Opinion | Are Gen Z Redefining Happiness? Why Young People Are Choosing Time, Peace, and Purpose Over Money in 2025
Why Gen Z Are Rejecting Hustle Culture in 2025 Inside the “Soft Life” Movement: What It Really Means What Does Success Look Like to Gen Z? How Gen Z Are Redefining Career Ambition Gen Z and the Rise of “Quiet Ambition” Why Money Doesn’t Mean Happiness Anymore
By Paola Bapelle — Editor, YEET Magazine
Last weekend, I sat by the coast, phone in hand, watching the waves roll in between Slack pings. Someone on my team had just asked for another “mental-health day.” It hit me how different our relationship to work—and happiness—has become.
When I graduated, success meant the usual checklist: career growth, salary goals, a car, maybe a mortgage. Today’s Gen Z employees talk about something else entirely. They want time, not overtime. They want purpose, not pressure. One of my writers told me recently, “I’d rather make less money doing something meaningful than feel rich but empty.”
This isn’t laziness—it’s a quiet revolution. Surveys show that over 70% of Gen Z workers value mental health and work-life balance above financial gain. On TikTok, hashtags like #SoftLife, #QuietAmbition, and #WorkLifeBalance have billions of views. They reflect a generation reclaiming peace from hustle culture, redefining what success even means.
Economists call it “values inflation,” but maybe it’s clarity. Real wealth isn’t just about income—it’s about time, calm, love, and connection. Things money can’t buy, but modern work often takes away.
Gen Z isn’t rejecting ambition—they’re redesigning it. They’re asking smarter questions: What’s my time worth? What’s happiness made of? In a world of constant automation and digital overload, maybe their pursuit of slower, more intentional living is the most radical innovation yet.
💬 Follow @yeetmagazine or visit yeetmagazine.com for more stories about Gen Z, digital culture, and the future of work.
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- Paola Bapelle YEET Magazine opinion