Throughout the systematic practices we’re raised in, it’s shown time and time again that our value and self-righteousness seem to be built on a caste system of merit through misguided definitions of success. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines success as “a favorable or desired outcome” or “the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence.” In quantifying success through the lens of traditional societies, the concept seems to box out waves of hard-working masses, making it hard for success to be equated to anything but straight A’s, a cushy six-figure living, or reaching peaks of social climbing.
In striving to reach our misconstrued achievements, we’re made to believe that giving all our effort — and even an extra 10% for good measure — will always guarantee acknowledgment and reward for displaying “model” behavior. By minding our p’s and q’s, we grow reliantly hungry for authoritative validation to decipher if results are satisfactory.
However, this practice of the ideal workmanship’s outcome couldn’t be farther from the truth in the working world. By holding the competitive expectation of showing 110%, an unfair and unhealthy standard is placed on work ethic and product output. This is seen in almost every structure essential to societal prosperity — in education, occupations, social circles, politics, and among family and friends.
With such a tight hold on the world, the pressure of it all becomes no stranger to feelings of burnout. In the midst of “doing it all,” the glorification of overexertion is soon washed over with reality’s touch. This awful pattern begins to consume our lives until we are completely submerged in living to work.
The truth of it is that giving it your all is the gateway to burnout.
The Misdirection of Hustle Culture
With the start of the 2000s, there was a particular obsession with adopting “hustle culture,” especially with the skyrocketing technological advancement and new markets. This mindset actively tricks us into revolving our lives like a worker bee. The worker bee’s sole purpose is to serve the greater good, tasked with the survival and upkeep of the colony alongside hundreds of others. Looking at a 2020 article from the University of Illinois, the similarity of this construct and human social life is apparent in highlighting the indifference held on individualism. Across all institutional-like structures, we become blocked into roles that directly benefit the systems of authority. This “benefit” ranges from producing tangible results to keeping up a certain “status quo” or “impression” onto the rest of the world.
The average person is under amplified pressure to achieve the perfect work-life balance. This concept was further expanded in The New York Post by author and biomedical engineering professor Jeff Karp. Karp emphasized the need to address the counterproductiveness caused by trying to “win at life” through the sought-out work-life balance.
“It ends up being very frustrating and can lead to anxiety, because we’re constantly feeling like we’re not in balance.”
Professor Jeff Karp’s commentary on the societal pressure of the work-life balance to The New York Post
Factoring in the presence of social media, the obsession with overworking is joined by the maintenance of a digital impression that we lead the “ideal lives” and have mastered the formula of conquering the three pillars of health, wealth, and prosperity. With how integral social media has become to newer generations in displaying images of status, this imposing pressure is even more suffocating for college students and individuals tasked with other responsibilities outside a typical 9-to-5.
The balancing act of success perception gets to a degree where it becomes impossible to study for your midterms, get enough sleep, clock in on time for work, and participate in your extracurriculars, while still being able to socialize and tend to the whole nine yards. This only touches the surface of the full laundry list piling with both essential and mundane tasks (e.g., taking out the trash, calling loved ones, eating three meals a day, etc).
This dangerous mindset of “more is better” in the work ethic department is robbing everyone of what true success should be modeled after — genuine self-fulfillment. Past high marks on assignments, more than 40-hour work weeks, and picture-perfect Instagram feeds, the cycle of over-exhaustion takes away from romanticizing the world outside of negatively competitive spirit and merit systems.
I am a high achiever, and I am exhausted — I’m sipping on the blood of my success, but when do I get to smell the daises?
More importantly, at what point does the plate full of obligations become overfilled?
The duality of burnout: when it all backfires
To keep up with the expectation of unhealthy obligations, there’s often a degree of overconfidence that leads to the undertaking of an impossible workload. This leads to the eventual crash of burnout where any ounce of effort left fizzles out. The immense strain on an individual’s physical and mental well-being begins to affect everyone involved. It hits like a train and extinguishes any remnants of an ignited fire for productivity. The concept of burnout is one of strong familiarity amongst go-getters and bar-setters but is constantly taken as too light of a topic in the working world.
The official WebMD definition of burnout is “an ongoing state of feeling overwhelmed, fatigued, and emotionally drained due to consistent stress in your work, family, or social life.”
Like anyone else in the same boat, grappling with periods of burnout has become extremely difficult for me. It creates an internal conflict of guilt for not being able to produce satisfactory results or meet the deadlines and expectations that are usually routine for me. It’s indescribable to convey just how contaminating the effects of overworking are on my life when I’ve passed a manageable threshold.
To put some of it into perspective, my mental to-do list becomes scattered and disorganized when I’m simply too tired to continue with my duties. All the work I was entrusted to complete remains untouched, while colleagues and classmates flood my inbox with status update requests. All as I selfishly lie in bed, unable to bring myself to address any of it. Of course, the already overflowing laundry basket serves as yet another reminder of my neglect — not just of my responsibilities but of my self-care. The internal guilt eats at me further, and the avoidance of my obligations only grows until I’m able to mentally reset.
Unfortunately, the world does not seem to favor allotted time for mental resets. Deadlines and due dates still accrue, but these resets are needed if work is to be done. While the discussion of burnout brings up topics like mental health and hospitality in the work environment, such inflictions equally give insight into the importance of knowing one’s limits to avoid the toxic balancing act cycle.
breaking the cycle
As previously mentioned, calling attention to burnout emphasizes needing to break out of the unhealthy standards put on achieving the work-life balance. Tying back to the theme of achieving “success” through one’s work ethic, the 21st century’s progressive movements are shifting the way colloquial success is perceived, altering the way such achievement is attained. In these shifts, the average person is no longer labeled as the “worker bee” but rather acknowledged for their individuality and unique assets significant to their output.
Putting less emphasis on the standard working culture and breaking away from toxic systemic virtues, morals of effort and purpose should stem from a place of self-love and personal passion. By reserving these values in our work ethic, a new standard of “work” can be maintained — one that thrives on expression, self-growth, and other essential humanistic personifications.
As we continue our ventures into the professional world, building boundaries amongst each other and ourselves becomes increasingly crucial if we are to maintain healthy workflows. Being mindful of burnout’s implications and fostering balanced lifestyles should be the status quo. Additionally, true success cannot be measured by comparison of perception nor quantified in capacity. Success’s definitions can be personified to whatever fits our narrative.