The Hustle is Not Holy: Why I Quit Glorifying the Grind
You ever find yourself so tired you forget if you’ve actually eaten today… or just thought about eating while checking your fourth to-do list?
Same.
There was a time when I thought being busy made me important. When “the grind” felt like a badge of honor. When burnout was just part of the process. You want success? You better sacrifice your sleep, sanity, and soul to get it.
Spoiler alert: that’s bullsh*t.
Hustle Culture Had Me Hooked
Like many creatives (especially the neurodivergent ones) I grew up thinking I had to prove myself. Be exceptional. Be productive. Be worthy. I wore busyness like armor and called it ambition. I said yes to everything. Every client. Every idea. Every all-nighter. I confused exhaustion for success.
But here’s the real kicker: hustle culture doesn’t reward you for grinding. It just gives you more grind.
It feeds off your guilt. Your “I should be doing more.” Your “rest is lazy.”
And before you know it, you’re running a business, forgetting to live your life.
Creative ≠ Machine
My brain doesn’t do 9–5. It does 100 ideas in the shower and three hyperfixated hours at 11 PM.
It’s not linear. It’s chaos-coded.
And when I tried to fit it into the productivity boxes I saw on Instagram, I started resenting the work I used to love.
Because hustle culture wasn’t built for people like me.
People who need breaks before the crash.
People who feel everything.
People who get bored by routine but overwhelmed by structure.
People who are creative because they’re a little “too much.”
I Had to Burn Out to Wake Up
Eventually, I crashed.
Hard.
Not in a cute “I need a self-care day” way, but in a full-on I don’t know who I am without this work kind of way.
That’s when I realized:
The hustle is not holy.
It’s not your calling. It’s not your worth. It’s not your identity.
You are not your output.
And success is not a finish line. It’s a feeling. One you get to define.
My Redefinition of Success (Spoiler: It Involves Naps)
Success, for me, now looks like:
Creative freedom over creative burnout
Systems that work with my brain, not against it
Clients who respect my boundaries and my chaos
Saying “no” more than I say “yes”
Midday coffee on the porch. Music breaks. Dog snuggles.
Creating because I want to…not because I’m afraid to fall behind
For the Neurospicy Overachievers Reading This:
You don’t need to earn rest.
You don’t need to keep up.
You don’t need to hustle yourself into oblivion to build something meaningful.
You need permission to do it your way.
So here it is:
Permission granted.
To slow down.
To be selective.
To take up space without burning out to prove you deserve it.
Because guess what? You already do.
🔥 Hot Take to Go:
You can be wildly successful without being constantly exhausted. The creative grind doesn’t have to break you to build something brilliant.
💬 Tell Me in the Comments:
What’s one hustle culture lie you believed—and what truth are you replacing it with?
✨ Want to Build a Brand Without the Burnout?
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