I no longer constantly feel the need to feed into the hustle culture. Instead, I am achieving my own small successes at a pace that is best-suited for me.
Although it was Lana Candor's face plastered on the cover that compelled me to purchase Elle Canada's April 2019 issue, as I flipped through the glossy ad-filled pages Blair Waldorf-style, I came across an extremely interesting and thought-provoking article called "Why Hustle Culture's Glorification of the Grind is a Lie" written by Wing Sze Tang.
In her article, Sze Tang dissects and unpacks the epidemic of the "can't stop, won't stop" mentality hustle culture has brought upon the youth and young adults of our society, perpetuated by the growing popularity of social media-based businesses and brands and their portrayal of a constant #workflow and the aim to create the illusion of never ending productivity.
Sze Tang's entire article is insightful and reveals so many truths about a potentially harmful reality that is hiding in plain sight. But if there is one thing she wrote that struck me the most, it has got to be this: "Being passionate about your career is one thing, but buying into the idea that success is only possible if you’re always striving and sweating and sacrificing other parts of your life is something else altogether. That mindset is a set-up for not only burnout but also feeling terrible about yourself: If you’re not a success yet, hustle culture whispers in your ear, well, you’re just not putting in enough effort."
As a journalism student and aspiring fashion journalist, I feel like I experience this sentiment in varying doses every single day since I have begun my studies.
Before I begin, let me preface that being a journalist, no matter which kind, is a profession that is not for the lazy or unmotivated. Journalism is a competitive business that requires dedication, a lot of hard work, and consistently keeping an eye out for an idea, or viewing any and every situation as a possible story. The only reason it does not drive most people, myself included, to the brink of insanity is because we are driven by passion.
And don't get me wrong, it is incredibly motivating to be in an inherently competitive atmosphere with other individuals who have already begun to accomplish so much without even having started their professional careers yet. But, it can also sprout thoughts of self-doubt, uncertainty, or even push you to dive into the start of your career, when you're only just learning how to swim.
This is especially true when you see other people achieving incredible things, and use their accomplishments to shame yourself for not doing, or even desiring, the same things—something that I did during my first year of university.
As soon as I began my studies in journalism, one of the first things my professors communicated to myself and my peers was that we should all view ourselves as working journalists, despite the fact that we were, and still are, students.
Initially, I didn't think anything of it. But when my classmates began to immediately put themselves out into the world of professional journalism I began to compare my slow progress to theirs which I noticed, was moving at a much faster pace than my own.
So, I began to panic, triggering the thought: "if you're not successful yet, it's because you're not working hard enough," which Sze Tang iterates in her article. This caused me to question whether I too, should be hustling to find opportunities that would force me to progress at a much faster rate than I was ready to handle.
It was thought like this that spoiled my first year studying journalism, because I was constantly teetering between going after more than I was ready for, and listening to my intuition and waiting until I was ready.
Eventually, I reached a point where I was comfortable, confident, and ready to start seizing opportunities when they came my way. This is something that would have never happened, had I prematurely pushed myself out of fear that I would fall behind on my path to success, even though I knew I wasn't actually ready.
I used to think of my time in school as a pressure cooker. Get as much experience and accomplishments under your belt in x-amount of time, so when it's time to start your career, you will be ready. If you can do that, you'll be successful. If not, you're a failure.
Now that I have currently finished my second year of university and will soon be moving into my third, the sentiments of self-doubt have mostly subsided. I no longer constantly feel the need to feed into the hustle culture. Instead, I am achieving my own small successes at a pace that is best suited for me.
Though I still am exposed to hustle culture via social media, as well as watching as my classmates take on enriching journalistic experiences, they no longer bring out FOMOOO (fear of missing out on opportunity, a term of my own creation). Most importantly, they don't make me feel the need to catch up to their success.
I have come to terms with the fact that someone may be more successful than me right now, because they are chasing opportunities I am just not ready to take on yet. And that is completely fine with me. I will continue to work at being a successful journalist in my own time, and will keep doing so for as long as it passions me.
If I can promise myself one thing it's this: I will not hustle, but I will be me.