"Always be hustlin" - good or bad?

What motivates you?

What are your thoughts on hustle culture?

Recently, I’ve indulged in a couple TV series about founders. 

Specifically, I watched Super Pumped (Showtime) and WeCrashed (Apple TV+). 

While the former is about how Uber started and the other about WeWork, they both had one giant commonality amongst them:

Their founders preached the gospel of hustling. 

This is not a new subject for anyone that spends at least 5 minutes on social media a day. The “always be husting” content train is ubiquitous across every single platform day-after-day. 

And I get that it can be a major source of motivation, particularly for people on the polar opposite ends of the spectrum: the newly minted business owner looking to gain traction for their expertise and the uber successful, established entrepreneur looking to grow even more. 

But, is it the right approach for everyone? 

When I started my business in 2014 and began to pay more attention to online content, I was non-stop barragged with this type of messaging and motivation. 

And I took it all very much to heart. 

I tried the wake up at 5am thing.

I put in the extra, extra hours. 

I talked about the “always be hustling” mantra with friends as if it were a culty religion. 

And you know where that got me? 

Tired, frustrated and just as broke as I was before I heard about it.

It didn’t help move the needle in the way that I was promised in all of this hustle porn content I was consuming. Over time, I was confused, disappointed and disenchanted with that approach.

It’s not that I am averse to work - far from it.

It’s just that this hustle-at-all-costs approach to productivity wasn’t truly a fit for how I visualize, strategize and execute.  

And it took me several years to figure out what works best for me. 

Fortunately, when you work with successful business owners who have a proven track record of success with their approach to work, you get the benefit of asking them, in person, what works for them. 

Ultimately, these conversations have taught me that there is a no one-size-fits-all approach to increase productivity and run a business. You take tactics from a variety of trusted sources, test them out, and see what sticks for you.  

And that’s not to say that the “always be hustling” approach isn’t a great thing for some folks. It’s just not for everyone.

These days, I’m taking a polar opposite approach by adopting a “slow down to speed up” way of working. 

Rather than bulldozing through a bunch of tasks, some that might just be on the list simply to scratch them off to feel like I’m accomplishing something for the day, I am more purposeful and intentional with how I spend my time.

Across the board. 

I find my decisions now are more thought out, strategic and achievable than before. And I’m not wasting my time living up to some expectation that I see on the internet that wasn’t a fit for me. 

And it’s made a world of difference in my life overall. 

When I see posts online yelling at me that I’m a lazy, no-good bum because I’m not waking up at 5am, making 7000 calls a day, or closing 20 deals by lunch, I understand that they’re not talking to me. 

This is for someone else, and that’s cool. 

What about you?

What are your feelings on the always be hustling approach? Is it a fit for your world? Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.