There’s always more isn’t there?
Luxurious home with a pool and a view? Check.
Closet full of 3000 dollar suits? Check.
Multiple investments in Real estate and hedge funds? Check.
Let’s make another million shall we?
This is what hustle culture is about. Always striving for more money, another new car, a bigger title and the list goes on.
It’s the American Dream!
This week I had the opportunity to interact with a sociologist and startup veteran, we (editorial team of HoG) keep the name undisclosed to get true words and unfiltered opinions.
What followed was an insightful conversation and a deep dive into the hustle culture, the impact and lessons from her diverse experience.
Let’s hear what she has to say on “Burnout in the Startup Ecosystem”
It’s refreshing to talk to someone who is genuinely interested and wants to educate other people. I’d love to give you my perspective on this.
Personally, I’ve witnessed the insane rise of burnout within the fast-paced, high-pressure world of entrepreneurship. There’s this glorification of the “hustle culture” – like an unrelenting drive to work around the clock.
It has created a toxic environment, founders and employees both are sacrificing their mental and emotional well-being in pursuit of success.
The Rise of Burnout in the Startup Ecosystem
I fell victim to this mentality during my early days as a company founder. Being a part of the tech industry, being around people who cultivate this ideology makes it difficult for you to think otherwise or see another viewpoint.
I truly believed that working 80-hour weeks and pushing myself to the brink was the only path to greatness. And that’s what anybody ever wanted, be one of the greats, be successful, make it in the world. I’m grateful I actually did.
But it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. I experienced a severe burnout episode that made me realize how relentless I was with this approach. There were serious consequences to avoiding my health and my mental well-being.
I become irritable, disengaged, and utterly depleted, unable to make sound decisions or find joy in the very venture I had poured my heart into. It was quite heart breaking at first.
Fortunately, since I majored in Sociology in college I was lucky enough to gain perspective early on. I ended up going back to study more, I did my thesis in organisational culture 4 years ago.
The reality is that burnout doesn’t just impact individuals, it can cripple entire organizations. See, it is easy to undermine personal experiences but when large groups of people suffer like this it impacts the whole community, it has a ripple effect.
When leaders and teams are operating in a constant state of exhaustion, creativity suffers, decision-making becomes impaired, and the risk of costly mistakes skyrockets.
I’ve seen countless promising startups crumble under the weight of this unhealthy culture.
To combat this trend, what we must do redefine what it means to be a successful entrepreneur. We can’t run on the old definitions anymore, they are obsolete.
It’s not about working yourself to the bone but rather cultivating a balanced approach that prioritizes self-care and mental well-being.
This requires setting clear boundaries, delegating effectively, and fostering an environment where vulnerability and open dialogue around mental health are encouraged.
Safe to say, none of this can be achieved alone, it takes both individuals and organizations working together to bring real change.
The Blurring of Work-Life Boundaries in the Digital Age
Adding to the burnout crisis is the ever-increasing blurring of work-life boundaries in our hyper-connected digital age.
The advent of remote work and the ubiquity of mobile devices have made it impossible to truly “unplug” from work. This leads to a perpetual state stress and anxiety.
I hear people saying this a lot, weekends not feeling like weekends anymore, Because the break isn’t enough and maybe there isn’t really a break there.
Then there are the people who take their work with them to home, we may not intend to do it but like I mentioned before the lines get blurred.
During my consulting days, I encountered countless founders and executives who were tethered to their phones and laptops 24/7, responding to emails and messages at all hours of the day and night.
This constant state of availability not only eroded their personal lives but also bred a culture of urgency and reactivity within their organizations, where every issue became a fire drill.
Contrastingly, I’ve seen successful teams that embraced “deep work” – dedicated periods of uninterrupted focus where they could truly immerse themselves in complex tasks without the constant barrage of digital distractions.
They were setting clear expectations around response times, establishing “no-meeting” zones. These teams were able to strike a healthier balance and surprisingly, it also increased productivity.
Future Outlook: Prioritizing Mental Well-Being for Long-Term Success
As we look to the future, it’s clear that prioritizing mental well-being will be a crucial differentiator for startups and businesses of all sizes.
The companies that thrive will be those that recognize the inseparable link between employee well-being and organizational success, and actively work to foster a culture of balance, self-care, and psychological safety.
This cultural shift will require a multi-faceted approach, implementing better mental health support systems and encouraging open dialogue around these issues, even actively promoting work-life balance and setting reasonable expectations around responsiveness and availability.
Moreover, as the workforce continues to skew younger, with Millennials and Gen Z comprising an ever-larger share, the demand for companies that prioritize mental well-being will only intensify.
These generations have grown up with a heightened awareness of mental health issues and a greater willingness to prioritize self-care over the relentless pursuit of career advancement.
My advice is this, of course it must seem impossible to look at these things in any other way. We all grow up with an achievement ideology -this socially perceived definition of success, work hard to get where you want.
We reward people who think this way, provide them with validation, glorify the hard work, the struggle. Somewhere along the way, it falls short, doesn’t it?
I won’t say it’s all bad, “hustle culture” exists and will most likely prevail for a long time, but the difference is that we now know how to balance things out.
And that was the heart-to-heart! Quite insightful wasn’t it?
I believe it was worth publishing for our readers. I surely learned a lot.
If you’re a budding entrepreneur, I hope this piece helps you. We are lucky enough to have lengthy discussions with experts in various fields so we keep publishing pieces like this.
Stay tuned for more!
