‘Hustle’ is a cultural phenomenon: society’s compulsion to work, be productive and #grind. It is our drive to make something of ourselves — to sacrifice self-care for success, which inevitably leaves us feeling overworked, overtired, and understaffed in our own lives. Basically, we’re burned out — on a global scale.
I’ll be the first to admit it — I’m burned out. I’m tired, demotivated, and weary.
I didn’t start feeling this way overnight. For a long time, I was the opposite — driven, motivated, working 60 hour weeks, sometimes more than 70. But the hustle broke me before I could break it.
What She Did to Me
For the sake of easy reading, I’ll refer to my drive to succeed as the elusive ‘she’.
She has been with me as long as I can remember.
Perhaps I inherited her from my father, who works long hours at his job and does chores on his days off. Or maybe she’s here because of the positive reinforcement I received. My parents praised me for my academic achievements in primary school, and I was often labelled as ‘driven’ and ‘disciplined’.
But however she emerged, she’s become both my best friend and my worst enemy.
I took many chances and opportunities — university, jobs, etc. — because of her. In fact, I wouldn’t be writing this if it weren’t for her.
However, it was also because of her that I overcommitted myself to tasks and activities. I was stressed, I lost sleep, I relied heavily on the terrible ‘C’s — coffee and carbs — I lost more sleep, I exercised less, I gained weight, and I felt miserable.
And I know I can’t blame her for everything. I had some control — I could have stopped any of these things at any moment.
She wasn’t the cause of all my problems, but she did multiply them.
A month ago, I had a mental breakdown. It was the end of the uni semester. I was writing 5 papers, had employed work, and was president of a club on campus. Something happened in my personal life, and I broke down. I ditched the camp I planned to go to, booked leave and drove home to my family, whom I stayed with for two weeks.
I think that when you’re at the end of yourself — when you’re at breaking point — that’s when God really works, and that’s when you realise something needs to change.
The Diamond of Health
Last year, in August, I went to see a psychologist.
In additon to how I was feeling, I explained a bit about who I was and what I did during the week: I was a full-time student, I worked two jobs, I volunteered.
I remember her asking, “Do you feel you can manage all that?”
I nodded and assured her I could, because I thought the problem was me — that I wasn’t managing myself properly, that I wasn’t doing enough.
At the end of my appointment, she took a piece of paper out of a drawer and drew a diamond on it. She labelled each corner with a word. Though my therapist didn’t name the diagram, I’ve christened it “The Diamond of Health.”
(Illustration by Adina Burrow)
“Your homework,” she said, “is to focus on these four things: exercise, sleep, diet, and joy. Can you do that?”
I thought it would be an easy task. These things are the basics of health. But the irony is, when you overwork yourself, these are the first to go. You sacrifice sleep; you resort to eating takeaways, because it’s quick and easy, or you eat too much or too little; you don’t have time to exercise or to do the things you enjoy anymore.
I told her that yes, I could.
When I arrived back at the student hostel I lived in, I drew the diagram on a piece of paper and put it on my pinboard. But I didn’t change my schedule. The piece of paper sat there, gathering dust over time.
The academic year finished. I went home for the break. I planned for next year.
“Focus on these four things: exercise, sleep, diet, and joy. Can you do that?”
The Ones Who Remind You of the Truth
This year in February, I moved into my flat. My best friend moved in, too.
She’d just arrived back from England, where she stayed over the summer. There, she’d had an epiphany. This year, she wasn’t going to do as much. She was going to make room to do the things she loved more, to focus on her friendships and her faith.
Then she said something profound: “I am loved for who I am, not what I do.”
In my head, a lightbulb flicked on.
What my best friend said stood out for two reasons. First, I was surprised. She was one of the most hard-working people I knew; she’d also had a jam-packed schedule last year.
Secondly, what she said was incredibly timely and relevant. I was tired. University hadn’t yet started, but I was already planning club events.
It wasn’t till halfway through the semester, during our two-week break, that I truly embraced what she said. If she could give something up, free up her schedule in order to feel happier and healthier, then so could I.
I realised that “changing me” meant finding a work-life balance. It meant doing work I found meaningful but also taking care of myself — exercise, sleep, diet, and joy.
What is Hustle Culture?
Megan Carnegie from BBC says Hustle Culture arose in the 1990s and 2000s, influenced by the entrepreneurs who believed there was always more to earn, whether it be money or the next promotion. Hustle culture primarily expresses itself in individuals through total immersion in work to the detriment of physical and mental health.
Society pushes us to work more, do more, make more, and be more. If a lot of us are feeling it — if it feels like the drive is greater than us, as though something (or someone) outside of ourselves is pushing us into it — then the problem lies just as much in our culture as it does in individuals. Maybe even more so.
Carnegie says that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, many individuals “woke up” from the hustle illusion to the possibility of work-life balance. Working from home, they realised they enjoyed slowing down and having control over their work schedule. They also realised what was most important to them: family and relationships.
What is Burnout?
Burnout, though not a disorder or diagnosis, is a syndrome, a set of symptoms that have a single origin. Mental Health UK describes it as, “a state of physical, mental and emotional exhaustion” that occurs when “you have repeated and prolonged high demands that exceed resources.”
Burnout majorly impacts health and happiness, causing severe exhaustion, isolation, decreased concentration, and hopelessness. Sound familiar?
Though different from stress (which is often temporary and manageable), burnout results from prolonged stress.
More than ever, this is increasingly relevant. In fact, in their Burnout Report 2025, Mental Health UK found that 91% of adults reported feeling high pressure or stress at some point during the year. For students, the percentage was 94%.
Why Am I Doing This?
I think my tendency to overwork was magnified by my misinterpretation of my religion.
When I became a Christian, I wanted to serve others. I believed I should deny myself, which to me meant overcommitting to tasks and activities, so that I could contribute positively to the world. The worse I felt, the more burnt-out I became, the more I did because I felt that contributing was the cure.
Secretly, my reasoning was selfish. Serving others was more about gaining other people’s approval. Doing more was more about gaining my approval.
I think it’s brilliant to want to contribute positively to the world. That’s not a bad thing! That’s admirable!
But I think it’s also important to ask ourselves: why am I doing this? Where does my worth come from?
When my best friend said, “I am loved for who I am, not what I do,” she was redefining worth as an innate and unchanging human quality. Knowing I am valuable means I will serve others gladly — without neglecting myself.
Luke, a 20-year-old University Student in the UK, writes in a YoungMinds article, “The antidote to hustle culture is not a rejection of ambition or a call for complacency. I like to think of it instead as an invitation to embrace a more balanced approach to life. It’s all about recognising that true success encompasses wellbeing, relationships, and being present in the moment. It’s about understanding that life is enriched not just by what we achieve but who we become in the process.”
“True success encompasses wellbeing, relationships, and being present in the moment… life is enriched not just by what we achieve but who we become in the process.”
How to Break the Hustle
Now that I’m in burnout recovery, I’m back to the basics: exercise, sleep, diet and joy. A task that used to seem so small has now become my central focus.
I’ve set work boundaries, mostly by decreasing my hours. I’m prioritising rest.
I just finished reading John Mark Comer’s The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World. And let me tell you, it’s great.
But before I rave about it, Comer mentions four spiritual practices to live an unhurried life: silence, simplicity, slowing, and sabbath.
‘Sabbath’ (or Shabbat) is an ancient Jewish practice, beginning from sundown Friday to sunset Saturday. During Sabbath, trade ceased, and the Jews rested from work, feasted on food, and delighted in God.
The key to breaking the hustle is to have intentional breaks (even from your phone, because there is also digital burnout). Whether you’re religious or not, I think a day off sounds pretty great.
Some might think a day off is too difficult. Every moment is a fight for our attention — advertisements, the algorithm, a culture that tells us our worth comes from our achievements…
In a world that tells us to constantly do more and be more, rest will feel like resistance. But it’s important to rest before our emotional bandwidth gets critically low.
If your emotional bandwidth is critically low, Mental Health UK also has some helpful tips on identifying the cause of your burnout and how to deal with it.
Again, wanting to achieve is not inherently a bad thing. The problem comes when our dedication to our work means we no longer have room to take care of ourselves.
What about my drive to succeed? What happened to her?
She isn’t gone completely, but…I’m trying to take care of myself.
Mark
May 27, 2025 at 2:17 pm
Brilliant article.
Highly relevant topic.
Great writing.
Awesome.