For years, success looked like a big house, a fat salary, and a fancy car. But somewhere along the way, Gen Z decided that wasn't the whole picture anymore
For years, success looked like a big house, a fat salary, and a fancy car. But somewhere along the way, Gen Z decided that wasn't the whole picture anymore. Today, simply feeling calm, in control, and settled seems to matter more than looking impressive on paper.
Experts share their take exclusively with HT.com on why this shift is happening.
There's a certain exhaustion that comes with constantly trying to keep up, with trends, careers, and everyone else's highlight reels. Maybe that's exactly why young people are craving something simpler instead: calm and clarity.
Ankit Aggarwal, Founder and CEO of Unstop, says this shift comes from sheer fatigue with constant chaos. “They're growing up in a world that's moving faster than ever, AI is changing jobs, careers are evolving overnight, and there's always pressure to keep up,” he said.
In a world moving that fast, simply knowing what you want feels like a bigger win than looking busy all the time. As he puts it, “Ironically, the new flex isn't doing more. It's knowing what actually matters to you.”
Dr Priya Kaul, Spiritual Life Coach, traces it back to a quiet change in what “success” even means. “Previously, it was assessed based on various tangible factors, for example, having a good salary, living a lavish lifestyle, owning a huge house or some other valuable items,” she said. But, that was the old scoreboard. Now, young people are keeping score differently- valuing “financial security, mental wellbeing, positive relationships, proper work-life balance and the ability to control one's own time.”
It's not that Gen Z has stopped wanting nice things, they've just become pickier about what's actually worth chasing. Aggarwal explains that young people today are far more willing to walk away from things that don't feel like theirs. “Today, young people are far more comfortable saying, 'That's your dream, not mine,'” he said, adding that “success is becoming more personal than social.”
This is more of a redefinition than a rejection of money altogether. Financial stability still matters, it's just being used differently, more as a tool for freedom than a trophy to show off the world.
And this isn't just a vibe, there are numbers backing it up. Deloitte's 2025 Gen Z and Millennial Survey, which spoke to over 23,000 people across 44 countries, found that only 6% said reaching a leadership position was their main career goal. Instead, learning, financial security, and well-being topped their list of priorities.
This shows up in how they actually spend, too. A separate US-based study by The Harris Poll on behalf of Intuit Credit Karma found that 56% of Gen Z (ages 18-28) and 59% of millennials (ages 29-44) view spending on their hobbies and interests as a necessity, not a luxury. And when it comes to trade-offs, many aren't holding back either- 45% of Gen Z and 51% of millennials say they would rather cut into their long-term savings than give up lifestyle experiences like travel, dining out, or fitness memberships.
For this generation, the question has quietly shifted from “how do I get a job” to “what kind of life does this job actually give me.” As Aggarwal puts it, “Career success is still important, but it's no longer the only metric people use to measure whether they're doing well.”
Dr Kaul says this generation has simply seen too much, burnout, financial stress, unstable job markets to keep chasing success the old way. The result is a shift toward what she calls “sustainable achievements,” rather than success at any cost.
The Deloitte data paints a fairly stressful picture behind this shift, though. Nearly half of Gen Zs (48%) said they don't feel financially secure in 2025.
And more than 80% said money worries are a source of daily anxiety.
It's no surprise, then, that only 52% of Gen Zs rate their mental well-being as good, while 40% say they feel stressed or anxious most of the time.
Purpose matters just as much: 89% of Gen Zs say having purpose at work is important to them and 44% have actually quit a job that felt meaningless.
Every generation redefines success based on the world it grows up in. “Earlier, stability was success. Then growth became success. Today, it's freedom," Aggarwal said.
That pattern makes sense when you think about it. Each generation is shaped by whatever crisis or shortage it grew up around, the ones who lived through scarcity chased stability, the ones who watched the corporate ladder chased growth, and now, the ones who've watched burnout up close are chasing freedom instead.
It's less about young people wanting less, and more about them wanting different things to actually add up to a life worth living. This isn't really a fad that fades in a few years, it comes from something people have actually lived through, not something they picked up from a trend cycle.
Khushi Arora is a Content Producer at Hindustan Times, where she writes for the US Desk, covering everything happening in the United States, while maintaining quality and delivering impactful stories across all beats. She previously worked at Zee News for over a year where she explored multiple beats including News Desk, Education and Lifestyle. With a background in English Literature, Khushi blends sharp research with thoughtful storytelling, shaping stories that go beyond headlines and bring clarity and credibility to every piece she writes. Beyond the newsroom, she enjoys reading, watching cinema and loves having long conversations about books, films and everything in between.Read More
