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  "description": "There’s no single way to be ambitious.",
  "path": "/weve-lost-the-plot-ambition/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-13T16:37:43.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.thepurse.co",
  "tags": [
    "__How to Do Nothing__",
    "_the text of the talk_",
    "_Quiet ambition_",
    "_languishing_",
    "_soft life_",
    "_unsustainable work schedules_",
    "_writes for _Bloomberg__",
    "_impending white collar job apocalypse_",
    "_wrote on ambition_",
    "_“Why ‘Burnout’ Feminism Is Replacing the Girlboss, Lean In Era.”_",
    "_the report of the growing “ambition” gap_",
    "_women aren’t ambitious_",
    "_Corinne Low_",
    "_an interesting op-ed_",
    "_2023 series on ambition_",
    "_wintering_",
    "_quiet ambition_",
    "_career breaks_",
    "wrote about a",
    "_“_",
    "middling",
    "_”_",
    "career",
    "__The Perfectionist’s Guide to Losing Control__",
    "__Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock__",
    "_encourages us to rethink_",
    "__New York_ salary roundup_",
    "_“The Fashion Newsletter Playbook,”_",
    "_her recent interview_",
    "_the last time in 2005_",
    "_coming out with a new album_",
    "_AppleTV_",
    "_the book_",
    "_The Purse is on TikTok_",
    "_Alicia_",
    "@aliciatalksmoney",
    "economy",
    "retirement",
    "401k",
    "vanguard",
    "♬ original sound - Alicia Adamczyk",
    "__Nancy on__",
    "_2026 Planning & Progress report_",
    "What’s 1 line item in your budget you never want to share?How do we get over these awkward feelings?The PurseLindsey Stanberry",
    "What to know about rising gas pricesThe average gallon of gas now costs $3.54 nationally.The PurseAlicia Adamczyk",
    "How a family of 4 in Michigan lives on a $225 joint incomeA real estate agent and a house-flipped share how they save, earn, and spend their joint income while raising two kids in Grand Rapids.The PurseLindsey Stanberry",
    "10 Purse readers on how they meal prepLet this provide some mealtime inspiration.The PurseAlicia Adamczyk"
  ],
  "textContent": "Just before the pandemic, Jenny Odell’s __How to Do Nothing__ changed how I thought about my relationship to work, productivity, and how I was spending my time.\n\nIt’s impossible to sum up the entire book in a sentence—I recommend reading the whole thing or at least _the text of the talk_ she adapted it from. But in it, Odell explores how productivity culture has corrupted our broader culture, particularly in the U.S., and argues for recapturing our own attention. In my mind, it was a much needed corrective to our pervasive hustle culture, one that valorizes giving ourselves over completely to work and turns “burnout” into a badge of honor.\n\nThe book came out the same month I stopped working at Lifehacker, a site about, well, hacking every facet of your life. While I wrote about personal finance there, the site required us to publish multiple stories a day, and I was in constant conversations and planning meetings with my team about the “right” way to do just about everything. Once, we posted an article about how everyone was breathing incorrectly, or at least not optimally, if that gives you a sense of the vibe. I still think about it often.\n\nOdell’s words were a balm to me then, as I tried to get a little distance from the Lifehacker mentality. (Absolutely no shade to the site or my coworkers, I enjoyed working there. But the constant intake of content telling me I needed to do X, Y, and Z things differently really started to mess with my head after a while.) I even gifted copies of _How to Do Nothing_ to multiple family members that Christmas.\n\nUp until that point in my life, I always considered myself ambitious. _Lean In_ came out while I was in college, and while I didn’t subscribe to Sheryl Sandberg’s entire worldview even then, I was excited to start my journalism career and make a name for myself. But after leaving Lifehacker, I wanted more than ever to put some distance between my work and my life. I felt let down and disillusioned with where my ambition had gotten me. Ambition and productivity aren’t synonymous, but they are often treated as such in our work culture. Doing nothing sounded pretty nice.\n\n __How to Do Nothing__ by Jenny Odell\n\nThen Covid-19 hit, and it felt like there was a real shift in how we thought about work and productivity. We acknowledged the difficulties many people, especially parents and other caregivers, were having in the pre-pandemic workplace and talked seriously about instituting reforms. “ _Quiet ambition_,” “ _languishing_,” and “ _soft life_” permeated the discourse. Naively, it kind of seemed like we might really be moving toward changing work culture.\n\nAnd then…things just kind of went back to the way they were, as if this worldwide reckoning had never happened. CEOs got tired of offering employees flexibility; pride for the grind came roaring back. Now, tech bros boast about their _unsustainable work schedules_ and everyone else is too scared of layoffs to make much of a fuss.\n\nNaturally, there’s been widespread resistance, even resentment, to this. Many of us are tired, we’re overscheduled, and we feel like we can’t take a break. “Burnout” feminism seems to be taking the place of the Girlboss variety, Alice Robb _writes for _Bloomberg__. And with AI and all the talk of the _impending white collar job apocalypse_, it’s a pretty weird time to feel ambitious about your career in a _Lean In_ -type of way. The entire workplace paradigm we grew up in and planned for seems to be collapsing; what is there to be ambitious about?\n\nThe growing movement to restrict women to the home is another manifestation of the backlash. Using our understandable frustrations with the corporate grind, we’re encouraged to give it all up and stay barefoot in the kitchen, a baby on our hip. Rather than being ambitious at work, we should have ambitions to be tradwives or stay-at-home girlfriends or whatever the hell infantilizing nickname du jour they come up with. Who needs a dream job when you can have your dream family instead?\n\nIt’s all pretty exhausting. I have no ambitions of being a tradwife, just like I have no ambitions to be a CEO—or even a middle manager. But I have plenty of other ambitions. I want to do good work that I’m proud of, with people I like, and be able to provide a good life for my family. I want to hangout with my husband and my cat every day, practice yoga, cook some interesting meals, and read a good book. Occasionally, I would like to do nothing.\n\nI’ve referenced a series I _wrote on ambition_ many times since January 2023, when I first published it while working at _Fortune_ , and it’s interesting to read now what I wrote then, since leaving traditional media and starting to freelance full time. I do actually feel much more fulfilled in my day to day, and much more ambitious now than I was back then. These days, I know what I’m capable of. I’m eager to take on new projects, learn new skills, and make the most of my time in the ways _I_ want to.\n\nI love working on The Purse, and I know I’m incredibly lucky that Lindsey brought me on. It’s also _so_ much harder than having a comfy full-time job. I’m ambitious about what we’re doing, but I don’t expect anyone else to be. For all of those who aspire to the C-Suite, I salute you. And if your ambitions lie in the home, I want that for you, too. There’s no single way to be ambitious, nor is any person ambitious in one single way. Personally, I am ambitious in my career and in my desire to sleep eight hours every night. I think I can manage both.\n\n _- Alicia_\n\n## **Ambition in the news**\n\n  * This article was inspired by a conversation we were having in Slack after reading Alice Robb’s recent piece in _Bloomberg_ , _“Why ‘Burnout’ Feminism Is Replacing the Girlboss, Lean In Era.”_\n  * I didn’t get into this in my essay, but another inspiration for covering this is _the report of the growing “ambition” gap_ between men and women at work.\n  * And we do worry about what it means financially when _women aren’t ambitious_ in the ways Corporate America approves of.\n  * Friend of The Purse _Corinne Low_ wrote _an interesting op-ed_ about workplace boundaries a few months ago.\n  * My _2023 series on ambition_ included stories on _wintering_, _quiet ambition_, and _career breaks_. I also wrote about a _“_middling _”_ career here.\n  * Lindsey has been listening to __The Perfectionist’s Guide to Losing Control__ __ by Katherine Morgan Schafler (apologies that she can’t remember which Purse reader recommended it). As someone who has felt shame about her perfectionist tendencies, Lindsey says it feels like hearing the best pep talk from a very wise friend.\n  * Odell’s follow-up book, __Saving Time: Discovering a Life Beyond the Clock__, examines the problem of time scarcity and _encourages us to rethink_ what making “good” use of it entails.\n\n\n\nSupport our work!\n\n## **What else we’re talking about**\n\n  * The fun __New York_ salary roundup_ sparked a lot of chatter among the fashion Substacker community after one anonymous style writer shared her annual income of $275k. I loved the response from Totally Recommend, _“The Fashion Newsletter Playbook,”_ which breaks down how these newsletter writers actually make money. Her piece has a heck of an ending! (And I shared my thoughts on affiliate links in the comments.) -_Lindsey_\n  * I’m a Rebecca Solnit fangirl so I loved _her recent interview_ in _The_ _New York Times_ in which she says: “You really have to hold both: that there’s still a lot to hope for and a lot to mourn, and those things can exist at the same time. You can be kind of heartbroken and exhilarated about climate and keep doing the work.” _- Alicia_\n  * Speaking of salary roundups, _New York_ has been doing those income stories every couple of decades, _the last time in 2005_. I thought it was interesting that in the last edition, no one was anonymous! It got me wondering: Maybe as a society, we’re not actually more comfortable talking openly about taboo money topics than a few decades ago. It used to be that publications pretty much required you to share your full name if you were going to be quoted. Those rules are loosening, for better or worse. Obviously, I’m someone who has benefitted from people anonymously sharing their money stories, so I’m not being critical. I just find the whole thing very interesting! -_Lindsey_\n  * The best news I heard this week is that Kacey Musgraves is _coming out with a new album_! _Golden Hour_ and _Deeper Well_ are all-timers for me, and I’m excited it seems like she’s going a little more country on this one. _- Alicia (Lindsey co-signs this!)_\n\n\n\n## **On our radar**\n\n  * The first edition of Meal Prep goes out tomorrow—hopefully it will provide some inspo for your weekend grocery shopping!\n  * I am very excited for the TV-adaptation of _Margo’s Got Money Troubles_ , which comes out on _AppleTV_ next month. I loved _the book_ so much, and the cast for this series is just amazing. Should we do a Purse watch party? -_Lindsey_\n\n\n\n## **TikTok of the week**\n\n _The Purse is on TikTok_, and so is _Alicia_!\n\n> @aliciatalksmoney More workers are taking emergency hardship withdrawals from their 401(s), according to Vanguard—never a good sign for the economy. Increasing usage of auto-enrollment and recent expansions of the reasons to legally make hardship withdrawals are two factors. #economy #retirement #401k #vanguard ♬ original sound - Alicia Adamczyk\n\n## **Comment of the week**\n\n> “Really respect your commitment to supporting your child’s birth mother and thoughtful acknowledgement of privilege.”\n\n _-___Nancy on__ _“Home Economics No. 48: A married mother of 2 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, who owns a tiny cabin resort.” Join the convo!_\n\n## **Stats of the week**\n\n> 74% of parents with children at home are considering, or would consider, starting to financially plan to help their kids buy a home.\n>\n> Among those parents, 29% say helping them buy a home is more important than helping them pay for college; 55% say it’s equally important.\n\n_- Northwestern Mutual’s_ _2026 Planning & Progress report_\n\n## **What else we published on The Purse this week**\n\nWe forgot to link Monday’s and Tuesday’s stories in Wednesday’s newsletters, so please check them out! Lindsey really wants to know what something in your budget that you don’t want to share!\n\nWhat’s 1 line item in your budget you never want to share?How do we get over these awkward feelings?The PurseLindsey StanberryWhat to know about rising gas pricesThe average gallon of gas now costs $3.54 nationally.The PurseAlicia AdamczykHow a family of 4 in Michigan lives on a $225 joint incomeA real estate agent and a house-flipped share how they save, earn, and spend their joint income while raising two kids in Grand Rapids.The PurseLindsey Stanberry10 Purse readers on how they meal prepLet this provide some mealtime inspiration.The PurseAlicia Adamczyk\n\n## **Best money we spent this week**\n\n  * I didn’t do much this week! But Chris and I are having a date night Saturday that includes tickets to a jazz show, which I’m really looking forward to! (~$75) _- Alicia_\n  * I ran around like a crazy person trying to get ready for SXSW, and that included spending $1 million dollars at Sephora. I also bought new sneakers in Purse brand colors, and the nice sales guy at the Adidas store in Soho humored me and followed The Purse on Instagram. ($100). -_Lindsey_\n\n\n\nSubscribe today!",
  "title": "We’ve lost the plot on ambition",
  "updatedAt": "2026-03-13T16:37:44.220Z"
}