Founder of Dent Global & ScoreApp | Awarded Entrepreneur of the Year | 6x business books | Founded multiple 7 & 8 figure ventures | Mission to develop entrepreneurs who stand out, scale up and make a dent.
There's a group of people trying to convince everyone (and especially young people) that: - you have to maintain work-life balance at all times or else you'll experience "trauma" (I'm not making this up) - working long hours is the worst thing you could ever do - it is unnatural to want to work anything more than a few hours a day a few days per week - you can become highly productive by working a lot less. ESPECIALLY FOR THE YOUNG PEOPLE, I KNOW... this is nonsense spouted by people who have clearly not started with nothing and gotten themselves ahead. 1. Achieving anything great takes discomfort, effort, commitment and determination. Discomfort precedes victory. Putting in the time, more often than not, pays off. 2. Life moves in cycles and waves. When something is new and requires rapid learning or growth just to survive, it is normal for it to be a massive focus to the exclusion of all other things. You don't get to be a parent without going through all-nighters and dropping your focus from most other things. 3. High performance isn't fun or fair all the time. If you want to smash a goal, it's going to require full commitment. For some people smashing a goal might be winning an athletic championship and for others, it might be getting $10K in the bank for the first time in your life. If you want it badly enough you'll have to put in the work - beyond what others are doing. 4. The research is clear. People who earn more work more. It's not a sexy fact but the highest earners typically work 55hours a week or more. That isn't for everyone (not everyone wants to be the highest earner) but it's still a fact. If you are starting out with nothing and you want money - expect to do 8am-7pm most days. I personally did those hours for 15 years before kids. Truthfully I actually loved it (and even miss it). 5. There are plenty of people who have lived a very sheltered life who will tell you otherwise. People who grew up with money and elite education thrown at them simply don't get it. If someone tells you they have always maintained work-life balance and still got ahead they were very lucky somewhere along the way. If you know you're not in their position, discount the advice. 6. Working (even long hours) can be joyful and rewarding. These are things I've pulled all-nighters for: - Magic the Gathering - Movie Marathon - University Assignment - Before a big pitch - Clubbing - Opening new offices - Traveling/working globally - Babies /Kids Notice the theme… all exhausting but worth it. This was driven by passion. 7. Use your 20s and early 30s wisely. The reality is that when you are young you can throw yourself at things with intensity and power more easily. You are built to stay up all night, you have the energy for kicking doors down. Don't waste that energy on computer games, drinking, partying etc. Have fun but know that life starts to get in the way in your 30s and your "all-nighter energy" drops in your 40s for most people.
I think a lot of people skimmed over Point 4 “not everyone wants to be a high earner” … I often (almost always) tell entrepreneurs they should build a lifestyle boutique with 3-12 people and stop. I say “do you want to work 55hrs a week?” And if the answer is no, then seek a balance portfolio of interests rather than growing your business further. Beyond 12 people, the energy required to get the business into a scalable and valuable entity (and to hold on to equity) is intense until you hit about ￡1M+ of available cash flow. FYI to me a *high earner* starts at ￡240k (top 1%) and above. These people are either working 55hrs+, or they used to, or they got some very lucky breaks. As I say, not everyone wants that. Some people seem mad at me because they think I’m saying that they need to “kill themselves” forever with no breaks ever while earning normal pay. Really not saying that. Not saying to do all nighters all the time - but if you have to work til late every now and then it’s not the end of the world if you have a good goal you are chasing. I’m also not saying work your guts out with no prospects of rewards. There’s no exponential gains that come from driving Uber 16hrs a day. Put in the hours for the rewards.
The science shows that after 50 hours in a week, cognitive performance declines rapidly. It also shows that we can only do 3-4 hours max of high cognitive effort at a time. Sure, you have to work hard to achieve things but consistently pushing beyond your physical limits is counter-productive and can be very damaging. Those all-nighters weren't nearly as effective as you thought they were (unless they were looking after babies - but that's not cognitively demanding work, that's mostly just staying awake).
Ah, I thought the "disabled people aren't really capable of being actual, successful professionals" side of LI had been quiet recently. Some of us never had the privilege of having the level of energy you believe is the "default for that season" in our 20s-30s. Some of us spent our 20s-30s managing homelessness, genuine mental health challenges (read: schizophrenia that involved 2-3 psychotic episodes a month until the right meds were sorted), the dysfunctional mental illnesses of a parent (again, schizophrenia, this time violent), and care responsibilities for other adults, all WHILST F-ING WORKING AS MUCH AS WE HAD THE SPARE F-ING ENERGY FOR, because we KNEW no one would hand us any f-ing thing on a plate. We got minimum wage, because people like you saw (and continue to see) us as "lesser", as "lazy", as "useless", as "dysfunctional." Life doesn't wait until the appropriate "season" to f-k sh*t up for people sometimes.
This is terrible advice that promotes the grind culture and reinforces the idea that money is the be all end all.
Partied my way through my 20’s. Thoroughly believe 35-40 hours a week is quite enough. Passionately believe that happier workforces make for more productive workforces and that happiness is more often than not found outside of work. You may be mixing up effort, determination and desire with the number of hours you commit to something. They’re not mutually exclusive. When you stare into the abyss during your final moments on the planet, I very much doubt you’ll be thinking “gosh, I wish I’d worked more”.
Daniel, thank you, I have been challenging these post directly and then dealing with a wrath of abuse. Life just isn't without challenge, at any stage or any element of it. As someone with chronic illnesses, a Mam, working a job, running a business and developing a startup, managing a home, life at the moment is full throttle and it's hard but I have responsibilities, I have children to look after, a home to keep clean, I have bills to pay, I have clients to support and a have a purpose I am damn well trying bloody hard to succeed with, startup life mixed with work life mixed with home life mixed with family life, there is no balance. Toxic privilege is leading this conversation, a untrue reality for the majority.
I agree on many points, one question though: In this scenario when would you suggest to create and raise your offspring? People are having first kids in their 40's because of this career centric attitude and that means they are probably over sixty when their kids leave the house. This way parents don't have the energy to raise their kids in an optimal way. Please, could you integrate that into your model? Is it great kids or a great career? I see parents who get kids at 40 and they sure don't have the "kicking doors in" energy levels and that is directly reflected in their offspring, at least I beleive I can see it quite often.
Thank you so much for sharing this! I was at the point where I felt like there was something wrong with me for wanting to work hard.
Founder of Dent Global & ScoreApp | Awarded Entrepreneur of the Year | 6x business books | Founded multiple 7 & 8 figure ventures | Mission to develop entrepreneurs who stand out, scale up and make a dent.
2 年Wow, this post blew up. So I want to be clear about something... In the UK there are laws preventing employers from getting people to do an average of more than 48 hours per week -https://www.gov.uk/maximum-weekly-working-hours As an employer of 100+ people (and the winner of major awards for culture), my company offers total flexibility. We have some people working 3 days a week, some people do mornings and go home early and some work later. We also have remote working and this includes working from anywhere in the world you want. I really don't mind how much or how little my team works so long as they allow us time to plan for it. I have never been asked/forced to work long hours and I've never asked anyone to work long hours for me. It's a choice - and for me, I chose to work more.