For ambitious young professionals, hustle is the fuel. It’s the mantra for hoodie-wearing developers. It’s the secret ingredient to closing deals. It’s the drug for serial entrepreneurs.
Side hustle, main hustle and work hustle. We hustle to make it big, get rich, and succeed.
Hustle is amazing.
Or is it?
In my professional capacity, I work with a lot of startups entrepreneurs, developers, and young professionals–people who hustle.
I love to hustle and to be able to share the energy of others who hustle. My Instagram feed is full of inspirational hustle harder quotes, often with a background image featuring a very expensive car.
I have been known to get up at 4am and use the coffee weapon to hustle all day. I’ve read the 10X Rule, and I listen to podcasts. Hustle is good. The result of hustle — profit and progress — feels good.
There is a danger in the hustle. It loses its meaning when we promote hustle. Hustle must have a purpose beyond its own.
If we hustle badly, we can easily become discouraged and disillusioned.
Worse, hustle can lead you to workaholism, a destructive disease. I’ll explain this below.
If you’re a hustler, I applaud you. We share a passion for hustle.
Let’s keep it under control, even though we hustle.
Here’s why.
Too much of any one thing is a bad idea.
I have four children. One thing I try to teach my children is that too much of any one thing is a bad idea.
Children tend to hear the “too many” warnings about screen time, candy, or other things. My children have heard it so many more times than I can count that they are now finished the sentence when I say, “too little of anything …””.
We read together books like The Berenstain Bears, Too Much TV, Too Much Junk Food and Too Much Birthday.
It’s a simple lesson. Too much of any thing is a problem.
Adults learn to control their excessive intake of alcohol, coffee and junk food, as well as Netflix and material possessions. They also learn to exercise, rest, and manage their physical activity.
Why? Because too much of any one thing is bad.
The same applies to hustle.
Hustle is acceptable, just as birthdays are okay, TV and occasional indulgences in double stuf Oreos is okay (maybe not okay).
Too much hustle can lead to major problems.
One example of this major problem is workaholism. Workaholism.
Workaholism can be dangerous
Workaholism is not included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
It’s still there, even though it’s not identified.
Workaholism is one of many other issues. Workaholism is classified as an addiction. The DSM-5’s complex classification system has helped to blur the line between addictive behavior and behavioral addictions. Source: PLoS One, “The Relationships Between Workaholism And Symptoms Of Psychiatric Disorders” by Daisuke Nishi.
What does this all mean for workaholism This means that workaholism could be a dangerous addiction.
Workaholics are also at greater risk for psychological maladies. What are the most common maladies?
ADHD
Anxiety
OCD
Depression
This will undoubtedly bring up the whole correlation vs. causality question. Are these mental illnesses caused by workaholism or workaholism itself?
According to the research, workaholism was the dependent variable in a three step linear multiple hierarchical regression analysis.
This means that workaholism is to blame. It is the cause and not the effect of psychiatric disorders.
It is obvious that workaholism has serious consequences.
The real question is, what can we do about it?
The difference between workaholism and hustle (boo! hustle (yay!)
What is the difference between a healthy hustle or a dangerous addiction? Are you hustling in the right way or a workaholic-king?
It doesn’t matter how frustrating it is.
It all depends on what your p.
