Overview
In this episode, Monshur Ali discusses the misconception of the ‘non-stop grind’. More specifically – that in order for someone to be successful, every single day, hour, and minute needs to be spent working on something with little to no off time.
It’s not practical for the simple truth that your body and mind can’t be producing all the time.
TOPIC
The myth of the grind
EPISODE
012
WHAT WE DISCUSS
You need to balance your life with some rest, enjoyment and hard work or sooner rather than later you will burn out.
The Myth Of The Grind
We’ve all heard stories or met people that tell us how they wake up at 4:30 in the morning, they take an ice-cold shower, then they go workout for at least an hour, and then maybe read a book for another 45 minutes, and then they go to the office, they kill it for a 12-hour shift. Then they get home, they work on a few personal projects, and then they probably get to bed about 12 o’clock, wake up the next morning at 4:30 and then repeat the whole cycle again.
I mean, for some people that may sound really attractive, but the simple truth is – your brain and body, they can’t be producing all the time. The truth is – to be successful, you need to be prioritising your life.
A recent study released by the WHO suggests there’s a rise of nearly 60% in people being diagnosed with some sort of mental health disorder. These include anger, panic attacks, depression. And these are all connected to overworking, rather than taking a step back and focusing on what’s important to you.
Now, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t work hard or pursue your goals, rather instead of thinking that you have to work non-stop in order to be successful, understand that the key really is to work smarter.
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to be successful in life. But I think every person who can be considered successful usually finds their own particular formula and that formula is never as sexy or as appealing as some people may think.
There are some people that might want to wake up at 8 or 9 am instead of 4:30 because they want to prioritise getting plenty of sleep so that they can actually work better for much longer throughout the day. They might enjoy something on Netflix or hang out with friends because they don’t want to damage their well-being, their mental well-being and personal relationships.
The key to being successful without burning yourself out is this – prioritise the right thing.
You don’t ever want to become a slave to a lifestyle of just working. You need to prioritise the things in your life that are most important to you and everything else will just take care of itself – to some degree.
I want to leave you with one last thought – you have one life, make sure you’re living it well. You don’t want to end up in the graveyard being the richest person in that cemetery.
