Have you ever had to face a point where taking a break felt like a crime? That’s becoming increasingly common, and chances are that most people around you have felt the exact same way. With the way things (and people) are moving nowadays, it’s not uncommon to fear being left behind.
Keeping that in mind, today’s generation has started glorifying the hustle culture and enforcing it as a mindset, even unintentionally at times. Where most people consider it as ‘the secret ingredient to success,’ it often becomes a recipe for disaster. We’ll get to the reasons later on in this blog. Let’s get into it, then!
Understanding the Hustle Culture
The constant fear or willingness to keep up in terms of achievements, productivity, and work has become a norm nowadays. This culture is accelerating, and so is the constant need to work tirelessly and sacrifice our physical and mental well-being for ‘success.’ The need to strive for these ideals by putting your well-being on the line is called hustle.
Unraveling the Myth of Hustling
While the hustle ideology sounds like a great mix for aiming at success, in reality, it’s not. A day-to-day routine where you’re sticking to this ideology more often than not leads to burnout, diminished creativity, and loss of satisfaction and joy for our goals.
In the long term, these consequences ultimately take a toll on your well-being. Not just that, but the initial drive and ambition that leads a person to hustle can only fuel short-term achievements. Success, in definition, isn’t short-term goal achievement but long-term, and hustle only compromises the latter.
Simultaneously, the hustle narrative overlooks the importance of keeping your health in check, a balanced work-life style, and the impacts of chronic stress. The present hustle culture may have you believe that your worth is tied to your productivity and achievements, but that’s only an unhealthy obsession that doesn’t lead anywhere. Over time, we become solely fixated on achievements, failing to appreciate our accomplishments along the way.
How Do You Escape From the Hustle Culture?
Like most things, getting out of the hustle culture when everyone else pushes you to keep doing so is easier said than done. The race towards aiming higher and higher may have you running with it, but it’s important to stop, take a step back, and revisit your approach.
If you want a self-help book, unlike any other, that allows you to take small steps that actually contribute to a positive mindset and progressive life, Kristina Mand-Lakhiani’s “Becoming Flawesome” guides you through the techniques.
Instead of telling you to ‘change your habits to achieve more,’ she emphasizes breaking free from the hustle culture, self-compassion, and embracing your authentic self as a catalyst for growth. Essentially, the author invites readers to redefine success in their own terms, not how society looks at it and prioritize themselves through their personal development process.
Steps to Start Working on Your Growth
You’ll get the complete walkthrough of #BecomingFlawesome in the book, but for now, it doesn’t hurt to get a headstart on the process. Follow these steps to get going on your personal growth journey.
- Take Time to Reflect: Repetitive work and looking at quantity instead of quality can drain anyone’s energy. Hence, take regular time outs to rest. Besides a much-needed break, it will allow you to recharge and come back with higher productivity. Moreover, reflect on your existing routine alongside proactive measures that will allow you to keep your self-care in sight.
- Accept Slow and Steady Progress: Instant results can get you to the finish line of short-term goals, but it doesn’t cater to attaining fulfillment. A better approach is to understand and appreciate sustainable progress. Set realistic goals, break them down, and celebrate each milestone. During this, embellish in the journey rather than looking forward to achievements only.
- Work on Your Well-Being: Achievements are important, but they’re nothing if you’re physical, mental, and spiritual well-being is in shambles. Long-term success only comes when you’re at your best. Take care of yourself by taking care of your diet, exercise, me time, and mindfulness.
Conclusion
Once you understand and work toward leaving the hustle culture behind, you’ll automatically see streamlined growth, personally and professionally. Taking breaks and prioritizing yourself may sound like the opposing path to productivity. However, you need to keep long-term success as your goal, and these mindset and lifestyle changes are what it takes to get there.