Work Until You Can’t Anymore
How hustle culture has created a problematic work culture
Everybody wants to be a hustler. It’s ingrained in the cultural fabric: work hard or get left behind. There is constant pressure to earn a living, do overtime to get a promotion, grind at unpaid internships, work multiple jobs to put money in our savings, and sacrifice everything for success. The rich and famous are held on pedestals, and there’s constant pressure to climb the socioeconomic ladder and achieve success, which is often tied back to monetary and social achievement. But, at what cost? When does working hard, or the concept of hustling, become toxic? What could possibly be wrong with achieving goals, money, or status?
What’s wrong with giving up everything for a career? Doesn’t that just make someone dedicated?
I’m no stranger to working two or three jobs in order to put savings in my bank. I’ve put parts into motion to be my own boss of reselling clothes through Depop. I’ve already set long-term goals for what I want from my business. I want to make money, who doesn’t? When I say hustle culture, I’m not talking about the daily grind, but rather the idea that there’s always someone working harder than you, and that being unsuccessful links back to you “not working hard enough.” It’s the idea of working the max amount of hours every single day to achieve more, no matter what the cost is to health, relationships, or personality. In hustle culture, everything is secondary to the end-goal: success, money, and notoriety. If you don’t sleep for three days because your hustling, hustle culture says you’re doing it right.
I’m going to break down a few reasons why this popular mindset is problematic.
It reduces the struggle of individuals.
In fact, it often erases the racism, sexism, struggles, background, or outside experiences that can cause someone to struggle. Instead of trying to deconstruct why, according to statistics from last year, 78% of US workers live paycheck to paycheck, hustle culture states, “They just didn’t work hard enough.”
Although there is a percentage of people out there that just choose to be lazy or depend on others, the vast majority of people are grinding 24/7 to overcome their circumstances. It’s not simply a matter of “just work harder” when you have other factors at play: being a single mom, not having the opportunity for college, minimum wage not being high enough, or having to help your parents financially, to name a few external factors.
I say this as a person who was lucky enough to be able to go to college, and in-fact is still working through graduate courses on a third degree. I recognize not everyone is as lucky, and I see why telling people to “just work harder” doesn’t address the root of the issue. It’s a privileged mindset to hold. In fact, being able to hustle is a privilege in itself.
It feeds into the idea that money will buy happiness.
It’s the old adage that says the opposite, but hustle culture tells us money will solve our problems — that there is more value in a promotion and bigger house than there is in a closer relationship with those we love. It stresses the material objects in a world that is exponentially becoming more cluttered and materialistic, and materialism is proven to diminish well-being.
It puts multi-millionaires and billionaires on pedestals and tells people, “reach for that,” when it’s not possible to attain, at least not in an ethical away. And even if it was ethical, it’s not necessary for any one person to own that much wealth, where the richest 1% own 40% of the country’s wealth, and that was back in 2017.
Hustle culture is littered with aspirations of fancy cars, designer bags, and expensive dinners, and it tells us these are the tangible things we should want to attain too. It asks, why wouldn’t you want these?
Hustle culture states that you are a failure if you can’t have the newest bag, the freshest car, or the biggest house.
This just isn’t true.
It doesn’t address a value in activities outside of work.
As touched on in the previous few paragraphs, hustle culture focuses on the attainment of money and materialistic items over family time, doing hobbies, or even time-off for life events. Hustle culture would say you’re lazy for taking your daughter to the zoo when you should be working. It would say you’re wasting time by taking off work to spend a day with your family for the first time in years (even if it’s just a trip to the park or a walk in the evening).
It’s no secret that money can often make life easier or more accessible, but at what cost? When does it jump the line to toxicity? It’s toxic when your work and desire for money is all-consuming. It’s problematic when you begin to miss events or times in your life that you can never get back: a child’s birthday party, a graduation, dinner with friends, a date you keep rescheduling. Hustle culture is problematic when you begin to value everything that is tangible and nothing that is intangible.
Toxicity is a scale, just like hustle culture itself. When you begin to be unable to strike a balance between your desire for money and your own well-being, and when you start to believe that happiness is bought, it’s time to take a step back and access what constant hustling is actually providing you. It’s not hustling when you’re disappointing your own health, your own child, or your own partner. It’s just neglect.
Closing Thoughts
The daily grind and aspiration for a good life is one that most people possess. There’s nothing wrong for wanting better for yourself, your family, your friends, or anyone else you consider important. It’s human nature to want to live a good life, and it’s easy to get caught up comparing yourself to others. In a nation constantly hustling, it’s easy to get absorbed until you’re stuck in a toxic cycle of working yourself as hard as you can until the day you die (or retire).
But, it’s crucial you realize it’s not always about working through the night or never taking a weekend off. It’s not a point of bragging to say you only sleep a few hours in order to work more. It’s not always about having the nicest car or the newest laptop.
Sometimes, it’s about enjoying a birthday, spending the afternoon at a park, or reading a good book on the couch. Sometimes, hustling home from work to walk the dog is just as important as a bigger paycheck. In a fast-moving world, it’s easy to get caught up in those pushing you to “work harder, hustle harder, or be left behind.” You probably already know all that I’ve said, but it’s so easy to forget.
It’s easy to forget who you were hustling for, not what you were hustling for.
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