I'm a little late to the party, but a mention of this comments thread on Twitter brought me here. Wow, it did not disappoint. Firstly, what an eye-opening and brilliantly observant article, Tom. Then enhanced by the quality and depth of engagement of your readers (particular mention to the comments of Conor, Axel and Alicia). I'm going to leverage my own anecdotal experience but hopefully the underlying principles can be extrapolated more generally.
I think this message to relax and to consciously step outside of this hustle game cannot be said loudly enough. I believe that our compulsion towards goal achievement and continued progression can partly be explained from an existential perspective; a need to provide meaning to one's life through output and material success in the brief time we have. For me, this yearning and hyper-productivity has been exacerbated by the pandemic.
Perhaps the antidote to this is to come to terms with our mortality and to recognise the intrinsic value of existence without a need to actualise anything. Whilst I think striving to leave the world a better place for future generations is extremely important (although the pursuit of creating a long lasting personal "legacy" might be driven by egotistical desires), this article highlights the importance of living life in the moment, day-to-day (I would add, without falling into the Eckhart Tolle shame-if-you-cannot-achieve-it type mindfulness).
The approach Tom is advocating is a path towards liberation. Liberation from the tyranny of to-do lists, listening to podcasts whilst engaging during every second of free time, alarm clocks on the weekend, multitasking, weekly schedules, tracking personal metrics through apps and smart watches, more to-do lists etc. Paradoxically - as Tom succulently points out - this approach can also lead to creative inspiration and great works of art. I appreciate that scheduling a set period in the day to write can be useful, but the real creativity is to be find in idle moments of "non-thinking". Shower thoughts. This is where my best ideas have fermented and blossomed.
In many respects, this approach is analogous to certain ancient philosophies e.g. Buddhism. The anxiety and shame that comes from not feeling you're doing enough is a result of comparison with social media, 'hustle' influencers etc. We all know the fallacy of comparison. I'm reminded of Immanuel Kant's maxim to never treat a person as a means to an end, but as an end in and of themselves. We ought to apply the same rationale to our own selves, and to engage in activities as ends in themselves. In this vain, I really liked Conor's daily ritual of forgiveness.
Thank you, Tom (and all the wonderful comments on this thread). These words could not be more timely and welcome. I will endeavour to adopt this lifestyle. It goes against my natural instincts, but perhaps these "natural instincts" are merely a conditioned state. With maturity comes the realisation that wisdom is the un-learning of many things, and that removing things tends to bestow far greater utility than adding things (Nassim Taleb's idea of via negativa).
My only question - which I would love to open to the floor - is how we can create the financial leverage (in an ideal world, obtaining f**k you money) in order to free ourselves from the Catch-22 work environment that imposes this Misery Tax? A very small percentage of creatives may strike gold in gaining traction and achieving such financial liberation, but it appears that an unbalanced workload is required to some degree in order to create such a space in one's life (using Taleb again as an example, he worked as a quant trader for a decade - hardly a docile industry).
This was such a great and terrifyingly relatable post. Thankfully, I never got trapped in the "misery tax," since from an early age I saw modern escapism for what it is. However, I still went through periods where I tried to stupidly overcome a miserable state in my life with "hard work."
To be honest, this post is so good that I feel as if I don't have much to add to it haha. Defnitely one I'll be rereading often in the future.
Great article Tom. Funny when you think of it, but the business of misery tax (low qual entertainment, booze, pills, drugs, nightclubs etc.) can only evolve and develop as much as the "hustling"/success mentality also evolves. Because if you don't feel like you're missing out on something big, you don't need the crutch of the misery tax. 40 years ago, the average desk clerk didn't feel like his life was shit. He had a wife, couple kids, paid holidays and everything was OK, if not great. Nowadays, (a)social networks and a 24/7 orbital strike of success porn has changed that. So the misery tax also increased tenfold.
The irony is that the extroverted super-gurus of Twitter and SV talk about things they don't really understand; when they yell at you about motivation, keep in mind that they don't know what they're talking about, cause they've always been über-competitive and high-energy. Sure, they may have had a few lows, been dumped by their wife and lost a few companies on the way. But they've actually never had the mental construction of the people they're talking to. So they can only tell you what they "think" the process to unstuck yourself is. And usually, it's just motivation porn and shame-induced self-depreciation (thanks the US protestant ethos for that). If there's such a huge business of motivation nowadays, it is because like God and women, nobody can come up with a scientific irrefutable theory about it; so everyone "can" be right and from there, it just becomes a persuasion game. And guess what they're selling ? More of their own misery tax.
Willpower can only come from within, and it can only come from a rested and a clear mind which has time to wander and make its own conclusions. The solution is not to clutter it and replace the occasional beer with friends by a Jocko podcast marathon or a $2000 subscription to the mindset group of the latest guru. Anyway. I digress too much.
Brought to mind another Taleb quote "Only in recent history has “working hard” signaled pride rather than shame for lack of talent, finesse and, mostly, sprezzatura.” I've never really understood when I would hear people brag about how many hours they spent in the library studying, or working. Why spend 6 hours, when you could finish it in 2 and spend the rest of the time doing something worthwhile. For example, moving to a different corner of the library to read something more interesting.
I think "If you keep treating yourself as a slave, as someone unworthy of respect or care or love then this will manifest in your demeanour and actions and therefore your results." is a perfect sentence to explain the damaging effects of hustle culture. Something that a lot of people need to hear.
Another huge problem with the "movement" is that most of the time it encourages action above all else, and action without direction is completely ineffective. Most of us would be far better off taking the approach outlined further on: Chill out. Take some time to think and relax. Explore some ideas, without judgement or pressure, then when one feels right, go and do it. It won't take as much effort to do so when you do.
As much as the message is directed towards the creative types (which I would argue includes most successful entrepreneurs - a word that I now unfortunately have a truckload of negative connotations with thanks to twitter), I think it holds true for any worthwhile endeavor, even the pursuit of a big pile of f*ck you money.
Great piece all the same, looking forward to the next one.
I'm a little late to the party, but a mention of this comments thread on Twitter brought me here. Wow, it did not disappoint. Firstly, what an eye-opening and brilliantly observant article, Tom. Then enhanced by the quality and depth of engagement of your readers (particular mention to the comments of Conor, Axel and Alicia). I'm going to leverage my own anecdotal experience but hopefully the underlying principles can be extrapolated more generally.
I think this message to relax and to consciously step outside of this hustle game cannot be said loudly enough. I believe that our compulsion towards goal achievement and continued progression can partly be explained from an existential perspective; a need to provide meaning to one's life through output and material success in the brief time we have. For me, this yearning and hyper-productivity has been exacerbated by the pandemic.
Perhaps the antidote to this is to come to terms with our mortality and to recognise the intrinsic value of existence without a need to actualise anything. Whilst I think striving to leave the world a better place for future generations is extremely important (although the pursuit of creating a long lasting personal "legacy" might be driven by egotistical desires), this article highlights the importance of living life in the moment, day-to-day (I would add, without falling into the Eckhart Tolle shame-if-you-cannot-achieve-it type mindfulness).
The approach Tom is advocating is a path towards liberation. Liberation from the tyranny of to-do lists, listening to podcasts whilst engaging during every second of free time, alarm clocks on the weekend, multitasking, weekly schedules, tracking personal metrics through apps and smart watches, more to-do lists etc. Paradoxically - as Tom succulently points out - this approach can also lead to creative inspiration and great works of art. I appreciate that scheduling a set period in the day to write can be useful, but the real creativity is to be find in idle moments of "non-thinking". Shower thoughts. This is where my best ideas have fermented and blossomed.
In many respects, this approach is analogous to certain ancient philosophies e.g. Buddhism. The anxiety and shame that comes from not feeling you're doing enough is a result of comparison with social media, 'hustle' influencers etc. We all know the fallacy of comparison. I'm reminded of Immanuel Kant's maxim to never treat a person as a means to an end, but as an end in and of themselves. We ought to apply the same rationale to our own selves, and to engage in activities as ends in themselves. In this vain, I really liked Conor's daily ritual of forgiveness.
Thank you, Tom (and all the wonderful comments on this thread). These words could not be more timely and welcome. I will endeavour to adopt this lifestyle. It goes against my natural instincts, but perhaps these "natural instincts" are merely a conditioned state. With maturity comes the realisation that wisdom is the un-learning of many things, and that removing things tends to bestow far greater utility than adding things (Nassim Taleb's idea of via negativa).
My only question - which I would love to open to the floor - is how we can create the financial leverage (in an ideal world, obtaining f**k you money) in order to free ourselves from the Catch-22 work environment that imposes this Misery Tax? A very small percentage of creatives may strike gold in gaining traction and achieving such financial liberation, but it appears that an unbalanced workload is required to some degree in order to create such a space in one's life (using Taleb again as an example, he worked as a quant trader for a decade - hardly a docile industry).
This is great. It worth rereading every weekend.
This was such a great and terrifyingly relatable post. Thankfully, I never got trapped in the "misery tax," since from an early age I saw modern escapism for what it is. However, I still went through periods where I tried to stupidly overcome a miserable state in my life with "hard work."
To be honest, this post is so good that I feel as if I don't have much to add to it haha. Defnitely one I'll be rereading often in the future.
Great article Tom. Funny when you think of it, but the business of misery tax (low qual entertainment, booze, pills, drugs, nightclubs etc.) can only evolve and develop as much as the "hustling"/success mentality also evolves. Because if you don't feel like you're missing out on something big, you don't need the crutch of the misery tax. 40 years ago, the average desk clerk didn't feel like his life was shit. He had a wife, couple kids, paid holidays and everything was OK, if not great. Nowadays, (a)social networks and a 24/7 orbital strike of success porn has changed that. So the misery tax also increased tenfold.
The irony is that the extroverted super-gurus of Twitter and SV talk about things they don't really understand; when they yell at you about motivation, keep in mind that they don't know what they're talking about, cause they've always been über-competitive and high-energy. Sure, they may have had a few lows, been dumped by their wife and lost a few companies on the way. But they've actually never had the mental construction of the people they're talking to. So they can only tell you what they "think" the process to unstuck yourself is. And usually, it's just motivation porn and shame-induced self-depreciation (thanks the US protestant ethos for that). If there's such a huge business of motivation nowadays, it is because like God and women, nobody can come up with a scientific irrefutable theory about it; so everyone "can" be right and from there, it just becomes a persuasion game. And guess what they're selling ? More of their own misery tax.
Willpower can only come from within, and it can only come from a rested and a clear mind which has time to wander and make its own conclusions. The solution is not to clutter it and replace the occasional beer with friends by a Jocko podcast marathon or a $2000 subscription to the mindset group of the latest guru. Anyway. I digress too much.
A wonderfully unique take on the idea.
Brought to mind another Taleb quote "Only in recent history has “working hard” signaled pride rather than shame for lack of talent, finesse and, mostly, sprezzatura.” I've never really understood when I would hear people brag about how many hours they spent in the library studying, or working. Why spend 6 hours, when you could finish it in 2 and spend the rest of the time doing something worthwhile. For example, moving to a different corner of the library to read something more interesting.
I think "If you keep treating yourself as a slave, as someone unworthy of respect or care or love then this will manifest in your demeanour and actions and therefore your results." is a perfect sentence to explain the damaging effects of hustle culture. Something that a lot of people need to hear.
Another huge problem with the "movement" is that most of the time it encourages action above all else, and action without direction is completely ineffective. Most of us would be far better off taking the approach outlined further on: Chill out. Take some time to think and relax. Explore some ideas, without judgement or pressure, then when one feels right, go and do it. It won't take as much effort to do so when you do.
As much as the message is directed towards the creative types (which I would argue includes most successful entrepreneurs - a word that I now unfortunately have a truckload of negative connotations with thanks to twitter), I think it holds true for any worthwhile endeavor, even the pursuit of a big pile of f*ck you money.
Great piece all the same, looking forward to the next one.