It’s hard to navigate through the world of passive income, side hustles, and the daily grind sometimes — especially when you frequent platforms that regularly batter you over the head with steadfast rules about “The five things you MUST be doing if you want to be successful”.
The internet likes to tell us what success is. It’s a million quid in the bank, it’s hundreds of thousands of followers and subscribers, it’s Bali, it’s a cryptocurrency, it’s a six-pack, it’s inventing an app or singlehandedly solving climate change.
Hustle culture has created its own definition of success and passed its way around the internet like a virtual STI. For most of us, it’s set an unrealistic standard for achievement and can be somewhat attributed to an unhealthy obsession with materialistic goals.
I’m an all-play and no-work person and I have been for as long as I could perceive the difference. It was holding me back. I couldn’t possibly be successful while others my age were onto their third and fourth businesses and grinding out serious money. I wasn’t built for that culture and resigned myself to the fact I’d have to admire and envy these hard-working entrepreneurs from afar. My 9–5 would have to do.
It took a lot of reflection for me to determine something important. I get to design success, not some internet dick that inhaled every self-improvement book on the market and convinced himself he’s the Dale Carnegie of the digital age.
I’ve thought for a long time about what success looks like and came to a conclusion. Success for me is working less, traveling more, investing my time in fun stuff, and keeping a roof over my head. One day I’ll be able to tick these things off a list and say “I am successful” and perhaps I’ll share my five hard and fast rules on how to get there if I feel like it.
By defining success for myself I’ve been able to make a plan for how to get there that doesn’t involve bullshit courses on making money or furiously scribbling down notes every time I hear a Gary Vee soundbite.
Hustle culture is tiring and inescapable. Some were built for it and some were not. If it’s not your thing, just bare in mind that success is relative.