When I was a kid my nana always said “you have to suffer to be beautiful!” It’s a pretty shitty thing to say to a kid - but the truth is that the idea that we have to suffer in order to have things or be successful is a narrative that we are constantly being force fed and it’s actually killing us, because there is no guarantee that more hours worked will actually translate to success. Are we actually productive, or are we just addicted to being busy? 

Welcome to episode 68 of This Shit Works where I discuss how Hustle Culture is quite literally killing us, how to identify if you are living your life in a Hustle Culture and how to break free from it if you are!

Drink of the Week: The Haymaker

https://www.countryliving.com/food-drinks/a37598524/haymaker-cocktail-recipe/

This episode is sponsored by Nickerson, a full-service branding, marketing, and PR and communications agency with team members in Boston, LA, Miami, and NYC. https://nickersoncos.com/

Julie Brown:

Website- ​https://juliebrownbd.com/

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When I was a kid.

My Nana said, you have to suffer to be beautiful.

That's a pretty shitty thing to say to a kid.

But the truth is that the idea that we have to suffer in order

to have things or be successful.

Is a narrative that we are constantly being forced bed.

And it's actually killing us.

Welcome to episode 68 of this shit works.

I am your host, Julie Brown.

And today we are discussing how hustle culture.

Is quite literally killing you.

This episode is sponsored by Nickerson.

A full service, branding, marketing PR and communications agency

with team members in Boston.

Los Angeles, Miami and New York city visit them.

At Nickerson C O S.

Dot com.

Elon Musk once said nobody ever changed the world in 40 hours a week.

To MUSC.

80 hour weeks they're sustainable.

And he actually said that occasionally we should have spikes

where we work 100 hours per week.

This.

This is why we are all working ourselves quite literally to death.

Because we've been fed a bullshit narrative that we need to hustle and grind

all day in order to achieve anything.

But, you know what.

There's no guarantee that the more hours that we clock in.

That those hours will actually translate into success.

Are we actually productive?

Or are we just addicted to being busy?

How many times in the past year, have you asked someone how they are doing

and may have responded with so busy?

Almost every single person.

Right.

And you know what?

I'm no better.

That has been my go-to answer during the pandemic.

And yes, I have been busy, but why am I wearing the fact that I'm busy

as some sort of badge of honor?

I almost feel like if I'm not busy, then I'm not working hard enough, not

hustling enough, not hungry enough.

And it has to stop.

Uh, 2014 meta analysis of more than 530,000 people.

Published in Lancet found that people who work 55 hours per week

have a 33% higher risk of stroke.

Compared with those who only work 40 hours per week.

And then there's this, a study published in environmental international estimated

that nearly 750,000 people died in 2016 from stroke and heart disease.

As a result of having worked at least 55 hours a week.

And that between 2000 and 2016, the number of deaths from heart disease

and stroke due to working long hours increased by 42% and 19% respectively.

Why is this?

You might ask.

Well, the more hours we work, the less time we have to take care of ourselves.

But less time.

We have to dedicate to exercise, spending quality time with family and

friends, eating healthy, sleeping.

We glorify hustle.

It's a toxic philosophy.

We've been taught that the more you suffer and sacrifice the

wealthier and more successful.

You'll be.

I had to stop listening to one of my favorite speakers, Gary Vaynerchuk.

I used to love him, but now every time I hear him speak, I can quite literally

feel an anxiety attack coming on.

He preaches about how he never takes a vacation.

He gets up earlier than he wants.

I once heard him say that if you have time to binge watch Netflix, you have

time to work harder and work more hours.

Well, I don't know about you, but I really enjoy watching

Netflix after a full day of work.

He's not the only one out there with ideas like this.

You know, there are CEOs that preach that we need to wake up at 4:00 AM and every

day they want us to think that the more hours we put in the less sleep we get the

less of a life we have outside of work.

The better our chances of success will be.

I think.

We should start looking at results.

What are we getting from all the extra hours we worked?

Are we actually producing more?

Are we actually producing better?

You see, it doesn't matter if you spend 30 minutes on a

project or 30 hours on a project.

If the end result is the same.

Time spent doesn't always translate into a better product or a better result.

So I think we need to learn to be more focused when working.

To make the most of the time we were spending working by avoiding

distractions, staying focused and giving ourselves breaks in

between periods of intense effort.

No one on their deathbed ever said they wished they had worked more hours.

And yet we constantly think that that is the way we should be living.

Then that's how we're going to find happiness.

Aiden Harper creator of four day week a European workweek shrinkage campaign.

It says that hustle culture and I quote, creates the assumption that

the only value we have as human beings is our productivity capability.

Uh, our ability to work rather than our humanity.

And quote.

We are so much more than workers.

We don't need to be bound and also identified by our profession alone.

So, what can you do if you identify with everything?

I just said, if you were caught up in the grind, working too many hours, not

taking time for yourself or your family.

If you think that you have to be suffering to earn success.

Well, there are some tips from head versiti.com and Shonda.

that say first?

Start with awareness.

Be aware, are you in a hustle culture?

Are you exhausted and depleted with no time for things besides work?

Be aware of that.

Second.

Identify what is important to you?

Yes.

Work is important to you, but what else is important to you?

Are you dedicating time to the other parts of your life that are important to you?

Third.

Define what your ideal Workday looks like.

Schedule in what's mandatory for you to accomplish for both

your work and your wellbeing.

Fourth.

Give your mind, time to wander.

By taking mindful micro breaks throughout your Workday, you will feel

more balanced and therefore protect yourself from experiencing burnout.

Five.

Reward yourself now.

Not later.

Hustle culture is built on the mantra that your hard work will someday pay off.

Don't wait for some day.

Work on smaller, more manageable goals that include taking time for yourself

and doing things outside of work.

And six.

Work hard.

Rest hard.

Rather than treating self care as a commodity, that must be earned.

Lead with self love and compassion.

Even take a mental health day when you need it.

We all know that when we step away from the tasks that we are working on, our

mind has the ability to help us see the solutions to those tasks more easily.

I hope this is helpful.

As we lead into this super busy time of year, but also as we look to the

new year, And decide what we want.

Our 20, 22 to look like.

So I picked this cocktail because of the name.

It's called.

The haymaker cocktail.

And it combines the best parts of a Manhattan and a whiskey sour plus the

splash of Quantro and it packs a punch.

Get it haymaker punch.

Okay.

Here's what you're going to need.

One teaspoon of lime zest.

Plus one ounce of lime juice divided.

Two tablespoons of sugar.

Three fourths ounce of bourbon, three, four ounces, sweet for Muth

in an quarter ounce of Quantro.

So what you're going to do is we're going to make a Rimmer for the glass.

You're going to stir together the lime zest and the sugar on a small plate.

And then you're going to cut an extra lime and rim the edge of

a double old fashioned glass.

With line and then dip it into the lime zest in the sugar mixture.

Phillip cocktail shaker with bourbon vermouth, Concho.

The lime juice that you separated in ice shake until Joel, about.

10 15 seconds.

And then strain that into your prepared double old fashioned glass.

And add some new ice to it.

All right, friends.

That's all for this week.

Don't forget to subscribe and like, and review on iTunes and share the

podcast with your friends and your friends or friends and your family and

people you just met and the neighbors and the people at the grocery store.

Everybody until next week.