The Grind is not the Goal—Let’s Try Happy Instead

A few terms we need to eliminate—The Grind, Hustle Culture, No Pain No Gain

This might not be a post for everyone, and I get it, it has required me to be a little vulnerable and vulnerability is not preferred by some people. I was reminded this morning as I was thinking back on my last trip. How every night I would basically have a smile on my face—I'm like "Girl you got to go to sleep", and I'm like "but I'm happy". And it felt so un-natural, but it's something I definitely want to keep in practice of.

A whole lot of experiences and pattern recognition brought me to this thought. I used to track my worth in hours. If I wasn't at my desk, I wasn't working. If I wasn't working, I wasn't building. If I wasn't building, I was falling behind. I completely lost my sense of self-worth. You know the math. We've all been doing it. We have been conditioned into a state that isn't really all that healthy for any of us. We just aren't happy because we are so burnt out or let me rephrase this Ground Out, because we got to get out of the Grind.

“I completely lost my sense of self-worth.”

Prior to my recent thoughts, I started questioning the equation. I started a Somatics program, I enrolled in The Happy Course, I started working a lot more with horses. I started aquatic therapy for chronic hypermobility pain. I started working on my central nervous system. I started seeking out ways to improve upon my self-worthiness, I slowed myself down, I made changes to my life, which healed. I no longer live in the scarcity, the fear, the self-doubt and I deserve the best for myself and in all honesty would like each and every one of us to receive the best. Because it's not pie, we can all have a piece and it's not going to run out. I wish more people would understand. Some are comfortable in the unhappy and try to bring others down to their level. But I'm not falling for that anymore.

Like I said before, we have been conditioned into this state of being in the grind, and the grind is terrible for us. The more work I did to help my nervous system, the more I slowed down meant that I started having more productivity and more ideas. Because my best ideas and work don't come from my desk. They come out in nature, when I'm fully present in my body and the to-do list has no choice but to wait. They come in warm water, when my nervous system finally exhales and something that was stuck comes loose. They come on a trail, in a studio, in the middle of making something with my hands where the stakes feel low and my brain stops performing and starts actually thinking.

The work doesn't stop in those moments. It moves and it comes back sharper. I'm not anti-work. I love what I do—deeply, genuinely. I design, illustrate, lead other creatives. I build a product business. But I've stopped believing that more hours equals more output. Or that exhaustion is evidence of commitment. Or that the grind is the point.

The grind is not the goal. The goal is not only the work—good work, meaningful work, work that requires you to show up with your full creative capacity. And you cannot do that if you are running on empty, chained to a desk for 40+ hours a week, measuring your value in time spent rather than impact made. The goal is also happiness, which is even more important.

Creativity and innovation need a regulated nervous system. It all needs space. It all needs the slow. It needs you to be a full human being, not just a productive one. It needs you to be your true self, not that fake person who spent years trying to fit into someone else's idea of the box you were supposed to fit in. I work with horses. I get in the pool. I make art. I design, I craft illustrations, I do lettering. I go out in nature. I take trips that remind me who I am beyond my job title. Not as rewards for working hard enough. As part of how I work.

Luxembourg taught me something about this recently. A country that has consistently ranked among the most productive in the world—and also has some of the strongest worker protections, shortest working hours, and highest quality of life in Europe. And it all came full circle in my travels as I remembered that I took The Happy Course a few years ago, through The Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen. And on a side note, Denmark is the third happiest country in the world followed up by Luxembourg all the way down at #9. They are not grinding. They are building. And they are most importantly happy.

Now that I'm back, I'm still figuring out what this looks like for me in practice—the rhythms, the boundaries, the permission to step away without guilt. How to protect my happiness when someone steps in and tries to interfere with that happiness—yep, it has happened a few times since my return. But I know this: the version of me that spent the most hours at the desk was not the best version of me doing the work and maybe just maybe, we try to work on upping the placement of the US?

What does your most productive, creative, innovative, and happy time actually look like—and are you protecting it?

Fizzy, a recent lettering and illustration project.

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I'm a brand designer, illustrator, and lettering artist who believes that every brand already has a powerful story—it just needs the right visual voice to make the world stop and pay attention.

I'm the founder of Pixelzz Creative Studio — a boutique studio for businesses that want their brands to connect with their audiences. I combine brand strategy and identity design with custom lettering and illustration to help organizations tell their story and stand out with intention. And because I believe art is meant to be shared beyond just client work, I also run La-La & Co — my own line of illustrated gifts, prints, and accessories. I sell directly to customers and I'm expanding into wholesale this year, partnering with small shops and boutiques who want to carry licensed artwork that actually feels like something.

Bold visuals. Undeniable stories. That's not just what I make. It's what I'm known for.

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