Wharton psychologist Adam Grant: 'Hustling' and taking care of yourself aren't mutually exclusive—here's why

Wharton organizational psychologist and author Adam Grant onstage during a panel at the 2022 Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Summit at Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center on July 19, 2022 in National Harbor, Maryland.

Adam Grant and Robin Arzón want to reclaim the phrase “hustle culture.”

It’s often used to describe a mindset of having your whole life revolve around making money, even at the expense of sleep or a social life. But there’s a healthier way to approach the concept of “hustling,” according to Grant, a Wharton organizational psychologist, and Arzón, vice president of fitness programming at Peloton.

“You can choose something extremely challenging and push yourself extremely hard to try to achieve it. But that doesn’t mean you have to beat yourself up or burn yourself out,” said Grant, as the pair discussed the topic during a recent episode of Grant’s “ReThinking” podcast.

In other words, working hard and taking care of yourself don’t have to be mutually exclusive. What “so many people get wrong” is that “they contrast hustle culture with self-care,” Grant added, noting that “there’s a difference between intensity and volume.”

That’s the kind of hustle Arzón supports and implements in her own life, she said.

“Hustle requires the confidence to define what the ladder looks like, what the definition of success looks like,” said Arzón. “And my definition of success includes my own self-care practices … I’ve long understood my own energy to be a currency, and I think about how I’m spending it or saving it very much how somebody might think about their finances.”

That’s why she considers sleep, hydrating and fueling her body “my full-time job,” she said. “[Because] nobody, none of my partners, [will] make money if I don’t protect that.”

How to hustle in a healthier way

Arzón’s comments echo advice from Laurie Santos, the psychology professor behind Yale University’s most popular course and host of the podcast “The Happiness Lab.”

“So many of us think, ‘I’m going to put my head down and avoid social connection, whether it’s at work or in my life, and I’m just going to hustle and get stuff done,'” Santos told CNBC Make It last year. “That’s just totally wrong.”

To avoid problems like stress, burnout and depression, “you need sleep, you need rest and you need connection with other people” to be happy, she said. “Those are the things that are going to matter.”

Taking breaks in the workplace and reaching out more often to your family and friends can also go a long way, added Santos, and research backs her up.

Employees who take 10- to 15-minute microbreaks throughout their work day tend to be more engaged and mentally stable than their counterparts, found a recent study from performance coaching company Exos and Hofstra University psychologists.

“I would define ‘hustle’ as work ethic that is gritty but also gracious,” Arzón said. “And to me, that means being so proud when my head hits the pillow with a willingness and a freedom to go to bed at night.”

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