"Hustle beats talent when talent doesn't hustle" - Ross Simmonds

"Good things happen to those who hustle" - Chuck Noll

"Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle" - Unknown

If you are a young person seeking a better life, you likely resonate with the quotes above. Perhaps one of them feels like a mantra you can hang on your wall to help motivate you to work harder. You need to hustle because you are told that's the only way to wealth and a good life. But hold on a minute, is that true? Do hustlers get "the good life"? Let's take a deeper look.

First of all, what is hustle culture?

Hustle Culture is the belief that a person must put in a lot of effort and hard work to attain success.

That doesn't seem bad at all, does it? On the surface it seems very logical - climbing the success ladder requires hard work. However, although the idea of hustle culture seems reasonable, its implementation in society requires an utterly repugnant way of life.

Hustle culture breeds what I call the hustler mindset. With the hustler mindset, the hustler is driven to work tiresome hours, pushing their body and mind to the limit. They are led to believe they must seize every opportunity regardless of the demands on their time, health, and relationships. They put their hope in a vision of wealth and luxury which can only be possible if they give up everything else and focus on one thing - the hustle.

But hustle culture with all its promises demands a heavier price than a human can bear. Let's talk about its impact on some vital areas of life.

Hustle Culture and Productivity

The mantra of the hustler is: work as hard as possible for as long as possible. In routine, algorithmic work, it is possible to argue that this approach to work gets things done. However, the danger with routine work in today's world is that such work can easily be automated by machines and AI, making the hustler's hard work pointless.

But what about knowledge and creative work that can not easily be automated by AI? Can the hustler mindset get more done for these kinds of tasks?

In his best-selling book, "Deep Work", Cal Newport, a computer science professor, argues that the amount of work we produce is not directly proportional to the number of hours we put into a task. Instead, we can achieve more by dedicating fewer hours to focused, undistracted work.

Studies have shown that humans are unable to maintain focus for more than about 4 hours a day. Any work done beyond this limit - with a tired brain - is likely to be subpar and of little value.

Cal says deep work gives us two things that allow us thrive in our new economy:

• The ability to quickly master hard things.

• The abililty to produce at an elite level, both with speed and quality.

Unlike the time and soul-sucking demands of hustle culture, deep work promises more fulfilling work and more time to spend doing other things we love.

Hustle Culture and Mental Health

There are tonnes of motivational quotes and videos telling people they need to push their minds and bodies to the limit if they are ever to achieve success.

Don't get me wrong, I am not against working hard. But studies and experiences have shown that there is a line. When people push themselves too hard for the hustle, they eventually reach a breaking point - Burnout.

Burnout is a form of exhaustion caused by constantly feeling swamped. It’s a result of excessive and prolonged emotional, physical, and mental stress.

Burnout is a pivotal moment in many people's lives. Some people never recover from it and end up quitting their jobs or changing careers entirely. For some, a little time off to recharge and reorientate their career goals gets them back on track and they can carry on.

Whatever the case, burnout is not a place you want to be, regardless of how much hustle culture glorifies overworking yourself. There's no point in making all that money and then spending it on meds and therapy because you hate your job, your career, and your life as a whole.

If you want to read more about Burnout, check out WebMD's article Burnout: Signs and Symptoms.

Hustle Culture and Relationships

It is no news that hustlers often have shoddy relationships. It comes down to two major things:

1. Time

   Hustle culture demands a huge time investment from its followers. Of course, this goes back to the belief that you can only get more by working more. This makes it very difficult for hustlers to maintain long-term healthy relationships with their friends and family. They're always too busy for family events or hanging out with friends.

2. View of Humans

   A more sinister effect of hustle culture on relationships is that the hustler begins to see people only as a means to a money-making end. They tend to devalue or even destroy relationships that do not serve their goal of achieving success. This is more reason why they spend less time with close friends and family who usually rather serve emotional than financial needs.

Some people think they don't need other people in their lives as long as they live in wealth and luxury. However, psychology and anthropology show that humans are social animals, and whether we like it or not, we need other humans to find a sense of fulfillment. Hustle culture blinds us to this truth and often leaves the hustler isolated, unloved, and miserable.

Conclusion

There is much more that can be said about the effects of hustle culture that will fill huge volumes of books. My goal with this article is to make you think about the way you do your work. The crucial questions you can ask are:

What are the things I value most in life? Does my way of approaching work get me those things?

The most destructive part of hustle culture is the foundational reordering of our core values as humans. The hustler is driven by ever-so-vanishing things - such as money, fame, and power - rather than the more enduring things of life such as love, meaning (purpose), and community.

You might say "All I want is money and hustling will get it for me." That is right for the most part, but at what cost? Is the money worth losing your family and friends? Is the money worth your mental and physical health?

It's time we looked for broader goals in life. Money is important - working hard is necessary - but the wealth of life is largely what people can not see. We need goals that help us lead financially stable lives without losing the things that matter most.

Here's one lesson I learned from "The Psychology of Money" by Morgan Housel:

The hardest financial skill is getting the goalpost to stop moving... “Enough” is not too little.

One way to beat hustle culture is to define Enough. We must realize no amount of money in the world would satisfy the human desire for more. Let us deny the greed that drives hustle culture and embrace healthier ways of approaching our work that lead us to happier and more meaningful lives.