How does Gen Z define success? — The Story of Erifili Gounari

Hi there! ?? I was born in 1999, so I officially count as Gen Z. I don't often think of myself as part of Gen Z, nor do I know much about the generation in general, but I'm sure you, too, are familiar with the common stereotypes. What I find extremely relevant, however, is how young people think about topics such as work, technology, and beyond.

One of the leading experts in this field is Erifili Gounari . Erifili and I met at the St. Gallen Symposium in May 2024, and we instantly connected because we realized we think about very similar topics all day, every day, just with different approaches.

It turns out Erifili recently wrote and published a book! Do you know those self-help books that could be summarized in one paragraph? I honestly feel like Design Your Life is not one of them.

What I like most about Erifili and her book is how aligned they are; she really lives the principles she discusses in the book. Personally, I've learned a lot of new things—both for myself as a Gen Z and about other Gen Zers!

Here are some of my favorite insights, mixed in with my own thoughts and some of my favorite research I've read over the years.

A New Definition of Success

Let's get right into what I thought was the most compelling part of the book: a new definition of success.

Erifili defined success as synonymous with freedom.

Intuitively, this made a lot of sense, given that Gen Z generally strives for autonomy and independence, combined with entrepreneurial aspirations. It's what Erifili and others call an "economy of ownership," where, rather than simply assuming roles within pre-defined structures, you prioritize control and autonomy instead.

"The main measure of success is the ability to control your time, to have freedom over what you get to do."

This generally aligns with research from the 1980s, which differentiated between three types of autonomy:

• Method Autonomy: Control over how tasks are performed.
• Scheduling Autonomy: Control over when tasks are completed.
• Criteria Autonomy: Control over how work outcomes are evaluated.

However, when it comes to "freedom," many people today may also consider additional factors:

• Financial Freedom: The ability to make choices without being constrained by financial limitations.
• Location Independence: The freedom to live and work from any location.
• Creative Freedom: The ability to express and explore new ideas without restrictions.
• Decision-Making Autonomy: The power to make choices that affect one’s own career and personal life.
• ...

These factors, Erifili argues, when combined with passion and purpose, may lead to success. Let's delve deeper into that.

The Relationship Between Passion and Freedom

Passion with a purpose creates a strong sense of personal fulfillment and alignment with something bigger than oneself. When people find a passion that resonates deeply with their values, interests, and beliefs, it often gives their work a sense of higher meaning.

But how does passion relate to the autonomy/freedom part?

I see at least three possibilities:

Does passion lead to autonomy/freedom?

Passionate individuals generally tend to seek greater autonomy in their work because they are naturally more invested in the outcome.

When someone is truly passionate about what they're doing, they often desire more control over how things are done —?allowing them to express their passion more fully.

Does autonomy/freedom lead to passion?

On the other hand, having autonomy and freedom may also foster passion. When people are given the space to explore their interests and choose how to spend their time, they're more likely to discover what excites them.

In an environment where they are free to make decisions, innovate, and take risks without fear of micromanagement (in other words: a psychologically safe environment), people may have more room for creativity and personal investment, eventually increasing their passion at work.

Or is passion enabled by autonomy/freedom?

I could also imagine that autonomy can act as an enabler of passion by allowing individuals to shape their work according to their unique values and interests.

However, this relationship is not purely one-way, it's all connected:

Passion and autonomy often form a feedback loop: autonomy allows people to find and nurture their passion, and in turn, passion drives them to seek even more freedom to fully express it.

Success on a Day-to-Day Level

Erifili mentioned that she feels most fulfilled and engaged when she can focus on what she truly wants to do in any given moment.

I find this interesting for several reasons:

1. She approaches fulfillment on a moment-by-moment basis, rather than by choosing a single career and expecting to be happy for life.
2. What feels fulfilling or engaging can vary from moment to moment.
3. This mindset emphasizes personal agency—simply making the active choice to spend time on something can be empowering in itself.

If this is true, there's something simple we can incorporate into our daily lives: we could regularly ask ourselves if our actions are aligned with our present sense of fulfillment and happiness.

One important question to reflect on is:

"Are my actions in line with the kind of person I want to be and the values that matter most to me?"

Of course, asking the question isn’t enough on its own, but if you can adjust your behavior to move more in that direction, Erifili suggests that this would be a successful approach.

This idea is not only supported by Erifili, but also aligns with emerging psychological research: One of my favorite papers from last year is very much in line with Erifili's definition of success: we are happy when we behave in line with our values.

In their theory paper, Colin DeYoung and Valerie Tiberius explore the concept of well-being through the lens of value fulfillment. Specifically, they argue that well-being is not derived from a fixed set of universal goods, but rather from the fulfillment of values that are personally meaningful and well-integrated for YOU.

They also emphasize the pursuit of personal goals and values as central to well-being, rather than relying on external markers of success like career or material achievements.

Erifili concludes from that:

Dissociate success from external validation and remember that real success is when you feel like you have succeeded, not when others do.

If your actions align with your personal values, that's good for your well-being. If they don't, it's not.

Pursuing Your Passions at vs. Outside of Work

One question that many of us have is whether we should pursue our passions at work vs outside of work. It's also a question I often think about —?and one that Erifili touches upon in her book as well.

For my own research purposes, I've recently started thinking about a distinction of four ways how passion can be integrated in one's life:

Pursuing a Passion At Work

I believe this is the most common one: to be passionate about some aspects of your work. As a researcher, for instance, it's possible that you're super passionate about developing new research questions, but you struggle and dislike to get the actual work done (such as collecting data, coding, and writing).

Ideally, Erifili writes, work should contribute to your fulfilment and happiness. If that's possible for you, I would also encourage that. (As long as you are aware that passion does not mean that you're happy all day every day.)

Instead, drawing from the definition of success above, when you combine passion and freedom in your work, you're working on something that matters to you.

But that shouldn't keep you from taking time off, being healthy—and exploring other passions outside of work as well. (Never forget that you can have multiple passions! :))

Pursuing a Passion for Work

Of course, it's also possible that you're passionate FOR your entire work. Think a teacher who loves everything about her job, or a nurse who is very passionate about helping his patients.

While this can be extremely fulfilling, can it also make you more prone to burnout? I believe that question is still open.

Pursuing a Passion As a Side Hustle

Your passion can also lie somewhere between your work and the rest of your life. This could be starting your online store where you sell bracelets, which may reflect your passion for "creating stuff."

According to Erifili, side gigs have already become a way for millions of people to pursue passion projects. (Read this paper if you're interested in side gigs.)

Erifili recommends that starting with a side gig can be beneficial as it is a great way for you to transform your passion into a career (without the pressure of it having to be your full-time job at first).

Pursuing a Passion Outside of Work

Finally, you can obviously also be passionate about things outside of work. And that's perfectly fine. This could be, for instance, playing chess or dancing—but not trying to pursue it as a profession. Perhaps even the best kind of passions!

Five Tips to Be Successful in Life

Let's end with five of my favorite tips from Erifili for achieving success in life.

1. If you're so smart, why aren't you happy? (The title of Erifili's recent newsletter.) Allow yourself to be happy!
2. Failure is not personal, but taking it personal or thinking it defines you is bound to set you back and create anxieties and doubts that will plague your future efforts. Failure is success if we learn from it (as Malcolm Forbes said).
3. It's not about overcomplicating your life by using every digital resource you can find, but about finding ways to use technology to gain freedom, focus, and mental clarity.
4. Leverage your "specific knowledge" that other people don't have. (I very often receive this advice. A lot of people also call this your "competitive advantage.")
5. Get things done. Perfectionism will not get you far, but learning to get things done will.

Thank you for taking the time to read my tenth newsletter! If you would like to explore more of my ideas and thoughts, here is a summary of my posts and podcast episodes from this October:

New LinkedIn posts:

Teaching about passion +++ Generative AI +++ My 25th birthday +++ How to develop a passion for work +++ German American Conference 2024 +++ The sustained passion of Coldplay +++ What's my goal with LinkedIn? +++ What we can learn from an octopus +++ You're not on your best performance in your most passionate moments

New podcast episodes:

Idealized professional identities +++ Taking a break from work

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