Unless you live under a rock, you’ve probably encountered someone who says phrases like ‘We all have the same 24 hours a day and it’s up to you how you use it!’ or ‘The reason why you aren’t rich right now is simply because you don’t grind hard enough’. Individually, those statements sound like words that are meant to motivate you. In reality though, they’re produced as a result of what we call the ‘Hustle Culture’.
What is ‘Hustle Culture’? Simply put, it’s a trait that people develop which conditions them to think about work and productivity non-stop, pouring everything that they have into monetization. On the surface, this may not seem like a bad thing. Making a little extra income can’t be harmful, right?
However, like all things, it shows some negative consequences when a lack of balance is involved.
I used to be one of those people who believed in hustle culture and extremely glorified it. I even went as far as getting a part-time job at a Cafe while doing other college students’ paperwork in exchange for money. This was all while I was studying for my own degree.
Being 18 years old and an impressionable child, I thought I was doing great.
Of course, this all went down the drain the minute I started to feel burnt out. What I thought was me being ‘better’ felt the opposite, and I started to wake up dreading everything that I had scheduled in my day.
Following that experience, I graduated college, got a full-time job as a tech professional and witnessed my block mates get their own occupations.
As each of us was suddenly shoved into the real ‘corporate’ world, I realized that some people actually become addicted to the kind of lifestyle that never lets you sleep at night. It was the kind of lifestyle that values money over everything under the sky.
It was the kind of lifestyle that never enabled a person to breathe, to think on their own and to do their hobbies without monetizing them.
There became a requirement for young adults to never get off work, to do more, to make more money all the time. It also became a trend, something to be proud of. It became a lifestyle that, if you don’t implement, will be a sign of ‘wasting’ your time and your life.
The thing is, it’s not for everybody.
Some people like to spend a lot of time with their families. Some people like to do things for fun, without the pressure of selling whatever the heck they’re doing. Some people don’t have enough mental stability to handle the amount of stress and pressure that ‘grinding 24/7’ might bring.
And that’s okay.
The symbol of success is not limited to how much money you make and how many hours you work, but rather how happy you are with yourself and what you choose to do with your life. You don’t have to feel guilty or pressured when the ‘hustlers’ are unable to understand why you won’t be one of them.
Life is not that linear, and this is something that all people, especially us young adults, need to be reminded of while we venture out into the world.
