Hustle Culture is Unhealthy – Here’s Why

Hustle Culture is Unhealthy - Here's Why

“Hustle culture” or as it’s also called Grind culture and Burnout culture is a rather recent phenomena. It started gaining popularity around 2008 in part due to the Great Recession as young adults at the time felt the need to work harder and longer hours and take up side gigs and freelance projects in order to achieve financial success in an unforgiving economic climate.

Another partial reason why hustle culture became so popular was social media. Through social media people started sharing pictures and quotes with motivational messages like “Rise and grind”, “Do what they don’t want to do so later you can do what they can’t.” and other quotes alike. Matter of fact those pictures with quotes were so well received that they had birthed a whole new category of content as well as a whole scene of influencers, scammers and legit businesses that thrive off of people who consume that type of content.

Something Positive

Discipline

Hustle culture isn’t inherently bad. It has it’s pros and cons. On the positive note – hustle culture teaches and celebrates discipline and self control. Something we subconsciously crave as discipline makes our lives easier in the long run. It allows us to moderate our lifestyle and habits as well as organising things in our heads. Especially in times when many parents don’t have the time or knowledge to teach their kids about it and consumerist media pushes gluttony and excess down our throats as if was the norm.

Hustle culture promotes withholding from short term rewards and focusing on the long term ones. It also recommends removing unnecessary distractions and habits that don’t contribute to your goals. In the hustle culture scene it can also be seen that healthy diet, physical and mental exercises as well as choosing your circle are also being promoted. In my personal opinion discipline is the foundation of a happy and successful life and most if not all of us should practice it more.

Self discipline is beneficial for many reasons. It helps us make better decisions in the moment. It allows us to withhold from things that might seem pleasant right now, but might damage us or our ambitions in the long run. Another great benefit of discipline is moderation of dopamine tolerance. Social media has turned us into dopamine addicts by feeding us short yet somehow rewarding content. The constant need for dopamine has pushed many of us into minor addictions and coping mechanisms like smoking, drinking, coffee and so on and so forth. By disciplining ourselves, we can moderate what activities we engage in, what type of content we consume and what habits we fuel and which ones we cut.

Responsibility

Another good thing that can be extracted from the rise and grind movement is taking personal responsibility. Taking responsibility for ones own life, thoughts and actions. Taking responsibility for ones current position in life and making practical improvements in order to move towards something better and more desirable. For many taking personal responsibility can be very beneficial as it brings a sensation of meaning to ones life. It also motivates the person to think practically about who they are, where they are, where they want to be in life and how they could get there?

In times when it seems like we have less and less control over things that are happening around us – a realisation of personal responsibility can be very liberating. Personally I can say that when I understood that I am responsible for my own thoughts, feelings, actions and life in general. I suddenly felt some sort of exciting urgency. As if I understood that my time here was finite and that if I want something, I have to go out there and get it. If my actions aren’t bringing me the desired results, it’s probably because I’m missing something.

And best of all, if I found something displeasing, it wasn’t because everyone around me was wrong or bad, but because I allowed myself to get into a situation that I found displeasing, so it was up to me to do something about it. That in itself has changed my mindset and approach to life. And I’d add that although mistakes are still being made here and there – I’m rather pleased with the results that the shift in thinking has produced.

Into the Negatives

Promoting Overworking

Now that we’re looked at some positives that come with the hustle culture, lets discuss some of the negatives. As one of the names of the culture indicates – it strongly promotes overworking. Productivity, consistency and efficiency are indeed important factors in achieving any form of success. Yet people often forget that hard work doesn’t equal success. You can work hard all you want, but without critical thinking, analysis, adaptation, consistent action and improvement of efficiency – you won’t get too far.

According to The Pareto Principle or The 80 20 Rule – 20% of your actions account for 80% of your results. Though it’s not a mathematical law, it’s a good concept to take into consideration. Too often people overwhelm themselves with tasks just to feel or seem busy. And although some of those tasks might be truly important and bring them the desires results. Many could be discarded or left for later as probably the only major thing they’re contributing to is anxiety.

For a multitude of reasons the combination of hustle culture, current economic climate and social media can be blamed for the constantly rising levels of anxiety and depression in the modern youth as well as young adults. The feeling of shame for not being productive, rich and successful is instilled in us via lavish edited and curated content we see on Instagram and TikTok. Imagine – You’re as young as 12 and you’re already seeing rich teenagers, people with modified bodies and people glorifying mental illnesses. Imagine how that affects the psyche of a child who has no clue that most of the content they’re consuming is staged and curated.

And as our physical and mental health are two parts of one whole – they also affect each other. As we’re under constant stress and survival pressure, our mental health starts to decline and as it does, so starts the decline of physical health. Mostly due to a lack of quality sleep, rest and nutrition mixed with unhealthy standards we try to amount to.

Shallow Motives and Glorification of Rich and Famous

What comes to your mind when you hear “Rise and grind” or think about the hustle culture in general? Million dollar houses, sports cars, luxury watches and so on. Luxury and exclusivity are the main selling points of the hustle culture. And it makes sense. Abundance and status are something we’re wired to desire.

Abundance and status allow us to stay alive and not worry about hunger. Social status (as we’re social animals) allows us to have a wider pool of potential mates, meaning we can continue our bloodline. Yet do we all need luxury? No. Most of us simply need just enough to feel comfortable and not worry about the next meal.

Hustle culture doesn’t promote health and moderate living. It doesn’t promote finding your true passion and just expressing it happily. It doesn’t promote providing a valuable service or inventing something that will promote the growth of our civilisation. It promotes doing or selling whatever as long as it makes you rich. It promotes overworking yourself and sticking your neck out just to get that attention, wealth and social validation.

Setting goals is good, being consistent and motivated is good. Yet all that is somewhat counter productive if in the end you find yourself wealthy and miserable. In times when figuring yourself and staying financially afloat is without a doubt difficult – overwhelming yourself with visions of luxury definitely doesn’t contribute to your psyche in a positive way.

Entrepreneurship isn’t for Everybody

Within the realm of hustle culture entrepreneurship is strongly promoted and glorified. Yes, compared to the past 40 to 60 years, becoming an entrepreneur and starting your own business has never been this easy. Yet does that mean every single person should start their own business? Probably not. Not everyone wants to or has to be a massively successful entrepreneur. If you personally want to own and run a small, moderate or a massive business, best of luck to you. But a moderate lifestyle shouldn’t be shunned.

Considering the way our society has been built, it’s virtually impossible for everyone to be an entrepreneur. That’s without mentioning that not everyone can become a massively successful at it. Aside from independently standing businesses, we need people to work for those businesses. Without them, how will those businesses operate? We need taxi drivers, we need farmers, cleaners, cashiers, doctors, construction workers and so on. Many of those occupations are essential. They have to be regulated and those jobs must not be shunned as without them our society will simply collapse.

Yes, all workers and people in general deserve to have enough of whatever they need. Every person should have enough time to be with their close ones and engage in activities that excite them. Yet not everyone needs to deal with the constant stresses of starting and running a business. Why do you think people often say that it takes a sociopath to be a CEO? Because it takes a specific mentality and discipline to do that. Although calling all successful businessmen and CEOs sociopaths is a bit excessive.

Another thing people are often forgetting is that many of us have responsibilities. Many of us have bills to pay, people to feed and to take care of. Not all of us have the conditions and finances to start a business. Not all of us have the time for it. Often people have to settle with what’s available to them simply because the opportunities in their region are limited. Becoming an internet entrepreneur is mostly a privilege that only first world residents can afford. Many of us have to take up jobs that are available simply to make their ends meet.

Financial Gurus & Scams

Scammers and con artists have been around since the dawn of time, yet with internet and social media – scamming has become easier and more accessible than ever before. And though scammers can be found in every possible industry – it seems like right now it’s the golden age of get rich quick schemes and financial gurus.

What do they do? They create social media accounts, buy followers, likes and testimonials to look legit. They rent luxury cars and houses to create an illusion of wealth and success. Then they create websites with corny yet believable enough sales funnels and start selling their courses. Why do people fall for these scams? Because when someone is struggling financially or isn’t financially educated, they tend to make rushed decisions based on emotions rather than critical thinking.

When those people are presented with pictures and promises of a better life, they get emotional instead of thinking rationally. Many are unaware of how these scams work. People simply don’t know that those scammers are excellent sales people and that they have made their wealth through marketing and selling their courses and not through what they are teaching in those courses. Many of those con artists claim they’ve made their wealth through flipping real estate or investing in crypto or whatever. When in reality that is far from the truth. Simply speaking social media makes it very easy to create an illusion of a lavish life.

The sad truth is that many people give away their last savings for these courses and end up losing what they’ve paid plus extras that may follow in form of reoccurring fees or investments into stocks or tokens that might not bring them the desired results.

Simple bottomline – If something seems too good to be true. It probably is. After all those social media con artists aren’t much different from the Nigerian princes that email you every now and then.

Bottomline

Don’t believe everything you see. Especially on social media where it’s extremely easy to fake things. If something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Instead of chasing wealth and social status, spend some time thinking – what is it that you really want to do? What is it that you want to give to the world and your community? What is your personal definition of success and what can you do to achieve it?

Be mindful of your physical and mental health. Try to become aware which desires are truly yours and which ones have been pushed onto you by the society. Don’t let the social media make you think that you’re less because you don’t have something that the vast majority doesn’t have. And take good care of yourself and those around you.