There are dozens of ideas that people are sold every day, be it through Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat or whatever other social media people adhere to. One of these ideas is the “Rise and Grind” or “Hustle Culture” mindset.
Generally speaking, the term Hustle Culture refers to the idea that in order to be successful, people need to work harder and longer hours at their job and forgo doing things that do not directly relate to a paycheck. This can include working multiple jobs. A large part of Hustle Culture includes a diminishing need for self care and taking time for oneself, because there will be plenty of time for such things when someone reaches peak success.
The notion that working strenuous hours will eventually pay off might work for some people, but leaving little time for rest and relaxation will eventually take its toll. Especially when the people selling the idea of the Rise and Grind mindset are not working in the traditional nine to five workplace themselves. A quick examination of one individual who promotes the Rise and Grind mentality exposes that what these people are selling is not going to yield success for the average person, but actually bolsters their own reputation in some manner and creates the perfect capitalist follower out of the average employee.
Ed Mylett is a self-proclaimed entrepreneur who is by all means successful. He has two published books in his name, The Power of One More: The Ultimate Guide to Happiness and Success and #Maxout Your Life. Mylett also has a podcast and a YouTube channel where, according to his bio, “You’ll find motivation, inspiration and practical steps to help you become the best version of you!”
Some advice given by Mylett is practical and generally common sense. For example, in his YouTube video entitled Why ‘Work-Life Balance’ is Keeping You Miserable (and What to do about it), Mylett states that people simply need to be present and focused on the task at hand and leave that task behind when they move on to a new one. This advice is in no way extraordinary or groundbreaking.
In a more divisive clip from a YouTube account entitled EntreLeadership, Mylett states that he has “changed and manipulated time,” by breaking his day into six hour increments rather than a full 24 hours.
“My first day starts from 6:00 a.m. to noon,” Mylett said. “And then day two goes off, this little clock goes off in my head at about noon every day, and then day two starts until 6:00 p.m. 6:00 p.m. to midnight is the third day.”
If we break down what Mylett has said, and do some math, we can see that he has not accounted for a full six-hour block of time if we are considering the 24-hour day. This is likely the time Mylett would spend sleeping, and because sleeping is not productive, it is not considered part of his day.
In the same video, Mylett says people who do follow along with the 24-hour day are living a life that is archaic. Shaming of people who are following the standard system of time in the United States and most other countries globally is just another way of making people feel inferior as a tactic for selling the hustle mindset.
The reality is, Mylett is not manipulating time; he is setting deadlines for himself earlier in the day and calling it the end of his day to accomplish more within a day of work. What he is really doing, is managing his time in a different manner. Once again, this advice is not radical, it is simply having the ability to manage time.
While not all of Mylett’s advice is inherently bad, his main strategies are simple pieces of advice, wrapped in pretty packaging and big words in order to seem like a new radical way of thinking that will change everyone’s lives.
Not only that, but Mylett’s business model primarily boosts his own success. If taking his advice helps an individual, Mylett gains credibility and that individual’s success is completely credited to Mylett and not their own merits or hard work. If that individual is not successful even with the teachings of Mylett, it is by their own lack of work ethic and inability to “hustle.”
In general, the advice of Mylett, and other grind set individuals creates the perfect capitalist zombie, who puts all their effort and energy into work and none into their personal lives.
Not only is the advice of grind set individuals impractical, it can lead to mental health issues. According to a study published by The Journal of Emergency Medicine, of one million attempted suicides by overdose, most occur on Sunday and Monday. While researchers cannot directly correlate these suicide attempts to the beginning of the week and a return to work, there has to be some reason people choose these two days in particular.
Another example of how working too hard can have a negative impact on mental health is the Japanese phenomenon known as Karoshi. Karoshi refers to Japanese workers working themselves to death. Death in this context can refer to a number of things, including heart attack or stroke caused by extreme stress, or suicide directly related to overworking oneself. It may seem inconsequential, but stress from work can literally kill. According to an article published by the American Heart Association, “Over an average 18 years of follow-up, employees who said they experienced high job strain had an 83% higher risk of developing AFib than their peers who didn’t experience job strain.” Strain on the heart is only one potential risk of falling into hustle culture.
Not only that, but the grind set minded individuals do not live the same lives as most people. They earn their money by selling the idea that you can be like them. While they sell books and monetize YouTube videos, others work jobs that require manual labor. No matter how hard one works to achieve their goals, taking advice from someone who does not understand or have the same experiences as them will not lead down the path of success, and might even lead them in the opposite direction.
