When is enough, enough?
TLDR: Don't let hustle culture make you feel like you are not enough, just like diet culture, the toxic message that these movements have in common is that you can't be happy with where you're at and should always be striving to be better.
Lately, I've been reflecting on the narrative surrounding 'side hustles'. Just like in diet culture, where we are constantly told that we're not enough the way we are, our bodies should be on the never ending quest to achieve an illustrious and every changing definition of beauty, hustle culture feeds this idea that all our time should be spent grinding, and that no hobby is worth pursuing unless you can attribute a monetary value too it.
Where diet culture establishes the pursuit of thinness as a moral virtue, hustle culture glorifies overworking, constantly grinding, and sacrificing self-care for the sake of achieving success. Hustle culture can lead to feelings of burnout and stess. Despite this, it continues to be promoted and even celebrated in many circles.
But we have to ask ourselves, when is enough, enough? We can't get swept away in the messages that we have to be monetizing our efforts constantly. Life is busy enough with a full time job and just existing - groceries, laundry, rinse repeat - add into that family and relationships, when are we supposed to have time to endlessly produce. What happened to free time, and pursuing hobbies with no end goal?
The reality is, in a cost of living crisis, where a lot of people are struggling, the message that hustle culture tells people is that you could afford more if you made more money by just 'hustling' on the side. When people can't afford to live on a full time wage, it's not the individual's fault, it's the system's.
Now this may sound hypocritical being written by someone for their own website which is by nature a side gig, however there is a distinction between side projects and side hustles. pg is not and will never be a 'hustle'. Pg was born out of a desire to co-create, it is a passion project that has brought me energy as oppose to using energy, it is a space to live and share our values and in that respect it is a healthy pursuit. So I'm not saying that side hustles are unhealthy, my point is that the entrepreneurial pressure that hustle culture creates for everything to be attributed to a monetary value is at the very cost of entrepreneurial thinking, it stunts creativity and leaves people feeling less than. Exactly like diet culture.
PG takeaway - you are already enough. Don't let hustle culture make you feel like you're not successful enough or working hard enough. If you're in a position of privilege that affords you free time, spend it in pursuit of whatever brings you joy and purpose.
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