Pause Ain’t Pressure Lost: Dr. Moniek Garside Is Teaching Hustlers How to Protect the Person Behind the Grind
Dr. Moniek Garside is flipping the script on hustle culture and reminding bosses, creatives and everyday grinders that sometimes the strongest way to apply pressure is knowing when to fall back, reset and come back stronger.
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Everybody loves to talk about the grind. Get to the bag. Stay ten toes down. Outwork everybody. Sleep later. Keep applying pressure until somebody finally respects the name. But what happens when all that pressure starts applying pressure to you? Dr. Moniek Garside is bringing a different conversation to the table. The therapist, speaker, author and educator is challenging people to understand that slowing down does not mean you lost your hunger. While completing her doctorate and preparing to release her second book, The Power of Your Pause: From Autopilot to Awareness—The Transformative Power of Stillness, Garside had to practice what she was preaching. Some days required her to check her own capacity, pivot, regroup and come back when she was ready.
That message hits different in a culture where being exhausted can almost feel like a flex. We celebrate packed calendars, multiple businesses, late nights and getting four hours of sleep like burnout is proof that somebody is really getting money. Garside sees the danger in that mindset. She believes that when people constantly sacrifice themselves for the next accomplishment, they can lose their peace, relationships, physical health and mental wellness along the way. You might be making moves and checking every box, but if you are running on empty, eventually something has to give. Rest, she explains, can actually help us think clearer, recognize what feels off and move out of survival mode.
And don't get it twisted: the pause isn't quitting. Garside isn't telling hustlers to throw away their goals, close the laptop and disappear every time life gets difficult. She is talking about knowing when to check yourself before life checks you. That might mean waking up and asking, "Am I good?" before grabbing your phone. It might mean putting that phone on Do Not Disturb after handling business all day. It could simply mean giving yourself enough quiet to hear your own thoughts again. Garside says people shouldn't treat pausing like another appointment they have to squeeze between meetings. The reset needs to become part of how you move.
She knows what happens when you don't. During her college years, Garside was doing what plenty of ambitious people know too well: everything. She was handling school, taking care of other people and moving with very few boundaries. Eventually, her body started sending receipts for all that pressure. She experienced high blood pressure, headaches and visual migraines. That was when the grind got real. Garside had to stop and make a decision that sounds simple but can be difficult for people accustomed to putting everybody else first: choose yourself. That pause helped redirect how she approached her life and freed her from constantly living according to other people's expectations.
Her path to becoming a therapist has that same sense of purpose. Garside says she was basically doing the work before she knew the profession had her name on it. She was naturally the person caring for others, solving problems and trying to figure out what was really happening beneath the surface. She originally entered college as a nursing major and worked in a hospital, but simply handling the medical side wasn't enough for her. She wanted to know what patients were going home to, what resources they had and what was happening beyond the hospital room. Folks were basically telling her, "That ain't your job," while life was showing her that maybe it actually was—just in a different lane.
Garside also keeps it real about being on both sides of therapy. She is a trained clinician, but she has also sat in the other chair. Her own introduction to therapy happened during college after someone suggested she visit a therapist on campus. At first, she thought she was good. Then came the realization: nah, I'm really not. She went back. That experience helped her learn about boundaries and how to care for other people without destroying herself in the process. She says therapy changed her life. That's pressure in a completely different form—the courage to admit you don't have every answer and the willingness to get the tools you need to level up.
One of Garside's biggest warnings is about living life on autopilot. You know the vibe: wake up, grab the phone, answer messages, handle business, run around all day, go home and do it again tomorrow. You're moving, but are you really present? Garside describes autopilot as going through daily activities without fully connecting to them. You can even accomplish something major and barely feel the win because your mind is already chasing what's next. Eventually, the money can be coming, the career can be moving and everybody can think you're winning—while you quietly feel empty. That's why her message matters: every win deserves enough space for you to actually recognize that you won.
At the heart of The Power of Your Pause is something the Apply'n Pressure family understands: real pressure isn't just about how hard you can go—it's about knowing how to keep going. Garside wants people to stop giving themselves whatever energy is left after everybody else gets served. She encourages people to check on themselves, recognize what they need and understand that caring for themselves does not require anybody else's permission. Sometimes you have to fall back so you can see the whole play. Sometimes you have to get quiet so you can hear the next move. And sometimes applying pressure means protecting your peace, charging your battery and coming back ready to shake the room.
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