Choosing Wholeness Over Hustle as a Woman in Medicine

A reflection on womanhood, ambition, and life in medicine

For as long as I can remember, I glorified hustle culture.

I believed the path to success required burning myself out now so that I could rest later. It seemed like exhaustion became a rite of passage, proof that I was doing something right and survival today, would somehow guarantee peace tomorrow.

What’s ironic is that this promised “tomorrow” never came.

Instead, the same mindset simply turned tomorrow into another cycle of running the rat race, chasing the wind, and convincing myself that rest was just one milestone away.

My years in medicine have largely been spent chasing milestones, pushing through yet another season, and enduring long enough to earn permission to breathe. Somewhere along the way, I subconsciously normalized hustle and began to treat rest like a reward that had to be earned.

But moving forward, I want to approach life differently. I am choosing a way that allows me to prioritize wholeness over hustle as a woman in medicine.

You might ask, how is this possible?

I don’t have all the answers yet. But I do know it begins with intentionally making choices that align with wholeness.

What does Wholeness mean to me ?

When I think of wholeness, a few words come to mind. – Presence, Alignment, Rest, Identity, Peace and Surrender

On Presence

Wholeness is allowing yourself to live in the now.

Often, I catch myself saying things like, “After this exam, I will…” Only for another exam, another milestone, another season to take its course and the cycle continues.

I have learned that postponing life in anticipation of the next achievement quietly robs me of the present.

Wholeness, for me, is choosing to be fully present now, not when I reach the peak of my career or finally arrive at a long-awaited milestone.

None of us truly knows what the next minute holds. And in recognizing that truth, I have learned that joy is found in presence not in anxiety about the future, but in trusting God enough to be here.

On Alignment

Wholeness is when the different parts of you are allowed to coexist without one silencing the other.

I’ve noticed that I am most stressed and burnt out whenever my life begins to revolve around work alone. In those moments, I start to feel disconnected from the true essence of life.

It truth is work will always be there. Medicine will always be there and I have to be responsible enough to make sure moving forward, I am making choices aligned with choosing wholeness not hustle .

On Rest

For a long time, I treated rest as a reward, something to be earned after exhaustion or reserved for after exams or milestones.

I am learning that rest is not a luxury or an award. It is essential!

In this season, one of the most practical ways I am reclaiming rest is through prioritizing quality sleep. Medicine does not always make this easy, especially with call shifts and overtime. But I am becoming more intentional on the days I do have control by choosing to sleep well, to recover well, and to honor my body.

It’s funny how we often underestimate the importance of rest, yet its absence quietly contributes to illness, burnout, and disconnection.

Choosing rest is not weakness; it is wisdom.

On Identity

Wholeness is recognizing that before medicine, I was simply a girl. Titles do not define me. They describe a role I occupy but they are not the sum of who I am.

With this knowledge , I allow myself to be human. I allow myself to make mistakes and learn from them. I allow myself to be tired and to seek rest.

Wholeness gives me permission to just be.

On Trust

Wholeness, for me, is rooted in total surrender to God. To be whole is to trust Him even in uncertainty. As I reflect on my journey through medicine, I see evidence of His faithfulness woven through every season.

When things feel unclear, I look back at God’s track record in my life, and I am reminded that trust allows me to rest, and rest allows me to be whole.

What Wholeness Isn’t?

Wholeness is not having everything figured out. Wholeness is not clean-girl aesthetics or matcha on a Saturday afternoon. Wholeness is not having a well curated social media feed. Wholeness is not having your nails or lashes done, or brunch with the girls in a sundress.

Wholeness is not perfection. Wholeness is not being a high achiever, nor is it academic validation.

Wholeness is presence, alignment, rest, and having your identity and trust rooted in God.

What Hustle Culture Does to a Woman

When I am in hustle mode, I notice that I lose touch with my whimsy. My femininity feels muted, and my mental health quietly suffers.

Hustle culture makes me more anxious about life. It tempts me to define my self-worth by productivity and external rewards. Over time, it pulls me away from my original design as a woman.

Final thoughts…

Choosing wholeness over hustle is not choosing laziness, nor is it a passive approach to life. It is a call to intentionality about our choices, our values, our yeses and our nos. It is the decision to move in a direction aligned with who we were originally designed to be.