Passion Struck with John R. Miles - Why Hustle Culture Is Toxic (And How to Break Free From It) EP 70

Episode Date: October 8, 2021

In this Momentum Friday episode of the passion struck podcast, John R. Miles discusses a critical topic. It is one he considers to be one of the main culprits leading to over 85% of the world’s workers becoming disengaged and complacent in their jobs. What is that topic, the hustle culture, why it is toxic, and more importantly, what can you do to break out of it? Like this? Please subscribe, and join me on my new platform for peak performance, life coaching, and personal growth: https://passionstruck.com/. New Interviews with the World’s GREATEST high achievers will be posted every Tuesday with a Momentum Friday inspirational message! Show Notes 0:00 Intro 2:28 We are taught hustle culture is the path to success 4:22 Why hustle culture is performative workaholism 5:48 Hustle culture leads to dysfunctional behaviors 6:45 Hustle culture is Fueled by greed 8:26 The link between social media and hustle culture 10:12 Hustle culture thrives on negativity 13:25 Theory of equivalent exchange 16:03 How to escape hustle culture ENGAGE WITH JOHN R. MILES * Subscribe to my channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/JohnRMiles * Leave a comment, 5-star rating (please!) * Support me: https://johnrmiles.com * Twitter: https://twitter.com/Milesjohnr * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Johnrmiles.c0m. * Medium: https://medium.com/@JohnRMiles​ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/john_r_miles ABOUT JOHN R. MILES * https://johnrmiles.com/my-story/ * Guides: https://johnrmiles.com/blog/ * Coaching: https://passionstruck.com/coaching/ * Speaking: https://johnrmiles.com/speaking-business-transformation/ * Gear: https://www.zazzle.com/store/passion_struck PASSION STRUCK *Subscribe to Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-passion-struck-podcast/id1553279283 *Website: https://passionstruck.com/ *About: https://passionstruck.com/about-passionstruck-johnrmiles/ *Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/passion_struck_podcast *LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/passionstruck *Blog: https://passionstruck.com/blog/

Welcome to Momentum Friday, an episode 70 of the Passion Start podcast, and today I'm going to talk to you about an extremely important topic. One that I think is one of the main culprits that is leading to over 85% of the world's workers becoming disengaged and complacent in their jobs. What is that topic? The hustle culture and why it is making you miserable. And more importantly, what you can do to break out of it. But before I go into today's episode, I did wanna highlight a couple of things.

One is on our website, passionstruck.com, especially if you're a new listener, we are now releasing starter packs on the podcast page, which are links to some of our most popular episodes that are topical so that you can get into this podcast and it will help you from being passion stuck to becoming passion struck. And also to do that, I wanted to call out our YouTube channel at John R. Miles, which now has over 5,500 subscribers and well over 325,000 downloads.

On that channel, you will find over 180 different videos that we have put in different playlists to make them more consumable. They range from long form full podcast episodes to shorter segments we call mindset moments aimed at giving you 2-5 minutes of a daily dose of inspiration. I hope you will subscribe to that YouTube channel if you haven't yet and also to this podcast. Thank you as always for helping us on our mission to bring passion to millions worldwide. Now let's get on with today's episode and becoming PassionStruck. Welcome visionaries, creators, innovators, entrepreneurs, leaders, and growth seekers of all types

to the passion struck podcast. Hi, I'm John Miles, a peak performance coach, multi industry CEO, Navy veteran, and entrepreneur on a mission to make passion go viral for millions worldwide. In each week, I do so by sharing with you an inspirational message and interviewing high achievers from all walks of life who unlock their secrets and

lessons to become an action-struck. The purpose of our show is to serve you the listener by giving you tips, tasks, and activities you can use to achieve peak performance and for two, a passion- driven life you have always wanted to have. Now, let's become passion star. We are growing up in a society where we're taught from a very young age that the hustle culture is the pathway to success. Saying's like go hard or go home. Good things happen to those who hustle. And hustle beats talent when talent doesn't hustle are all too common. This is amplified by social media and influencers like Gary Vannarchuk, who give the advice that without hustle, your talent will only cure you so far.

And TV personalities like Ryan C Seacrest, who offer this advice, mine's a pretty simple strategy. There's not a lot of talent here. I have to be in every place I can and be busy. All around us, all we hear is hustle. Work harder, put in the extra hours, and for so many years, I bought into this culture. And I worked 60 to 100 hour weeks for years upon years. And in the short term, it did bring me success. But do you know what happened over time? My health, friendships, and family relationships, all were significantly impacted. I found myself depressed and extremely burned out.

Don't you think there's more to life than this constant grind we find ourselves in? Don't you get so overwhelmed like I do in this fast-paced world of doing what is urgent versus what is important? We're on every corner you turn. There's competition in every walk of life. Are you feeling pressured by this community

to always put in more work and take on more than you can possibly handle? If any of this resonates with you, you are not the only one who feels this way. Today, companies are filled with leaders selling the hustle culture, continuously targeting our weaknesses and tapping into negative emotions.

This is a culture where leaders like Elon Musk are the poster boy. He has spoken on the record countless times and often recommends an 80 hour sustained work week peaking at about 100 hours' mentality. Said another way, this is performative workaholism. Now, let's explore what hustle culture is, why it's causing so many of us to be miserable,

and why it's being kept alive by those who see hard work as a lifestyle choice and the only way to move ahead. So what is this hustle culture? It is a highly toxic culture that functions in the idea that overworking is the only way to be successful and earn respect. It generally can be thought of as a fast-moving environment that encourages long working hours and a restless sense of striving to exceed expectations, meaning leaders, brainwash, us into thinking it isn't enough. If you aren't working 24 by 7, then you are deemed a failure. This hustle culture leads into so many dysfunctional

behaviors, resulting in the fear of appearing incompetent to other executives or other peers. These dysfunctional behaviors include a reduction in the honest conversations that we're having, an increase in political game playing, siloed thinking, a lack of employees taking ownership and the toleration of destructive behaviors. Consider the City University of New York report on hustle culture and the implications of our workforce. It found that unknowingly, CEOs can establish a hustle culture within an organization from their insecurities as a leader, and it's something that happens all the time. I've seen it in multiple companies that I've worked in. The study went on to say that CEOs as well

are subject to forms of covering or said otherwise, imposter syndrome. As a result of continually having to prove their ability to lead despite prior accomplishments. This culture is fueled by greed, the feeling of wanting more by working more, even if it harms employees mental, physical, and spiritual health. A recent 2019 study examined the effect of long-term working hours and over time on occupational health. During this study, the researchers went through over 243 published records over a 20-year period from 1998 to 2018. Their study

concluded that employees working long hours were vulnerable to suffering from diverse occupational health problems. As Eric From said, greed is a bottomless pit, which exhausts the person in an endless pursuit to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction. So it begs the question, if hustle, culture makes one's life miserable and unhealthy, why are so many millions of people

falling prey to a daily? What is it about hustle culture that people find so attractive that they continue to buy into it? So let's first tackle how does hustle culture make your life miserable? The 2021 Thinnerty report on hustle culture and the burnout generation found that 83.8 of the survey responders found that working overtime is normal. It went on further to say that 69.6% of the respondents work regularly on weekends, but most alarming 60.8% of them felt guilt-ridden when they don't put in the extra hours at work. And a huge reason for this hustle culture rest in social media. It doesn't take long to see how social media and influencers glamorize the hustle culture

with all sorts of luxuries, from fine clothes to private jets and so much more. The people behind all of this are doing it to brainwash you into wanting what it is perceived that they have wealth, respect, power and whatnot. They don't go into the path that you have to take to get it, nor the compromises you have to make. And by doing it in the way that they go about it, it limits our brand's capacity to understand reality and misleads us into fascinating about the market reward. They succeed because they only show you

what they want you to believe and not the negative impacts on your quality of life, relationships, and most importantly, your health. Now, I don't mean that wealth and luxury and other things aren't goals that we should strive for, but there is a limit to everything. You have to be self-aware of the path that you're on to achieve it. If it's full of suffering and has tremendous negative impact on your quality of life, then is it really worth pursuing it?

It's a matter of common understanding that the journey brings more joy than what lies ahead. So you must choose it wisely. This is one reason why most victims of hustle culture give up on their dreams. Why? Because they burn out to the point that they become numb and hopeless.

Exactly what ended up happening to me in my own life. Hustle culture thrives on negativity. One of the tricks people selling the hustle culture make us think is that they are nothing without the hustle. It's that hustle that inherently makes them successful people. They do that instead of encouraging people to pursue their passion through self-confidence, self-awareness, habits, action stacking, and ambition. Instead, they target your negative emotions. They exploit your fear,

and greed, and all the negativity that they can find to buy into their vague ideas. First, they make you feel like you are so full of problems, and then offer you solutions to help you solve them. Things like buy our course, subscribe now, and be a better version of yourself. And so many more. If you ask me, this is all utter BS. If something is making you compare yourself to others or makes you angry and envious, it's probably not suitable for you. I personally believe in having a positive approach all the time and that that is one of the absolute keys to success. Did you know that Forbes Magazine recently cited that 70% of individuals who do personal development,

masterminds, and one-on-one coaching, benefited from better work performance, increased communication skills, and overall better relationships. And we at PassionStruct are obsessed with self-development, coaching, and mentorship. That is why we've created a free resource to help you unlock your hidden potential. Because people doing great things in business and life are just like you,

only they've had a coach along the way. And we've got that covered too. Let us show you the systems and frameworks that we teach, both minded individuals to help them step into their sharp edges, execute on their passion journeys and get predictable results time and time again. Go to passionstruck.com slash coaching right now and let's get igniting. Another common thing that I find about the hustle culture is that it is no skills and just hack. What I mean by that is that the hustle culture promotes

tricks and hacks to acquire things instead of acquiring them through skills and knowledge. Whether it is your boss or social media, those behind it get you into thinking that if you just drag on with the hours, you will end up prospering, rising up the chain of command and getting rich rewards. In the end though, the time you wasted plotting schemes and finding shortcuts was futile. Instead, you could have been utilizing that time to sharpen your skills and get something productive out of it. Tricks and shortcuts are never going to give you

the sense of accomplishment that you get from doing it with hard work, perseverance, and building upon habits and actions every single day. The hustle culture also creates an illusion of more time, more yield. And what do I mean by that? The hustle culture functions on the theory of equivalent exchange, meaning the more you put into work, the more will be the yield.

Therefore, through grinding and hustle only, will you find success? You can think of this as the ratio of input to output is one to one. And there are so many studies that are out there that indicate the fallacy of this thinking. Because let's face it, success isn't relative to the time you put into work. And more and more facts are coming out on how long hours are actually backfiring for companies and the people that they employ. These studies further find if you work too hard you can lose sight of the big picture. Research has suggested that as we burn out we have a greater tendency to get lost in the weeds. I personally believe that eight hours of sincere and solid work, efficiency produces more yield than 16 hours of half-hearted work.

And as we get more and more into this freelance world that we're in today, the risk of getting into hustle culture becomes even more increased. Because when you are freelancing, you are prone to working even more hours than you would if you were in a normal job. But if you are working efficiently, then you don't have to hustle to achieve success. In fact, Stanford universities, John Penn-Ccavo found that productivity per hour declines sharply when a person works more than 50 hours in a week.

After 55 hours, productivity drops so much that putting in any more time is pointless. And this list goes on and on. In fact, the harmful effects of hustle culture if counted are unimaginable. So that begs the question, what can we do to escape this? Can we even escape this? Or are we just to accept this as a necessary evil? Can a person be successful if they aren't part of hustle

culture? The resounding answer is yes. Success isn't just monetary or materialistic. There are different kinds of success. The key I have found is to live a balanced life. For me, a life full of happiness and satisfaction is success. Now, let's talk about how to escape the clutches of this hustle culture. The first step you need to take is to pause and denormalize.

This starts by conducting an audit of the toxic people, whom you are interacting with, and the activities and habits that you are doing on a regular basis. You can start to figure out what these actions, people, and habits that you were doing on a regular basis. You can start to figure out what these actions, people and habits are by asking yourself the following questions. What are the current causes of my stress, unbalance, or dissatisfaction? How are they affecting how I perform

and engage in my job? Are these factors impacting my personal life? Am I prioritizing my life appropriately? What am I sacrificing by working so hard and what is getting impacted by it? Is it your health? Is it your mental health? Is it your physical health?

Is it your spiritual health? Is it your relationships? The list goes on and on. I think it is so funny when they call the hustle culture a lifestyle. I mean, let's be honest here, I don't see any life in it at all. Do you? In fact, to me, it provides the most lifeless lifestyle that there is. So once you become self-aware of your current situation, you've got to examine how that situation makes you feel. Are you energized, fulfilled, and satisfied?

Or do you feel indifferent, fatigue, depressed? You have to evaluate yourself. You're the only one who can do this. Ask yourself, do I feel like I'm living a robotic life? Am I stuck in an endless loop of grind? These questions will help you determine where you stand. Increasing your awareness of the situation provides you the toolbox to put things into perspective

and determine how your priorities need to be realigned. Ask yourself these questions. What is the most valuable thing to you in your life? How do you want to spend your days and what brings you fulfillment? Is what you are working for, worth it, and the impacts that go along with it? What brings positivity and joy in your life?

What are you passionate about? What is that thing that you consider your lasting success? You have to answer all of these questions because no one knows you better than you know yourself. And once you have finished answering all these questions, only then will you realize that life has so much more meaning than just the grind. But now that you have done all this self-awareness, the most important thing that you can do is take action. Step into those sharp edges of your life. Create a cycle of continuous re-evaluation and self-improvement. Do this by looking at your habits and stacking them.

This is especially important if you are under the overpowering influence of a culture that expects long work hours. Because when that is the case, it's not difficult to get back into the grind as business as usual. And I hope my message today has answered many of the listener's questions who asked me to do this episode. And if there is a topic that you would like me to cover, like today's episode, or a certain person, you would like to see me interview. Please DM me at John, our miles on Instagram, or contact us at info at passionstruck.com. Thank you so much for joining this passionstruck community

for helping us grow this movement. It is up to you to move from being passion-stocked to becoming passion-struck, and I know you can do it. Thank you so much for joining us. The purpose of our show is to make passion go viral. And we do that by sharing with you the knowledge and skills that you need to unlock your hidden potential. If you want to hear more please subscribe to the Passion Start podcast on Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher or wherever you listen to your podcast ad. And if you absolutely love this episode we'd

appreciate a five-star rating on iTunes and you sharing it with three of your most growth-minded friends so they can post it as well to their social accounts and help us grow our passion start community. If you'd like to learn more about the show and our mission you can go to passionstruck.com where you can sign up for our newsletter look at our tools and also download the show notes for today's episode. Additionally you can listen to us every Tuesday and Friday for even more inspiring content. And remember, make a choice, work hard, and step into your sharp edges. Thank you again for joining us. you