From becoming to doing

There was a time when life was built around becoming. Becoming better, fitter, calmer, more confident, more capable. The idea of transformation—personal, emotional, physical—was everywhere.

But something has shifted. Slowly, quietly, we’ve stopped chasing who we might become, and started focusing on what we can do right now.

Less glow-up, more get-through. Across beauty, fitness, food, and even language itself—we’re watching the rise of function over feeling, performance over-promise. In this issue, we decode the subtle but significant ways in which doing has replaced becoming—and what that tells us about the culture we’re living in.

FITNESS AS FIX, NOT FUTURE

There was a time when fitness was about reinvention—training for marathons, sculpting the perfect body, or chasing discipline as a lifestyle. The gym was aspirational. Fitness was future-facing.

Now, it’s about injury prevention, posture correction, stress relief. People work out to survive their desk jobs, not transform their identities. It's no longer about the high—it’s about staying functional.

Movement today isn’t driven by goals. It’s a coping mechanism. A reset button. The future can wait—right now, we’re just trying to keep our backs from giving up.

FOOD THAT WORKS

Food was once emotional. Comforting. Celebratory. It carried meaning—ritual, family, indulgence, memory. But now, we’re watching a quiet shift: meals are becoming measured. Snacks are being reformulated. Labels are being read like instruction manuals.

Consumers aren’t just eating. They’re optimizing. Looking for energy, gut health, better sleep. Food is being used to manage life, not enjoy it.

It’s not that taste doesn’t matter. It just comes second to function.

We’re not feeding the soul anymore—we’re fuelling the system.

THE DEATH OF SOFT LANGUAGE

Words matter. And the words we use across categories are getting sharper, harder, more outcome-driven. The old lexicon of softness—nourish, glow, care, replenish—is slowly being replaced by action-first language: target, reduce, activate, correct.

This shift in tone reflects a shift in mindset. Emotion alone isn’t persuasive. Softness feels vague. Consumers want certainty—the kind that comes with claims, not poetry.

Even the gentlest categories—beauty, wellness, parenting—are speaking in terms of efficiency. When everything has to work, language has to prove it.

THE SELF-HELP REBRAND

Self-help used to be a journey. A higher self to strive toward. Books, retreats, mantras—all focused on transformation.

Now, it's a dashboard. A five-minute journal. A focus timer. Healing has been compressed into habits. Wellness is a neatly packaged routine. The promise is no longer transcendence—it’s productivity.

The modern self-help consumer isn’t seeking growth. They’re trying to stay regulated, functioning, consistent.

We’re not evolving. We’re just trying to hold it together.

Consumers have become proof-seekers today. They’ve been sold too many dreams to trust easily. Storytelling still matters—but only when it lands in something tangible.

Brands need to pivot from lofty claims to functional truths. From speaking about who the consumer could become, to helping them deal with who they already are.

In a world that demands performance from people, brands can’t just perform. They have to deliver.