Dr. Neeta Bhushan’s line captures a quiet cultural pivot: for decades, the most admired people looked relentlessly busy, wearing productivity like a badge of honor. Long hours, packed calendars, and constant responsiveness signaled ambition and importance, as if worth could be measured in output.
Yet as the limits of hustle culture become harder to ignore, a different kind of esteem is emerging. Increasingly, the person who can slow down, pay attention, and show up fully is the one perceived as most in control—suggesting that status is shifting from what we produce to how we inhabit our lives. [...]
