Work Life Balance

The distinction between growth and grind mindsets deserves serious examination. Growth encompasses a deliberate process of learning, skill acquisition, and personal evolution—typically following an upward trajectory. Grind, by contrast, represents pure exertion, often pushing toward exhaustion and burnout. One approach cultivates sustainable advancement; the other frequently leads to diminishing returns.

Young people are often fed some variation of the belief that hard work will be rewarded; therefore, it’s good and virtuous to work hard. While I do agree with this sentiment, I think the same is also true of laziness. Unlike hard work, laziness is generally regarded as a negative attribute, but this is just a misunderstanding about what laziness truly is.

Over the last 5 years of my career I’ve shifted my priorities in life. When I was younger, I was willing to deal with a lot of bullshit at work so long as they kept paying me a salary. Nowadays, I care more about my own happiness, and I’m not willing to work with people who are jerks.