Grind. Grind. Grind. Humans have fallen in love with the concept of working. Social media has seen a rise in endless “day in the life” videos, romanticizing 12-hour study sessions, 5 a.m. morning routines, and “come to work with me” vlogs, starting a new, obsessive trend of constantly being in work mode. As the U.S. economy hurls towards another phase of uncertainty, with unstable job markets and unaffordable prices, there is a rapid rise in the desire to be busy. Suddenly, all that everyone cares about is being on the hustle to get that paycheck and to pay those bills. Coincidence? Far from it. This is all a result of America’s capitalism, with society paying the price for it. “Hustle culture” glamorizes overworking and burnout, promoting the idea that success only comes from personal effort, even if it means at the expense of an individual.
Nowadays, overworking is more than just normalized. It’s practically celebrated. The problem is, this kind of normalization turns burnout into a trend rather than a real problem. This is seen especially among teenagers and young adolescents. A recent study published by Common Sense Media reported that 27% of American teens are actively struggling with burnout, and over half feel stressed about needing a “game plan” for their future, stating that “social media at least sometimes worsened every single pressure they felt.” Here, young people are pressured to push themselves to unhealthy limits, not only because they think it is necessary, but because it has turned into an aesthetic. The hustle wave has initiated a surge of new content, with numerous posts showing perfectly edited morning routines and “day in the life” vlogs. Essentially, society has been tricked into thinking that motivation equals obsession, and that rest is equivalent to laziness instead of something people need. What people need to realize is that this nonstop productivity is just the economic system benefiting off of people feeling guilty for slowing down, and making an individual feel valuable only when they are constantly working. The rewarding feeling after overworking is a direct consequence of finding burnout aesthetically pleasing in life.
In some parts of the world, people beg for jobs, while in other parts of the world, people are simply overworked. This global gap in employment reveals just how exploitative “hustle culture” can be. Writer Millennial Musing from the Medium discusses how “late-stage capitalism would probably agree” that “monetizing every facet of your life is the way to go,” stating that capitalism disregards poverty and pushes many kinds of people to constantly achieve financial freedom. In other words, people are made to think that overworking is just a necessary step towards success, promoting it as ambition. It brings out an important question as a society: Do people work to live, or do they live to work? In today’s world, this can be seen in every aspect of one’s life. As of 2025, even the most basic entry-level jobs demand background experience, which is ironic, since that very job is supposed to fulfill that role. People have to go through extreme lengths just to secure a low-paying job, from retail to the fast food industry. Moreover, this false “motivation” to always work has fueled competition for almost everything. From high school to adulthood, young people are competing for college, internships, and jobs. College students now spend hours preparing for ten-minute interviews, perfecting resumes, and learning how to “market” themselves, all while chasing degrees that no longer guarantee employment. And, what does one get out of all this? Nothing. All this hustle and bustle will not reward dedication, but will continue to exploit, benefiting from people’s exhaustion.
Indeed, one could argue that hard work does pay off, but that is not true for everyone. In America, success often depends on more than just what one does. Success can be a result of things like timing, access to opportunities, and social inequality. To be more specific, “hustle culture” erases the reality that many people work incredibly hard, yet still struggle to live an affordable life due to the systematic barriers that many people face. An article from Business Management Daily by Dallin Nelson challenges the myth behind a hustling lifestyle by stating how people who advocate for this life, in the first place, are “average individuals” who “crave direction and validation.” He explains how “their grind increasingly looks less like actual work and more like selling their dream of constant work to others.” This is direct evidence of how society is fed a false promise, which is the belief that extreme effort on their end will guarantee success, when in reality, many people face a system made to be against them, or are in unfair situations. This mindset fails to account for factors like race, gender, income, or access to education, solely focusing on one’s own hard work. What is made to be a constant reminder that people are always behind is just a capitalistic tool used to overwork individuals. An illusion of success is created, only making people feel like failures for not achieving something that was never fully in their control, to begin with.
“Hustle culture” may appear to be a motivating or ambitious phenomenon, but beneath the surface, it reflects the deeper flaws of capitalism, rather than the trend it promotes itself to be. It pushes people to overwork while offering very little in return, creating a cycle that benefits the system more than the individual. The pressure to constantly work has become a weapon used to keep people striving without ever feeling secure. In the end, the obsession with productivity is less about personal growth and more about keeping up with a system designed to exploit. True success in life cannot be tied down to just one’s work life and job expectations. The sooner society realizes that, the faster people start living a healthier and more balanced life.
