15 Apr Healing from Hustle Culture: Allowing Yourself to Rest
In today’s fast-paced world, romanticizing an overworked, hustling lifestyle is deeply ingrained in our culture. This societal need to constantly do more can prevent us from relaxing even in our free time and lead us to feel guilty when we finally slow down. However, when we learn to prioritize our needs over that guilt and trust our bodies to know when we need rest, we can boost our mental health, confidence, and energy. We can heal our minds and bodies from burnout by learning to prioritize spending time resting, affirming our needs, and living more intentionally by being kind to ourselves.
Starting Your Mindset Reset
Our healing begins when we recognize that being productive is generally good, but that our bodies and minds also require rest. True rest is an act of self-love. Setting aside time to just meditate, read your favorite book, or go to bed early can significantly lower our stress levels – improving both our physical and mental health. By taking a closer look at why we resist rest and constantly seek a state of busyness, we can uncover our subconscious beliefs and behaviors that push us towards feeling burnt out.
The Need to be Constantly Busy
Being busy has become synonymous with ‘productive’, but in reality, it eventually leads to stress, anxiety, and exhaustion. We can become addicted to the high we get from feeling productive, useful, and admired because of our accomplishments, and when we finally reach the point where our bodies and minds refuse to go any longer, we feel lazy. We can even begin to question our sense of self-worth. This leads to burnout, guilt, and restlessness. This all happens when we subconsciously begin to treat rest as a luxury, not a requirement to function sustainably for any amount of time. REST IS NOT A LUXURY! It’s a necessity for our physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Challenging the glorification of ‘busyness’ is essential in redefining success on our own terms, with a new definition that includes setting aside time for rest and self-care.
Building a Healthy Mindset
Affirmations can help rewire our thinking and help us verbally prioritize rest and well-being in our lives. This practice starts by addressing our real and valid fears, or insecurities, that drive us onward when we need a break. We need affirmations to shift our mindsets towards prioritizing happiness and fulfillment, rather than focusing on tasks and accomplishments. Below are some affirmations that can help us to “forgive” ourselves, when we are feeling down about not getting enough done:
- “I am worthy of being kind to myself, which is a valid and necessary way to spend my time.”
- “My worth is never dependent on how much I can accomplish.”
- “It’s ok to take a break, my body deserves to rest.”
- “Taking care of myself will help me prevent burnout.”
- “I am proud of myself for (resting/sleeping/taking a break), even when it’s hard for me to stop working.”
When we reject the voices that pressure us to constantly hustle and grind, we embrace the value of rest and self-care. Our bodies deserve to be loved and treated with compassion regardless of how much we accomplish.
Practicing Intentional living
Practicing mindfulness allows us to evaluate our tasks and commitments more intentionally, discerning what truly matters to us, and allowing us to lighten our workload. We need to give ourselves permission to prioritize our happiness and well-being over external pressures or societal expectations. Regular self-reflection allows us to check in with ourselves, assess our priorities, and make adjustments as needed.
Gradually Healing from Hustle Culture
Learning to live more intentionally and be kinder to ourselves is a skill that takes time and practice to develop. We need to be patient during the process as we learn to set these boundaries and embrace self-care. Each one of us has the power to choose to love ourselves through allowing ourselves to rest, challenging societal norms, and prioritizing our well-being over our accomplishments.
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