountability they will need to successfully complete the Kickstart program.
2. Make a significant investment in the lives of these young people using the Kickstart program. In addition to providing an easy path to follow, this curriculum will allow you to give these young people excellent content in an organized format, without requiring you to invest the time and energy to create and organize all the content yourself.
Just plug and play.
The seed for this model was planted when a caring father and businessman in Tennessee simply sent out an email to his church inviting them to his house on Friday nights to watch and discuss the Kickstart Training Sessions. The response was phenomenal, and within a few weeks, there were approximately 50 young men, young ladies, and parents attending his study group. It’s been such a success that he’s started a second study group with plans for his third!
Our vision is to see study groups like this one popping up all over the country – whether they are intimate with just a couple people, or as large as 50. So, if you are interested in mentoring young people in your community and would like to use Kickstart as a tool to do that, we believe the Mentor’s Guide for Kickstart is the right solution for you.