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the "CEO Grindset" or "daily routine" stuff I see on Youtube and Medium has always struck me as a sort of peacocking for a certain level of the office crowd. I

the "CEO Grindset" or "daily routine" stuff I see on Youtube and Medium has always struck me as a sort of peacocking for a certain level of the office crowd. I once worked a construction equipment maintenance job. Basically we'd roll out of bed at 5 am, climb into a big truck, and drive out to wherever someone called us to fix everything from dump trucks to excavators. I cant remember a consistent day, ever. Some mornings its pouring rain and breakfast is a slim jim from the truck stop. Other days youre driving so much it hardly feels like anything is getting done. I started making lunch about calorie counts instead of time of day, and eventually got to just taking a couple of cliff bars for lunch tucked into my overalls. I guess coffee was consistent. we filled four thermoses at the truck stop and that used to cost us about $20. after we fixed the air hose in the parking lot we got all our coffee free. i digress. I didnt have a routine, no "stoic virtue" stuff. the only thing i did religiously was the vehicle check in the morning. People who obsess over a pattern or "grindset" in life rarely do the work necessary to fulfill the ethic of that said routine. They miss the forest for the trees. Theres way more meaning and reward to being adaptable and resilient than there is in worshipping a pattern or coddling a routine.

jimbokun 2y ago
I think what you've hit upon, for those of us with enough privilege to set out own schedule and priorities, it takes mental effort and will power to do what less privileged people do just as a matter of necessity. You didn't have to psyche yourself up to wake at 5am, because you had external forces setting that requirement for you. If you set your own schedule and work remotely or what have you, getting up at 5am is an act of will.
rchaud 2y ago
I think the audience for those types of videos skew young, as in college kids and new graduates without much real experience. All they know about the working world is mostly second-hand knowledge from their network, or straight from Youtube and TV. Unfortunately, there is a whole genre of "Day in the Life Of [my job role]" Youtube channels that rack up millions of views. They are made for entertainment, not edification, so hoping to learn something end up focusing on the superficial parts of it.
- ryandrake 2y ago
  The Grindset Motivational Speaker industry and Hustle Culture are mostly selling warmed over sports metaphors to young adults still clinging to shit that was important in high school. The stuff in their seminars and videos are straight from your high school football coach. They might as well be talking entirely in vague sports platitudes like "no pain no gain!" and "just do it!" and "never give up!"

jimbokun 2y ago

I think what you've hit upon, for those of us with enough privilege to set out own schedule and priorities, it takes mental effort and will power to do what less privileged people do just as a matter of necessity. You didn't have to psyche yourself up to wake at 5am, because you had external forces setting that requirement for you. If you set your own schedule and work remotely or what have you, getting up at 5am is an act of will.

rchaud 2y ago

I think the audience for those types of videos skew young, as in college kids and new graduates without much real experience. All they know about the working world is mostly second-hand knowledge from their network, or straight from Youtube and TV. Unfortunately, there is a whole genre of "Day in the Life Of [my job role]" Youtube channels that rack up millions of views. They are made for entertainment, not edification, so hoping to learn something end up focusing on the superficial parts of it.

ryandrake 2y ago
The Grindset Motivational Speaker industry and Hustle Culture are mostly selling warmed over sports metaphors to young adults still clinging to shit that was important in high school. The stuff in their seminars and videos are straight from your high school football coach. They might as well be talking entirely in vague sports platitudes like "no pain no gain!" and "just do it!" and "never give up!"