‘Why don’t we riot about this?’ From Gen Z to Boomers call out overrated adult goals—did yours make to the list? Check here

As 2025 came to an end, social media was filled with videos of people sharing their biggest achievements. Across Instagram Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts, users of all ages shared their work wins and personal milestones. But, each generation entered the comment section differently, one cheering the milestone, one inspired by it, and one calling it pointless.

Now that we’re already days into the new year, a lot has changed. On the subreddit r/AskReddit, something unexpected happened. A discussion about overrated adult goals brought people together instead of dividing them. From Gen Z to Baby Boomers, across countries and backgrounds, the same opinions kept surfacing. Many goals once praised as symbols of success no longer feel meaningful.

For a long time, there was a clear stereotype attached to what a “successful adult” should look like. By a certain age, you were expected to have life figured out, know your career path, earn steadily, stay busy, and keep moving upward. Confusion at 25 was seen as failure, slowing down at 35 as laziness, and changing your mind at 40 as a lack of direction. Society quietly pushed the idea that progress had to follow a strict timeline, and if you weren’t moving in a straight line at the “right” age, you were doing something wrong.

But now, many people say that mindset no longer fits real life. More than 6,800 people agreed that expecting to have life figured out by a specific age is unrealistic. A millennial, age 38, wrote, “I tell my oldest, 19, that no one actually knows… I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.” A Gen X commenter added, “56 and still don’t know.”

Two Baby Boomers echoed the same feeling. One, 68, said, “Just trying to get from yesterday to tomorrow.” Another, 72, shared, “Still don’t know. But I’m not worried about it.”

Indeed, there is no “correct” age to have life figured out, and uncertainty is not a flaw at any stage. Going by the thousands of responses, the healthier measure of adulthood, they agreed, is not how early you arrive, but whether the life you’re building actually fits you.

Gone are the days when being a corporate ninja, a business rainmaker, or someone who delivered results at any cost was the ultimate dream. Today, promotions, titles, and constant productivity are no longer seen as proof that someone is doing life right.

Almost 2,000 people agreed that endlessly climbing the career ladder no longer feels like a win. One millennial summed it up bluntly, saying, “Climbing the career ladder. Most of the time it's just more meetings, more stress and still dead inside.”

Another millennial questioned the structure itself, calling out “working a full-time, Monday through Friday, 8 to 5 job that confines you to an office for 40+ years,” while a 35-year-old added, “Every day I wonder why we don't riot about this.”

A Gen X commenter offered a more realistic view shaped by experience, writing, “Unfortunate reality is most of the people who have traits to climb the ladder typically never want to retire or have sacrificed their personal lives because work has been all consuming.” For some, the issue wasn’t ambition itself, but what gets lost along the way.

A younger Millennial warned against trading peace for progress, saying, “If you're lucky enough to have a job where you clock in, do your work, clock out, and don’t think about work again, think long and hard before disturbing that peace.”

Others pushed back against the idea that rejecting the ladder means rejecting work entirely. One older Millennial shared, “I do really love work. I find it fulfilling for the most part. But despite my success climbing the ladder, I've always maintained good work-life balance and a strong personality outside of work. I was financially independent by 35, and I plan to keep working, just more selectively.” Reflecting on their journey, they added, “Setting firm boundaries at work actually contributed to my success. I think grinding 80-hour weeks does more harm than good to your reputation.”

Together, the responses revealed a shift in how success is defined. The problem, many agreed, is not work itself, but the belief that work should consume everything else.

More than 28,000 people agreed that turning every hobby into a business is one of the most overrated adult goals today. One commenter wrote, “Turning every single hobby into a 'side hustle'. The internet has convinced us that if you’re good at something, you must monetise it… I just want to be mediocre at something for fun." Another added, “The best way to ruin your favourite hobby is to try to turn it into your side hustle.” A third said, “The pressure of trying to make money off your hobbies can be counterintuitive… Hustle culture ruined hobbies.”

Another commenter shared a personal story: “I love cooking… making that a commercial enterprise would be terrible.” They added that skills can be shared or traded without money, saying not everything needs to be “cold and money-orientated.” Another voice summed it up simply: “If you monetise every hobby, you’ll need another hobby to recover from your hobbies.” Tying it all together, one user offered a wider view shared across ages: “Life is fundamentally meaningless. All goals are set by people. Set your own as much as possible instead of having others do it for you.”



And that’s how a rare moment of agreement, Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers all seem to be saying the same thing: achievements don’t have to be measured by status.