Before You Ask Young Adults to Shift Their Mindset, Ask if You’re Willing to Shift Yours
“If the people you lead aren’t forming their own neural pathways, no amount of motivation talk will stick.”
We love to tell young adults to:
“Be more entrepreneurial.”
“Take ownership.”
“Push yourself.”
“Develop the right mindset.”
While these phrases may sound like encouragement, they often land as commands. When used without empathy or context, they become corporate white noise. For many educators, managers, and leaders, they’re checkbox phrases, they sound like leadership, but fail to spark change.
So here’s a necessary reframe:
Before we ask young people to change their mindset, we must be willing to shift our own.
Mindset Isn’t Taught - It’s Sparked
Mindset isn’t something you download into someone else. It has to be ignited, and that starts with understanding how the brain works.
The Neuroscience of Motivation: No Dopamine, No Drive
At the core of mindset is motivation, and at the core of motivation is dopamine, a neurotransmitter that drives attention, focus, and goal-directed behavior.
Dopamine isn’t just a “reward chemical”; it’s released in anticipation of meaningful outcomes. It’s your brain’s way of saying: “This matters, go after it.”
But here’s the key:
If young people don’t perceive a task as personally meaningful, their brain won’t release enough dopamine to fuel motivation.
This is supported by research from Berridge & Robinson (2016), which highlights the role of dopamine in “wanting” systems (motivation), and from Lieberman & Eisenberger (2009), which show how social connection and meaning influence brain activation.
So, when a young adult asks “Why should I care about this?”, they’re not being difficult.
They’re trying to activate the part of their brain that makes learning and action possible.
Neuroplasticity Needs Relevance
Another crucial concept: neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to rewire itself based on experience.
Young adults’ brains (especially up to their mid-20s) are in a highly plastic state. This makes it a critical period for mindset development but only if learning is perceived as relevant.
According to neuroscientist Dr. Lara Boyd in her TEDx talk “After Watching This, Your Brain Will Not Be the Same”, brain change requires:
Emotional engagement
Personal meaning
Repetition and reflection
Without these, no new neural pathways are formed, and the mindset doesn’t change, no matter how many workshops we run.
“When you tell someone to ‘develop a growth mindset’ but don’t link it to their identity or goals, they might hear you, but they won’t rewire.”
Gen Z Isn’t Rebelling - They’re Filtering
Gen Z’s questioning is often misread as resistance. In truth, it’s cognitive filtering.
Raised in an age of information overload, their brains have adapted to filter constantly. As a result, they seek:
Emotional alignment
Purpose-based relevance
Context before commitment
When they ask:
“How does this help me grow?”
“Why should I care about this?”
“Who decided this matters?”
They’re not being defiant. They’re being neurologically efficient.
They’re deciding where to invest their limited energy and focus, based on whether something connects to their values and identity.
The Leadership Gap: Expectation vs Motivation
The danger zone happens when what we expect doesn’t match what they experience:
“Take ownership” versus “I don’t see the point.”
“Be proactive” versus “This doesn’t reflect me.”
“Show passion” versus “Why does this matter?”
This disconnect leads to:
Disengagement
High turnover
Underperformance
Mistrust between generations
And ultimately, a wasted opportunity for growth, on both sides.
“The gap between what we expect and how we motivate is where growth dies.”
Leadership Is Not About Transferring Mindsets - It’s About Transforming Ours
This is a call to self-awareness.
If you lead, teach, coach, or mentor young people, you need to evolve before you ask them to.
The most effective leaders today:
Understand how Gen Z brains process motivation
Prioritize meaning and purpose in every expectation
Welcome questions instead of resisting them
Model what they teach, not just talk about it
Let’s stop pretending that telling someone to be “more resilient” is leadership. Instead, show them how resilience connects to who they are and who they want to become.
“If you don’t check yourself, you will wreck the very potential you say you want to grow.”
The Takeaway: Purpose Fuels Mindset
Gen Z isn’t unmotivated, they’re just tired of being misunderstood.
Their brains are:
Wired for purpose
Shaped by context
Fueled by dopamine only when meaning is clear
So before assigning another “growth mindset” activity, ask:
Do they understand why it matters?
Does this connect to their personal story?
Have I earned their trust to guide (not push) them?
Real leadership is about relevance, not just repetition.
Because if you can’t explain the “why,” don’t expect their brain to create the “how.”
References & Further Reading
Berridge & Robinson (2016), Dopamine and Motivation
Lieberman & Eisenberger (2009), Neuroscience of Social Motivation
