“Rise and grind” culture – the mentality that hard work is the only key to success, and making money is more important than rest or self-care – is VERY popular. But this mindset has a major negative side.
We all want to be successful and take advantage of all life has to offer, but we’ve been tricked into believing the only way this is possible is working ourselves to exhaustion.
Not only is it not true – for Black people “hard work” has never guaranteed success in a racist society – this idea is also potentially very harmful.
Working long hours and forfeiting a social life tends to increase anxiety and depression levels. Along with affecting your mental health, you can also become physically ill: a lack of rest can cause high blood pressure and weaker bones.
But everything we’re exposed to, from social media to movies, shows us this lifestyle is the best way to gain success.
People are praised for working 12-hour days, but we rarely think about how much this mindset really costs us. Enslaved people were forced to work themselves to the bone for hundreds of years – should we be continuing to do so voluntarily?
Rise and grind culture reinforces the idea that we can “sleep when we’re dead” – when this ideology actually could be pushing us closer to the grave!