I worked in coffee shops and restaurants for fourteen years, and for five of those years, I was also trying to build creative or business projects on the side.

I am much too familiar with what it means to push myself, burn myself out, and take pride in being able to multitask and work long hours without taking a break.

When I entered the freelance and entrepreneurial world in 2015, it was all about the grind and hustle.

And I went all in.

I had been trained my whole career to hustle, work hard, put my head down, and not complain, so I had no problem adapting to hustle culture.

But last year, after one too many burnouts, I decided that I refused to put my health at risk for my career any longer.

Nevertheless, I still wanted to be an entrepreneur and a business owner, so I had to find a way to become one, without burning myself out on the creation journey.

Choices had to be made, new rules had to be written, and a new outlook on what it means to be successful had to be adopted.

Today I am building a business with boundaries. I am building a business model that respects my mental health, and my needs, and that respects others.

Today I thrive for balance and self-awareness.

I choose to not be impressed by people who say they worked fifteen hours a day for the first five years of their business creation journey, and to not let it make me feel like I’m failing because I chose to not burn myself out for success.

I started this business because I want to be aligned with my job, I want more flexibility to manage my own energy and time, according to my needs. I started this business because I want to have a better work/life balance.

I choose to believe that I can be successful without burning myself out, without letting stress give me any more physical ailments, and without saying goodbye to my personal life.

But what does it look like for me to be successful?

It looks like respecting my work schedule, taking breaks, setting boundaries with my community and clients, listening to my mind and body, and constantly updating my definition of what success means to me to make sure I always feel good.

Title and money are often misunderstood for success, while of course, I thrive for financial safety, success for me is not about making as much money as I can, as fast as I can. It’s about balance, it’s about finding joy in everyday life, it’s about being aligned with what I’m doing.

Success is about how I feel on the weekends, do I feel depleted and stay lying in bed because I pushed myself too hard during the week? Or am I energized and get to go out for a walk, have coffee with friends, or see a movie?

Success is about how I feel while I am working. Do I even feel like I am working? Or do I enjoy myself? Do I feel aligned with what I am doing? Or am I looking forward to the end of the day to forget about it?

I am trying to make success about the journey, not the destination.

It asks for slow growth, it asks to take it one step at a time. And it certainly asks for enough self-awareness to be able to assess the situation when something doesn’t feel right and adjust accordingly.

If I let others and hustle culture define what success means for me, I’ll never be successful.

We are entrepreneurs, we are creators, we are impact makers, we are change makers.

Change starts with us. It starts with me writing this article to say that I won’t subscribe to hustle culture anymore. It starts with you learning to set boundaries with your clients, taking breaks when you need them, and learning to say no.