Substack compilation: Reimagining success

Essays and insights on healing from hustle culture

Gratitude spotlight:

Nneka Kelly

from

Letters from Nneka’s Realm

and

Kristi Keller

from

Wildhood Wanted

&

Unstack Substack

, you are absolute stars! Thank you so much for upgrading and leaving me such lovely lovely messages! It means so much.

How do you define success? What drives you to do what you do?

In a world that often equates success with productivity, wealth, and societal approval, many of us find ourselves out of alignment with this message we are told we should be striving for.

I no longer want to be ruled by the ‘shoulds’. I want out…but it’s hard. It feels like it’s in my pores – the need to make good money, to always use my time wisely, and to live in a picture-perfect home.

Isn’t that what I’ve been unconsciously, mindlessly consuming and seeing?

I want to get off the hamster wheel and I know a lot of you do too.

I may not have all the answers, but maybe we could start by surrounding ourselves with a community of like-minded individuals abandoning the “shoulds” and redefining what success means.

I did a call-out to to see who in our community are writing about this topic:

The response was incredible!! I was blown away by the fantastic writers. I am going to do a Part 2 for book recommendation on this topic at some point, but in the meantime there’s plenty of amazing pieces to keep you busy!

Thank you to the writers who wanted to contribute to this topic, please grab a nice hot drink and enjoy:

• Are you sure that's what you want? by

  Melissa Cullens

• What we lose when all we do is we win by

  Melissa Cullens

• Human Resources • Love, Work and Joni Mitchell by

  Melissa Cullens

• Being Human by

  Casey Wetherbee

• What a horrifying children's story taught me about play by

  Robin Cangie (she/her)

• Shedding the Shoulds and Finally Doing Business MY Way by

  Kelsey Abbott

• Some Invisible Battles by

  Harneek Chawla

• Re-defining Progress by

  Harneek Chawla

• Joyful Marketing by

  Jenn- jscreative

• Ananya
  ’s Substack
  Modern Mahila Musings

• Unshackling myself from golden handcuffs by

  Tobi Ogunnaike

• so you're a writer now? by

  Tobi Ogunnaike

• permission to wander by

  Tobi Ogunnaike

• Taking The Road Less Travelled by

  Kate Harvey

• Why You Might Never Be Happy by

  Harun Kewa

• Reclaiming My Inner Critic by

  Lauren Scott

• What If It Isn't What You Think It Is? by

  Lauren Scott

• Inspiration and Overcoming Obstacles by

  Susan Kuenzi

• Earning money (on Substack) without burning out... by

  Claire Venus
  (Claire is going to take the paywall off this one soon! So come back) It’s live!

• Feminine Archetypes Series: #10 Muse by

  Tara

• Wholehearted Living series by

  Claire Venus

• Self Seed Your Business series by

  Claire Venus

• The Path Is Yours To Create by

  Niall McGivern

• How I got out of a career rut & found the confidence to take a leap of faith by

  Lara Sheldrake

• Ordered to be a success by

  Nitya Kumar

• Constantly performing by

  Nitya Kumar

• Redefining ROI by

  Scott Perry

• the devil finds work for idle hands by

  Hannah Power

• CATERPILLARS, COCOONS AND YOU by

  Mahima Shrestha
  ,

• Life is precious and I want to live it by

  Elly Marie

• Navigating Life Beyond The Rate-Race by

  Mansi Kwatra

• On Money As A Source Of Happiness by

  Mansi Kwatra

• Choose Wellbeing Over Exhaustion by

  Mansi Kwatra

• From overwhelm and burnout to finding laughter and lounging on a Sunday by

  Katie Bean

• Michelle Teheux’s Substack Untrickled

• Do you know your idea of success? by

  Hayley Dawson

• What's your feel-good ambition? by

  Hayley Dawson

• what do you do? by

  Oorja M

• It's not Rocket Surgery. by

  Norm del Rosario

• 5 signs quiet growth is right for your business by

  Hannah ◡̈

• On Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Hustle Culture, and Where it All Went Off the Rails Yesterday by

  TK Hart

• Living Outside the Box with Danusia Malina-Derben by

  Allegra Chapman

• Doubt your own doubts : Reflections on blogging insecurities by

  Productive Happiness

• Lessons from 14 Years of 'Chugging Along' by

  Nausherwan Ghaffar

• Friday dip - what defines success? by

  Emma Simpson

• A Word From A Personal Finance Writer Struggling With Finances by

  Brittany Brown

• Margaret Hedderman
  ’s Substack Idiomatic

• Adrianna Nine
  ’s Substack Creativity Under Capitalism

• How I Started my Substack with Zero Subscribers by

  Robin Taylor (he/him)

• I didn't get on Forbes 30 under 30 by

  Gwen Yi 🌻

• After 10 Years of Redefining What Success Means to Me... by

  Louise Schriewer

• How Our Toxic Culture Affects Mental Health by

  Wendi Gordon

• A little something about ‘Rise&Shine! with Saima Ahmed’ by

  Saima Ahmed

• The only person I have to keep up with now is myself by

  Lucy Werner

• Jumping Through Chaos: How Super Mario Rescued Motivation & Taught Me To Let Go by

  Dennis Nehrenheim M.Sc.

• The traps of hyper-productivity, green juice and 5am workouts by

  Ava.May

• In devotion to creative pauses... by

  Lauren Barber

• Reclaiming the possibility of thriving as a woman... by

  Lauren Barber

• You need to grieve their dreams so you can sit in yours by

  Nobuhle N Nyoni

Thank you again for all the contributions.

If you want to contribute to this topic, please add your links in the comments so we can check out your writing.

I’m looking forward to being on this journey with you, here’s to reimagining what success truly means.

If you’ve found my writing helpful, and you’re in a position to do so, here is the link to upgrade (currently NZ$55 a year (as of today US$34/£27)). If you are unable to, or are happy to stay on the free subscription, that is totally ok with me too! I’m just glad you’re in our supportive community.

If you like this, you might enjoy:

The untold realities of leaving my job

Are you still asking "what do I want to do when I grow up?"

Chartering your own journey outside the comfort zone

Substack Diaries: What do you do if you're not growing as fast as others?

Fav Five 🖐️ | How to joyfully thrive on Notes