Julia Christine Botin

Article (news)

ABS-CBN News Digital Intern

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1761190412688‘Locking in is good’ thumb (1).png" style="width:3000px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/></div><p>Whether cramming an assignment last minute or grinding for self-improvement, there comes a time in one&#x27;s life when one must simply &quot;lock in&quot; or set their eyes on whatever goal they made for themselves.</p><p>Enter the &quot;great lock in&quot; meme, a humorous take on people devoting their time toward attaining a specific goal in mind. </p><p>The trend first circulated on TikTok around August 2025, with memes, usually accompanied with highlights of basketball players, encouraging users to participate in the movement.</p><p>Users would initially produce motivational videos designating months such as September to December as their &quot;locking in&quot; period, which is around the same time as their academic calendar. It&#x27;s often used whenever they plan to achieve their fitness or financial goals, but the trend has since mostly revolved around Gen Zs poking fun at the act being done even in mundane tasks. </p><p>But underneath the videos, there is something more than what meets the eye, according to an expert. </p><div><strong>Psychology behind &#x27;locking in&#x27;</strong></div><p>Gian Carlo Ledesma, chair of the behavioral science department of the University of Santo Tomas Sampaloc campus, said that &quot;locking in&quot; is essentially &quot;establishing a new you,&quot; stemming from the desire to better or to keep up with those who are perceived to be ahead in life. </p><p>&quot;When they see others get ahead of them, it leads them to be competitive also in such a way [that they are] also forced to do something that will also make them at par or ahead of whoever figure they have in mind,&quot; Ledesma told ABS-CBN News.  </p><p>An example of this is Avictori Carino, a student from De La Salle University who said that the trend inspires him to improve himself and reach his goals. </p><p>&quot;Sometimes it’s also about proving to myself that I can stay disciplined even when it&#x27;s hard. Seeing others being productive or reaching milestones also pushes me to lock in and take my own goals seriously,&quot; Carino told ABS-CBN News.</p><p>Ledesma believes that &quot;locking in&quot; is good, as long as it is done right. &quot;However, if it&#x27;s just merely riding with the trend and then you just declared that you will lock in without any concrete or structured plan, then I think that will pose danger,&quot; Ledesma added.</p><blockquote cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@lakwacheru/video/7549500209043197191" class="tiktok-embed" data-embed-from="embed_page" data-video-id="7549500209043197191" id="v47381622977247810" style="max-width:605px;min-width:325px"><iframe name="__tt_embed__v47381622977247810" sandbox="allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-scripts allow-top-navigation allow-same-origin" src="https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7549500209043197191?lang=en-US&amp;referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com%2F%23%2Fworkspace%2Fmonitoring%3Fitem%3Durn%3Anewsml%3Aod2-workbench-api.abs-cbn.com%3A2025-10-23T04%3A30%3A42.531996%3A7e40c1a4-d63d-4ae7-baf7-478da952e0a4%26action%3Dedit&amp;embedFrom=embed_page" style="width:100%;height:758px;display:block;visibility:unset"></iframe></blockquote><script async="" src="https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js"></script><p>Aside from personal interest, the environment where the person grew up in can also be a factor in &quot;locking in,&quot; citing parents comparing their children to other kids as an example. </p><p>Ledesma acknowledged that the trend does have risks such as stress or neglect of others, both of which may lead to mental health problems.</p><p>&quot;The danger there is you will really exhaust all your energy just to achieve what you would like to achieve. And we don&#x27;t want that to happen because eventually, from stress, it might lead to burnout already,&quot; he said. </p><div><strong>Why it appeals to Gen Z</strong></div><p>Ledesma described Gen Zs, the generation most hooked on the TikTok trend, as &quot;goal-oriented&quot; and &quot;productive&quot; when it comes to &quot;locking in.&quot;</p><p>The department chair cited the psychosocial theory of Erik Erikson, specifically the &quot;identity versus role confusion stage,&quot; where &quot;adolescents highly rely on models that can guide them on determining the kind of person that they will eventually be and some best practices perhaps that they can adopt.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Of course, the identity formation, the kind of person that we are at any given point in time, can be influenced by the people around us. And of course, by the different factors, agencies that we are with at any given point,&quot; he said. </p><p>Ledesma noted that &quot;locking in&quot; is compatible with the goal-centric traits of Gen Zs, enabling them to be productive and further motivated in fulfilling their targets.</p><p>&quot;So because the locking in affords opportunities to somehow make a person achieve something productive within a certain period, I think it will highly resonate with them,&quot; he said. </p><blockquote cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@sammalvero/video/7552863480752278802" class="tiktok-embed" data-video-id="7552863480752278802" id="v60248616910630790" style="max-width:605px;min-width:325px"><iframe name="__tt_embed__v60248616910630790" sandbox="allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-scripts allow-top-navigation allow-same-origin" src="https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7552863480752278802?lang=en-US&amp;referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com%2F%23%2Fworkspace%2Fmonitoring%3Fitem%3Durn%3Anewsml%3Aod2-workbench-api.abs-cbn.com%3A2025-10-23T04%3A30%3A42.531996%3A7e40c1a4-d63d-4ae7-baf7-478da952e0a4%26action%3Dcorrect" style="width:100%;height:740px;display:block;visibility:unset"></iframe></blockquote><script async="" src="https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js"></script><p>When asked about the &quot;locking in&quot; trend, students believe its success comes from it being a fun way to keep themselves in check.</p><p>&quot;The term &#x27;locking in&#x27; gives a cool, motivating label to something everyone wants to focus and progress. It&#x27;s also a way for people to hold themselves accountable and share their growth journey online,&quot; Carino said. </p><p>&quot;Even though it’s a meme, it promotes a good message prioritizing growth and discipline. It&#x27;s nice to see a trend that actually encourages people to better themselves,&quot; the Lasallian added.</p><p>Jaesan Marañon, a sociology student from the University of Philippines Diliman, echoed Carino&#x27;s sentiments, saying: &quot;Locking in caught on with Gen Z because it&#x27;s about taking life seriously for once.&quot;</p><p>&quot;The &#x27;great lock-in&#x27; is funny but real at the same time. It&#x27;s our way of saying we&#x27;re tired of drifting and finally ready to put in the work, even if we have to meme our way through it.&quot;</p>

<p>Whether cramming an assignment last minute or grinding for self-improvement, there comes a time in one's life when one must simply "lock in" or set their eyes on whatever goal they made for themselves.</p>

Whether cramming an assignment last minute or grinding for self-improvement, there comes a time in one's life when one must simply "lock in" or set their eyes on whatever goal they made for themselves.

Why goal-oriented Gen Zs are hooked on the 'great lock in' trend

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Why goal-oriented Gen Zs are hooked on the 'great lock in' trend

ABS-CBN News Digital Intern,

Jose Raphael Gonzales

Published Oct 23, 2025 12:36 PM PHT

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Updated Oct 23, 2025 12:48 PM PHT

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