Success at What Cost? The Grind and the Hustle or Easy, Efficient Productivity

Photo by Anthony Young on Unsplash

Hustle is a dirty word.

It reminds me of a used car salesperson pressuring you to buy, plying you with upgrades and discounts, feeding your ego. Hustle is the sickness of capitalism and the indignity of unsustainable growth regardless of human pain or suffering.

When I read about someone who proudly claims they’re hustling in their career to make more money or to level up, burning the candle at both ends, what they’re giving up, I feel sorry for them.

But I’m not judging them.

Rather, I sense their unfulfilled need for acceptance and recognition for their accomplishments — instead of getting love and acceptance for who they are, and for being enough as they are.

You can only hustle for so long before burnout.

It’s a matter of degree: how long and hard are you going to work versus how much rest you need to recover for strenuous effort. The hustle focuses only on external outcomes instead of your quality of life. Rest will always trump work and effort.

Ease and Efficiency Are Humane Actions

You can’t enjoy ease when you are pushing hard and forcing yourself to work. Great things can and do happen without forcing or discomfort.

You can have all the success you want with relative ease.

It’s a state of mind.

Success doesn’t mean that you won’t ever struggle, have long days, or be exhausted from work. Ease of success means knowing your limits and choosing to cultivate your recovery and well-being.

Ease is also demonstrated by respecting the people you care about.

You respect the well-being of the people you work with and serve. Ease means you’re making a difference in the quality of your own life which improves the lives of others.

Hustle is rooted in insecurity.

It’s self-serving, lonely, and when taken too far, destructive.

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