Hard work and dedication tend to be viewed as positive traits in a professional setting. However, everything in moderation, as they say, and the same goes for striving for outstanding results at work. Yet some people choose to walk the extra mile, even if that means compromising at the expense of their free time or even their loved ones.
Such hustlers often try to encourage others to strive for excellence, too, by methods that some would consider questionable at best. We have combed through the vastness of the internet to find examples of such motivational posts and tips on how to fully use your potential, even if that means forgetting what a weekend or a day off feels like. Scroll down to find them on the list below, but remember that it might be best to take such advice with a healthy dose of skepticism.
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You Don't Need A Weekend
Even people 3000 years ago realized humans need a freaking day off! It's written into religion. The 7th day is a day of rest! Humans get burned out. You have to have time to turn your brain Off!
I Wish This Was Satire
The post is very real! But it is entirely satire.
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I'm loving this word! I may use it instead of my go-to made-up word: fuckerhead.
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"At the very least inform your boss on your family planning".... "Boss, before I leave for today, I just wanted to let you know that tonight I'm gonna make sweet sweet love to my wife!".... And leave him wanking under his desk!
Or better still, "Boss, before I leave for today, I just wanted to let you know that tonight I'm gonna make sweet sweet love to your wife, while you're here, working".
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"I instantly fired him on the spot." Reminds me of a lecturer who once said, "... and at the same time is also ether-soluble as well."
A man who thinks he is superior to everyone and is drunk on power. This kind of person is never satisfied with that power and needs to control others for that little rush he gets. He will never be satisfied. He did a favor for the guy he fired. That man is now FREE.
MBA? Master of Bugger All? Master of Bastardry and Assholery? Mighty Big Asshat? Many Bad Attributes? My Brain's Abnormal? etc. etc.
Wow. What a horrible excuse for a human being. I hope he hasn't spread his 'seed' to anyone.
I don't agree with him firing the fellow for asking for a raise. But I do agree that if your salary is not high enough to support a family then you shouldn't be having children. The time to ask for a raise is when you first start thinking about having children.....at the very latest it should be when you find out that you are expecting. Then if your boss says no, you ask what you can do to earn a raise *and* you also start immediately searching for a higher paying job.
IMO, this guy was fired because he displayed such lousy planning and organizational skills.
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Idiot. He did inform you of his family planning. His salary wasn't a contribution to society, his children are. That is what he is supposed to do, and he was doing it correctly. Until you fired him for no reason. Which means that as a provider of employment that has quit providing employment on a whim, you are a detriment to society.
I kinda wanna punch him. I want this to be ragebait, but I'm not so optimistic Raises are meant to be based on the salary you need to live securly in the area where you work, the cost and value of your knowledge and labor, and your growth within your original job role or performance. If this guy found the guts to ask for pay that reflects his work in order to support his new baby, I applaud him. Even if he's asking for more money purely based on his own fiancees and not because anything about his work has changed, he does not deserve THIS
And the classist eugenic attitude in the last line of his post aught to net him some poison ivy underpants. Just disgusting
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There is some truth behind this A**holery. You absolutely should be accounting for how much you make and how affordable it is to have a child before committing to having a child. No one's giving you a raise because you're expecting a child. That's your financial business, not your employers. But seriously, he's done you a favor. Not only do you now qualify for unemployment, you'll probably find a better paying job, hopefully not working for an AH.
In what country is this legal? In what context is firing a perfectly good employee, and having to go through all the expense of advertising, recruiting, and onboarding another one, because a question offended you sound business sense? And in what world is this story remotely true?
How to say you're a dićkbag without saying you're a dićkbag. Let's be clear. Employees' salary is a clear indication of him as an employer. And in what universe would anyone inform their boss on family planning?
Is this the same culture that attaches their portrait, parent's names, and family information to the resume when applying for a position?
"Thanks for putting this in writing. I will be presenting it at the wrongful termination lawsuit."
'If your [salary] is so low, how can you even think about reproduction?' - But I'll sack you if you try to raise your salary??? Didn't really think that one through, did ya mate?
Who wants to bet that if he has kids then he doesn't fire himself on the spot?
Asked My Landlord To Increase My Rent Because I Believe In The Grind
Also known as the grindset, the hustle culture depicts its representatives as go-getters always striving for excellence, as there’s always new goals to reach, more money to make, or more benefits to reap. As BBC Workplace puts it, they are the people who wake up at 4AM, chug down a coffee and a green juice, and get cracking.
According to BBC, such a mindset has likely stemmed from the giants at Silicon Valley and spread like wildfire in part thanks to modern technology. (You have likely seen motivational videos of the benefits of starting the workday at 4am yourself, if you’re online at all.)
“Silicon Valley had an image of being a paradigm of the economy, at the cutting edge of technology,” Nick Srnicek, a lecturer in digital economy at King’s College London, told BBC, adding that such a leading position means that whatever happens in the valley spreads elsewhere, too.
Always Choose LinkedIn Followers. Agree?
Normalize Not Having A Life
Oh baby I don't make more money if I work more hours. I get sent home with a reminder that business hours are business hours and the question if I'm alright
Srnicek added that the hustle culture legitimizes the idea of long hours being the only way to success. In addition to that, “Hustle culture ideology says that people are overworking not because they’re economically driven to, but simply because this is the way go-getters get what they want,” the expert explained.
That might be true as representatives of the hustle culture are often wealthy enough to allow themselves a little break; but instead of that, they choose to continue hustling. If you’re looking for proof, check the LinkedIn profiles of some wealthy individuals and you should be able to find at least a couple of pro-hustle mentality posts.
“With the rise of LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok, hustle culture narratives exploded,” another expert, Dannielle Haig, principal psychologist at DH Consulting—a consultancy specializing in leadership development and wellbeing at work—told BBC.
My Brother Is Sick But I'm Grateful I Could Avoid Taking A Day Off And Work Remotely From The Hospital
“You poor thing.” I’m totally serious. This is like when an abused partner says “So grateful the doctor let me take an irate call from [abuser] while discussing the prognosis of my brother’s life-threatening condition”.
Anyone Else Take 4 Hours To Eat Meals?
What A Miserable Outlook On Life
Even though, according to Haig, the narratives surrounding hustle culture have exploded with the rise of social media, the bubble seems to have already burst, or is likely slowly going down now. Instead of focusing on the grindset, employees nowadays opt for quiet quitting, which has unsurprisingly been pushed to the forefront by social media, too.
According to Investopedia, having started to appear in people’s professional setting back in 2020 (and in their vocabularies in 2022), quiet quitting refers to doing the bare minimum: enough to maintain the job, but not a step—not to mention a mile—extra.
Back then, in 2020, roughly half of young adults—52% of those aged 16 to 24, to be exact—reportedly believed in the efficiency of the hustle culture. (The older generations didn’t as much, though, as the percentage for those between 25 and 44 stood at 39% and 35% for people 45 and older.)
Do You And Your Friends Talk About Netflix? Shame
I'm In The Empire Business
What? That handwriting is exactly the same for all 3. Is she expecting us to believe somebody handed her the note and she added the 3rd box, or does she pre-write bunches of these to hand out at bars? I really hope it's the latter
He Didn’t Have Enough Time To Learn To Do His Job In A Timely Manner
Yes, and that is why I vote for parties who want to make things better for workers.
It’s no surprise that constant hustling can have serious consequences, as it often inevitably leads to stress and burnout. According to a survey carried out by Deloitte, 77% of respondents have experienced burnout at their place of employment. To make matters worse, roughly half of them have faced such a distressing state more than once.
Let's Bring The Toxic Traits Of Work And Capitalism Home To Teach The Kids About The "Real World"
Hmmm...I wonder how much he'll charge you and his mum to take care of you in your old age? - or maybe even to spend time with him and his family, you wanna see your grandchild, here's the hourly rate.
Accelerate
Hustle Lords Are Back
Deloitte's survey also found that, contrary to some hustlers’ beliefs, those who enjoy their work can feel stressed about it, too. Contrary to another point often pushed by representatives of the hustler culture, stress is not always a motivating force to do better; it can simply be a state that makes one’s life miserable.
The survey found that more than nine-in-ten respondents admitted that having an unmanageable amount of stress and frustration has negatively impacted the quality of their work, and an additional eight-in-ten believed that burnout from work has negatively impacted their personal relationships.
If You're Reading This On A Saturday, Shame On You
OK no sympathy for this douche so I’ll see “weekends” and raise him “yesterday I arrived back from the airport 15 minutes before my remote work hours started, and it was everything I hoped it would be.”
He Definitely Doesn’t Have Any Friends
OMG look up their site! They are selling NOTHING! "Meroxa is the platform that allows developers to build stream processing data applications easily with code." Does that word salad make sense to anyone? "WITH CODE" LOL! Bro, everybody on the internet uses "code". Jesus I'm starting to thing I should just upload this list to the FDIC I'm seeing so much scammy BS.
And Then He Wonders Why Employees Don’t Stay
Nice of you to wave the red-flags up front so people know to avoid working for you.
Whether motivated by the hustle culture of saying no to days off or not, many people fail to use the vacation days they have at work; Deloitte’s survey revealed that roughly one fourth of them never or rarely use all of them.
That, too, can lead to some troublesome outcomes, as taking a break at least once in a while is crucial for an individual’s well-being. According to Verywell Mind, our body is designed to respond to short bursts of stress, so prolonging such a detrimental state can lead to chronic stress and health problems that arise from it (such as gastrointestinal issues and high blood pressure, just to name a couple).
In The Hustle Culture Sunken Place
Helping A Client Find Leads Trumps An Employee's Newborn Baby Being Hospitalized. All The Best To The Client Though
My Family Is More Important Than Work, But Let Me Bring My Daughter Into Work And Make Her Sit At A Desk For 8 Hours Whilst She’s Having A Tough Day
No, people would not think your family is more important than your work. Bringing your daughter to your work when she's having a tough day is the exact opposite.
But for people pushing themselves to the limit 24 hours a day, seven days a week, taking short breaks might not be enough. According to the adult and child psychiatrist and a clinical professor at NYU, Lea Lis, MD, in order to avoid burnout and a mental health decline, it might be necessary for them to redefine what success means to them and how to reach it.
“Things like taking a bath, getting your nails done, or ‘me time’ can hardly begin to reprogram the stress we put our bodies through from the second we wake up and grab our phones,” she wrote in Psychology Today.
Work > Life
Toxic Grind Culture At Its Finest
Oh, don’t worry, I don’t say “must be nice”. I say “wealth hoarding is a societal disease that must be ended”.
Block Your Birth Giver
Whether this list evoked a strong negative reaction or somehow managed to motivate you to reach for the stars yourself—even if unattainable—we have more in store for you; so feel free to move on to this list of examples of people so consumed by hustle culture they’ve lost touch with reality next.
No Professional Would Ever Work Like This
And if the employee comes to work 5 mins early you pay them an extra 2 hours?
Let Me Take Pride In Toxic Work Culture
I can’t control what you do, but sooner or later you’ll understand what us pro-weekend people are talking about.
Too Busy Winning
Hmmm....I suspect your definition of successful is very different to mine - that's ok, no-one's right or wrong - but I bet I'll have a happier fuller life than you.
CEO Trying To Normalize Making 40 People Come In On A Saturday
I did a Saturday morning once off my own back as due to 12 people starting on a Monday and we only found out about them on the Friday. Went in to set up their accounts. Asked about overtime, told I wasn't going to get any. Never did it again. Anything that came in after I logged off for the day, I picked up the next day even if it meant clashing with my director.
Young Daughter In Hospital, Lunatic Continuing To Work from The Hospital and Obviously Posting It On LinkedIn
It’s The Little Things That Get You Promoted
You think they care that much about you? - plus, all that shows is that you don't know how business works, once that money's been budgeted, whether you spend it or not, they don't care what happens to it - do that to often and the budget will go down and you or some other poor sod will have no choice but to sleep in the car and things may not end well.
Built For The Grind
The Final Boss Of The Sales Grind
I Don’t Think He's Joking
So paying more than double in interest will make me wealthy - yeah, don't think so.
Why Not Work 14-Hours Shifts 6 Days A Week Instead?
Of course he’s fine with it; he’s one of the primary people who’ll benefit from it.
Being "Just" A Full-Time Student Is Not Good Enough
Grind 24/7 365
Does it come with an assistant that takes pictures to post on social media?
"Say What You Will But I Worked During Vacation And Then Had To Post It On LinkedIn Because I’m So Productive And So Busy And Grind Hard To Show Everyone"
As someone in an industry where the workload can be rough, the bosses are on the right track, but they need drop the loving scolding and have a serious conversation about how to avert this problem in future.
Bed In Office > No Bed In Office
I got promoted every year in my mid-life career change by working 37.5 hours per week and taking my 5 weeks annual leave.
Virtue Signalling 101
Yeah, I made the mistake of going back to work 2 weeks after a C-section. 2 weeks later I was in the hospital for a WEEK with sepsis. Don't f**k with your health ladies. Your body is healing!
You Should Also Be Working At The Weekend
Can't spell weekend with 'end' either - you know, the week has ended?
Where Do People Get These Statistics From
This one is different. The statistic is b******t but the idea is sound. Do something you like 15 minutes a day and indeed after a year or two you’ll be much better at it. And not necessarily a work thing.
Note: this post originally had 50 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.
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If they were expecting me to think "Wow! What a bunch of inspiration individuals!" they're sadly mistaken. I came away from this thinking "What a bunch of wankers".
It's inspiring in that I am inspired not to be such a colossal b*****d when it comes to work and life
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Gawd these posts are ridiculous. Unfortunately, I've met people like this IRL. None of the are remotely happy, and most are not close to being successful in anything that matters. They are just as insufferable as their post sound. You feel free to hustle on the weekend. I'm going to the park with my kids to enjoy the time we have together.
This is just depressing, why are these people so proud of this? I work on weekends because I'm a casual employee, and I don't have other obligations besides filling spots where people can't come in, people seriously work weekends for fun? The only upside is better pay on sundays, I don't get why you'd do it if you're already working week days
These people are not well. My wife and I have spent the better part of the last decade working seven days a week because we’ve had to. Each time we feel like we’re about to crawl out of the hole it’s another medical, dental or veterinary emergency. I think of all the time I’ve lost—400+ weekends just gone!—and it makes sick to think that someone would willingly surrender the time they could spend with family and friends, broadening their horizons, and simply enjoying life.
Funny how much "grinding" looks like making phone calls and writing emails. Where are all the selfies of people putting up drywall 80 hours a week?
I'm betting they could have weekends off if they didn't waste so much frigging time flexing and bragging on Linkedin.
Here is a life lesson from a person that is very successful in her career and earns a good living: Work to live, don't live live to work. Stand up for yourself. Brag a little about your accomplishments. Find something that brings you joy and do it with wild abandon (it doesn't have to be for work; join a group, paint figurines, crochet, bathe stray cats). Spend time with loved ones. Unplug. And most importantly, never, never, ever work for free.
Couldn't finish. Makes me feel sick that there are people like this out there and they clearly need help.
I really hope that these are bs,but I suspect that many are real. The only consolation is that these insufferable twäts make themselves easy to spot, and so avoid. I really wish I could understand what they're trying to prove because, generally, I just feel a mixture of pity and contempt.
Reading these made me feel physically sick. It’s awful that people think this way.
How many of those people will someday be on their deathbeds (that's if they don't just drop dead at their desks), surrounded by no loved ones because they were too busy working to form relationships/have children, or to keep people from getting fed up from never seeing them so they left and didn't look back? Seriously, their lives are sad and empty, except for work on useless money because they didn't have time to spend it, not that they made that much to begin with.
Couldn't read half of these, got either highly irritated or just flat out enraged that there are absolute morons out there who think like this.
Many of these are absolutely locked in to some MLM/pyramid scheme nonsense. They love to talk about closing deals and making calls. Sounds a lot like desperately calling people to get them locked into the same thing. Being rejected. Crying. Typing up some nonsense on LinkedIn. Call someone else. Rinse and repeat.
"Welcome to the Dystopian Hellscape that the 1% have suckered us into."
I know a guy like this irl. He works 3 jobs and only comes home to sleep. He told me flat out that we don't need to raise minimum wage or have social safety nets, people just need to be willing to work. He's a single man with absolutely no responsibilities except to pay his rent.
I’ll take ‘What’s wrong with capitalism for 100’ please. Have any of these ‘inspired’ individuals thought about working smart, knowing the value of family, friends and enjoying the simple things in life? If you think you are ahead of me because you work a squillion hours a month and that your boss will care when you burn out then I’m totally comfortable with that, I’ll be found canoeing with my daughter or lighting fires to cook dampers on with my family, maybe sharing a home cooked meal with them or just building the longest car we can with Lego or walking along the canal with the dogs. Good luck finding enough money to stop us enjoying life away from the crazy rat race.
I wonder if any of the people in these posts make very much money, I don't think so.
I realize this is 50% showboating and 50% just an overly aggressive personality disorder. Probably each one trying to out-post the next while getting hammered on a Wednesday morning.
When the CEO of Chick-fil-A was offered his position, the board told him he had to stop working so much and take more days off because they didn't want the rest of the company to feel like they had to work overtime too! It's not healthy to push so hard for money and success, when in the end you're too old to enjoy what you've built. Normalize going home on time, spending time with your family, and enjoying life.
5 % trolls, 10% miserable wankers, 85% people who benefit from miserable wankers working themselves to death.
I am thinking (and hoping) that most of these are satire, or these most of these people are just saying these things for outrage or clout. Most of these stories are probably made up.
This is so depressing. So many lives wasted working to make someone else rich, while losing their youth and freedom and family and friends and joy. I hope their money comes to visit them on holidays and birthdays.
I watched a programme the other day where a group of zerolebrities thumbing their noses at what TV was like in the 70's and 80s. Ironically one of the comedies shown was "Only Fools & Horses"... So I find it ironic that the same nose thumbing demographic are the ones spouting the same rubbish as the man (Del Boy) they were scoffing at...
Half of those guys sound like future family annihilators if their buisnesses will ever fail. Narcissistic, shallow and really willing to throw everybody under the bus
I bought into hustle culture, sadly, quite a few times. It left me broke, with health-issues, lost time with family and friends, and broken relationships, among other things. Hustler culture, like much of the “beauty/wealth” culture promoted out there, is a lie from hell that destroys your life.
I know that these are all deliberately provocative, but there's some really good advice. However, first of all, for every one of these, your hobby and your job must be identical. Second, your commute time must be exactly zero. if both of those conditions aren't satisfied, then don't even think about following this advice. Many farmers, business startups, Wall street workers, business tycoons, have to work this hard or go bankrupt. Our entire world economy depends on many of these people.
If they were expecting me to think "Wow! What a bunch of inspiration individuals!" they're sadly mistaken. I came away from this thinking "What a bunch of wankers".
It's inspiring in that I am inspired not to be such a colossal b*****d when it comes to work and life
Load More Replies... Gawd these posts are ridiculous. Unfortunately, I've met people like this IRL. None of the are remotely happy, and most are not close to being successful in anything that matters. They are just as insufferable as their post sound. You feel free to hustle on the weekend. I'm going to the park with my kids to enjoy the time we have together.
This is just depressing, why are these people so proud of this? I work on weekends because I'm a casual employee, and I don't have other obligations besides filling spots where people can't come in, people seriously work weekends for fun? The only upside is better pay on sundays, I don't get why you'd do it if you're already working week days
These people are not well. My wife and I have spent the better part of the last decade working seven days a week because we’ve had to. Each time we feel like we’re about to crawl out of the hole it’s another medical, dental or veterinary emergency. I think of all the time I’ve lost—400+ weekends just gone!—and it makes sick to think that someone would willingly surrender the time they could spend with family and friends, broadening their horizons, and simply enjoying life.
Funny how much "grinding" looks like making phone calls and writing emails. Where are all the selfies of people putting up drywall 80 hours a week?
I'm betting they could have weekends off if they didn't waste so much frigging time flexing and bragging on Linkedin.
Here is a life lesson from a person that is very successful in her career and earns a good living: Work to live, don't live live to work. Stand up for yourself. Brag a little about your accomplishments. Find something that brings you joy and do it with wild abandon (it doesn't have to be for work; join a group, paint figurines, crochet, bathe stray cats). Spend time with loved ones. Unplug. And most importantly, never, never, ever work for free.
Couldn't finish. Makes me feel sick that there are people like this out there and they clearly need help.
I really hope that these are bs,but I suspect that many are real. The only consolation is that these insufferable twäts make themselves easy to spot, and so avoid. I really wish I could understand what they're trying to prove because, generally, I just feel a mixture of pity and contempt.
Reading these made me feel physically sick. It’s awful that people think this way.
How many of those people will someday be on their deathbeds (that's if they don't just drop dead at their desks), surrounded by no loved ones because they were too busy working to form relationships/have children, or to keep people from getting fed up from never seeing them so they left and didn't look back? Seriously, their lives are sad and empty, except for work on useless money because they didn't have time to spend it, not that they made that much to begin with.
Couldn't read half of these, got either highly irritated or just flat out enraged that there are absolute morons out there who think like this.
Many of these are absolutely locked in to some MLM/pyramid scheme nonsense. They love to talk about closing deals and making calls. Sounds a lot like desperately calling people to get them locked into the same thing. Being rejected. Crying. Typing up some nonsense on LinkedIn. Call someone else. Rinse and repeat.
"Welcome to the Dystopian Hellscape that the 1% have suckered us into."
I know a guy like this irl. He works 3 jobs and only comes home to sleep. He told me flat out that we don't need to raise minimum wage or have social safety nets, people just need to be willing to work. He's a single man with absolutely no responsibilities except to pay his rent.
I’ll take ‘What’s wrong with capitalism for 100’ please. Have any of these ‘inspired’ individuals thought about working smart, knowing the value of family, friends and enjoying the simple things in life? If you think you are ahead of me because you work a squillion hours a month and that your boss will care when you burn out then I’m totally comfortable with that, I’ll be found canoeing with my daughter or lighting fires to cook dampers on with my family, maybe sharing a home cooked meal with them or just building the longest car we can with Lego or walking along the canal with the dogs. Good luck finding enough money to stop us enjoying life away from the crazy rat race.
I wonder if any of the people in these posts make very much money, I don't think so.
I realize this is 50% showboating and 50% just an overly aggressive personality disorder. Probably each one trying to out-post the next while getting hammered on a Wednesday morning.
When the CEO of Chick-fil-A was offered his position, the board told him he had to stop working so much and take more days off because they didn't want the rest of the company to feel like they had to work overtime too! It's not healthy to push so hard for money and success, when in the end you're too old to enjoy what you've built. Normalize going home on time, spending time with your family, and enjoying life.
5 % trolls, 10% miserable wankers, 85% people who benefit from miserable wankers working themselves to death.
I am thinking (and hoping) that most of these are satire, or these most of these people are just saying these things for outrage or clout. Most of these stories are probably made up.
This is so depressing. So many lives wasted working to make someone else rich, while losing their youth and freedom and family and friends and joy. I hope their money comes to visit them on holidays and birthdays.
I watched a programme the other day where a group of zerolebrities thumbing their noses at what TV was like in the 70's and 80s. Ironically one of the comedies shown was "Only Fools & Horses"... So I find it ironic that the same nose thumbing demographic are the ones spouting the same rubbish as the man (Del Boy) they were scoffing at...
Half of those guys sound like future family annihilators if their buisnesses will ever fail. Narcissistic, shallow and really willing to throw everybody under the bus
I bought into hustle culture, sadly, quite a few times. It left me broke, with health-issues, lost time with family and friends, and broken relationships, among other things. Hustler culture, like much of the “beauty/wealth” culture promoted out there, is a lie from hell that destroys your life.
I know that these are all deliberately provocative, but there's some really good advice. However, first of all, for every one of these, your hobby and your job must be identical. Second, your commute time must be exactly zero. if both of those conditions aren't satisfied, then don't even think about following this advice. Many farmers, business startups, Wall street workers, business tycoons, have to work this hard or go bankrupt. Our entire world economy depends on many of these people.
