The soft life: why millennials are quitting the rat race

Economically, the currency has far less buying power than in the past, especially regarding housing which is the primary necessity for family formation. When the 'big things' are out of reach, why go to all the trouble?

And when the things that used to provide stability and fulfillment by default (home, family, steady employment, stable social life) are no longer available, then happiness is also discretionary.

> But each time she reached a new milestone, she didn’t feel any real joy.

Because culturally, we put happiness over the cognitive horizon. A place we can never reach if we continue to believe that in order to be happy we must achieve certain goals.

I think the trick is to find happiness first, and then worry about goals. Counterintuitive but it’s much easier to pursue goals when you are in a happy place!