Low energy in Gen X women is its own thing

Gen X, the generation born between 1965 and 1980, is known for marching to the beat of its own drum. I’m Gen X, and for as long as I can remember, I’ve been hearing things like “highly capable” and “fiercely independent” to describe my cohort.

While these characteristics are usually offered as compliments, what they’ve actually done is produced is a lot of uniquely exhausted people, especially women.

True to form, Gen X women have a one-of-a-kind low-energy problem.

Capable doesn’t mean superhuman

Gen X women, now in their 40s and 50s, are bad ass.

Many are caring for kids and pets and aging parents all at the same time. Often, they’re the primary (or sole) breadwinners, social coordinators, and domestic goddesses for their families.

Caught between Baby Boomers and Millennials, Gen X women are also squeezed when it comes to technology. We grew up without the internet, so we get that life and at times long for it, but we’ve been forced to adopt technology with the proficiency of digital natives in order to compete in our careers.

Oh and for many of us, menopause is looming or already in full bloom.

We handle these things without thinking much of them, but sometimes the responsibility of being the one who just deals with it gets overwhelming and exhausting.

Fierce independence can be lonely

After a certain amount of time being the one who just deals with it, people kinda forget that maybe you don’t want to deal with everything all the time. Even we forget it sometimes.

Gen X women are not great at asking for help.

During times when life catches up with us—we get sick, someone dies, or we’re working through difficult relationship or career stuff—it can be destabilizing to realize we’re tired and need help. And scary to admit we don’t know who to ask.

The stats say loneliness is worse than smoking. The surgeon general says it’s an epidemic. The women of Generation X say, “Hey, we feel it too.”

Coaching for women on a quest for zest

Gen X women are both overwhelmed by stress and responsibility and underwhelmed from a lack of fulfillment and purpose. We feel like we have more to offer the world and also nothing left to give.

We want to feel more energized and alive, but we don’t need to be told to exercise or eat well or sleep more. What we need are compassionate, curious witnesses to the challenges and transitions many of us are grappling with right now.

Gen X women need to be listened to. We need to be seen us for who we are and who we aspire to become—not for the people everyone has always expected us to be.

If you’re a Gen X woman, a coach can be one of your compassionate witnesses.

Through examining the thoughts that are making you feel tired and stuck, and helping you figure out what lights you up and what drains you, coaching is an opportunity to explore what’s possible in your next season of life.

This on its own—space to contemplate possibility—is energizing. It’s something Gen X women so rarely give themselves.

So, take back your Gen X superpowers!

Channel your fierce independence to opt out of the cycle of busyness and blah. I know it and you know it: You’re highly capable of so much more.