You’ll hear two distinct mentalities being promoted by entrepreneurs and business owners:
“Work smarter not harder” (in this case, “Smarties”) and the need of hustle.
They both assert that they are the key to success, but they approach it in quite different ways. Smarties will advise you that while Hustlers believe that constant striving and outworking your competition is the key to success, those people are wearing themselves out and that you should instead concentrate on working more effectively to achieve the same or better outcomes with less effort.

As they are intended for different purposes, each of these mentalities are acceptable. Whether one will resonate with you more depends on your personality and idea of success. The Smartie mindset is appealing to those who own businesses because they want success and flexibility. The Hustler life seems to make more sense for individuals who want to earn as much money or produce as much business as possible.

In quite a while, Hustlers soon become weary of exerting a lot of effort for little reward, and Smarties discover that they aren’t always able to put forth the effort required for their “clever working” to actually produce something tangible. Online educators and influencers frequently neglect to address this fact because neither one is actually effective without the other. This is especially true when a substantial portion of their network comprises of potential competitors. What then should you do in its place?

WHY “WORK SMARTER NOT HARDER” ISN’T THE ANSWER

Let’s face it: most people who opt to own their own businesses aren’t inherently Hustlers. While some of us are, the bulk of us chose it because we enjoy being in charge and having the freedom to do what we want, when we want. So, we frequently forget that the verb in the phrase “work smarter, not harder” is still the word “work.” Setting up a business with operating systems, marketing, and customer service that will run itself successfully takes a lot of work, especially in the beginning. It also requires ongoing maintenance. Business owners that take this too seriously often wind up outsourcing everything and attempting to manipulate the system, which rarely works.

WHY HUSTLING ISN’T THE ANSWER

On the other hand, working hard doesn’t guarantee success as a business owner. Working extremely hard and keeping your head down is a fantastic skill that many business owners lack. Yet, it can cause burnout, and concentrating on getting as much done as you can probably means you’re not giving each client as much value as you might. Also, scaling is extremely challenging if you’re continuously working ON your business rather than IN it.

Who are those prosperous individuals who advise you to “hustle, hustle, hustle”? They are presumably putting in place highly clever automations and systems that will allow them to scale up and take breaks when they see fit. In actuality, the majority of those who advocate the hustle game are actually attempting to increase their own productivity and are expecting that you will be too busy to outperform them.

Yet the majority of those who advocate “work smarter, not harder” are also the ones who are exerting a great deal of effort in the hopes that your desire for an easy solution will give them the upper hand. Although it’s not usually done on purpose or with malice, it’s crucial to keep in mind that the majority of successful people don’t concentrate on just one of these mentalities.

the verb in the sentence “work smarter not harder” is still “work.”

SO WHAT DO YOU DO?

It requires balance, just like most things in life. Scaling is about “work smarter, not harder,” whereas hustle is about putting yourself out there and going above and beyond for your clientele. When you prioritize providing value and helping as many people as you can, both hard labor and smart work are required. Keep in mind the reasons you decided to start your own company, and then work on improving your work ethic so that your company can effectively serve those objectives.