You Don’t Have to Hustle Your Way to Success— How to Choose Alignment Over Burnout
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but chasing every shiny opportunity is not required for you to be successful.
In this episode, we’re having a real conversation about what it looks like to unsubscribe from hustle culture — not just once, but over and over again as you grow, evolve, and reconnect with who you truly are. If you’ve been feeling pressure to prove your worth through productivity, visibility, or constant output… this one’s for you.
In this post, we’ll walk through:
✻ The lies hustle culture teaches us (and how they sneak into our mindset)
✻ What burnout disguised as ambition really feels like
✻ How to build your life around depth and alignment, not just visibility
✻ What unsubscribing looks like right now in this season
You’re not behind. You’re building something beautiful — and pace matters. 🖤
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but chasing every shiny opportunity is not required for you to be successful.
And just because you’re not hustling like you used to… doesn’t mean you’re not ambitious.
This is your reminder that unsubscribing from hustle culture isn’t a one-time decision — it’s a daily realignment.
And lately? I’ve had to realign a lot.
Prior to creating this space I was in the MLM world and at the top of the year, the company I partnered with closed their doors on the direct sales opportunity and switched to affiliate marketing only. I had already laid my business down and walked away but when this happened it felt like I was pulled right back into the chaos. People who I had worked along side of were pivoting, launching new businesses, reinventing their brands, showcasing their “wins” in every way possible to help promote their “new thing.”
And I get it. I know that world. I know what it means to be “on” 24/7, to perform success for the algorithm, to make everything seem amazing or else — “why would someone join you?” right?
But here’s the thing— as much as I give the MLM world credit for a lot of who I am today and where I’ve been able to catapult myself, there have been some things I’ve had to redesign in how I show up now in this space.
I used to hustle and it led me into spirals of burnout over and over and over.
And now in this season? I’m learning how to be content with my calling. How not to be the loudest or most flashy thing in the room but to be grounded and rooted. Not chasing. Not leveraging. Not promoting. But to just stay the course with the gifts I have and the impact I deeply desire to make.
And bc it’s something I’ve been navigating a lot this year behind closed doors, I want to talk about that shift. Regardless of what type of work you do, if you are a DOER by nature I created this conversation with you in mind. Bc hustle culture wants to pull you back in. It doesn’t matter what company you work for or what you sell or promote or do. Hustle culture will FIND you if you don’t get uber intentional about how you want to live out your days. And I still find myself fighting that urge to do more, show up harder, push and promote and chase.
This isn’t an episode bashing ambition. This is about redefining it on your terms.
About remembering that hustle doesn’t always mean heart — and quiet doesn’t always mean stuck.
What Hustle Culture Teaches Us (and Why It’s So Sneaky)
Let’s call it what it is: hustle culture isn’t just about working hard— It’s when you tie you identity, your value, your worth as a human to how much you can produce.
It trains us to believe:
Constant output = value. If you’re not producing, promoting, or performing… are you even relevant?
Visibility = worth. If no one sees it, likes it, shares it… did it even matter?
Busyness = success. If you’re not overwhelmed, are you really doing enough?
Comparison is the baseline. Someone is always ahead. Someone is always doing more. So you better keep up.
But here’s what hustle culture doesn’t teach us:
→ How to feel safe when it’s quiet.
→ How to anchor our worth in something deeper than productivity.
→ How to enjoy what we’ve built without immediately asking, “What’s next?”
For me, this mindset has shown up in the quiet moments — the in-between seasons — when everything around me slows down… and my brain starts whispering:
“If I’m not doing, I must be disappearing.”
“If I’m not launching something new, I must be falling behind.”
“If no one’s responding, it must mean I’m irrelevant.”
And listen — I know those are lies. But when hustle is the air you’ve breathed for years…slow seasons can feel like suffocation.
Let’s talk about what you might be telling yourself behind the scenes:
“If I slow down, someone else will take my place.”
“If I’m not visible, I’ll be forgotten.”
“If I don’t say yes, they won’t think I’m capable or committed.”
“If I don’t perform perfectly, they’ll see I’m not actually enough.”
Friends. These aren’t just thoughts. They’re stories — deep-rooted narratives that are shaping how we relate to our work…
…and how we relate to ourselves.
And the damage is real.
Because when our worth is tethered to output, we forget how to rest.
When our identity is built on applause, we forget who we are when it’s quiet.
When our value depends on performance, we stop trusting our presence.
And maybe the scariest part?
When we’re constantly comparing our path to someone else’s highlight reel, we never actually land in our own life.
What Happens When We Try to Keep Up
Hustle culture doesn’t just exhaust us — it warps our relationship with purpose. For so long I’ve tied my purpose to my work. Maybe you too. It’s honestly so hard bc we live in a world where one of the first questions someone asks you is “what do you do?” I get it.
When we try to keep up with everyone else’s highlight reels, we start building businesses, lives, and even identities around what looks successful — not what feels aligned.
Here’s what that can look like:
You’re saying yes to every opportunity… not because it’s aligned, but because you’re afraid of what people will think if you don’t.
You launch something new… not because your heart’s in it, but because everyone else is launching.
You’re posting content that doesn’t even sound like you anymore… just to “stay visible” or bc someone on the internet said it would make you viral.
At some point, you’re not creating from vision.
You’re creating from fear.
Fear of being irrelevant.
Fear of being left behind.
Fear of being forgotten.
And here’s the part we don’t say out loud:
“I don’t even know what I want anymore — I’ve been too busy chasing what I thought I needed to be.”
That’s the danger of hustle culture. You can get so good at the grind that you forget what you were grinding for.
Let me tell you a story:
Back when I was in the Beachbody world, I knew how to make it look successful.
I knew the posts to make, the language to use, the kind of energy that attracted attention.
But it came at a cost — my peace, my presence, my sense of internal safety.
I found myself constantly life casting, because that’s what the model required:
“If it doesn’t look fun, inspiring, and perfect… why would anyone join you?”
I smiled through burnout.
I posted through pain.
I coached others on health while my body was screaming for rest.
And in the name of that I told myself-
“This is what it takes.”
“This is the price of leadership.”
“This is the only way to succeed.”
But I want to challenge that narrative. What if it’s not? What if you can succeed and be fulfilled and you don’t have to subscribe to what Sally on the internet or your upline is telling you you “should” do?
What if your quiet, not-so-flashy, deeply meaningful life is more powerful than the noise? Lately I wonder what will matter when we get to the end of our lives. Will that ten step skin care routine reel matter? Will the likes matter? Will the rank matter? What will actually matter? Hustle culture rips us away from all that truly matters bc it’s a constant reminder that we aren’t doing enough and therefore, we aren’t enough.
Quiet Work Is Still MEANINGFUL Work
Here’s the truth nobody’s saying and I feel like I’m the one who has to go there:
You can be in a season of quiet and still be in a season of growth.
Just because it’s not visible doesn’t mean it’s not valuable.
Just because it’s not shared doesn’t mean it’s not sacred.
You might not be launching.
You might not be scaling.
You might not be growing in numbers.
But maybe you’re:
Honoring your capacity
Rebuilding your trust with rest
Choosing your values over your visibility
Learning how to love your life when no one is watching
That’s meaningful work.
That’s what creates a life that’s rooted and resilient — not just relevant.
Because here’s the thing:
If the only reason you’re doing something is so people won’t forget you?
It’s probably not rooted in purpose — it’s rooted in fear.
I read this quote the other day and I was like THAT, that’s exactly what I’m trying to say:
“Being in your soft era doesn’t mean you’ve stopped being ambitious. It means you’ve stopped proving yourself through burnout. You’ve chosen alignment over hustle. Now you move with peace, purpose, and trust.”
Let that settle. Because alignment is not laziness — it’s leadership. It’s a posture that says:
I trust where I am.
I don’t need to manufacture momentum.
I don’t need to chase applause to validate my worth.
I’m allowed to move slow, soft, and strategic.
And that doesn’t mean you don’t care. It means you care deeply — just not about proving yourself to people who don’t even know what you’re carrying.
Unsubscribing Again — What That Looks Like Now
Here’s the thing about hustle culture — it’s sneaky.
You don’t unsubscribe once and it disappears.
You unsubscribe, and then you have to keep choosing alignment again… and again… and again.
It’s a daily realignment.
And lately?
It’s looked like less life-casting.
More real-life living.
It’s looked like protecting my peace even when it feels like my platform is quieter.
Like trusting that what’s meant for me won’t miss me — even when the algorithm does.
It’s also looked like asking better questions before I say yes to anything:
“Is this in alignment with the life I want?”
“Would I still say yes if no one ever saw it?”
“Does this move me forward… or just make me feel like I’m keeping up?”
“Is this me answering my calling — or avoiding the quiet?”
Unsubscribing from hustle doesn’t mean I’ve lost my ambition. It means I’ve reclaimed my ownership.
Of my energy.
Of my values.
Of my voice.
Because when you stop chasing everything, you make space to receive the right things.
A breath of encouragement if today’s episode spoke to you—
If you feel like it’s been quiet…
If you feel like you’re behind…
If you’ve been tempted to start sprinting again just to feel like you’re doing something…
Breathe.
You’re not behind.
You’re building something beautiful.
And pace matters.
💬 Use the Mid-Year Check-In Workbook to reflect, re-align, and reclaim this season for yourself. Let it help you ask better questions — the kind that don’t come from hustle, but from healing.
And hey — if this resonated, I’d love to hear from you.
Share your hustle culture moments with me.
Tag me in your stories or send me a DM.
I love hearing from you and we’re not meant to do this alone.
Let’s keep walking — not running — in purpose. I’m with you and I can’t wait to see you right here, next week, on The Self Care Sisterhood Podcast. 🖤
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