While hustle culture promises success to hard-working people, this chase for success often results in constant fight or flight, hindering people from thinking about their needs and goals through limited time and energy. This speaker addresses how hustle culture can impede people’s abilities to truly understand themselves through three components: burnout, perfectionism, and people-pleasing. Lou Pavek was born in Edina, Minnesota, and raised in Jacksonville, Florida. She graduated summa cum laude from Stetson University in May 2023 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. While at Stetson, she was introduced to research after serving as a Research Assistant on multiple projects with Dr. Garcia and Dr. Eskenazi in the Psychology Department. In her senior year, Lou later served as the first-ever Research Coordinator for Stetson’s Brain Fitness Academy and conducted a research project that, like this talk, studies productivity. Outside of psychology, Lou was involved in FOCUS Orientation, Student Ambassadors, and more. Since graduation, Lou has been a Research Assistant for Dr. Woods and Dr. Gullett at the University of Florida’s Center for Cognitive Aging and Memory. Lou has also volunteered as a crisis counselor, peer reviewer, and assistant at Gainesville’s Civic Media Center. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx