The Toxicity of Hustle Culture is Killing You

Why leading an average life may be better for your happiness

I have wasted many hours of my life psychologically torturing myself for being a “failure”. The never-ending quest for a better life became detrimental to my happiness. From the second I woke up to the second I went to sleep, I was “on the grind”. It’s all work, constant learning and constant grinding. I believed I wasn’t allowed to rest, for if I rested, I would be labelled a massive failure. I studied, I worked, I wrote, I worked out, I learnt to code. Every second had to be used to improve; there was no time to relax.

You know what I’m sick of this. I’m tired of forever beating myself up. Tired of trying to please others. 2020 showed me one thing, rest is essential to success. 2020 taught me to relax. It has taken me until this year to fully embrace this vibe. Am I a traitor of my generation?

I mean, I’m still working on improving myself, yet now there is less internal pressure. It’s not like I’ve become lazy and unambitious. Maybe the goal isn’t to become successful. No, I think the goal is to become happy and comfortable. No longer will I grind 24/7; my life is on a different trajectory towards happiness, away from hustle culture.

Hustle culture

What even is hustle culture? Well, in the most basic sense, it means you are constantly working — hustle verb — to push or force something along.

There is no time like work time. In the office, on the couch, heck even on the toilet. In the modern world, you can work everywhere and anywhere. Create time to work more, every hour is time to work. Hustling is a mindset and philosophy embraced by many young and old.

Hustling has become a popular verb; take action now! People worldwide are constantly telling you to wake up at 5am and get on the grind. I fucking hate waking up at 5am. They tell you to be better, be like them, grind, or you’re a failure. Just be better, okay; if you don’t hustle, you suck. #HustleOrDie

It is a message that has become engrained in our lives. It’s considered “good” to be a workaholic. Celebrities such as Elon Musk and Gary Vaynerchuk are idolised for their work ethic. It’s a highly toxic way of living.

What are the results?

What are the actual results anyway? You always feel like a failure. You beat yourself up for having a relaxing day. You sit down for five minutes, and your thought processes become negative. “Oh, you didn’t work on your side hustle today. Look at you, you’re an absolute failure”.

This is the message from the lords of hustle culture, it is engrained in your mind.

Take a step back for a second. Reevaluate this thought process. Why the fuck are you working so hard? What the hell are your goals? Will the end result make a difference? Will they make you happy? Some times it is just not worth it. Add to the fact that humans are never satisfied with their results. You reach one goal, and five minutes later, another goal is born. Hustling is non stop, there is no happiness, no end goal. Only working 24/7 until you die.

Money does not equate to happiness

Modern times have told us to have four income streams, know about the stock market, have the best body and newest phone. This is tiring. i’ll be honest, I don’t fucking care about the stock market. I’m not going to be rich, and that’s fine with me.

Reduce the stress on yourself, remove yourself from the 24/7 mindset. There are only 24 hours in the day. 24 hours to be happy, why spend 75% of this time working. Before you know it, the lights will turn off, life will be over. You never got the chance to be happy. You never enjoyed your time with those who love you.

At the end of the day, it’s about being happy. If you enjoy working yourself to the bone, do it. If you’re like me and you’re tired of this lifestyle. It’s okay. Nobody is forcing you to be this way. You can unfollow and mute all those people advocating this lifestyle. Sculpt a life that works in your favour. I’m currently writing part-time whilst working in what would be considered a “shitty” job. I deliver food; I barely get by. But I have so much free time now I’m happy. I’m time rich, no amount of money could buy this level of happiness.

I realised last year I don’t need money to be happy. I earnt a decent amount of money; I had money to burn. I made stupid investments, bought pointless shit, drank excessively. At the end of the day, the money in my account didn’t bring me happiness. I drank to escape this horrible existence I had created for myself. Now I work less, I don’t drink. I’m honestly happy with life. I removed the toxicity of hustle culture from my life. I enjoy my time to the fullest.

The sweet spot

Find your sweet spot and work from there. Don’t quit your job unless you can provide for yourself and those who need you. Stop working yourself into the ground to impress other people; those people don’t care about what you’re doing. And those who do care about you only want one thing, you to be happy. They honestly don’t care how much you have in the bank or what car you drive. As long as they see you smiling, they’re happy. Who knows, maybe you’ll die tomorrow, and you wasted your precious time on this earth trying to impress everyone. Find a group of people who want to enjoy life, those who drive you to become better and happier. Not those who want to swing their dicks and see who can get the most significant bank account balance.

The hustling life doesn’t equate to happiness (for me anyway). And if you’ve read this far, I’m assuming you’re the same. Lead an average life. For it may be average, but at least you’ll be happy.