🌙 Stop Hustling Your Life Away: The Truth About Work vs. Life Balance

🌙 Stop Hustling Your Life Away: The Truth About Work vs. Life Balance

Let’s get real for a minute.
What’s the point of working your butt off every day if you’re too exhausted to enjoy your actual life?

This blog post is personal, it's inspired mainly by my close friend (don't kill me) and my partner  (bless his hard working socks) because week by week i am watching them work like crazy and burn themselves out - whether they realise it or not. Not just them but people in my work life. It's all too familiar for me to see this and think, what if you die tomorrow? - dramatic, maybe, but hey, we don't have forever, we don't know how long we've got.

Although I am too a hard worker and a woman of determination and drive, I am also very aware that life is incredibly short (thanks to my mum who only had a short 40 years on the earth), so although i deeply admire strong, hard, work ethic, i'm also really aware to the fact that time is everything we have and don't have and the time we have with our people is incredibly short. 

Quickest way to check yourself is to think of it like this: If you knew you only had a set amount of days to spend with your partner or someone you love dearly, would you still be spending it the way you do now? Would you still be busting your ass in your corporate job? Doing overtime to impress your boss, instead of spending time with your family?

Yes, yes, don't yell at me, we all have bills and responsibilities, dreams and goals. Im not saying don't work hard. i'm not saying don't bring in that bag sis. Im saying be sure you're not taking on to much, be sure you're booking in time for yourself and your family, friends, hobbies, i'm saying make sure you are living in the now as well as working hard for your future. Hustle WITH balance. 

Don't forget about YOU. Don't forget about who and what's important. Because let me tell you, one day they won't be there.

Yes, building your career, your property portfolio, your bank account and working to support and grow your future is incredibly hard and time consuming - otherwise everyone would be doing it, but at what at what cost are you willing to sacrifice to get there? What kind of future will that be if you haven't looked after your body, your relationships, spent time doing something you love. 

We see it way too often, the 9-5 turning into a 12- 14 hour day, weekends swallowed by emails, overtime, and annual leave gathering dust while people burn out in the name of “success.”
And for what? A salary that’s spent before it hits your account? A promotion that comes with more stress and even less time for yourself? Your partner to feel disconnected to you and lonely? 

I'm calling it out: this hustle culture isn’t it.

Life Is Not a To-Do List

You weren’t born to just pay bills and die, babe.
You were born to live. To dance barefoot in the kitchen, to kiss your babies goodnight without checking Slack, to travel, laugh until your stomach hurts, and wake up without dread weighing on your chest.

But so many of us are living in survival mode. We’re watching our partners, best friends, and work friends give every drop of their energy to jobs that wouldn’t blink twice if they burnt out or quit.
And it's heartbreaking.

Because here's the truth no one tells you until it's too late: you don’t get those moments back.

Burnout Is Not a Badge of Honour

There is nothing cute about being constantly tired.
Your body isn’t meant to be in fight-or-flight every day.
Your mind isn’t meant to be consumed with KPIs, client calls, or workplace drama 24/7.
And your soul? It needs sunlight. Fresh air. Movement. Joy. Love. Space to breathe.

Burnout doesn’t just mess with your mental health, it affects your sleep, hormones, digestion, mood, relationships, and long-term wellbeing.
If your job is draining every drop of energy from you, it’s not “just stress.”
It’s a red flag.

Balance Isn’t a Luxury, It’s a Lifeline

Creating balance in your life isn’t some Pinterest fantasy.
It’s essential.

That might look like:

• Saying no to overtime and yes to an early night.

• Taking your damn lunch break and going for a walk.

• Turning off your work phone after 6pm.

• Taking your annual leave without guilt.

• Building a side hustle that lights you up.

• Booking in time with your loved ones to connect with them and disconnect from everyone and everything else. 

• Or even asking: Is this job still aligned with the life I actually want?

Your job should support your life - not replace it.

Reclaim Your Time, Reclaim Your Joy

The most successful people we know? They’re not chained to their desks.
They’ve built lives that align with their values. They rest without guilt. They don’t apologise for boundaries. They put themselves first, not last.

And you can too.

You don’t have to sacrifice your soul for a paycheque.
You don’t have to wait until retirement to live your life.
You don’t have to “earn” your rest.

You just have to decide that your life is worth more than chronic stress.

Because it is.
And so are you.

A Loving Reminder from Courtney

Take the day off. Book the holiday. Start the passion project. Say no to the toxic boss. Go to the beach on a Wednesday. Have a spontaneous day with the kids. Say no to the additional responsibility without the pay rise. Put your family first. Book the massage. Make memories, not just money.

You only get one ripple in the universe.
Make it a beautiful one.

Love Court x

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Feeling this? Share this blog with someone who needs the reminder and don’t forget to check in with yourself today. How’s your balance? 💫