In times where motivation and advice are abundant on people’s social media captions and the various Instagram posts. I learned some valuable advice. Yep, in a sea full of half-baked and shot in the dark quotes targeting the vulnerable and confused bunch. I found something which touched my heart.
As a young adult, I have my moment of doubt. Yes, despite being from the field of psychology. I have moments where I question my worth even after working a lot. In those moments I feel even more vulnerable looking at my peers and the random strangers on the internet. All those people seem to be doing much better than me. People who seem to have achieved it all while all I seem to do is slog around.
I needed some validation and reassurance, and it came in the form of a post I saw on social media. I don’t know who said this or its source, but it goes like this.
“Hustle Culture is making people in their 20s feel like they are running out of time”
It hit me hard. What about you?
It seems that if you don’t get that awesome job by 23 or own a house by the time you are at a certain age you do not have any worth. The pace of everything in life is it education, job or anything has increased so much that it feels unnerving sometimes. Hustle culture is making many young people in their 20s feel that they don’t have time and pushing them in pressure some pit of frustration.
What is hustle culture?
Hustle Culture is when individuals let one aspect of their life dominate the others. Mostly it is about work and career dominating the life and enjoy part of one’s lives. It makes one feel that they have to ignore the other parts of life to be successful or to achieve their goal. Hustle culture takes a toll on a person’s mental health often leaving them frustrated and overwhelmed. It has also been the cause of anxiety and depression in many people. Young adults and more vulnerable and the cutthroat competition is only fuelling the fire.
Hustle culture is many of us go through where one might feel that they need to achieve things quickly. It is an environment where people might feel the pressure to climb the social ladder quickly and would feel pressured looking at others who seem to make it big. In turn, ignoring all other aspects of life beyond work.
Although the literal meaning of hustle is to push roughly or to shove. It has been widely used to denote the pressure induced upon people to be successful or competent while ignoring mental health.
So, how to know if you are affected by hustle culture?
Read below the statement and look for the signs which resonate with you.
- You feel pressurised looking at others’ achievement
- The need to say ‘yes’ to all the tasks, even when you have too much to do
- Ignoring the life beyond work
- Believing that being busy always is better
- Being sleep-deprived for most days due to work
- Working for long hours for almost no benefits
- No clear boundaries between work and life
- Sceptical to take a leave or day-off
If you nod yes to most of them, then voila! You are trapped in the hustle culture.
Now what-
So, coming back to my original thought of how I learnt a lesson. Which was-
Many people feel the same way as I do. They like me are also trying to figure it out.
I might not have it figured out or not be in a position where I wanted to be academically or career-wise. But that is all right.
So, if you feel like this. Then know that it makes sense and many young adults feel the same way.
Stay tuned for the next articles where I’ll try to touch upon some tips and techniques to cope with this issue.
Image source- www.pixabay.com
