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The Dangerous Fetishization of ‘Hustle Porn’

melmagazine.com

131–140 of 170 posts

Re: The Dangerous Fetishization of ‘Hustle Porn’

#131
post #10

There's nothing wrong with hard work. But there is a lot wrong with the idea that you need to work until your health is impacted to succeed; if you need to work that hard, something else is off - the idea isn't good enough, you're attacking it in the wrong way, whatever. To me this ties into the gross, pervasive trend of wantrepreneurism. Shark Tank, Zuck, Elon Musk - being a founder has never been sexier, never been…

something else is off - the idea isn't good enough, you're attacking it in the wrong way, whatever. ...and don't forget the fact that seems almost taboo to say these days: you just don't have the ability.

It's great for people to get out of their comfort zones and try things that they weren't sure they could do, but sometimes you just have to aim for a target you can hit.

It's pretty well known that the most successful teams are often those that function well as a team, complementing and supporting each other, even if they lack superstars. They need people who fit into their "lesser" niches. Sometimes it's not about hustle, hustle, hustle. It's about execution, execution, execution. The small fish you caught tastes better than the big one that got away.

Re: The Dangerous Fetishization of ‘Hustle Porn’

#132
post #10

There's nothing wrong with hard work. But there is a lot wrong with the idea that you need to work until your health is impacted to succeed; if you need to work that hard, something else is off - the idea isn't good enough, you're attacking it in the wrong way, whatever. To me this ties into the gross, pervasive trend of wantrepreneurism. Shark Tank, Zuck, Elon Musk - being a founder has never been sexier, never been…

People who think hustling is about working hard have a very different interpretation of the word than I'm used to. A hustler is supposed to be a cunning character who uses their guile and persistence to get ahead, taking advantage of the system. Someone who just works really hard at the expense of their health sounds more like what I'd expect to see characterised as a schmuck than a hustler.

I think both connotations are valid and context usually determines the underlying meaning.

For a third connotation that is close to the GP's, think of a coach telling his players to hustle on the basketball court. To me, that means they need to play hard and quick, not that they need to try more to bend the rules, take advantage, etc.

Re: The Dangerous Fetishization of ‘Hustle Porn’

#133
post #10

There's nothing wrong with hard work. But there is a lot wrong with the idea that you need to work until your health is impacted to succeed; if you need to work that hard, something else is off - the idea isn't good enough, you're attacking it in the wrong way, whatever. To me this ties into the gross, pervasive trend of wantrepreneurism. Shark Tank, Zuck, Elon Musk - being a founder has never been sexier, never been…

People who think hustling is about working hard have a very different interpretation of the word than I'm used to. A hustler is supposed to be a cunning character who uses their guile and persistence to get ahead, taking advantage of the system. Someone who just works really hard at the expense of their health sounds more like what I'd expect to see characterised as a schmuck than a hustler.

That's also my understanding of the term "hustler". Obviously hustling is considered cool - so a lot of people want to be hustlers - but if a lot of people were able to hustle - then it wouldn't be anything special. So by means of commercialized cargo culting the agreed upon definition gets watered down to a level that can be met by more people.

Re: The Dangerous Fetishization of ‘Hustle Porn’

#134
post #128
post #10

There's nothing wrong with hard work. But there is a lot wrong with the idea that you need to work until your health is impacted to succeed; if you need to work that hard, something else is off - the idea isn't good enough, you're attacking it in the wrong way, whatever. To me this ties into the gross, pervasive trend of wantrepreneurism. Shark Tank, Zuck, Elon Musk - being a founder has never been sexier, never been…

Is anyone actually advocating for working until your health is impacted? The article mentioned working weekends and waking up before dawn - neither of which is particularly toxic to your body. If other people want the hard-working founder lifestyle, and if they find these videos motivating and useful, I don't see why we should try to tear them down. People don't need to be criticized or psycho-analyzed just because t…

That was Edison, and yes, he was definitely fetishizing hustle. E.g. "Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits."

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Edison

Re: The Dangerous Fetishization of ‘Hustle Porn’

#135

Agree with this 100%. Hustle porn is toxic and and the ethos needs to be avoided. It is clear why people latch onto the narrative. Working insane hours is a way to conceal incompetence. When your boss or employees come knocking and sees the complete waste you have made of your task, you can point at your complete lack of social life and how much you have martyred yourself for your company as proof of your competence.…

>I do weight training after work every day. Dunno about that; you're supposed to have breaks so the muscle has time to repair itself unless you're just not pushing.

Not if you are working different muscle groups.

Re: The Dangerous Fetishization of ‘Hustle Porn’

#136
The thumbnail comes up of a photo of Jay Shetty, he runs many inspirational videos based on his links with ISKCON/Hare Krishnas. Bit misleading as he never talks of working hard to the bone, but more about working and living so you are happier in doing you work and in your life.

Re: The Dangerous Fetishization of ‘Hustle Porn’

#137
post #10

There's nothing wrong with hard work. But there is a lot wrong with the idea that you need to work until your health is impacted to succeed; if you need to work that hard, something else is off - the idea isn't good enough, you're attacking it in the wrong way, whatever. To me this ties into the gross, pervasive trend of wantrepreneurism. Shark Tank, Zuck, Elon Musk - being a founder has never been sexier, never been…

> There's nothing wrong with hard work.

> But there is a lot wrong with the idea that you need to work until your health is impacted to succeed

Yeah but that's the thing: people tell you it makes totally sense to work long hours if you have the time, no commitments in life etc. Those people can be parents, 'peers' (whatever that means), people on the Internet... My bosses - during the times in which I was regularly employed - rarely told me such things. But to come back to the point, nobody of these people tells you to work while you're seriously sick or to work yourself to death. They tell you to work yourself into a higher position, wealth, etc.

So by the time you're health or social life are affected, it's already to late. I mean this is not a process where you turn one day to the other from healthy to sick. It's a gradual process and you realize it when it's years to late.

> To me this ties into the gross, pervasive trend of wantrepreneurism. Shark Tank, Zuck, Elon Musk - being a founder has never been sexier, never been more interesting or lucrative.

I've heard the term 'wantrepreneurism' but the people you mention are highly exceptional and super successful. Chances that you can copy them are for various reasons next to 0,0000%.

> In the wake of that, WeWork and GaryV and a whole bunch of people are selling the idea that regardless of how bad your idea is or how unfit you are to be an entrepreneur, all you need is access or hustle to succeed. And that's awful, awful advice.

In my experience this is not true. I mean when you encounter people working in the startup scene running accelerators etc., there are not tired to tell anyone how selective they are, that this stuff isn't for anyone, brainstorm any aspects of your idea that might be stupid. When you listen on the people on the videos, you realize that this is also the whole point of this hustling porn: either you have incredible luck or you work like crazy so you become successful. That said, I think the original Medium article which popularized this topic recently was much more on point: https://medium.com/@nateliason/no-more-struggle-porn-202153a...

Re: The Dangerous Fetishization of ‘Hustle Porn’

#138
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely. I think about it in the same way I think about "American Idol": Simon Cowell became a notable figure simply because he was honest with people; he dared to tell people that they were wasting their time pursuing singing. Right now, Gary and all of these other hustle porn types are Paula Abdul. And they'll keep telling people that all they need to do is work harder, up until the point that it becomes to prof…

Well, not 'simply' for being honest, but for being (entertainingly) rude about it. You can be honest without being brutally honest, but it doesn't make such good TV I guess.

I read something recently along the lines of "People who brag about being 'brutally honest' are usually much more into the 'brutal' part than the rest of it."

Re: The Dangerous Fetishization of ‘Hustle Porn’

#139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> He told her 'eat shit' for the next couple years and take no vacations I did this for three years. It sucks, and my god is it a roll of the dice with your health, wealth and happiness. But for me, at the time, the risk of breaking was worth the chance at stability and autonomy. It’s terrible universal advice. But if wealth and power matter to you; and you diligently save, take sensible risks, and remain health- and…

How did you eat shit exactly? a failed startup?

[deleted]

Re: The Dangerous Fetishization of ‘Hustle Porn’

#140
post #10

There's nothing wrong with hard work. But there is a lot wrong with the idea that you need to work until your health is impacted to succeed; if you need to work that hard, something else is off - the idea isn't good enough, you're attacking it in the wrong way, whatever. To me this ties into the gross, pervasive trend of wantrepreneurism. Shark Tank, Zuck, Elon Musk - being a founder has never been sexier, never been…

OT, but I only just learned with this post that Gary Vaynerchuk is known for more than being a prolific wine vlogger/reviewer back in the day. Shows how plugged-in to the entrepreneurship sphere I am, I guess.
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