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How Millennial Women Are Redefining Success

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July 2 2025, Published 5:21 p.m. ET

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Remember when ‘success’ meant dashing from back-to-back meetings, too busy to eat properly and falling into bed at midnight, exhausted, and burnt out? For too long, success has been defined by business, by a life full of hard work, stupid hours, and no time for relaxation.

All of that is changing for today’s empowered woman. According to theeverygirl.com, a successful life looks much softer for millennial women, with plenty of time for self-care and creativity. That’s not to say it’s lazy – far from it – but rather that it’s intentional, making smarter moves with more thought attached. Modern women have a clear idea of their long-term goals and are prepared to be choosier about how they spend their time working towards them.

Working smarter not harder

What exactly do these ‘smart moves’ look like? There are essentially three pillars to the soft-smart lifestyle, which work together to empower a greater sense of well-being and freedom.

Work on your terms: Rather than opting for the traditional 9-to-5 with a rigid framework of hours, the soft-smart way of life embraces modern ways of working, including freelancing, remote work, and portfolio careers.

Emotional wealth: This pillar is all about self-awareness and having the confidence to prioritize yourself. The opposite of being a ‘yes man’, it means saying no, setting boundaries, and prioritizing health. It can also encompass taking time to nurture relationships with friends and family, as marriage.com explains.

Financial ease: Success doesn’t always mean a bulging bank balance, it can also mean making bold financial decisions that create freedom, not stress.

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The property side of peace

The soft-smart lifestyle doesn’t just relate to the day-to-day, it can apply to big life decisions too, like buying and selling property. If your priorities are the freedom to work on your own timescales and minimize stress, then using a property buying service like Sold.co.uk is exactly what you need. 

Sold.co.uk makes selling your home a simple process, where you choose your completion date, sidestep the hassle of viewings and property chains, and go straight to money in the bank.

Letting go of the toxic ‘girlboss’ grind

For decades now, we’ve been told as women to celebrate the fact that we can ‘have it all’, and that’s great, but this mantra has become toxic. For many women, there has been an increasing pressure to equate having it all to doing it all – just because we now have more choice, though, doesn’t mean we should feel obliged to work at maximum capacity all the time.

You only need to scroll through Instagram to be bombarded with ideas for side hustles – extra jobs disguised as creative opportunities – but the savvy millennial woman appreciates that this girlboss grind is exhausting and often shifts attention away from what really matters.

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Whatever success looks like for you, the important thing is that you define it, not society. Make decisions that are led by your soul, trust your instinct and prioritize your own freedom and well-being, and you should be able to find a more peaceful and powerful rhythm to your life.

[Edit note: This article was produced by one of our trusted partners.]

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