When “Holding On” Holds You Back: Rethinking Attachment in Learning and Work
When “Holding On” Holds You Back: Rethinking Attachment in Learning and Work
Aug 22, 2025
5 min
Our parents worked hard for 30–40 years, then retired in their 60s. That used to be the deal. But is that timeline still relevant today?
Latest news from KBank, one of the biggest banks in Thailand, shows that the voluntary early retirement program now starts at 45. Stable jobs and the idea of a secure retirement at 65 are slipping away, while life expectancy keeps increasing. At the same time, the job market is shifting, AI storms are coming, and waves of restructuring hit the headlines every month since last year.
Now imagine quitting your job at 26. Not forever, just for a few months or a year. You plan to spend mornings at a temple, evenings watching sunsets from the beach or a mountain top. Maybe you’re three shots deep, sinking into nature. Or maybe you’re binging your favorite series. Maybe you build a side project or learn a new skill. This sounds like “early retirement,” which is something Gen Z is starting to do. And in my case, I don’t have to imagine — I already signed the resignation letter, looking forward to doing that.
To older generations, retiring before 30 probably sounds insane because of raising a family or escaping poverty. Even stranger, in our generation, we might do it more than once, just with different names.
The word feels like a buzzword, but it’s really not far from things we’ve heard before: gap years, sabbaticals, career breaks. The difference? From my quick research, Micro-Retirement is more intentional and planned. It can last months, even a couple of years. And it’s not forever quitting, more like pausing, resetting, and coming back with new energy. 10% of working-age people in the US are planning to take this plan.
Unlike a short holiday, you live and extend the break as if you were retired right now. You learn, travel, pick up passions, or just slow down while knowing you can return to the workforce later.
Surveys from sidehustle.com show the top 5 reasons people take a micro-retirement are:
Mental health recovery (57%)
Travel and life experiences (52%)
Relief from work stress (47%)
Creative or personal projects (29%)
Reevaluating career and life direction (28%) 
On the flip side, the main roadblocks are financial security, career setbacks, employer restrictions, healthcare benefits, and the challenge of reentering the workforce.
Let’s stop and look around. Why is this happening more often with younger generations?
Some people dismiss it: “Millennials don’t want to work hard. Gen Z has no patience.” But if you look closer, Gen Z is facing different problems — maybe even more problems.
Home-to-income ratio keeps rising, while real wages stay flat (Visualcapitalist, 2024).
Careers aren’t linear anymore (Forbes, 2025).
Skills don’t match the market. A bachelor used to be “safe.” Now the half-life of skills is shrinking faster.
And yes, AI is eating entry-level jobs.
Of course, not all of it is doom. The headlines thrive on negativity bias, amplifying fears more than facts.
The truth is somewhere in the middle: constant pressure, a harder reality, plus social media comparisons, leave many young employees struggling. Some even shut down completely, like the rise of "Not in Employment, Education, or Training" culture in Japan, Korea, and China (OECD, 2025)
But here’s another angle. Younger people simply see more options than their parents ever did. The internet opened everything, globalization shifted norms, and examples of streamers, YouTubers, TikTokers making a living are everywhere. Options feel like freedom, but too many can freeze you. Psychologists call this the paradox of choice.
So what happens? Some double down — work two jobs, hustle harder. I admire that conviction. Others burn out chasing passion or decide to slow down, to balance work and leisure. And sometimes you just don’t know the next move.
Naval once said: “People spend too much time doing and not enough time thinking about what they should be doing.” Today, the opposite trap exists too — overthinking until paralysis.
Meanwhile, youth unemployment keeps climbing; in China, it is over 15%, and in the US and UK, about 13% of young people are now NEETs. As the job market tightens, it feels more zero-sum. Everyone is competing for fewer safe spots. A bachelor’s is the minimum. A master’s may or may not give an edge.
Add in the mental health wave, 70% of Gen Z and millennial employees reported burnout symptoms within the last year, with 51% of Gen Z and millennials feeling highly stressed compared to 37% of Generation X and older. Options, competition, and uncertainty. That’s why I think gap years, career breaks, and micro-retirements will only spread. For those who can afford it, it’s a choice. For those who can’t, it’s either burn out or adapt.
If you’ve read this far, maybe you’re already thinking of leaving. You already did or you’re just staring out a high-rise window, wondering what’s happening on the other side of the road.
Here’s what I think as my personal checkpoints:
Finance. If I reach into my pocket and check how long my savings will last. If it’s less than three months, my “retirement” will be short — I'd better be clear about what I want to get out of it.
Energy. Where do you want to spend it? Travel? Learning? Sleeping in? Rewatching childhood movies? Running a mini-marathon with your dad, like me?
Health. The first thing I procrastinate on is medical checkups. But I don’t want to come back worse than before. It would suck to return with health problems after spending the break. I might even force myself to try vitamins.
Mind. Use the pause to reflect. Reconnect with what you enjoy. Hiking or a project you’ve always wanted to try. Ask: what do I really need? What do I want? Sometimes closing social media and slowing down helps.
The comeback. Like moms who step out of the workforce in their 30s for pregnancy or raising kids — which I deeply respect — I fear returning to find my skills irrelevant. That’s why a buffer matters. Returning may take longer than expected. Upskill, build side projects, learn a language, revive old networks, and join communities. Make the return feel like continuing, not starting over.
To me, Micro-Retirement is running away — at least partly. And that’s okay. Running can be healthy if you know why, and where you’re heading back.
It’s also a promise to pace yourself for the long game. If we’re really in the middle of another industrial revolution with AI and robotics, nonstop new disruption, collapsing of the old safe routes, then stepping back is simply a rest hand, the kind poker players take so they can stay in the game.
Phurin : LinkedIn
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