OPINION: The grind never stops, but it should.

*Don’t let social media make you addicted to the grind when you can find success in other areas of life. ORACLE PHOTO / JUSTIN SEECHARAN*

Hustle culture blurs the line between productivity and toxicity and everyone around me seems to be motivated by ‘the grind.’

This ideology is spread on social media and advocates for people to constantly work at succeeding in their personal and professional lives.

It’s hard enough being a corporate-conforming girlie.

Even though I plan on one day being a court reporter and it excites me, I don’t want my work life to define me.

Yet, it’s hard when ‘grind culture’ is rampant on social media. This mindset encourages professional excellence and keeping your eye on the money.

Which makes me think: If your eye is always on the prize, how will one find time to rest?

To the relief of my mental health, I stopped allowing myself to be driven by visions of money or success.

Grind culture is a toxic mindset that I refuse to subscribe to. On a personal level, it has negatively impacted how I view myself and my accomplishments. At a societal level, it fosters this notion that work life is more valuable than personal life.

When I come home at the end of the day, I don’t want this incessant voice in my head or on my screen telling me that the reason I can’t afford rent is because I’m not “grinding hard enough.”

I can be ambitious and still be poor.

Work and money are important, but they shouldn’t be my sole purpose for waking up in the morning.

Besides the typical money-hungry influencers, there are ones who tell viewers that they need to get to that school grind. On top of being an academic weapon, influencers encourage their viewers to be active in school clubs, maintain a 4.0 GPA and do an internship.

Their ‘day in the life’ is not for me. It’s too activity packed and social. If all the time we tell people “Go, go, go,” eventually they will burn out.

I remember when I was in high school and also working full time, I felt super accomplished and proud of how I was living. At the same time, I always felt burnout and like I didn’t have enough free time.

This was when I learnt the importance of taking a break from the hustle.

Ever since I stopped caring about how acceptable my day would be to the average ‘hustler,’ I no longer feel unproductive or like my life is lacking thrill.

At the end of the day, I feel productive because I got everything done that was on my own personal to-do list. Never in my life will I feel like a failure because some stranger on the internet told me I wasn’t doing enough.

Grind culture also makes the wrong assumption that everyone has a ‘dream job’ that will make us both happy and rich.

I do not and never will have a dream job, why would I dream of work?

As humans, we were not put on this Earth with the sole purpose of work. Our time spent on Earth is meant to be enjoyed through spending time with family, committing to a hobby, learning a new language.

Culturally we assume that if someone has a well paying, white-collar job, that they are successful in life.

Corporate success does not equal success, and this is what grind culture also gets wrong.

We can find success in the small things we do in life – in parenting, in the kitchen, in Mario-Kart.

Success doesn’t have to be monetary.

Of course, we should all aim to excel and of course we all need money to survive. But at a certain point, being motivated only by money is exhausting.

Maybe the years you spent getting up for your 9-5 are the definitive years of your life. Not mine.

I was put on this Earth to share an orange with my friends, to read in the sun and bike, not to slave away in an office cubicle.

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