The Hustler Guru Tim Denning Clapped On My Story “Walden” Which Rejects The Idea Of Hustling

Anti-hustling and finding peace in Walden

A few days ago Tim Denning clapped on my article Why I Decided To Become Walden And Show The Middle Finger To Our Modern Life.

The story is about the challenges of our modern era, from wars to inflation to the daily grind of hustling and living in an urban jungle.

I even conclude my story with:

In the meantime, I can be creative, have the internet only for a few hours a day, spend unlimited time with my family away from the hustle, pollution, and high prices. I can spend hours in solitude with my animals, or writing.

While I am flattered by Tim’s writing skills and ability to captivate readers, I simply cannot get behind the hustle culture that he seems to promote.

However, I couldn’t help but smile at the idea that even someone as productive as Tim has decided to step away from the constant grind and embrace a simpler life like Walden.

Despite this, it’s hard not to admire his prolific output — the man is a hustling writing machine!

Anyway, I checked his last articles and one was against hustle haters which I belong to (well, that is my memo here on Medium, and in real life that is why I choose to live off the grid.)

In summary, the moral of this story is that if you don’t hustle, you will remain in poverty. It is essential for survival to put in hard work and effort. Period. In other words, hustle.

The one thing I do agree with him on is that it’s possible to make a large salary but still end up in poverty. This is due to overspending in an attempt to show one’s wealth.

My recent responses to his story are:

I totally, disagree with you. Why? Because I was one of the hustlers who never stopped. I got sick and burned out, and still feel guilty about hustling instead of spending time with my daughter.

So, when she was 8, I moved away from the hustling US to laid-back Spain.

I live off the grid and spend all my time with family, in nature.

I need a minimum income.

I love it and I feel healthier and happier.

Sometimes people are poor not because they are lazy. Also, America if you don’t hustle until your grave will make you poor. But, is this a life then? Why do Spaniards work to live and not live to work? They are much happier and content than most of the Americans I met. Hustling is BS. Work-life balance and desire to need less shit is the answer.

A few years ago, I rarely heard the words “hustle” or “side hustle” but nowadays I see it and hear it every day and everywhere.

Why?

Because everything got so expensive because of greedy capitalism people need to work 2 or 3 jobs just to pay bills. I am not even talking about buying a house or paying medical bills, looking at you America.

One of the readers even responded with:

I must disagree. I live in the USA and one medical procedure can financially ruin a household in terms of unexpected expenses. Hard work is the catalyst to avoid poverty, however, I have too many people who live quality lives due to inheritance and other assets that are simply like winning the lottery. Not to forget the schemer that lives off of the government through fraudulent claims that never stop renewing.

That is the problem.

Is it your fault if you become ill and the greedy structure works against you?

I am not against normal working hours but it isn’t normal to hustle 24/7, or have 2–3 jobs to survive.

Many work in the service sector, myself included when I worked as a nurse: despite our good salaries, we still lived from paycheck to paycheck.

I even attempted to calculate how much money we could save if we kept working until age 65 — it wasn’t all that much. That was on the assumption that no one would ever get sick.

Which was very unrealistic because I was not looking or feeling healthy back then.

Some people may be lucky, or they may understand how the system works, but many fall victim to predatory capitalism due to circumstances rather than laziness.

Others are hustlers their entire lives without ever seeing success.

That’s why I chose the path of Walden and radically transformed my life. It isn’t always easy, but it is far more liberating than hustling for a living.

In conclusion, hustle culture is not the answer to our current life’s problems. It may lead to financial success, but it can also lead to burnout and a loss of what truly matters in life.

The key is finding a balance between working hard and enjoying life.

For me, my life off the grid and spending time with my family in nature has brought me true happiness.

I no longer feel guilty for not hustling and am grateful for the simple things in life.

We don’t need to accumulate material possessions to be happy, and we should aim to desire less instead of constantly hustling for more.

Perhaps it’s time for society to shift our focus from hustling to living a fulfilling life, whatever that may look like.