The numbers aren’t wrong, but I think they’re measuring the wrong thing

To be fair to The Economist, I’m not about to argue with their data.

The incomes are adjusted for inflation, and they even admit that in Britain progress has slowed, with millennials here only slightly ahead of Gen X. (That’s basically the headline for those of us in the UK, and it gets one sentence in the whole piece.)

Partway through, while explaining why we were slow to buy homes, the article asks a question I’ve been pondering for the last two years myself. If money isn’t the problem, what is it exactly?

Their answer is…we stayed in education longer and got married later in life.

Which of course is an interesting answer. It’s just too simplistic for most of our realities. Because in the same year The Economist is declaring us a success story, Deloitte’s 2026 survey found that 45% of millennials feel burnt out, and 30% feel stressed or anxious most or all of the time.

So by all accounts, we’re a generation that is Successful on Paper, and yet, we still don’t feel it. I didn’t need a survey to tell me that.

If you’ve made it on paper and yet still feel flat in real life, you are the exact person I’m writing for.

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Every generation chased their own version of success

Boomers chased stability, the ‘work hard and life will reward you’ generation. The playbook that many of us are still following, even though the rules have changed.

Then there’s Gen X. They chased independence because they knew better than anyone else that no one’s coming to save you.

Us millennials, well, we were told we could have it all. As long as we worked hard enough, healed our traumas, optimised every inch of our lives, and somehow still managed to enjoy every minute of life.

Somewhere along the way, the brief grew to include building a personal brand, manifesting, having boundaries (but not being a bitch), keeping up with AI, being present, and of course, my personal favourite, don’t burn out.

Like anyone would put that on their goals list.

Gen Z took one look at the brief and said no thanks

Gen Z’s version of success fits into four simple words: I’d rather have peace.

I’ll be the first to admit, Gen Z’s attitude towards most things made me roll my eyes a little. But now I’m wondering whether they’ve worked out something we haven’t. Not only are they ignoring the brief, they’re not afraid to say so.

Since September, high school students across France have been out on the streets protesting against underfunded and overcrowded schools, and it’s now grown into a movement across Europe.

On the surface, peace and protest don’t go hand in hand, but I think they come from the same place. Whether it’s on the streets protesting or how they choose to work, Gen Z is refusing the brief they were handed.

Which feels familiar, because in the early 2010s, that was us. The Economist itself points to the millennial-led movements, from UK Uncut to Occupy Wall Street, as proof of how fed up we were with the status quo.

And yet fifteen-odd years later, I think a lot of us are exhausted by the number of unprecedented, once-in-a-lifetime events and have quietly accepted that this is the system we have to play in.

We stopped trying to change the game and just got very good at playing it instead.

Sure, some of us are trying to break out, but most of us are just trying to make the most out of a bad situation without burning out.

We’re not the burnout generation because we’re weak

Do you remember Anne Helen Petersen’s 2019 essay in BuzzFeed? I do, like it was yesterday. She called millennials the burnout generation and it went everywhere. Seven years on and the label has stuck, with many of us feeling it whether we want to admit it or not.

Being called the burnout generation so publicly makes us sound weak. We’re not. We’re the first generation trying to succeed in our careers, relationships, finances, health, personal growth and happiness all at the same time.

Life for us millennials has just become this one long list of things to optimise and be scored against. Like the annual performance review somehow leaked out of the office and bled into every part of our lives.

Send this to the friend who’s stuck between ‘heal your trauma’ and ‘don’t burn out’.

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It might be our economy now, but it doesn’t feel like ours

The Economist ends with “Don’t pity millennials. It is their economy now.”

Funny, because it doesn’t feel like it, and I’m sure I’m not the only millennial who feels this way either.

Think about the last few years. A lot of us were only just finding our rhythm again after the pandemic, and then AI arrived. Now every industry is changing, and as the generation filling the management roles, we’re the ones expected to lead everyone through it. As soon as it feels like you’ve caught up, something else lands.

Yes, we are earning more, but earning more and having more aren’t the same thing. So when someone tells me we’re richer than ever, my first response is: how much is left over at the end, after paying for everything? Shortly followed by: do you know how much it takes out of us to earn that in the first place?

Because that’s the real story. The price of doing everything right to look successful, ticking every single box and yet still feeling like you’re behind.

So I want to know: does it feel like our economy to you, or are you still trying to catch up?

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Here, I share what I’m getting up to, and I hope it inspires you to make memories that aren’t work achievements.

I’ll just say it. The second half of the year is better than the first.

I could be biased (August baby), but as soon as the -ber months hit, the energy changes. Somewhere between the back-to-school vibes of September and the nostalgia of December, the calendar fills up back to back. There’s always another event to go to, always something to look forward to.

But as I’m writing this, I’m starting to wonder if I’ve romanticised it.

Because if you’ve ever worked in a corporate job, you’ll know this is also the hardest stretch of the year. You’re trying to wrap the year up strong and hit your targets, all while end-of-year review sits quietly in the background. Not to forget that planning for the next year also starts with the dreaded questions - What’s the strategy? What are the numbers we have to hit?

It’s a lot.

If last month was all about dark academia, this month is all about pumpkins and spooky season.

PLACES I’M GOING

Thanks to TikTok, I’ve found so many seasonal things to do in and around Manchester this year, so I am going putting on my wellingtons and head into the countryside.

The Hollies Farm Shop has been around for a while but popularity especially on socials seems to have blown up after Molly-Mae was spotted in the cafe. The influx of crowds meant the business had to temporarily close shop until things got under control. Hopefully there won’t be any influencers visiting on the same day we head down there too.

I am not looking forward to Scare City whatsoever. I scare easily these days, sometimes my partner makes me jump because I don’t hear him come into the room. But I’m going to have to suck it up and go because if he can do all of these cosy autumnal activities with me (like the cute pumpkin patch at Bates Farm) then I have to give him something.

If you still haven’t planned your cosy autumnal days out, I definitely recommend searching TikTok for ideas.

WHAT I’M WATCHING

It wouldn’t be the spooky season with without a cult classic would it? This year, I’ll be watching The Craft, which I haven’t seen since the release in 1996. I don’t remember much of the plot line apart from the levitating scene, which we tried on a friend at a sleepover and freaked ourselves out.

I’m also excited to watch Verity in the cinema, Anne Hathaway is having one helluva year and the trailer looks great. While I haven’t read the book, I did completely spoil myself on the story but looking forward to it anyways as I like all three leads.

Another book adaptation is Prime’s original miniseries Carrie. I’ve seen the trailer and it looks intriguing. I haven’t heard too much about this so fingers crossed it is as good as it looks.

WHAT I’M DOING

So tell me, what's on your spooky season list this year? Leave a comment and let me know. I’m always looking for more to add.

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About the author:

Hi, I’m Priyanka, the face behind Successful on Paper which is my attempt at a modern day version of Cosmo magazine, if it was written by Carrie Bradshaw. If you’ve done everything by the book and are still wondering why it isn’t enough, you might be the exact person I’m writing for and I’m so glad you found me. When I’m not cosplaying a magazine writer, I’m building a portfolio career using all the skills I learnt in my nearly decade long marketing career.

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Instead of setting goals that I will probably fail (lol), I’m setting the tone for September that still gives that ‘new school’ vibe without putting more on my plate by creating The Curriculum:

WHAT I’M READING

I’ll be putting down my Emily Henry until next Summer and venturing into a new genre with dark academia. I’ve chosen two books that are very similar and while reviews have been mixed online, I’m treating this as an experiment to see if I enjoy the idea of old universities, secrets and mystery:

I’ve also been saving these Substack articles as they’ve come across my feed over the last few months and can’t wait for a rainy Sunday to read in bed:

Wise & Wealthy

How to bet on yourself without telling anyone

You don’t know what you’re capable of until you actually start something…

Read more

4 months ago · 5471 likes · 133 comments · Darius Foroux

House of Becoming

If No One Is Coming to Save You, No One Is Coming to Stop You Either

One of the hardest realisations in life is that no one is coming to rescue you…

Read more

7 months ago · 6760 likes · 102 comments · Nayara Beaumont

Ben by Fax

Aliveness and where to find it

My theory of life is just to maximise the amount of time spent in quadrant four…

Read more

a year ago · 1313 likes · 35 comments · Ben James

WHAT I’M WATCHING

September is traditionally the month I start my annual The Vampire Diaries rewatch, but after barely watching any TV in August, I’m keen to cosy up and watch something new. Sticking to the academia theme, I have three options:

WHAT I’M CREATING

Now that my busy summer of European travel is over, I can finally start the three projects I have been dreaming about for the last couple of months:

Making a Seasonal House Menu

Influenced by Shelby over at Pretty in The Pines, I’ve started to pull together delicious autumn inspired recipes to start cooking as soon as the autumn equinox arrives. While this may seem like a lofty and unrealistic project to some, I love cooking and this allows me to gamify the age-old question ‘what’s for dinner tonight?’ without needing to have UberEats on speed dial

Revamping our Bedding

After five years of living in our new build apartment, it is time for us to start making the place feel like ours and this month, I’m starting with the bedding. Our current bedding situation is simple, we have a pillow each and the duvet but for autumn, I’m looking to play with seasonal colour combinations and textures. Here are some inspiration ideas from Pinterest:

Successful on Paper

Obviously. After months of back-and-forth, I’ve finally figured out what Successful on Paper will look like moving forward. ICYMI, the shift in direction covers expanding beyond just work, ambition and success and into topics across self, wellness and life. After speaking with other ambitious women this summer, I’ve recognised that these topics are just as, if not more important to being Successful on Paper and this article is just an example of some of the content coming up.

Regardless of whether you are still riding the summer coattails hard or you’re sipping a PSL whenever you get the chance, I hope you agree the September can be a reset without needing a full reinvention. You can borrowing the energy of September without turning yourself into a project again.

Now I want to know what’s on your September curriculum. What are you reading, watching, making or cooking? Leave yours in the comments, I’m always looking to be inspired by others.

Leave a comment

About the author:

Hi, I’m Priyanka, the face behind Successful on Paper which is my attempt at a modern day version of Cosmo magazine, if it was written by Carrie Bradshaw. If you’ve done everything by the book and are still wondering why it isn’t enough, you might be the exact person I’m writing for and I’m so glad you found me. When I’m not cosplaying a magazine writer, I’m building a portfolio career using all the skills I learnt in my nearly decade long marketing career.

Want to go a little deeper?

💌 Sign up as a paid reader for the gritty behind-the-scenes and personal stories that I don’t share anywhere else, plus the entire archive unlocked instantly. Try it for free for 7 days

🧪 Read the Challenges and Experiments stories where I explore something new and take you along for the ride. Only available for paid subscribers

☕️ Got a burning dilemma that you don’t know who to turn to? Send it in for the Reader Dilemmas and I’ll give you my honest take, the same way a friend would

🤳🏽 If you want to see more of my life outside of Successful on Paper, you can find me on Instagram and TikTok

Subscribe now

💬 If you found this post interesting, feel free to like or comment so more women like you can find it

📣 Know someone who needs to read this? This post is free to read, so send it their way

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What should have been a simple 20-minute walk back from the venue ended up as a two-hour journey, as one side quest led to another after leaving a club we had no idea how we got into.

The passport might be saying 40, but that night I felt like I was in my 20s again. And in the middle of it, I realised something slightly embarrassing: I couldn’t remember the last time I’d made a fun memory with my friends.

Which got me thinking: have adult friendships just become another admin task?

It seems like we are constantly catching up. Over dinner, coffee, WhatsApp or Instagram. Catching up often means finding a weekend that works for everyone, sometimes a month in advance. We have normalised this so much that I wonder if we’ve confused knowing what’s happening in someone’s life with actually being a part of it. You can know exactly what is happening in someone’s life and still not actually be living any of it with them.

We used to build friendships through shared life experiences

Being friends in your 20s happens quite naturally because you’re sharing so much of your life together. University, first jobs, terrible housemates, nights out, first heartbreaks, even being broke and trying to figure it all out. You don’t need to schedule “friendship time” because you’re living alongside your friends, and memories happen almost accidentally.

But as your 20s turn into your 30s and beyond, adulthood fragments everyone into different life paths. The conditions that naturally created those shared memories are replaced by high-pressure careers, caring for children, romantic relationships and, in some cases, completely new geographic locations.

We have become very good at staying in touch

Whether it’s double tapping on holiday pics on Instagram or sending a 4-minute voice note on WhatsApp, you can go days, even weeks without needing to physically see someone, and yet you know exactly what’s happening in their life. You’ve gone from being a character in your friend’s life to becoming an observer of it, watching from the sidelines through whatever they choose to share online.

In my case, this has been genuinely life changing, allowing my friendships to survive not only the busyness of our lives but also the distance. Yet the sobering realisation is that I’ve become very good at maintaining friendships without actually creating much new life inside them.

When did catching up become the default?

There’s nothing wrong with catching up over dinner, drinks or even a coffee. But when every interaction starts to feel like an update meeting with your line manager, friendships can start to feel like admin again. You exchange updates, discuss what’s happened since you last caught up and promise to do it again soon.

A friendship can survive on contact. I’m not convinced it can thrive on it.

Paris showed me what I was missing all along

My 40th birthday celebrations spilled over three months, and yet that night in Paris will be the memory I hold closest to my heart. Because somewhere between the dancing, the side quests and the two-hour walk home, I realised how long it had been since I’d done something with my friends that wasn’t just catching up. That night, I was actually living something with them.

Shared experiences don’t have to mean expensive trips

In my case, shared experiences do often mean hopping on a flight, as the friends I made when I lived in Barcelona have spread across Europe. But for you, that might not be the case. You don’t need everyone to fly to Paris or plan an elaborate girls’ weekend in the South of France. Your next ‘catch up’ could be something small and slightly different from the default.

A themed dinner for a film you’ve been looking forward to or even doing a progressive dinner à la Desperate Housewives, where you go to a different location for each course. Anything that creates the possibility of a future ‘remember when we...’ conversation. Because maybe we don’t need more time with our friends. Maybe we need more life with them.

Maybe next time we say, ‘we really need to catch up’, we can ask, ‘what should we do together?’

When was the last time you made a genuinely new memory with your friends?

Tell me in the comments. No one from the office is reading, I promise.

Leave a comment

About the author:

Hi, I’m Priyanka, the face behind Successful on Paper which is my attempt at a modern day version of Cosmo magazine, if it was written by Carrie Bradshaw. If you’ve done everything by the book and are still wondering why it isn’t enough, you might be the exact person I’m writing for and I’m so glad you found me. When I’m not cosplaying a magazine writer, I’m building a portfolio career using all the skills I learnt in my nearly decade long marketing career.

Want to go a little deeper?

💌 Sign up as a paid reader for the gritty behind-the-scenes and personal stories that I don’t share anywhere else, plus the entire archive unlocked instantly. Try it for free for 7 days

🧪 Read the Challenges and Experiments stories where I explore something new and take you along for the ride. Only available for paid subscribers

☕️ Got a burning dilemma that you don’t know who to turn to? Send it in for the Reader Dilemmas and I’ll give you my honest take, the same way a friend would

🤳🏽 If you want to see more of my life outside of Successful on Paper, you can find me on Instagram and TikTok

Subscribe now

💬 If you found this post interesting, feel free to like or comment so more women like you can find it

📣 Know someone who needs to read this? This post is free to read, so send it their way

Share