Why You Should Stop Hustling And Boot-Strapping

Today’s topic is going to be very controversial, but I do hope that for your own personal well-being that you read on.

Challenging Today’s Dangerous Norm

“Sleep is overrated. You can sleep when you’re dead.”

“If you’re not hustling, you’re losing.”

“Smart work will never replace hard work, it only supplements it.”

“If you’re not working 15-18 hours a day, you’re not doing enough with your life.”

These are the crazy messages I’ve heard in my life. You may recognize some of those from the most prominent advocate of hustle porn, Gary Vaynerchuk. I believe he is sending a terrible message to the current generation of entrepreneurs and he may be destroying some of these young people’s lives.

I used to believe in this idea of working hard and taking massive actions is what produces results, and if you’re broke, boot-strap and reinvest as much money as you can back into your business. That’s what sounds logical and makes sense. However, the idolization of hustling is a dangerous path that most entrepreneurs and business owners get sucked into.

We as entrepreneurs need to be talking about it.

Hustling and Bootstrapping Took Away The Best Years Of My Life And Made Me An Alien

I spent 4 years hustling, grinding, and miserly on myself when I was 23 till I was 27. I stopped taking the subway and instead choose to cycle to save that couple of dollars, I had a peanut butter sandwich almost every meal. Every hour of my waking moment was spent working on my business.

Does that sound like an interesting story to you?

I’m sure most of you would agree that I had a great backstory. It almost sounds like a script for a Hollywood movie. However, do you really want your life to be a Hollywood movie? The ups and downs are not what everyone wants, and it’s not what everyone can bear. According to a study by the American Psychiatrist Association, in general, about 15 to 16.6% of the general population suffer from depression, but 30% of entrepreneurs suffer from depression. This is 2 times more than the general populace. According to the Gallup Wellbeing Index, 45% of entrepreneurs report being stressed and 34% of the “worried a lot”.

When you’re young, your life is worth much more than when you’re old. Before you’re 35 years old, every moment of your life is so much more precious, and I lost 4 years of it to the “glory” of entrepreneurship.

Read also: How to Have a Successful  Mindset? 

I lost contact with many of my friends and I totally feel like an outsider looking in at their lives when they post up their photos on Instagram and Facebook. Instead of hanging out with them, I turn them down because I did not have much money with me since I’ve reinvested them into my business and I had to be working on my business to make sure I make them back. Sure, they may not be making as much money as I do now, but I wouldn’t mind making less so that I could still be a part of it.

It has become difficult for me to connect with most people because I just do not have the same interests as them anymore as most of what is in my head are digital marketing, eCommerce, business, etc. Just do a Google search on entrepreneurs and dating, most people find dating entrepreneurs feel like dating aliens. Most entrepreneurs have also given updating because they are too busy to care and that their business is a priority over their dating life. Look at entrepreneurs who would rather hire hot prostitutes to get it off rather than spend time creating meaningful relationships with someone.

My Health Took A Hit

Over the 4 years of being an entrepreneur, I gained approximately 15kg(33pounds). I feel tired all the time in the day and I’ve developed sleep apnea which makes it worse, due to my weight gain causing my air passage to be narrower when I sleep.

All the working 15-18 hours a day, sleeping less, eating unhealthily has screwed my body and now I’m spending my time trying to regain my health.

Do you really want to make all that money and have no health to enjoy it?

If You Are Constantly Hustling, You’re Not Doing It Right

Learn How To Delegate and Manage

A good entrepreneur knows how to delegate and manage well. If you are constantly micromanaging and doing everything on your own, you’re not going to go far in your business.

A solo eCommerce entrepreneur can achieve about $100,000 to $200,000 in revenue annually. Working alone will never get you to that 7 figures mark.

All that 4 Hour Work Week, Passive Income books that you’ve been reading, didn’t you say you want to be making a ton of money without working and traveling the world? How are you going to be pissing off money when you’re spending all that time making it?

Quality Over Quantity

Working 18 hours a day, yeah that sounds amazing. However, truthfully how much time is actually spent on profit-making activities? You’re lacking in sleep, how are you going to stay focused on your work? Making mistakes and screwing up and then having to spend even more time fixing and redoing what has already been done is what likely going to happen to you.

Your Business Is Not Your Life, It Is Only Part Of Your Life

Over the years of being an entrepreneur, I come to understand that if you focus you are more likely to succeed. However, life has more than 1 aspect. It is not about focusing, but about achieving balance and that’s the hardest thing to do. Most people aren’t truly happy with their lives, because they cannot achieve a balance between money, kids, spouse, parents, friends, supporting causes that they believe, their own health, or spending time on their passions and interests.

Ask Yourself, “Are You Happy?”

For me today, I’m a lot happier now that I’ve learned my mistake and moved on from the hustling life and I would never want to go back to it. My life is equally important to my business. The same goes for my spouse, my parents, my friends, my health, and my other passions. I do not believe everything in the world is A or B choice. I SHOULD NOT have to give up ANYTHING just for business or financial success. I will only choose EVERYTHING.

Be selfish! Live life on your own terms. It is your life, you decide what you want and what you do not want.

Hustling and bootstrapping, do those really make you happy or do you just like to show everyone how hard you’re grinding so that they can cheer you on to boost your ego?

You need to examine deeply into yourself and ask yourself what would make you truly happy. From there, look at your current business model and how you are working. Is where you are now and what you’re doing daily going to lead you to this happy life that you’ve painted?