Why Hustle Culture is Toxic
“Good things happen to those who hustle” – Anais Nin.
How does this quote make you feel?
For people who come from a background of privilege and ease, it may make you feel inspired and eager to chase after that dream that makes your heartbeat accelerate.
For people who come from a background of challenges and hardships, it may feel like a kick in the shins because you’ve spent your life hustling, trying to make ends meet, and still unable to get to the spot you so deeply desire.
There, I said it.
It’s a horrible mindset that perpetuates capitalism, leads to burnout, and prevents people from enjoying their lives to the fullest.
What is hustle culture?
Hustle culture is a mindset focused on working hard to meet your goals.
Doesn’t sound that bad right?
Well, hustle culture involves constantly grinding through your work and pushing harder and harder to get to the top (whatever the top is).
Why is hustle culture toxic?
Hustle culture doesn’t take privilege or capitalism into consideration. Instead, it breeds on this mindset that I just need to do more to be more.
This prevents people from recognizing the need to rest, makes people feel like they’re never enough, and leads to burnout.
In fact, when you Google “what is hustle culture?” the first page to come up says, “Also known as burnout culture and grind culture, hustle culture refers to the mentality that one must work all day every day in pursuit of their professional goals.”
Also. Known. As. Burnout. Culture.
Burnout.
Culture.
This should terrify people! Why would we ever want to lean into a culture that is known for burning people out?
What are the harms of hustle culture?
Hustle culture prevents people from understanding rest, forcing them to put their worth in their work rather than enjoying the things they do.
When people put their worth into their productivity, they’re at risk of gaining an overwhelming sense of failure every time they aren’t completing something they do productive.
NEWSFLASH: Productivity isn’t everything.
Not only is it not everything, things that are labeled “lazy” can actually be productive. (Laziness is a myth, but more on that in another article).
When we focus on hustling, we become blind to the things that matter in our lives.
Here’s an example:
Say you’re a freelance writer. You want to build a writing empire where you get to write what you want when you want, and you get to make money off other people’s writing.
But to do that, you need to work hard for cheap.
You need to grind through writing blog articles, newsletters, social media captions, and more. You work for cheap, you struggle to make ends meet, you stay up late and get up early, you hustle.
You miss out on your partner’s birthday dinner because you’re running late on a deadline.
You miss out on your niece’s school concert because a revision request came in.
You miss out on enjoying your favorite show at night because your brain is trying to keep track of your to-do list.
You miss out.
You miss out.
You miss out.
Okay, but then—you make it. After years of hustling, you finally open your own agency. You’re able to hire writers, and you’re able to make your own hours.
You did it.
But, here’s the catch. The people you hire, you can’t afford to pay them a lot of money. You’re just starting out. You tell them that by working with you for lower, they’ll be able to grow as writers and get to a place like you one day.
You tell them about how you had to hustle to get to where you’re at, but it all paid off.
You tell them to hustle.
Now they’re in that boat you were in. They’re hustling. They’re missing out. They’re where you were, and they’re in the cycle of hustle culture.
You’re blinded by your greed and entitlement to consider how you may be impacting their lives. You’ve been sucked into hustle culture, and you’re bringing other people with you.
You may not have burnt out, but they may.
Then what?
Hustle culture is a toxic cycle that prevents people from recognizing the need to prioritize their needs.
How would your quality of life be different had you not missed out? If you spent time learning more about who you are and less time hustling? If you recognized that your privilege and experiences were stepping stones to get to where you were?
“But hustle culture isn’t toxic, I’m just chasing my dreams.”
I think this is an interesting point that people often use to rebuttal the harms of hustle culture.
Chasing your dreams shouldn’t lead to burnout. It shouldn’t lead to missing out. It shouldn’t lead to taking advantage of other people.
I want you to chase your dreams. I want you to redefine your views of success and become successful. I want you to love life to the fullest.
This is the issue.
When you’re hustling, you’re going to miss out on all of those amazing things.
By understanding the deep roots of your dreams, you may begin to recognize that your goals are less to “make a million dollars” and more “to not be burdened by finances.” By shifting your goals you may begin to understand that what you want is less rooted in capitalism and is more rooted in enjoying the things that life has to offer.
If you’re wound up in hustle culture, then I want to encourage you to ask yourself, “How is this negatively impacting the people I care about and me?”
Learn more.
If you can’t tell, I’m passionate about redefining how we live our lives and empowering people (especially womxn) to find balance in who they are and what they do.
Life is full of amazing opportunities and exciting adventures. I hope that this blog has encouraged you to take a moment to reflect on where you’re at compared to where you want to be.
You can find more blogs about hustling, burnout, capitalism, and more on the blog portion of my website.
Never stop dreaming, but please feel free to stop hustling.
