Digital Entrepreneur
Digital Entrepreneur

Redefining Success: Letting Go of Hustle Culture's Pressure

Hustling doesn’t mean rich life

Is it me or are you completely bored of seeing Hustle Culture content? We need to stop glamourising overworking. There is a big difference between hustling to earn money in a clever way and hustling because you have guilt for not working 247.

This really hit home recently when my partner asked me “what time are you finishing work?” And my immediate response was “never” I then proceeded to give him a lecture about how as a business owner work never finishes. Poor guy just wanted to know what time we are going for dinner.

Later that day I found myself “counting the hours” I had been logged on and arguing with myself about whether it was acceptable to take a break to go for a swim. At that moment my Mac was down to 37% and my phone struggling for dear like at 7% … I think it was fair to say I had needed a break. I did go for the swim and I did leave all devices on charge and away from me. Guess what … no one “told me off” for having a break or not being online. Well yeah, I own the business? Who do I have to report to? I make the rules hahaha. Isn’t it funny, how we have these old school manufacturing style “lock in, lock out” mentality drummed into us from such a young age and I suppose I have even more so from the choices I made in previous roles.

What is hustle culture?

As the BBC put it, The hustle-culture narrative promotes the idea that there’s always more to strive for: more money to make, a bigger title or promotion to secure and a higher ceiling to smash.

Hustle culture really boomed in the early 2000s with the rise of Silicon Valley 

A recent LinkedIn article also phrases it that undamentally, hustle culture is about work dominating your time in such an unnatural way that we have no time to live our lives, It’s a lifestyle where the career has become such a priority in your life that other aspects of being human — such as hobbies, family-time and self-care — often take a back seat.

No, no, no, no. Yet again, another media or should I say social media fad that just really has to change.

The Real Meaning of Hustle: Relentless busyness. Workaholism.

What previously we would have called a “workaholic” or “workaholism”, we now seem to categorise as “hustling 

The term “workaholic” was coined in 1971 by the psychologist Wayne E. Oates, who referred to “an uncontrollable need to work incessantly” as an addiction. Workaholics are characterized by having an inner compulsive drive to work hard, thinking about work constantly, and feeling guilty and restless when they are not working. Workaholism often goes hand in hand with working long hours, but the two are distinct: it’s possible to work long hours without being obsessed with work, and it is possible to be obsessed with work but only work 35 hours a week or less.

  • Burnout
  • Lack of work-life balance
  • “Always on”

Redefining Wealth: Exploring the concept of a rich life beyond financial abundance.

This is the beauty of said social clubhouse, it is designed for those who work in the creativity industry – yes, that’s right, just for us! You have to go through an application process with the local house you are applying to and this also gets reviewed by their head office in London to ensure you are aligned with the values and community of Soho House.

Health is wealth

Aligning your passions and purpose. What are your money dials?

I haven’t heard about this until recently and yet a friend of mine and I were naturally doing this as we have been accountable to each other for more than a decade now about “living our best life” and defining that.

Ramit Sethi has identified 10 Money Dials that he says are key areas that most people are excited to spend money on:

  1. Convenience
  2. Travel
  3. Health / fitness
  4. Experiences
  5. Freedom
  6. Relationships
  7. Generosity
  8. Luxury
  9. Social status
  10. Self-improvement

If I have to pick just my top 3 it would be travel, convenience, freedom. Which is interesting is this may mean something different from you to me.

What is YOUR rich life? Can you ever achieve Financial Freedom?

I think this is something not enough people really think about and also that is can change through out your life. Years ago I was all up for the townhouse in Wimbledon with the SW postcode (South Londoners will get this), two cars on the driveway. But really, the visualisation for me, always seemed to be missing something. 

Last year I sold my house in London, paid off all COVID debt and put the wheels in motion to start long term investment. Since then I downsized my condo, hired a house helper and loaded up my travel plans. My rich life is travel and experiences, which goes hand in hand with my focus money dials.

  • Travel – This is a combination of local, regional and international travel, to the point where I have downgraded my condo size on the basis that I don’t need a large living space, but rather a larger amount of cash to spend. 
    • At least 1 beach house trip per month
    • At least 1 regional/ international trip per quarter

As I write this, we are half way through the year and I have already completed 10 trips this year, with a further 8 trips planned for the rest of 2023. I am that person who is discussing February 2024 plans and have skyscanner alerts at the ready. 

  • Convenience – We all get 24 hours every day, convenience to me is about utilising those hours to make the most of them or spend them on more travel and experiences. This means I personally put a higher value on having this at my fingers whether, examples:
    • Tech integrations; Amazon Alexa, apple watch
    • Life on automation
    • Travel apps
    • GrabUbers
    • Extra iPhone charger
    • Food preparation/ Pre-cooked meals
    • House helper for cleaning/ doing laundry/ collecting parcels
    • Everything delivered “There’s” an app for that
    • Financial Advisor
    • Personal assistant
  • Freedom – Means to me, financial and physical freedom. Not having the dark cloud over my head about debt or the worry that I can’t make ends meet each month. Freedom to me is being able to work when and where I want to work (I do like working). Future freedom to me and want I am planning to “dial up” is passive incomces to increase travel and convence without having to increase working hours which to me … is my definition of financial freedom.

For most, the Time vs. Money Dilemma: is a continuous battle we have – should we be saving the money for a raining day or live for the moment because we never know when it could end. Prior to selling my house, I always chose the “save for a rainy day” or “house fund” as I had a Monzo pot that I kept “trying” to top up for the “just encase” things that broke or interest rate fluctuations etc. The days proceeding my house sale, I felt free. Financially free. No I was not “rich” but I was free. My direct debits suddenly went from in excess of 20 down to about 5 … And this is the freedom I have continued to “optimise” to keep.

Tips to avoid burnout and from being swept into hustle culture

  • Maximising productivity – Be aware of your most productive time of the day, Mine is literally any time before 12 p.m., this is when I get the most done albeit a workout, business, planning etc – honestly after mid-day my brain just has a mind of it’s own so I know I have to use this time to run errands or schedule meetings.  If I have solid focus time (which I’ve learnt how to do) then I can smash through a “days worth” of work in about 3hrs. 
  • Time management – Stop trying to multitask as it leads to nontasking
  • Take breaks – Allow yourself to have offline/personal time
  • Prioritise your life – Review your time and how you are spending it and more importantly, where you want to spend it
  • Keep an eye on the caffeine – Spoken from the true Nespresso pod hunter,