Why the hustle mentally doesn’t work anymore…

Back in 2013, when I moved to NYC, I remember talking to people who had a hustle mentality. It look like this: “In here, you need to hustle or you get eat alive”. Yikes! However, as I keep learning the antics of a new city, I discover that having this limiting mentally was preventing my growth in my career and my spirit.

Having a hustle mentality can be dangerous. Don’t get me wrong, I believe that work ethic separates great from good. Some of my greatest personal achievements can be credited to pure hard work and grit. However, there is a hustle mentality that isn’t healthy. Hustle doesn’t mean working 24 hours a day. It means taking control of the hours you can control, and putting your best effort forward in the time you have.

You don’t need this constant feeling of tiredness to feel accomplished. Also, you don’t need to tell everyone how busy you are to feel successful. This constant battle of comparison and the unhealthy hustle mentality is telling you that you are not doing something right.

Society has conditioned us to think we should work for 8 hours a day at a job. But what if the job gets done in 2 hours?

“Hustle is the old way of thinking. It’s a job mindset and sales mindset. In the new era of technology, you no longer need to work your butt off to make it. You can work smarter. The hustle mentality also sets you up for living later…but later never comes. You’re hustling now so you can live your life later but what if you die tomorrow? You’ve got to learn how to live life in the moment and still work towards the future.”

Here are some questions you can ask yourself so you get out of the hustle mentality:

1. Do you spend more than 70% a day (24 hrs) on tasks non related to your well-being? Studies have shown that spending time for yourself; including sleeping, grooming, learning, exercise and nature walks increase the quality of your mental state.

2. Would you do the work for free? Most likely the answer you chose is no. You’re either doing the work you’re doing because you need money or it pays you well. If you’re doing it for money then you are essentially trading your life for money. The reason you are at your job could be one or a combination of these factors. Mostly it’s about taking home an income and the possibility of growing in one’s career…

3. But how many of us actually take the time to plan for how to achieve these career aspirations? How many of us have strategies in place to get us where we want to go?

The reason I am posing these questions is not to make you feel terrible about yourself. It’s just because I’ve been there and I want to open your eyes.

We tend to quickly get comfortable with the status quo and lose the hunger for greatness. Unfortunately, in the absence of this hunger, one is left with no drive to strategize for great things. You need to lay down strategies for how to position yourself as a relevant being in this new economy.

In addition, if you put yourself 1st, know your wants and needs everything else flows. It’s rewarding when you decide to “stop hearing the noise” and focus on your own alignment- your own needs. Trust me, you will be more successful and will be living a happier life.

Thanks for reading!

xoxo,

Cristina