Reshaping the Hustle Culture
The first time I started to think, I mean really think about how toxic the hustle culture had become was when I heard a woman say that the reason why she worked all the time, the reason she worked full-time and had a couple of “side hustles” was to show her family, her friends, and most importantly, her children the value of working hard. To her, having more and more was a direct outcome of working more and more. She translated busyness into success, and decided that those around her, if they simply observed the actions of working, would naturally associate it with a strong work ethic. It stopped me in my tracks. Is this what we’ve become? A society of people who work all the time, and on top of that, glorify working all the time, because this is what we believe is the path to achieving success? And even more so, this is the example we want to provide for those who follow us?
I started thinking about my own children, family, and friends. If I adopted this woman’s belief that working more and more led to success, and that by showing it to others around me, would they view it as an admirable work ethic that they too would want to hone?
I don’t believe it. Not one bit.
I have often joked that my family and friends don’t understand what I do for a living. If you asked my boys what I do, I believe they would both say something to the effect of, “she works in healthcare” or “she’s an author” But that would be the extent of it. Neither one of them would be able to fully articulate what I do. Even my husband has to dig deep to explain what I do to others. And that’s okay. Because the truth is, I don’t expect my children or my family to really understand what I do, day in and day out. Why would they? They don’t go to work with me each day to observe what I do (although the boundaries have been tested more so the past two years, due to the pandemic, and working for a company who has fully embraced a remote work culture). In general, they know I work, and that work is what contributes to the life we lead. Which brings me back to the woman at the beginning of this post and the notion of working all of the time, leads others around you to see it as admirable and in turn, work hard themselves, is false. But the damage of this notion isn’t just that it’s false, it’s that it most likely shows others something else.
That working all the time, whether it be a full-time job, variety of side hustles, or both, you’re showing those around you what’s most important; the work.
If that is your goal, for work to be first, for others to be second, then congratulations, you’ve won. But I would bet most people, if not all, would say that the reason they are working so hard is to have the time and resources to put toward those who they care about most; their family and friends.
So, can you see how the hustle culture can quickly become toxic? Not only is it teaching you to work all the time to achieve what you want in life, it leaves you with less time for those you care about most. It leaves you with less for yourself.
Signs of the hustle culture
You’re consumed by email, your phone, and general screen time.
You rarely, if ever, go anywhere or do anything, without your phone prominently available.
You spend limited time using eye contact and interacting with others.
You multitask. (Well, you think you are multitasking. Read just one article on brain science and you’ll find that it’s not possible to multitask. I’ll talk more about that in future articles.)
You get less than 8 hours of sleep each night
You have a difficult time remembering things.
You eat on the go or choose unhealthy options.
You don’t make time to move your body, which combined with an unhealthy diet, mostly likely means you don’t maintain a healthy weight (go here to test your BMI)
And wow, have I been in the hustle before. I recall 5 years ago, when work consumed me, my non-profit organization received whatever attention I could muster up from time to time, my aspiration of writing a book took shape on weekend mornings here and there. There was no daily practice of working out. No time spent in reflection or thought. Just “suck it up,” “work hard now”, and the big break will come. While I was acknowledged for good work, I realized I was killing myself to climb to the top. In a literal sense, I really was. Unhealthy eating habits, extra weight gain, little to no in-depth time with my husband and boys, no consistent sleep schedule, and many other poor habits. I’ve been knee deep in the hustle before. Heck, I may have been queen of the hustle culture 5 years ago. But I saw the wreckage it left on my life, and the little progress it made, despite my beliefs that simply working more and more would pay off. But I finally got tired of being tired and decided the best hustle was one of time limits and clear focus.
In my book, Lesson 4: Work While Others Are On Break, I specifically emphasized that working hard to get ahead is absolutely necessary, however working hard to get ahead or start a business or do something different also needs to be contained and what I mean by that is there needs to be a length and time you're willing to work toward your goal; the length of time, day by day that you are committed to but not endlessly. Hustle culture is the non-stop busyness with no end in mind. It's work all the time, “be on” all the time, and in many cases, vocalize to all around you that you are working all the time. I believe in the value of hard work, setting your goals, and working a plan toward accomplishing them. Work while others are on break. Being smart and strategic about how and when you work, so that you avoid working constantly toward nothing.
Hustle meant something specific when I was growing up.
The term hustle was introduced to me in the context of sports. Hustle, hustle! Let’s go! Hustle during league play, hustle during practice, hustle during the game. When I went to college, it expanded to hustling during the off season, long runs and sprints. But all of it, whether a game or a practice, had an ending. The game was xx minutes long, practice was xx minutes long, going on a 5 mile run in the off season, took a designated amount of time. It was all contained, with an endpoint, because any good coach, any good athlete knows that rest days, taking time off, and replenishing one's body and mind, matter to the end goal.
Rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation are all critical components of achieving more.
Flip the page to today’s hustle culture, and you find people on the constant go, tied to their phones, tied to their calendars, back to back meetings, and more, moving closer and closer to burnout.
You can't maintain the hustle all the time. If you attempt to hustle all of the time, other parts of your life will suffer, you’ll burnout, or both.
You have to be super clear about what you are hustling for. Are you hustling for a new job? Or are you hustling for a promotion? Are you hustling to start your own business? Are you hustling to get more followers? Are you hustling to get into better shape? Or, maybe you’re hustling to get your degree? Whatever you’re hustling for, you must set a goal, and get clear on how much time is needed, how long you’ll be in the hustle, so that healthy boundaries and containers are in place to move you forward, without pushing you to irrecoverable exhaustion. Without containers and clear goals, hustling becomes a never ending, high speed, hamster wheel with no end in sight. Set a goal, a time frame, and stick with it.
Get clear on why you’re doing it and when enough is enough.
It's good to hustle as long as you’re clear on what success looks like in the end. It’s good to hustle, if you know it’s a finite amount of time that you’re committed to achieve the goal. But it’s also important to get clear on why you're doing it. Working toward an ambitious goal is no small feat and from time to time, you may be challenged to keep going. Knowing the “why” you’re hustling matters because you will need to remind yourself along the way, in order to keep pressing forward.
A friend recently shared a story with me about her time completing her undergraduate degree. She recalled the way in which a fellow student described how much time and effort she put into a class project; a project my friend had spent hours and hours, throughout the weekend, perfecting. Her fellow student had spent only a few hours on the project. In the end, they both achieved their goals, and they both received high grades for their respective projects. The difference was the investment of time and effort. My friend, who was dumbfounded by the idea that one could put so little time into a project, asked her fellow student how she could do such a thing, to which she responded, “I gave the project what it needed, nothing more, nothing less.” Not only was she clear on why she was completing the project, she was clear on when enough effort was enough.
If we want to achieve our goals and enjoy our lives, we don’t need to cancel the hustle. We need to reshape the hustle. We can make the hustle culture healthy and helpful with a defined goal, meaningful why, and a clear ending.
These components can help us reshape the hustle culture. Let’s set goals and define what we are trying to achieve, why we are doing it, whether it be for ourselves or for others, and give whatever the hustle is, what it deserves, nothing more, nothing less.
Here’s a simple reflection exercise to move toward reshaping the hustle culture that is or could be showing up in your own life:
Think about a goal you’ve set or identify a goal you have for yourself.
Why does this goal matter to you? What significance does it have on your current situation?
What does successful achievement of this goal look like? How will you know you’ve achieved your goal?
Now, based on everything you’ve noted, how much time and commitment do you need to commit to this goal? This helps you to get clear on how much time you’ll spend, how much effort you’ll exert, and how many trade-offs you’ll make along the way.
Ask for support and experiment. As you’re going through this exercise, and find that you need support, please ask. Reach out to others in your network who’ve done this before, or reach out to those whom you trust and will provide real feedback for you. Send me an email or comment on this blog article. There are many good ideas and even better reality checks out there among people you know. And when it comes down to it, experiment. Experiment with how much or how little time you give to the goal. Try for a few moments or a few hours and see what you’re able to move forward. I cannot stress enough the value of experimentation, the act of “giving it a go.”
The hustle can be healthy when you take the time to get clear on your goal, why you’re doing it, and the time and effort it takes to accomplish it.