I’m sure we’ve all seen a hustle culture video at this point. You know, “Wake up at 4am”, “On my grind”, “I’m working because I know you’re not working.” All that good stuff. And while I don’t think there’s anything wrong with any of that, I do think hustle culture is peddling some half truths.
I want to make it very clear that just because I don’t believe in Hustle culture, doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. “Well wait a minute, you just said…” I know. What I mean is that just because you wake up early, or stay that extra hour at work– just because you give up drinking with friends or playing video games, doesn’t mean you’ll do better in life.
I spent about a year in that mindset. I wasn’t waking up at 4am, but I was waking up at the same time every day and getting on my grind. I would workout (if it was a workout day) and after that, got straight to writing my scripts. Basically, if I wasn’t sleeping or at my survival job, I was writing. I also was trying to start doing Amazon FBA in that time. Basically anything I could do to make that “work for myself” life happen. That also meant no videogames and very little going out (mostly because I had no money). Oh, and of course it also meant a daily binge of motivational speeches and TED Talks.
Like I said, this went on for a year-and-a-half and do you know what happened afterwards? Nothing. Well not nothing, I became a better writer and possibly a better actor, but also I had less money. Because I was working so hard on things that weren’t making me money, my credit card bill started to go up until I was maxed out and I had nothing in the bank. I understand now why that happened, but at the time, you couldn’t tell me that I wasn’t working hard. I could’ve started doing Uber on the side or gotten a 2nd survival job, but in my mind I was already working all of my waking hours and it was supposed to be making me rich somehow.
Reevaluating Success: Lessons Learned from My Hustle Culture Journey
So, what did I learn? Well for one, Hustle Culture isn’t a mathematical formula for getting what you want. It’s largely influenced by survivorship bias; meaning that successful people who worked hard (which is most of them) will tell you that if you work just as hard, you will be able to get the same result as they did. What it doesn’t tell you is that you also need the right strategy (That’s a Tony Robbins thing).
You can’t just work hard at the wrong things. Tony likes to say something along the lines of “You can’t run east chasing a sunset” People who work the fields work hard. People who make our clothes work hard. Neither of them are rich. In fact I would go so far as to say that if you have the right strategy, you’ll ultimately be exerting less energy and getting better results.
Another thing I learned is that those little tidbits like “wake up early” or “stop playing video games” don’t help unless you know what to do with your time instead. If you wake up early, stop playing videogames, and instead spend that time going for walks it’s like okay, your dopamine levels might stabilize, but are you at all moving toward what you want? More practically, maybe you could pick up a 2nd job, and yes you’ll have maybe $75 more dollars a day, but will that help you move toward what you want?
Recognizing the Upsides: Admitting the Benefits of Hustle Culture
I know it might seem like I’m a Hustle Culture Hater, but I’m not. What I am a hater of is absolutism. Everything is conditional in my opinion. I could hustle my ass to the court every day, but at 37 years old, standing 5’8″, I don’t think I’m going to be making the league (NBA) any time soon. That said I do believe Hustle Culture has it’s benefits.
As I mentioned earlier, a lot of successful people don’t recognize Survivorship Bias and credit everything to hard work. But at the same time, hard work is necessary for success in a lot of professions. At the top of most fields you’ll find hard workers or at least people who, at one time, worked hard to get there. There are a lot of instances where I would say hard work is a prerequisite, because everyone’s working hard, but by no means is it a guarantee.
I also think that the mindset and overall health of those who follow the hustle culture mantra is lends to the pursuit of some big goal. Most grandiose ventures will have a high level of difficulty or take a long time to accomplish. Hustle culture preaches pushing through, not giving up, grinding harder, etc. All of which is going to help you much more than doing nothing or quitting. It also puts an emphasis on mediation and mindfulness, both of which I feel are beneficial for your overall state of being– at least in my experience.
Striking a Balance: Navigating the Fine Line Between Hustle and Well-being
So, where am I now? Well, I’m trying to do things that are aligned with who I am. I kept certain things from Hustle Culture, but I’ve also let some things go. I still take classes and courses to work on things that I ultimately want to do, but I don’t wake up at the same time every day and I don’t do work for the sake of doing work just because “that’s what you’re supposed to do”.
I still meditate and try to be present as much as I can. This has made the biggest difference in my life as far as I’m aware. I remember how I used to think and feel before I started meditating and while I’m not some Ultra Instinct Zen version of myself, I am definitely closer to that than I was. I don’t have any studies to prove this, but I feel like it absolutely helps me through stressful situations that life suddenly throws at me (passive challenges).
Hustle Culture: Is It Right for You? Assessing Personal Alignment
So, what about you? Should you “Hustle Culture”? Well, if you go into it without the expectation that it will absolutely get you your goal, sure. I would say try it for a few months though. I don’t believe that it is a sustainable strategy unless you are making money and somewhat enjoying your grind. If you’re just pushing because you want the outcome, but you don’t actually like the thing you’re doing, I think you’ll burn out. I could be wrong, but that was just my experience.