Robbins’s empathy for older Gen Z and young millennials is in stark contrast to the negativity clogging the feeds of young people.
But Robbins asserted that older generations wouldn’t know what it’s like to navigate adulthood in the 2025, like homeownership being “out of reach,” a ballooning generational wealth gap, and colossal student loan debt.
“The average 20-year-old today is under so much stress and pressure and chaos right now,” Robbins said. “And it’s not stress and pressure and chaos that existed five or six years ago.”
It’s tough out there for 20 somethings. They’re finding out the hard way that following the exact formula of their parents—going to a prestigious school, completing internships in undergrad, and catapulting into a lush job market—is broken. Gen Z wound up with the short end of the stick, Robbins said.
“The world is in chaos—and most twenysomethings had parents that lived in a very predictable, stable economy,” Robbins continued. “They went to a corporate job, they reported to the office, they had a network of friends at work. That’s not the typical 20-year-old experience.”
“They’re now in the middle of a recession, in hybrid work. The world is shifting, the landscape is shifting,” Robbins said. “If you feel lost, I’m not surprised. This is exactly how you should feel.”
“You’re doing your twenties correctly—there’s nothing wrong with you,” she added. “It’s a perfectly normal response to the decade that you’re in, based on the moment in history that you’re in. Feeling lost is to be expected.”
Robbins is encouraging anxious Gen Zers, rather than just rolling over and accepting a bleak fate, to reframe their mindset. In her TikTok video, she recommended that twentysomethings embrace uncertainty and view this tense moment in history as an opportunity.
A version of this story was published on Fortune.com on April 14, 2025.
