I feel like the workaholic culture defies everything we understand about modern productivity and I am surprised it is so celebrated in other cultures. I wonder

I feel like the workaholic culture defies everything we understand about modern productivity and I am surprised it is so celebrated in other cultures. I wonder if it is more about not raising quality of living TOO high, as opposed to actual competitive concerns. For me, I see my work and life as a balance of sharpening the axe and cutting through the tree. I practice mindfulness a lot and am constantly trying to optimize my mood and life to stay efficient and happy. I take care of myself in my down-time, and during work hours I execute ruthlessly. This has always worked well for me. I consistently receive excellence awards at work, get large promotions and raises, and have never been put on a PIP or fired. A CEO at a company I worked at once said of me "I wish we could clone honkycat 5 times to fill these positions." Not to brag. Just establishing that I perform well at work. Overall my motto is "4 good hours" of deep work a day will keep me in the green performance-wise. So what is the reasoning of this culture? Am I just mistaken?