Stop Hustling And Start Living

You always have a million things going on at all times. You find that you have a never-ending to-do list. You are constantly on the go. You are goal-oriented, and for all intensive purposes, you have it all together.  I’ll let you in on a little secret, if you haven’t heard this before: It is okay to rest. As a high achiever, this is probably a foreign concept to you. You probably feel overwhelmed and overworked all the time. You are constantly running on fumes or in a perpetual state of tiredness.  It’s not surprising, because sometimes you spread yourself way too thin. Your to-do list would overwhelm most, but to you this is the norm. You have made your to-do list a priority and you have left yourself on the back burner. 

We live in a society where hustle culture is idolized. Our achievements seem to define our worth, so we run from achievement to achievement so that we can feel worthy. Every time we check off a goal or something on our to-do list, we feel like we are enough at that moment. The constant hustling can leave us feeling less than ideal. At times, we are left feeling burnt out and empty. We are hustling, but at the expense of our physical and mental health. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong about having goals for ourselves! If we are not growing we are dying,  so don’t forgo having goals. The issue is when these goals consume us and obtaining these goals have a negative impact on our lives. We let the hustle and the grind become the priority. 

Take time to rest. Our capitalist society tells us we should constantly be working in order to be successful, but what if the actual recipe for success is hard work and rest? We are taught the only way to get ahead is to sacrifice your life and sometimes your mental well-being. What if you carved out the time to make yourself a priority and listened to your body when it came time to rest? What if you didn’t jampack your schedule and focused on one task at a time? What if you took the time to just live and enjoy the journey you are currently on?

Hustling needs to be revamped. What if we changed the narrative? What if we started telling ourselves that “I will hustle to reach my goals, but I will go as hard or if not harder when it comes to my rest”? 

I will make my physical and mental health a priority. I will listen to my body and mind when they tell me they need rest. I will not let my achievements define my worth. I will live my life in such a way that I am always honoring myself. 

Stop hustling and start living.