We live in an era where hustle is idolized while clout and financial status, claimed as the ultimate virtues. Chronic burnout is seen as a badge of honor, which, if you don’t have it, can lead to being labeled as ‘undisciplined’ or ‘not hard-working.’
Permeated by such notions, our lives are spent in the never-ending chase of more money, more followers, and more stuff.
To out-hustle everyone, keeping up with the Hormozis seems like the fundamental truth of existence.
- But what if all this isn’t necessary?
- What kind of ambition emerges when survival, social status, communal place, and even personal achievement are not tied to profit?
- And what if the real work begins when the grind ends?
Hustle Culture: The New Organized Religion
Hustle culture is the new organized religion. Like the dogmas of the Dark Ages, it dominates the collective psyche, preaching that your whole being must be productized, monetized, and permanently optimized. The end result? The ‘freedom’ to consume yourself into oblivion.
— POTB
Like organized religion promised heaven after a life of self-flagellation and guilt, hustle culture offers its own salvation:
Work and self-abuse to the bone so that one day you can buy the Lambos and yachts flooding your feed.
However, traditional religion carries inherent value for many. It’s often practiced through a blend of intrinsic belief and community purpose. Hustle culture, on the other hand, runs almost entirely on extrinsic motivation and reward-punishment paradigms.
But what if there’s an alternative?
The Nordic Model
It may sound like a utopia, but the key might be hidden in what’s called the Nordic Model. Spanning Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, the Nordic Model aims to create a more balanced, egalitarian society.
One way it does that is by increasing taxes as your profit grows. So, the more you make, the more you pay.
The higher taxes aren’t just vanishing into a void. At least on paper, they are reinvested into healthcare, education, public transport, social security, etc.
Said differently, the wealth of the few strengthens the foundation for all. Esoterically, it can be seen that the light of the brightest stars illuminates and fertilizes many. More on that by the end.
A quite decent life is possible without needing to become a millionaire just to feel safe, supported, or respected.
In and of itself, this may be the leverage to defeat the mindless obsession with accumulating more, which, as studies show, is not conducive to better living beyond a certain point.
Do You Want The Bling
Gary Vee tells us that if we want the bling, we need to hustle harder.
But let’s be honest, how many of us actually care about Lambos and yachts on a deeper level? How many resonate more with Balenciaga and Prada versus Carhartt WIP, Dickies, and New Balance, for instance.
Sure, genuine enthusiasts who appreciate the engineering of supercars do exist. High fashion connoisseurs, too. Yet, such people are few and far between.
Most don’t truly care about luxury if not tied to social approval, a false sense of belonging, and regular sexual intercourse, which should be part of anyone’s complete human experience, provided they didn’t do anything wrong.
People chase status and belonging. It’s the unspoken hope that success will finally unlock love, respect, or intimacy, which is a basic necessity, not a luxury.
Or simply to be who they truly are after they rub six figures in your face. What often hides behind the performance and persona is that the grind is just a masked plea to be seen, valued, and touched.
Lambos and Bicycles
The irony is that those needs aren’t extravagant but human. They should come with community, connection, or genuine affection and primal desire for another human being, not with a price tag.
Philosopher Alain De Button refers to the Nordic Model as being made for ‘losers.’ What he actually means is that people are perfectly fine, even if they don’t hustle, enjoying a complete human experience.
Alain identifies purchasing a Lambo as a byproduct of severe emotional deficits and deep cravings for validation. Elsewhere, he also notes that if, in the current era, you don’t feel diminished by riding a bicycle, your parents did something right, as your self-worth is not tied to a car. Let me know if that’s you.
Cookie-Cutter People
If a society reduces a person’s worth to a single metric and promotes only one acceptable lifestyle, often unreachable to those without a privileged starting line, then what we’re dealing with isn’t freedom. It’s a soft form of totalitarianism.
— POTB
A system that rewards only one kind of ambition, one kind of success, one kind of life. As noted by Alan Ronald Miller, aka Christopher Hyatt, such a system considers true individuality and humans’ inherent differences as pathologies.
But what if all this isn’t the case and a person’s basic needs are met? What if your sex life wasn’t tied to a Porsche or Lambo?
The New Rich
Perhaps this could unlock a culture where everyone has a better chance to become what’s known as the new rich, enjoying long years of a meaningful existence.
The old rich echo hustle culture; they spend their lives overworking so they can enjoy a lavish retirement in their 50s.
Conversely, the ‘new rich’ don’t plan to retire but do meaningful and exciting work until their bodies allow it.
They don’t care about yachts and Lambos, as long as they can do what they want. This can be:
- Writing books,
- Starting projects,
- Learning new skills,
- Or whatever the next thing is for you.
Unlike what hustle culture preaches, most people need far less than they think. So, maybe do some research yourself.
Speaking as an interdisciplinary creator—in the current era—you can build a whole portfolio and a brand with basic but quality equipment. And, no, you don’t need a degree.
- Mac Mini,
- Online courses,
- APS-C cameras,
- Refurbished gear like lenses,
- Etc.
If you know how to use them, you can make works that stand out. If you don’t, you don’t. And if the algorithms paid attention to that as opposed to location, you’d be appreciated by the right people.
Hierarchies
According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, true self-actualization can only occur when all basic needs are met. If they really are, you are not pressured by survival or status anxiety. So you can develop in meaningful ways.
The increased taxes on profit will bring the moment of intrinsic motivation, as some people would still like to go the ‘extra mile.’ Not in the name of Lambo or two, but to bring innovations that would improve their lives and the lives of others, because of and if they really want it.
Rather than purely on numbers, there will be contextual hierarchies based on actual:
- Skills,
- Mastery,
- Innovation,
- Inventiveness,
- Craftsmanship,
- Specific Contributions,
- Etc.
While marketing and sales will play a role, they won’t make up for an utter lack of the first two.
This would produce those bright stars, inspiring others to become the same with what they do, which, if you don’t feel it’s your call, would be perfectly fine.
Flow
In such a system, people will work and create not from fear but from intrinsic motivation: the desire to contribute, to grow, and to keep into autotelic experiences or flow, as described by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.
Unlike hustle or grind, flow is fueled by deep enjoyment, not reward-punishment loops. It’s not about chasing validation. It’s about losing yourself in the work because it matters.
— POTB
In that space, ambition transforms, becoming sacred. It’s no longer a rat race to a top determined by others. It’s a rhythm. A craft. A calling for creating and journeying to your own horizons.
The True Will
Esoterically, all this brings us to two notions.
The first is the True Will, which has but a few commonalities with the Japanese Ikigai.
The True Will is the divine expression within the individual and your genetic predispositions.
Both the Ikigai and the True Will are almost never limited to a single career choice, so sticking to a niche as propagated by hustle culture is almost a certain way to disconnect from them.
— POTB
By covering their basics with less effort, more people would be able to explore and pursue their Ikigai, eventually becoming one of the stars and joining the new rich.
The Fortune Card, Jupiter, teaches that everything stays in perpetual change. Psychologist Carol Dweck advocates embracing permanent education and a growth mindset.
Robert Anton Wilson and Naval Ravikant agree we’re meant to be polymaths and Renaissance people. At least most of us.
Aleister Crowley taught us that IAO, or birth-death rebirth, is experienced not once but multiple times in a lifetime.
Angels
The second comes from the Enochian angels. One thing they proceed to share with scholars from the legendary Dee and Kelly to modern Aaron Leitch is their distaste for humans due to things like separation and war.
Based on all covered, it’s clear which society would be more conducive to less segregation and more unity and which instills separation with full force.
The True Will does imply radical individualism. Yet, it’s also the way to harmony and unity with all. You are a star in Nuit’s body, an individual in a society. And since each star is a bona fide expression of the Universal, the True Wills never clash. The more freely we follow them, the more we unite.
The Right Question
Once we peel back its layers, we see hustle culture for what it is: not a path to freedom but quiet totalitarianism, producing copies of the same person by suffocating individuality and putting price tags on basic human needs.
As far as another way? It may be much more than a fairytale, a blueprint for thriving. Think of the Nordic Model inspired by ageless wisdom. A secure base that unleashes sacred ambition. An environment where purpose leads over profit. Not necessarily as a replacement but as an alternative.
Maybe it’s time to trash those old success metrics. Your worth isn’t a number or a shiny car. It’s your unique power to contribute, inspire, connect, master crafts, and discover links.
— POTB
The best thing might be to ask yourself what you would really do when the hustle finally ends. Another good one is to check my manuals and books if you need help with getting in shape, discipline, and magickal rituals. But that’s just my opinion. Let me know if you agree, and thank you for your time.