Why progress today isn’t political, it’s personal

Most people feel optimistic about their personal futures, but not about their nation’s. 60% of people we surveyed expect to make personal progress over the next two years, but only 50% expect the same for their country. The divide reflects a broader truth – people feel more in control of their personal lives than the complex global systems surrounding them.

What stood out was that progress didn’t split along political lines. Whether respondents paid attention to left or right leaning media, or even distrusted any news sources entirely, their views on progress were aligned. Despite the polarised tone of media and politics, people across the spectrum agreed: national progress feels harder to imagine than personal.

Today’s media environment plays out like a Choose Your Own Adventure. Different villains, but the same finger-pointing and outrage, all driven by revenue collecting clicks. Despite the noise, many people are quietly questioning the same thing: does the idea of progress still apply to me, and to my country?

From big wins to small steps

For many generations, the ‘formula’ for progress was predictable: get a degree, a job, a promotion, a marriage, a house, and kids. For Gen X and millennials in the early 1990s to 2010s, delaying these larger life milestones was considered an empowering choice. Today, the ‘decision’ to postpone or throw out these traditional symbols of progress are the result of the economic reality.  

Housing affordability, childcare costs, and financial pressures mean many people now rent longer, delay or reconsider starting families in a bid for building wealth, careers and financial security. While flexibility is still celebrated, for many it reflects a lack of options, not abundance.  

Progress hasn’t stopped, but it looks different. It’s become short-term, pragmatic, and incremental – less about status, more about stability and shorter horizon planning.

The shift inward

In uncertain times when national or economic progress feels out of reach, people turn inward. Rather than chase increasingly out of reach milestones, our study showed that people now define progress in smaller-scale, personal terms: paying off a credit card, finding daily calm, or getting a better night’s sleep.

For relatively privileged populations like Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, the cultural shift is clear: it is easier to imagine their immediate future rather than imagining our collective success as a nation. Self-reliance is the becoming a default strategy for navigating uncertainty.

What this means for brands

Brands must keep pace with how people are redefining progress. Grand, aspirational messages of success and accumulation feels disconnected from reality. Instead, brands can celebrate small wins, offer genuine support, and create a sense of agency in people’s everyday lives by helping people feel more secure in everyday decisions.

This isn’t about lowering ambition – it’s about anchoring it in the real world. In a time where progress is personal and shaped by resilience, brands that meet people where they are will be the ones that stay relevant.

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