This spring, I hit pause. Not because I wanted to, but because I had to. The noise of hustle culture became deafening. I couldn’t hear my own creative voice anymore.

Our culture puts a lot of emphasis on hustle—on always moving toward more. It’s like running a race where the finish line keeps shifting. Or maybe you’ve heard the phrase: “One step forward, two steps back.” 

Well, I’m 5'1", which means even my “leaps” look like baby steps to others. But that’s the point—success isn’t measured in inches or miles. It’s measured in alignment. 

This spring, I stopped running. I stepped off the track altogether. I realized I’d been racing in shoes that didn’t fit, chasing a finish line I didn’t choose. 

At first, I saw it as failure. I wasn’t moving forward in my business or creative projects. But what if, instead of failure, this was a creative reset?

I started this journey because setting aside time to be creative helped me recover mentally. It sparked a need to share that with others—and maybe help people along the way. 

Somewhere in the hustle, I lost that focus. The noise drowned out my heart. If I hadn’t stepped back—dramatically—as in, “What if this business never even existed?” I never would’ve uncovered where the real misalignment was hiding. 

Hustle culture will convince you that rest is failure and silence is weakness. It glorifies burnout and calls it ambition. But I’ve learned: slowing down is not the same as giving up. It gave me time to reflect and redefine what success means to me now.

And once I did? I repositioned the finish line somewhere I could keep moving toward—at my pace. 

So wherever you are on your journey—full speed ahead or pausing at mile marker zero—know this: You’re allowed to realign. Restart. Redefine the rules. As many times as it takes.