“If you want to be successful, find out what the price is and then pay it.”~ Scott Adam

Have you ever listened to a motivational speaker such as Gary Vee and thought to yourself that you are just so incredibly lazy? The message of today’s ‘hustle culture’ has become clear: you have to work non-stop, sleep is a waste of time and resting is not even on the table. 

But is a life-style like that sustainable in any way and does that mean that if you don’t spend your entire 20’s & 30’s working without taking a breath, you’ll never be successful? 

Being Successful

I have struggled with the need to constantly do something for most of my life, but when I started my personal development journey these thoughts were increasing by the day. 

I felt that every second of my life should be filled with something productive and that if I was just taking a day off, I was a failure. At one point I was posting on 8 social media channels daily for my business, as well as studying full-time and working part-time. While my business was thriving, my mental health was slowly decreasing. 

It’s incredibly unrealistic to follow this ‘hustle’ advice while taking care of yourself at the same time.

Why You Don’t Need to Sacrifice Yourself in Order to Be Successful

I listened to everyone else but my own body and the sad truth is that in today’s society the opinions of famous people often matters more to us than what we feel is right. 

One day, a friend of mine told me that if I continued to work at the rate that I was, I would eventually suffer a burnout. And truth be told, I was pretty much there already. 

If we are always being productive without taking time to recharge, we eventually get to this point of complete shut-down, which results in not feeling like doing anything at all anymore. Even the smallest things such as getting up, taking a shower and eating breakfast can seem like too much to do which is why time for yourself is so crucial to becoming successful.

After that conversation with my friend, I started reading ‘The Power of Now’ by Eckhardt Tolle and I realised that my mindset had become so focused on constantly doing that I had completely forgotten how to just be. 

Over the past year, I realised that taking a break is essential for myself and any other business owner to come back even stronger afterwards. It doesn’t matter whether someone successful on the internet is telling you that rest isn’t needed because at the end of the day they are only speaking for themselves. 

“Today is a new day and it brings with it a new set of opportunities for me to act on. I am attentive to the opportunities and I seize them as they arise. I have full confidence in myself and my abilities. I can do all things that I commit myself to. No obstacle is too big or too difficult for me to handle because what lies inside me is greater than what lies ahead of me. I am committed to improving myself and I am getting better daily. I am not held back by regret or mistakes from the past. I am moving forward daily. Absolutely nothing is impossible for me.” ~ Idowu Koyenikan,

Taking a day, week or even month off your business doesn’t mean that you are a failure, it doesn’t make you lazy and it surely doesn’t mean you are never going to make it. It’s time that you allow yourself to have those moments without feeling guilty about it because you deserve it. 

And the best part is that you are going to come back fully recharged with new ideas for your business while feeling good again about what you are doing.

Always remember: you are already successful. Even on the days where you are doing absolutely nothing. 

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