THE ANTI-ANTI HUSTLE
the anti-anti hustle.
I have a problem with the anti-hustle culture.
I think that it’s hurting you as an early-stage entrepreneur, and sets unrealistic expectations around what it actually takes to succeed.
The anti-hustle rhetoric supports an easy business life. It sees long hours as damaging and resilience as toxic. It encourages you to lean away from discomfort, without recognising that normally within discomfort, lies growth.
It has you believing that you can be successful without putting in the legwork.
Before I get too many of you offside, I’ll start by saying this.
I do not believe that burnout is the price you have to pay for success.
I do not believe that mental illness is the price you have to pay for success.
I do not believe that sacrificing everything that brings you joy is the price you have to pay for success.
But here's the cold, hard truth that your favourite mindset coach won't tell you…
Hard work usually is the price you have to pay for success.
To dismiss this is damaging to not only your psyche, but also your career trajectory.
Here’s what I truly believe…. Anti-hustle is the pathway to mediocrity.
I want to switch up the narrative and remind people that there is JOY in hard work. In working your ass off to achieve something great, and then having something wonderful to show at the end of it. Because the old saying is true… Great things don’t come easily.
If they did, we’d all be millionaires.
YOU SIMPLY DON’T ACHIEVE GREATNESS BY DOING THE BARE MINIMUM.
You achieve greatness by putting in the work. Not indefinitely, of course. Rest and recovery are vital. But actually doing the legwork? Undertaking tasks you don’t enjoy? Committing to some late nights to meet deadlines? Going above and beyond to make clients happy? These are all required to succeed in business.
I’m yet to find anyone who can prove me otherwise. If you think you can, please let me know… I would (genuinely) love to hear from you.
And yes, I know there are countless coaches and mentors on IG that will tell you that you can make 6-7 figures by working a couple of hours a day… but to this, I suggest two things:
They have already done the hard work to get themselves in a position where they can actually do that (by charging high prices for low hours, or developing enough passive income products to sustain them)
ORThey are straight-up bullshitting you so you pay them to teach you their (fake) magic.
I’m not saying you have to work hard 24/7 for eternity. I’m just saying that you have to be WILLING to work hard in the early stages if you really want to make it.
MY DARLING GRANDMA REMINDS ME THAT THERE ARE SEASONS IN LIFE AND IN BUSINESS.
Right now, I’m in a season of balance, motherhood and travelling.
If you’ve just come off the back of a big launch, you might be in rest season.
If you’re starting a biz or launching something big, you’re probably in hustle season. And you should not be made to feel bad about that… In fact, you should feel f*cking proud that you’re working to achieve something great.
Whatever business season you find yourself in, I hope you make it a good one.
So, with that… I’m off to have a wine and watch Love is Blind.
