There was a time I thought life only rewarded the woman who moved fast.
The one who ticked boxes early. The one whose calendar was full, whose social media looked perfect, whose every hour screamed productivity.
I ran as if the world itself would fall behind me if I paused. My worth was being measured by how much I thought I could do and how many people could see me “winning” in life.
And yet, with all that had been going on in my life, I lost the quiet parts of myself the moments that made my life feel more human.
I’ve been learning that choosing to step back from the spotlight doesn’t mean I’m giving up on myself. It simply implies that you’re more willing to protect yourself by giving yourself the chance to reframe your mindset about what pace could actually mean. It allows you to just breathe and be.
There was a time I thought slowing down was failure.
If I wasn’t checking emails, posting updates, or “moving forward,” I felt like I was losing. Comparison followed me everywhere a friend hitting a milestone, a peer launching a project, someone I barely knew announcing their next big move. Every scroll made me feel behind. Every notification reminded me of what I hadn’t done.
I rushed through everything: my goals, my healing, even my happiness. Silence made me anxious. Rest felt like laziness. Productivity became my whole identity at the moment because now if I wasn’t occupied, I wasn’t enough.
And yet, gradually, I began noticing, in the little things, how much weight I carried. A quiet morning with coffee in my hands. A walk without my phone. A break between meetings that was never scheduled. In that moment of just being still, I realized soon enough: your life doesn’t require it to be loud to be seen as meaningful.
An example of breaking free from hustle culture can be seen in the life of Emma Chamberlain, a YouTube influencer who seemed to have gotten it all the million followers, her viral videos, brand deals and collaborations, and a life that was always in the spotlight. But behind all of her visibility she had gained over time, she still felt perplexed to keep being “on,” and it led to exhaustion from her routine.
Having attained great heights in her career, she got to a point when she decided to sit with herself and find her inner voice. This came about by the fact that she stepped back from the noise of the world, and she minimized the way she posted and ensured that she took her mental health, which was key for the smooth running of her business. This choice allowed her to recenter herself and her craft, which prompted her to refine work in her own terms.
Her story depicts the truth we sometimes fail to admit: that success doesn’t necessarily have to mean burnout. Choosing a more intentional pace doesn’t make you any less productive it makes your content sustainable and your life more aligned with your timing. Emma’s decision also ignited some speculations among her fans, who were so used to seeing her constantly post, but she told her community about the importance of mental health and how important it is to resist the pressure to perform constantly.
According to a psychologist who talked about the signs and symptoms of burnout mentioned that it is seen to be subtle, with a slow progression. Although when one is aware of the negative impacts on their mental and physical functioning, seem to be many people who are affected who do not understand the connection between these changes and the decline of their provisions of mental and physical well being.
They also added contributions from WHO as they defined it not as a medical condition, but it is crucial to map out unrelated phenomena and recognize the damaging challenges, while also recognizing evidence of a connection between some persistent clinical burnout as such as leading to the increase in levels of triglycerides, total cholesterol, and fasting glucose.
Studies carried out on the effects of mindfulness on depression and anxiety show that both direct and indirect mechanisms. There seem to be four ways our emotional regulation occurs, which are worry, rumination, reappraisal, and suppression. The examination carried out was applied to data collected from an international and non-clinical sample of about 1151 adults. The results presented showed that mindfulness is consequently linked to lower levels of depression and anxiety, both directly and indirectly. A similar result to this cause was seen in the relationship between mindfulness and anxiety, with the intent to differ that suppression was not a mediator. The data gathered highlighted something surprising, which is that the estimated number of hours of mindfulness practiced did not affect depression or anxiety directly, but tended to minimize them by increasing mindfulness.
Slowing down had a life-changing effect for me. It made it clearer in the best way because the more I stepped away from constant comparison, the more I leaned into myself and my faith, which directed me through the course of life.
Peace didn’t come from doing more. It came from finally breathing.
If your life is asking you to move gently, listen.
You’re becoming- you’re growing in the most beautiful way possible.
And sometimes the quiet route is the one that truly brings you home to yourself.