“Slow growth” is the new minimalism.

How “soft life” creators use ableism and shame to force founders to slow down, lose their spark, and abandon themselves.

A soft life is not morally superior to one filled with spontaneity, joy, creativity, and flow.

Over the past several years, I’ve noticed a trend in content creation that prioritizes the soft, slow life. Montages of slow mornings, coffee made with intention sipped by a sunny window, blankets and books, intentional friction added to life to make it more purposeful. I’ve even been guilty of creating some of this content myself, interspersed with the ridiculous hyperactivity that is also very much a part of my life.

I think right now, when people are feeling overwhelmed by the state of the world, it’s easy to feel like we just want one thing to be calm. To be easy. To be restful, and slow, and purposeful.

The problem with this content isn’t that it is bad or wrong to want your business to be slow, calm, easy, or restful at times. The problem with this content is the way it intentionally calls out and shames founders who don’t always operate from this place, and then attempts to sell them a solution to something that isn’t actually a problem.

Spontaneous, creative offers = impulsively diluting your brand, just stick to one thing!

Hyperfocus and flow = overworking, not enough work/life balance, obsession (as a negative), lack of discipline

Interest-based pivots and messaging = inconsistency, confusing your audience, not showing up like a “real” business owner

Bottom-up processing = indecisiveness, perfectionism, procrastination, overthinking

Excitement and intensity = dysregulation that must be “calmed down” and “regulated” before you can be a real business owner

Energy and capacity fluctuations = resistance, lack of alignment, the “universe” telling you not to do something, self-sabotage

While these creators often market themselves as the anti-hustle-culture solution, occasionally even as specifically supportive for neurodivergent founders, and the opposite of everything the “badge-of-busyness” folks would want you to be, in reality? They often end up using the same shame-driven tactics and ableist tropes, dressed up in linen and scented like self-care.

Instead of shaming you for not working enough, they’re shaming you for working too hard – especially if you’re enjoying it too much.

To be clear, I don’t think there is anything wrong with wanting business to be soft and slow and gentle at times. Aiming for regulation is a positive thing in most cases.

However, for neurodivergent founders (and frankly, everyone else) – there is also nothing wrong with business being fast, exciting, spontaneous, and creative.

I want a slow coffee by the window, followed by postponing my first todo of the day so I can write an inspired article.

I want to read a book, and then have a dance party and bounce off the walls with excitement.

I want to have one core offer that I sell all of the time, and then market it in new, fun, creative ways whenever I want to.

I want to honour both parts of myself.

The part of me that wants to get lost in my work, even if it’s not what I’m supposed to be doing or even if it’s amped up and exciting. I want to be the type of founder who can be fast-talking, forever pivoting, stimulated and always in motion, until I need to rest – and then have the freedom and flexibility to cuddle up under blankets and relax.

Minimalism created a morality around “stuff”.

Having less was morally superior – needing or wanting more “things” was a sign that you were either poor, uncultured, or undisciplined. (Or not white.)

Slow growth, regulated business, and a soft life are just repackaging the same white supremacy and moral superiority in the desirable traits of “working less” and “finding joy” – as long as the joy you find is the socially acceptable, calm, solitary contentment that is publicly approved. Chaos is not welcome.

If your idea of a good weekend is a day ziplining through the forest, dinner with friends, and then a stroll out through the nightlife vibes before a long sleep, followed by curling up by the fire with a good book for an entire day… You’re clearly dysregulated, dopamine-chasing, and undisciplined. Tone it down. Chill out. Calm down. Quit being so anxious; you’re never satisfied, and nothing is ever enough. Get off TikTok, the internet has destroyed your attention span – time for a digital detox. Heal yourself. Slow down. Do more self-care. Be less.

My work isn’t only for those who want a soft, calm, slow business, just like it isn’t exclusively for those who want an exciting, creative, spontaneous one.

My work is for those who want to honour both parts of themselves without shame or judgment. For those who understand that rest and regulation are both preparation for, and recovery from, the excitement and spontaneous creativity that we enjoy.

True balance is in finding the right amount of softness and excitement for you, your brain, and your business, free from moral absolutism and judgment of exactly how you achieve it.