What’s the best characteristic for launching your career during uncertain economic times? Delusion, according to a new Gen Z work trend. Young workers on platforms such as LinkedIn and TikTok are describing how they’re deluding their way—or “being delulu,” as they’ve coined it—into dream jobs simply by believing they can.
The hashtag #delulu has garnered over 1.6 billion views on TikTok, and started as a dating trend before becoming a career psychology hack. In dating, it’s a mindset of steadfastly believing that someone could be interested in you even though signs point otherwise. Applied to careers, Gen Zers are tricking themselves into believing they deserve their dream jobs, essentially faking confidence so well that they sometimes actually land their desired roles.
