Why does admitting you’re ambitious feel so wrong for gen Xers like me?

In the 90s, we internalised an ideal of cool that appeared nonchalant and effortless. Now, young people are unafraid to say they want something and are going to work hard to get it Oh no, striving is cool now. “Never stop grinding and listen … Stop doing anything else but working,” as Pharrell Williams told the Grammys audience last month. The Times recently announced that “trying really hard and talking about it” was in, typified by Timothée Chalamet’s continued commitment to the “pursuit of...

By Emma Beddington