The rise of anti-ambition

More people are adopting an attitude of living a less ambitious and stressful life. Here’s why.

Put in the hard yards at work and it will pay off – a pay rise, a promotion, a comfortable retirement. This has been the mantra for many of us, our parents and grandparents.

But thanks to the residual effects of the global pandemic, more people are adopting an attitude of living a less ambitious and stressful life and focusing on enjoying the here and now.

And it’s not just millennials and Gen Z choosing lifestyle over labour. Australians of all ages and from all walks of life are sacrificing financial and career goals for a slower pace.

What's driving the anti-ambition trend?

Lockdowns and the shift to working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic gave many Aussies the chance to pause and reassess their priorities.

“During the pandemic, there was a strong distinction made between essential and non-essential workers, which caused many people to ask the question ‘If my job is not essential, what am I doing all this for?’,” explained Lepi Cvetanovic, a psychologist at Being Well Clinic in Camberwell and founder of Shadow Mind Psychology.

“Lockdowns and working from home did not help people feel connected with the meaning and purpose of their work, which has caused them to reevaluate the purpose and satisfaction their jobs gave them.”

While some aspects of life ground to a halt during the pandemic, like socialising and travel, in some sectors employees faced additional pressures and an increase in their workload.

In the US, McKinsey’s Women in the Workplace report found that 42 per cent of women felt burnt out in 2021, compared to 32 per cent the previous year. For men, burnout increased from 28 per cent to 35 per cent.

According to Headspace’s National Clinical Advisor Simon Dodd, absenteeism and presenteeism cost the Australian economy $17 billion each year.

Many who experienced burnout over the past two to three years are now seeking more work-life balance.

“I have been hearing a lot of people expressing feelings of burnout lately in my practice,” Ms Cvetanovic said.

“These feelings of burnout have caused people to re-evaluate their levels of satisfaction across different areas of their lives, with work being a major area of dissatisfaction. As a result, there has been a trend of an ‘anti- ambition’ culture, which I describe as a shift in people’s ideals about what drives their ambition and what life looks like for them when it comes to their jobs or work.

“What once drove our ambition (e.g. climbing the corporate ladder, taking on a leadership role, getting a pay rise), now has become about making personalised choices about how we want to work and live that will bring us greater autonomy, satisfaction, engagement, and better mental health.”

In what has been dubbed the Great Resignation, more Aussies are taking pay cuts to work fewer hours, changing to jobs more suited to their interests and even starting their own businesses or making their side hustle their main source of income.

“People are focusing more on what makes them tick and keeps them motivated rather than getting stuck in the daily grind of their typical 9–5,” Ms Cvetanovic said.

“People are wanting to find more meaning and satisfaction in what they do, and have left jobs which were not providing this for them.”

Prioritising mental health and wellbeing over work

The pandemic put a lot of things into perspective, especially when it comes to the way we approach mental health and wellbeing.

“With fewer distractions (during the pandemic), we finally came faceto-face with who we are inside, what we find important in our lives and whether our idea of success or happiness was still holding up to the reality of the moment,” Ms Cvetanovic said.

“Balancing career ambition with personal wellbeing is a benefit of this (anti-ambition) trend. People’s emphasis on their mental health has become a priority due to mental ill health being on the rise since the pandemic.”

Attitudes have also shifted in terms of how we value time. When the time you spend at work is viewed as an investment, what returns are you getting for that investment?

“Life is too short to not do what we love. Lockdowns took away so much of our precious time and connections with others, and work (for the lucky ones) was the only thing we had,” Ms Cvetanovic said.

“This made people evaluate the time they spend on work, in terms of an investment. If work is not giving us positive meaning and purpose (and no ROI) then we needed to re-evaluate why we were working the way we did and assess what work was actually giving us.”

There has also been a shift towards building a better culture in the workplace.

“Young people with professional options want to be in solidarity with their colleagues instead of climbing the ladder above them,” Ms Cvetanovic said.

“The meaning that people once found in work is now found in trying to make the workplace itself better. People are placing a higher priority and emphasis on being part of an organisation that has a strong emphasis on its employees’ health, wellbeing and psychological safety.

“This trend has given employees more power to make choices around how they want to work and, equally, organisations and leaders need to stretch themselves to meet their people halfway to co-create a workplace that will be ideal and productive for both parties.”

How to shift the dial of your work-life balance

Striking the right work-life balance will look different for each person. For some, a career change may be needed while others may simply need to learn how to not take their work home with them.

Before you think about drafting that resignation letter, Ms Cvetanovic said it’s worth asking yourself a few simple questions.

Start by examining your level of satisfaction and sense of purpose at work.

“If there is a low level of satisfaction in your work, reflect inwards and evaluate what is important to you according to your values system,” she said.

“I recommend speaking with your manager about career development opportunities or a corporate coach or psychologist to help you work through these questions and pathways.”

Identify the types of work or volunteering that give you meaning and passion. You don’t need to love your job all the time, but your intrinsic motivators need to be fulfilled.

Finally, be strategic with how you spend your time at work.

“Be disciplined with how much time you are allocating to what is important versus what is not so important,” Ms Cvetanovic said.

“This will be different for everyone, but taking time to evaluate what you spend your energy on will help you dial down.”

Psychologist Lepi Cvetanovic.