I Saw an Interesting Phrase Recently — “Hustle Culture”

In my mind, there are a couple of different ways to interpret this phrase.

I’m not sure where, exactly, I saw this phrase for the first time — but I really like it.

“Hustle Culture.”

Now, “Hustle Culture” could (and probably does) refer to the idea of having a side hustle in life — a second (or third) avenue for pursuing one’s passions — often with the goal of establishing a few different avenues of income. Maybe even leading to a new, and more desirable and fulfilling, career path filled with the dynamic passion we all hope to find in our daily grind.

In my mind, the flip side to the definition of “hustle culture” refers to the daily lives every one of us experiences. Life in the twenty-first century is total chaos for many of us.

Family, friends, career obligations, those second and third side gigs, hobbies, educational pursuits, personal relationships, commutes to and from any and all of those obligations, time spent responding to emails, social media sites and phone messages, time spent seeking that all elusive down time we all crave, etc . . .

You get the idea.

We are all on the move — all the time — fearful of jumping off the merry-go-round of life for even a minute. Afraid of missing something. Afraid of falling behind.

We have to hustle — all day, every day, no rest for the weary.

I wish I could offer a panacea to end all this madness.

But I can’t.

I, too, am a victim of “Hustle Culture.” I, too, seek to do more — do more with less — do more until I can’t do any more — do more until I drop under the weight of all that I do.

It seems like I add something to my daily obligations on an almost daily basis. Nothing ever ends. It’s just that more gets added. Nothing is subtracted.

At the time, the addition seems desirable — something I really want to do — something my life would feel incomplete without.

Something that, once added, can never be removed again.

Same 24 hours each day as before. Just more to squeeze into those hours.

And so — the end result — I must hustle.

Hustle to do more — to do it all — to get everything under control so there is yet more room to add something else as soon as it reveals itself to me.

“Hustle Culture.” It is a love/hate relationship, to be sure.

I love the pulse of living that keeps me energized and in search of the next adventure.

I hate the feeling of being overwhelmed by all the realistic or self-imposed obligations that drive my day and my life.

Recently, my husband and I had a particularly hectic week. After days of super overdrive, someone asked my husband if he was going to go home, crawl under the covers, and go back to sleep.

His response:

“There will be plenty of time to sleep when I’m dead.”

Yeah, that’s how we roll.

Hustle culture — The defining description of my life.

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