The “Hustler” thought. Are you working hard too?

The idea of side hustling is becoming a trend these days. Like me, you might come across friends with a side project besides their daily working life. It could simply be a hobby that has blossomed into a more “serious project”. So everyone is working pretty hard, and I felt I should too. No one likes to lose out in a “race”.

I pondered and paused momentarily to reflect on this realisation, and an interesting younger-day thought floated in my mind. I used to think that once I grew up, I could have more freedom with my time. Essentially, I was naive to think I would no longer need to wake up early like my schooling days.

Little did I realise it was, after all, a fantasy. Now I still have to wake up early to prepare for work. It suddenly dawned on me that life is perhaps a never-ending “hustle” till one day, we felt secure and perhaps financially free to stop. Yeah, the Financially Independent, Retire Early (FIRE) notion or even the 1M65 movement thingy.

But will that day come? Unfortunately, and perhaps not. As our human instinct surfaces, social comparison arises. The emotional “enough” may never arrive, given our pursuit to become better than the next person. And trust me, that so-called “compared person” will always run up in your mind. Or perhaps our “kiasu” mind dominates our instinct to chase for more. Why shouldn’t we? Logically, having more is better than less, the more so to motivate us to hustle. That’s the rational self at work once more. I like to call this “mind economics” running in our reasoning process, subconsciously weighing the pros and cons of our decision.

Did you have any moments that you were surprised by your thoughts too? What’s one of the random thoughts you had recently? Do share with me in the comments. I love to have a conversation about that.