The Hidden Costs of Hustling

People do not need to be reminded of the murky, colourless and dull picture of what burnout resembles, of either 'taking on too much' or 'hustling too hard.' I truly get it. Burnout is real for both entrepreneurs and employees alike; and when we push our bodies to the brink - aches and pains, and perhaps a few viral infections and mental exhaustion (only to name) come knocking on your domain. And these pesky guests do not give two hoots as to whether or not they are invited to the party - let alone into your own personal space. Life is expensive, and it is only becoming more commonplace and familiar. It is important to put in the effort, yet that effort needs to be inspired. It does not matter what line of work you engage in, provided you are in the flow. The healing starts with you in getting to the bottom of your trauma and inner child. Doing the inner work.

It is noble and humbling to work hard, and slog it out, yet 'hustling' really comes at a cost. If those mild aches and pains, infections and fatigue gets ignored; this is where disease and/or injury comes knocking on your door until you get the message to be in your body, and to slow the f*ck down. (Coming from a cancer and ankle fracture survivor in 2025. This sh!t that yours truly is writing about is super real.)

Burnout? We've all been there at some time, whether it was before or after the pandemic. If you are in the camp of either loving your work, or you are in the flow with your work - and you know when you've reached your physical, mental and emotional limits for the day...kudos and sincere congratulations for real. You can find a way to work 13 hours a day (it better not be everyday) and still be a bit tired, but more satisfied than tired after this career marathon.

Now it's time to share a few statistics as evidence that people hate (a strong word, but true to form), are lukewarm about, and not happy, and are disengaged with their work. In October 2025, CBS News reported that six out of ten US workers (60%) are not happy with a key aspect of their work. What do you mean by this, you might ask? The workers that fall into the key 60% are satisfied (say) with their take home pay, but the company culture sucks balls. Apart from cultural fit and considerations, as well as terrible pay, workplace politics, bullying, gossiping, lack of advancement opportunities, and too much (or conversely) not enough work - combined with unclear instructions and being unable to have a say/voice in business improvement opportunities impacts a person's psyche - like a knife being pierced through a heart. Hustle culture may be a trend, yet it is a soul and mental health crushing one at that.

According to Talenlio, a staggering 85% of workers are disengaged at work, where the phrase "I hate my job" is as common as family doctors handing out jelly beans to a child after a specific vaccination. This is quite sad and alarming, considering that us humans spend a third of our lives at work. The other third of the day is for sleeping, and what is left is for eating, squatting, commuting, and whatever else you can fit in. SEEK Australia purports that in Australia, almost half of Australian people are lukewarm about their jobs. To them the hustle is more painful, absolutely.

This is why quiet quitting, quiet cracking, and revenge quitting are more than just buzzwords. Quiet quitting is when a worker still completes their job, and just hits their set KPI's. Basically a worker with low morale, doing the bare minimum to survive. Hustle culture encourages people to take on new projects for growth and promises of future promotions, while the physical, mental and emotional health ramifications are tossed aside. Quiet quitters decline such opportunities, including offers to work overtime. Strict boundary setting is paramount. The fallout from the pandemic, and the economic and technological uncertainties (AI isn't solely to blame) is killing the hustle mentality for these people; even if they are engaging in a side hustle that they love, while financial obligations have to be fulfilled. According to Mo.Work, quiet quitting is still a thing in 2025, and will continue to be, until something changes. Do not blame Millennials or Gen Z.

Like quiet quitting, quiet crackers still perform their jobs well and to the best of the ability - yet these workers are great at hiding their job dissatisfaction, stress, burnout, mental exhaustion and sadness - despite being more engaged than quiet quitters. This is where the hustle culture went to the casino and lost. The hangover from working and hustling so hard, and being loyal to the relevant company is so real, where the worker in question is being left unervalued and unappreciated. The mental struggle is real, and although all seems well on the surface - the bubble is about to bust. Forbes wrote an article about this alarming workplace trend back in August 2025, linking financial trauma and lack of psychological safety at work as a by-product of poor management and leadership as the root cause of mentally breaking great workers who hustle, and who still care, but care way less over time due to the way that they are being treated.

It is unclear if mass layoffs are the epitome behind rage quitting; yet a once engaged and content worker who worked and hustled hard suddenly cracks in an angry and rebellious fashion, and abruptly quits their job without giving the employer the required notice per their workplace contract. This form of quitting has PR ramifications, where disgruntled employees are at the tether of their psyche and mental health for perceived or actual mistreatment, where confidential company information can also be leaked. Management can also be put on blast, and system sabotages are real, from locking certain accounts and deleting key data that is more likely to break a company's growth prospects. This is mental. This is protesting, which can highly likely pose legal damages, and issues with the relevant persons reputation if workers are pushed beyond breaking point to the point of full blown anger and rage, which feeds strong addictions. According to Startup Stash on Medium; revenge quitting has exploded in 2025 - hence the urgency of writing and publishing this article to help us move into 2026 and beyond with awareness to come up with workable solutions to not reach this point of dissatisfaction makes a lot of sense. Furthermore, you can lose your family and friends with high levels of rage and anger. You will be a less attractive person to bond with. Who knew that quiet-quitting would come this far in a few short years. This just goes to show that hustling is not the band-aid solution to more abundance and joy that we were sold on.

Cutting down the hustle and the hustle culture mentality comes with presence, and doing the inner and shadow work on yourself - as exhausting, hard and painful as this to complete and/or journal about in your downtime. Such work is confronting, and can be upsetting and distressing. This is where the breakthroughs lie. Breakdowns are precursors to breakthroughs. I am about to write an article on somatic healing techniques that will help people transmute trauma, pain, addictions, co-dependences, and people pleasing. Our bodies need to move, and a balanced life is everything. If you were to rate each area of your life from your career, finances, health and relationships to name a score out of 10; to those that hustle and work too hard - the wheel in areas outside of work would score way lower, paving the way for a wonky wheel. You would not drive a car with a flat tire. Why should your mental health, psyche, and wellbeing be any different? Working while burnt out, angry and exhausted is no different. When you are relaxed and calm, opportunities come to you somehow, and mainly out of the blue. Do not stress about how they come, yet they certainly come. People like to gravitate to where there is an increase.

By staying in your body (it definitely keeps the score) - the bridge between mindfulness and manifestation becomes more and more effortless.

For example, yours truly does a bit of dog sitting on the side, and having had (and now going through the final rehabilitation phases for) an ankle fracture meant that this side hustle opportunity is now far fetched (sorry for the pun), or so you thought. Two dog sitting opportunities came to me over a matter of weeks, where the relevant dogs owner and I were able to negotiate a few things, including someone else to walk the dog for the time being. Win/win. The dog continued to be in good spirits, and the dogs owner could go away with peace of mind, while yours truly enjoyed a free staycation in a beautiful home, combined with getting paid for it, while I was still able to continue with my normal remote work, while still managing to give this dog the attention he craved.

Furthermore, recently manifesting a data entry role from home, where I can work this around my normal data analytics work is another example of mindful hustling, where this work reaps fantastic mental health benefits for the extra abundance without taking on any additional stress, with full flexibility to work as much or as little as desired each week, until the work is complete; or before the deadline approaches, which happens to be a generous two-months away (as at the time of writing). Even better, the pay is quite generous for the work involved, despite this work not being as straightforward as perceived. This week alone, three more ad-hoc and short-term work opportunities also manifested, with no marketing or outreach follow-up involved. Not to impress, but rather to impress upon the importance of not hustling just for the sake of it.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with hustling, and temporarily being in a job and/or business that you despise; yet know that there is a dark side to such, when done in excess. When boundaries are not respected. Inspired and mindful hustling (not hustle, hustle, hustle at all costs) needs to be balanced with self care, downtime, and social interactions with others. If not, people will crack.

When you are tired or low on energy with a low vibe, your efforts feel like they are swept under the rug. Everything is an uphill battle, metaphorically speaking, and for damn real.

When you are calm, opportunities fall in your lap - from enjoyable work opportunities and side hustles, to friends and other unexpected little abundances, from an unexpected discount while out shopping, to someone offering you a much needed helping hand with something simple, yet profound.

Speaking of hustling in another form; it (unbelievably so) took an ankle fracture injury to learn that walking anything beyond 6,000 - 10,000 steps a day has no real health benefits, despite moving the body. This is according to a couple of doctors who treated me until now. (Thankfully yours truly only needs to see my physiotherapist now, and that is nourishing.) Research from the University of Sydney tends to agree, saying that walking 7,000 steps a day in a research piece back in July 2025 titled "Rethink the 10,000 a day step goal, study suggests" is adequate.This school of thought is no different to the measurement of happiness and altruism reaching its peak at around the $50K - $75K USD per year mark, and then slowly increasing. We are all provided for, even if we do not see or appreciate this mindset - especially when exhausted.

Know that we are provided for more and more when we are in tune with the needs of our physical bodies. Everything is feedback. If you find that you are a quiet quitter, a quiet cracker, or have been a rage quitter - cut yourself some slack. Being in such camps is also giving you valuable feedback that you are highly likely hustling till the cows come home, with no real payoff for the efforts invested on your end. You can take action and do something about this, in hustling a lot less, and hence in allowing the right opportunities to manifest (by doing the murky inner work) that will blend in nicely with necessary self love and care.

For all of the hustlers out there, and/or for those who want to enjoy the slow lane a little more while still being able to meet your needs, in tandem with fulfilling life's demands and obligations; this song is speaking to you. If you have ever been burnt out and overwhelmed - some of the lyrics are relatable, whether addictions have surfaced or not. Save Myself by Ed Sheeran:

"And before I blame someone else, I’ve got to save myself."

"And before I love someone else, I’ve got to love myself."