Today, that roadmap is beginning to shift. A growing number of young Chinese people are starting to explore smaller cities, where the pace is less frenetic and a work-life balance is more attainable. This shift stems from a change in priorities. Stagnant wages, high youth unemployment, chronic burnout and increasingly realistic life expectations are pushing an entire generation one marked by competitiveness and pressure to seek a balance between ambition and mental well-being.
Am I the most amazing mom on planet Earth?Far from it. But I may be the luckiest - because my mother-in-law lives with me. Yesterday, I ate three healthy meals, came to work fully prepared, went to the gym, read a chapter aloud to my daughters before bed, and fell asleep before 10 p.m., knowing the pets were fed, the plants were watered, the laundry was put away, and the dishwasher was loaded.
The two-time founder told Fortune that he approaches it the way he approaches his business: always on. "It's just like in business, you have to, consistently, every day, show up and don't have any excuses for poor performance." He said that not all his Ironman training days are great, but he has to make sure he follows his plan. It aligns with how he works.
I started there in November 2006, when there were only around 10,000 employees, and became an executive - the director of American media relations - in 2022. Google's amazing; I bleed Google colors. I loved the impact I was having, the future of opportunities I saw for myself, and the feedback I was getting as a leader. I'm also the breadwinner for my family.
But many faculty view their profession as a vocation, so why would they retire? One reason is because of diminished effectiveness. Ossified approaches, diminished cognitive capacity and so on are the unhappy, but inevitable, results of aging. The person experiencing these declines is generally not the best at noticing them, as they creep in so slowly that they're most visible to outsiders or when accurately comparing to yourself from long ago.
While the 996 parlance and laser focus on AI may be new, hustle culture has always been embedded in Silicon Valley to some degree. Some business leaders, perhaps most famously Elon Musk, have long demanded those hours from their employees: "There are way easier places to work, but nobody ever changed the world on 40 hours a week," he once said of the "hardcore" work ethic promoted at his companies.
I've wanted to work in advertising since I was a teenager. When I was 13, my aunt, who worked for an advertising company, said, "You like design, you should be an art director." She explained that it involved drinking coffee, coming up with ideas, and going on photo shoots. I was like, "Wow. That sounds amazing." I studied graphic design and did everything I could to get an internship at an ad agency.
Apple taught me how to own my work and care more about who's using the products I work on. I worked there in my sophomore year from May 2024 to August 2024 as an intern. It was a great experience, and it really aligned with my original motivation for getting into software engineering: to make things that people can use and help them in everyday life.
I would routinely stay up late watching TV or reading in bed and say yes to dinners that started long after nightfall. My relationship with mornings was casual-I'd occasionally enjoy a sunrise but I certainly never set an alarm to see one. Then I had children, whose needs demanded an early start, and I spent years stumbling out of bed at their first sounds, making breakfast, and building block towers before I'd fully woken up.
When it comes to the future of work, Japan is caught in a tug-of-war. Tokyo officials are pushing for a four-day workweek, hoping a shorter schedule will ease the nation's notoriously punishing work culture and curb "karoshi" -which translates to death from overwork. With birthrates falling and burnout rising, many see the shift not as a perk, but a necessity for Japan's economic survival. But the country's new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, is signaling a very different approach.
I grew up in Anhui Province, China, and earned my bachelor's degree in finance and economics. I joined EyeBuyDirect in 2007, starting in an entry-level role in the finance department. After eight years of working full time, I did my master's in Shanghai. I was drawn to EyeBuyDirect's mission and digital-first model, and I saw a unique opportunity to grow with a brand. Over time, I assumed additional responsibilities in operations, product development, marketing, and general management, and developed leadership skills through hands-on experience.
I will say the one thing I notice a huge change in is that fake positivity vibe. Back in those days, we weren't forced to 'be a team.' We became a team by working along with one another and getting the job done. We found our work buddies and became friends outside of work, sometimes, but again, totally on our own.
Japan's prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, has said she gets by on just two to four hours sleep a night prompting concern over her commitment to a better work-life balance among the country's fatigued employees. Pointing to the bags beneath her eyes, Takaichi told MPs that she survives on minimal sleep a habit she shares with her political hero Margaret Thatcher after being asked how she would tackle Japan's notoriously long working hours.
Everyone yearns for a good work-life balance, and some people love the idea of exploring a little more of the world while working remotely. Some countries are set up for both-offering accessible digital nomad visas and great infrastructure, ranking highly in several recent expert reports across both categories. What's more, these five countries-Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, and Norway-have also recently topped the best places to travel in 2026 lists. Here's why.
The prospect of taking an extended unpaid break from work can be daunting. But with the right financial planning, it can be an opportunity to pause, spend time with family and explore new avenues
Being asked to apply for a promotion is often framed as an unqualified win: validation that your work is seen and your potential recognized. Yet for many high-achieving professionals, that invitation can spark as much ambivalence as excitement. Because the question isn't only "Can I do this?" It's also "Do I want to live this way?" Promotions can be career accelerators, but they also reconfigure your days, your priorities, and your sense of balance.
