Stop Hustling: Why Working More Hours Destroys Your Progress & Results

Do you fall into the hustle-culture mentality? Working 12+ hours every day, sleeping 4 hours a night, and being in the full-on grind more?

Well, if that’s you, in this video, I’m going to explain why doing all of that is actually costing you success and progress. And what to do about it so you can work less, make more money, and progress. The goal here is to give you different tools, backed by science and research, that ACTUALLY help you achieve your goals faster, and become more efficient, productive, and focused.

Because if you’re an entrepreneur and you want to grow your business to multiple 6,7,8+ figures, then that’s exactly what will help you get there.

With that said, let’s begin.

Let’s look at what research has to say first.

• Working more than 10 hours a day is associated with a 60 percent jump in the risk of cardiovascular issues.

• Working more than 40 hours a week is associated with increased alcohol and tobacco consumption, as well as unhealthy weight gain in men and depression in women.

• Many of the problems identified above tie to stress, which connects to hormonal balances. Specifically, stress raises cortisol, which can disrupt sleep, appetite, blood pressure, immune system function, memory/cognition, mood, and more.

Most importantly, the biggest finding the researchers have found is that little productive work occurs after 50 hours per week.

And I get it. You have all of these influencers and Gurus on social media, preaching how hard work, hustling, and working long hours is the key to success. Well, if you are a total beginner and you are in a start-up phase, maybe. But still, you’re simply ignoring your biggest superpower, which is your ability to perform at the highest level.

If you have the right tools and systems, you can achieve that.

But most people don’t leverage their superpowers, because it’s not as shiny as “Waking up at 3 AM” or “How I am able to work, fully focused, for 15 hours a day”.

I fell for that too. When I was starting my business, I was all about the hustle culture mentality. It was cool for a couple of days, maybe weeks, it was working and I felt like I was “going to win like those Gurus”. But right after that, my whole business failed, because I failed as an entrepreneur. This made me think:

“Do I have what it takes?”

One thing you don’t see on social media is the truth of how people actually work.

Those influencers that preach how hard and long they work… have you ever stopped and thought about for how long? Are they even consistent with that? Is it really true?

Recently, everyone has been sharing only the highlights of their days, lives, and progress they have made. They rarely share behind the scenes how they are struggling and how much they can actually focus and get productive work done.

That’s not what gets attention, clicks, views, shiny object syndrome, and dopamine rush.

That said, there is a better, more sustainable, consistent, and proven way to grow.

Without working like a dog and seeing little to no progress.

In business, and in any type of work really, it doesn’t matter how many hours you work.

What matters is your output. The quality of it and the speed.

If you don’t sleep enough (and right), you’re overworked, leaving your brain with no juice, how on Earth are you supposed to produce something good that actually helps you grow?

No chance.

A study from Standford University shows that:

“Output falls sharply after a 50-hour work-week, and falls off a cliff after 55 hours—so much so that someone who puts in 70 hours produces nothing more with those extra 15 hours.”

Not only output is affected. Sleeping for less than 7-8 hours a night will have a huge negative effect on your performance and overall health. Your productivity, focus, and energy will drop and you won’t be able to do anything. 

So yeah, if you want to die early, fail in business, be super inefficient, and become a walking zombie, then feel free to do whatever you were doing – sleeping less and working more.

Now, if you are still here watching this, you’re about to learn the better way. The way that will set you up for success without working long hours and constantly hustling.

Key #1 - Shift Your Focus

Instead of focusing on how many hours you are putting in, focus on what actually needs to get done.

Instead of focusing on all of the tasks you want to do, focus on what actually moves the needle forward.

Instead of focusing only on time management, focus on energy management too.

Focusing on what actually matters and doing that will not only cut your working day in half, and make you insanely efficient, but it will also help you progress faster.

If you are the type of person who focuses on the main KPIs that move the needle forward in the business and works for 5-6 hours only, you’re going to win by default against a person who claims that works 12h days, working on the wrong things and not doing them well.

It’s that simple – shift your focus.

Key #2 - Prioritize Yourself

It’s easy to get lost and forget about ourselves when working and growing a business.

But you are a direct reflection of your business.

You are the captain of the ship.

You are the center of your business.

If you don’t perform at 100%, neither will your business and team.

Your poor input will result in poor output and you’re going to be making bad decisions.

One mistake or error, a slight drop in growth and progress, can cost you thousands of dollars if not millions.

So before you put your work first, optimize yourself, so YOU can work at the highest level possible. And from there, your business will grow as a by-product.

• Focus on prioritizing sleep.

• Exercise.

• Eat the right foods.

• Be hydrated.

• Have hormonal balance.

• Have a crystal clear mind.

There is so much more that comes with it. But always start with the basics.

Key #3 - 10x Your Efficiency

You need to be smart around your work if you want to grow faster.

That means knowing what to eliminate, delegate, or automate.

You, as the head of the business, should be focused on tasks that:

1. Only YOU can do it.

2. Move the needle forward in your business.

The rest you need to get rid of, give it to someone else to do, or leverage technology.

Without this, you will be working more hours and get nowhere, because you simply can’t tackle everything. And if you think you can, then tell me how high-quality those outputs are.

And you will never become a business owner or an operator.

Because you’ve just created another job for yourself. A glorified freelancer.

You should be focusing on what you do well and what’s essential.

The rest is given to somebody else who is better than you at that task.

And that’s how you build a truly great business which will allow you to have freedom.