Why Hustle Culture Isn’t the Badge of Honor You Think It Is
Breaking free from the hustle mentality
Every day, countless articles are published about the “gig economy” or “quiet quitting” or whatever the employment jargon of the day is.
Whatever employment trend the articles are describing, almost all of them include one hugely popular word: “Hustle.” You want to work a few different gigs? Congratulations; you’re part of the hustle culture. Want to stand out from the crowd? Don’t be a quiet quitter; foster a hustle mindset.
Everyone’s so busy trying to hustle that nobody is noticing they’re the ones being hustled.
First, a word about the meaning of “hustle”
“Hustle” has several different meanings.
One of the most benign meanings of the word is simply when it’s used as a verb, as in, “to hasten” or “to hurry.”
Anyone who has ever attended a family member’s or friend’s baseball game knows this meaning. “Good hustle” or “way to hustle!” are perennial and popular shouts of support at such games.
From there the meanings get progressively darker.
There’s the verb form of to hustle, meaning to “jostle” “to shove,” or “to convey forcibly.”
