Let me guess. You’re a millennial, and you’d love to call yourself a young investor. But there’s just one little problem.

Well, probably a few little problems.

Maybe it’s that you still have a hefty pile of student debt to pay off. Maybe you just graduated and still can’t find a job. Or maybe you graduated and have been out of college for a while and still can’t find a job — at least not a full-time one that will give you the benefits and salary you need. Maybe you’re still living at home with Mom and Dad.

If any of those are true, there’s a good chance investing feels a world away.

But if you’re part of Generation Y — often labeled “lazy” or “entitled” — you just need to be patient. Small steps in the right direction will go a long way. In fact, Dan Schawbel — the founder of Millennial Branding and author of the upcoming book Promote Yourself: The New Rules of Career Success — has some simple advice: Hang in there.

Schawbel believes the up-and-coming generation has a lot of key qualities that the media tends to overlook — ones that will make a positive influence on our world long-term.

There’s no guarantee that the job market will get better — and there’s little you can do about that. So some, in the face of the tough job market, are becoming entrepreneurs. For those who aren’t, networking is key.

The bottom line, Schwabel says: “You have to be accountable for your career and you have to take charge of your life. And all it takes is one person to hire you and change everything.”

Listen to the full chat above — and don’t give up. You’ll get a job, move out and become a savvy young investor before you know it.

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