Many times in my life I have been met with the want to walk out on my duties and take a break. Nevertheless, I look again at my goals and remember to hold myself to a higher standard and avoid procrastination.

Words like Maybe later or, I’ll do it some other time can prove to be some of the most harmful words in the English language. Our procrastination reflects on who we are, as well as who we want to be.

There is no other way to say it, but our new generation has stopped caring. When is there a line where we decide we need to start taking some priority and rebuke our own stubbornness? When will we decide enough is enough and we have to start caring?

Your future is important and will be affected whether you like it or not. Our generation is showing a newfound lack of interest. If we don’t have goals to work toward, then where is our motivation? What direction are we taking? What is our plan? Studies across the country have reported that high school dropouts who procrastinated and didn’t want to use any work ethic make a median income of $20,400 a year. That is around 50 percent less than the average able-bodied American.

Money is not the only thing affected by a lack of work ethic. More and more teens are refusing to take jobs nowadays. 60 percent of teens had a job in the 1970s. That percentage, as of 2022, is recorded as 38 percent, which is a staggering 22 percent less, according to a study done by the Economic Policy Institute. Not only this, but the summer teenage workforce has steadily decreased from 70 percent in 1978 to 43 percent in 2016.

This statistic is so disappointing because summer jobs are supposed to be a foundation and a memory to look back on. Whether it’s a job as a lifeguard or even at a bad restaurant, you should be able to learn from it. You might even find that they aren’t that bad.

Jobs go to show what the world is really like. Most jobs can even show what you want to go toward, and what you want to avoid when you’re older. Work ethic is something you must include in your skillset if you are serious about your future.

Hard work is not an obstacle. Hard work is a building block, like the first steps in our young, teenage lives. Every person who has ever achieved something great. Never once woke up and decided to be average or to be just enough. They got where they are through their work.