4 ms·

Why I Stopped Hustling

19 points by AliCollins 9y ago

bsg75 9y ago
"Hustle" is just a ploy for founders to get startup employees to work harder not smarter towards making the founders successful in the short term, at the expense of both employee well being and the long term health of the business. Its not a strategy, its a game.
- sdflkd 9y ago
  You can hustle and not have it be related to working for someone else. You're thinking too small.
  - bsg75 9y ago
    I was commenting on the common context for HN articles. One can definitely hustle for personal growth. I have to do that every day to keep up with the ever changing technology landscape. However, when I hear it from a CEO or startup founder, it translates into help them to grow, were I would be the fertilizer. This is the principal reason "startup" is a warning term for me personally. > You're thinking too small. Once bitten...
Harkins 9y ago
> Here’s a simple question: should you follow the same diet and training regimen as an olympic bodybuilder? Bodybuilding is an aesthetic competition, not an Olympic sport. The Olympic sport is weightlifting. (And that picture is definitely a bodybuilder, not a weightlifter.)
- revicon 9y ago
  > Bodybuilding is an aesthetic competition, not an Olympic sport. I personally agree with you but it's a controversial topic: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodybuilding#Olympic_sport_discussion https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodybuilding#Olympic_sport_d...
  - Harkins 9y ago
    I had no idea there was an argument around the topic, I was just nitpicking about a hobby. Thanks for the link.
atemerev 9y ago
"Hustling" is not the same as working hard. In fact, it can be the very opposite of it at times. Hustling is always looking for the new opportunities, saying "no" to bad ones and saying "yes" to important ones. When you work hard and single-focused, you tend to ignore the incoming opportunities to achieve the quality of life you want.
ryandrake 9y ago
Personally, I've always been a big fan of "hustling." I have made a conscious effort to always be hustling, especially at work. I try to bring hustle to everything I do. Skip the coffee break. Forget hanging out by the water cooler. Follow up promptly. Even little things like how quickly I walk from meeting to meeting. I look around my company and just see people moping apathetically, like they have all the time in the world. My game is: Try to move fast and do a good job even when nobody is looking/measuring. It's a character trait. I firmly believe things like hustle, grit, and backbone are the few tools that normal, working class non-super-talented people such as myself can use to even have a shot at evening the field against the already-privileged and already-talented people who take everything for granted. I'm nowheres near where I wished I'd be career-wise at 40, but I credit how far I've managed to claw my way, mainly to luck but otherwise to internalizing the importance of hustle.

19 points by AliCollins 9y ago

"Hustle" is just a ploy for founders to get startup employees to work harder not smarter towards making the founders successful in the short term, at the expense of both employee well being and the long term health of the business. Its not a strategy, its a game.

sdflkd 9y ago
You can hustle and not have it be related to working for someone else. You're thinking too small.
- bsg75 9y ago
  I was commenting on the common context for HN articles. One can definitely hustle for personal growth. I have to do that every day to keep up with the ever changing technology landscape. However, when I hear it from a CEO or startup founder, it translates into help them to grow, were I would be the fertilizer. This is the principal reason "startup" is a warning term for me personally. > You're thinking too small. Once bitten...

Harkins 9y ago

> Here’s a simple question: should you follow the same diet and training regimen as an olympic bodybuilder? Bodybuilding is an aesthetic competition, not an Olympic sport. The Olympic sport is weightlifting. (And that picture is definitely a bodybuilder, not a weightlifter.)

revicon 9y ago
> Bodybuilding is an aesthetic competition, not an Olympic sport. I personally agree with you but it's a controversial topic: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodybuilding#Olympic_sport_discussion https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodybuilding#Olympic_sport_d...
- Harkins 9y ago
  I had no idea there was an argument around the topic, I was just nitpicking about a hobby. Thanks for the link.

atemerev 9y ago

"Hustling" is not the same as working hard. In fact, it can be the very opposite of it at times. Hustling is always looking for the new opportunities, saying "no" to bad ones and saying "yes" to important ones. When you work hard and single-focused, you tend to ignore the incoming opportunities to achieve the quality of life you want.

ryandrake 9y ago

Personally, I've always been a big fan of "hustling." I have made a conscious effort to always be hustling, especially at work. I try to bring hustle to everything I do. Skip the coffee break. Forget hanging out by the water cooler. Follow up promptly. Even little things like how quickly I walk from meeting to meeting. I look around my company and just see people moping apathetically, like they have all the time in the world. My game is: Try to move fast and do a good job even when nobody is looking/measuring. It's a character trait. I firmly believe things like hustle, grit, and backbone are the few tools that normal, working class non-super-talented people such as myself can use to even have a shot at evening the field against the already-privileged and already-talented people who take everything for granted. I'm nowheres near where I wished I'd be career-wise at 40, but I credit how far I've managed to claw my way, mainly to luck but otherwise to internalizing the importance of hustle.