Nietzsche and Hustle Culture: What the Übermensch Can Teach Us About the Grind
Tuesday, December 31, 2024.
So in my dream Friedrich Nietzsche, the brooding 19th-century philosopher, is scrolling through Instagram.
He stumbles across a post that reads, “Rise and grind, kings. You have the same 24 hours as Beyoncé.”
Somewhere in the afterlife, Nietzsche flips his metaphorical table. “Is this what my philosophy has become?” he growls, his magnificent mustache quivering in existential despair.
Welcome to hustle culture, where every day is Monday, and sleep is for the weak.
Nietzsche might not have been a motivational speaker (although, honestly, I’d attend that TED Talk), but his ideas on the “will to power” have accidentally become a spiritual rallying cry for anyone with a coffee addiction and a dream.
Let’s unpack how the philosopher of life’s ultimate meaning might feel about your 5 a.m. cold plunges and LinkedIn flexes.
Nietzsche: The Original Hustle Influencer?
At first glance, Nietzsche seems like he’d be all in on hustle culture. His philosophy of the “will to power” is all about striving, achieving, and becoming your best self.
Kind of like Tony Robbins but with an extra side of existential dread.
Nietzsche believed life’s purpose wasn’t just survival—it was about asserting your power, transforming your circumstances, and becoming the ultimate version of yourself.
Sound familiar? Replace “asserting power” with “monetizing your hobbies,” and Nietzsche starts looking suspiciously like the guy selling a $999 course called “Grind Your Way to Greatness.”
But before you tattoo Übermensch on your forearm, let’s slow down.
Nietzsche wasn’t exactly about working yourself into a nervous breakdown so you could afford a Tesla.
No, Nietzsche’s hustle had depth, meaning, and absolutely zero motivational quotes slapped onto stock photos of sunsets.
Hustle Culture’s Big Nietzschean Fail
Here’s where hustle culture and Nietzsche take dramatically different paths.
Hustle culture worships productivity for productivity’s sake. Nietzsche worshipped... well, himself, but also the idea of creating your own values. He despised the idea of mindlessly grinding for someone else’s definition of success.
The guy who said, “God is dead,” wouldn’t be caught dead saying, “Grind now, rest later.”
To Nietzsche, living for a distant payoff was a one-way ticket to nihilism. Hustle culture’s fixation on external validation—wealth, status, followers—would have struck him as the ultimate act of “slave morality.”
Nietzsche would’ve side-eyed your Canva “Vision Board” and asked why your vision looks suspiciously like Jeff Bezos’ tax returns.
The Eternal Return of Your Monday Grind
Let’s talk about Nietzsche’s “eternal return,” a thought experiment that asks, If you had to live this exact life over and over for eternity, would you be cool with that?
Now, imagine reliving every Zoom meeting, every passive-aggressive email, and every “Let’s circle back on this” for eternity.
If that mental image doesn’t make you immediately reconsider your life choices, congratulations! You’re either enlightened—or a sociopath. For the rest of us, Nietzsche’s eternal return is a wake-up call: If your daily grind feels meaningless, it probably is.
Hustle culture says, “Suffer now so you can flex later.” Nietzsche says, “If your now sucks, your flex won’t save you.”
His advice? Stop grinding for a hypothetical future and start infusing meaning into the present. This might involve saying no to 3 a.m. work emails.
From Hustler to Übermensch: The Glow-Up We All Need
Nietzsche’s ultimate goal wasn’t just to hustle harder; it was to transcend mediocrity and create a life worth living.
That’s where the Übermensch (or “Overman”) comes in. This mythical figure doesn’t just rise and grind—they rise, grind, and completely redefine the game.
Here’s how you can channel your inner Übermensch without burning out:
Reject the Herd Mentality: Nietzsche hated conformity. If everyone’s idea of success looks the same ( it’s usually money), ask yourself: Is this actually my dream, or am I just following the crowd?
Embrace Struggle (But Not Burnout): Nietzsche believed in growing through adversity, but he didn’t mean “answer emails while crying into your microwave burrito.” Struggle is fine. Pointless suffering is not.
Live for Today (Not Your Retirement): Hustle culture tells you to work now and enjoy life later. Nietzsche would say: “Why not both?” Find ways to make the grind meaningful now, instead of banking on a mythical “someday.”
Is Hustle Culture Just Nihilism in Disguise?
Let’s get existential for a second.
Nietzsche worried about nihilism—the loss of meaning in a world without shared values.
Hustle culture, with its “Always be closing” ethos, often feels like nihilism in a three-piece suit.
Sure, you’re productive—but productive toward what? If your goal is just to “win,” Nietzsche would argue you’re missing the point.
Real success, in Nietzsche’s view, isn’t measured by your follower count or your net worth. It’s about creating something uniquely yours.
The Übermensch doesn’t just grind—they create meaning, transcend limits, and embrace life in all its chaotic glory. Hustle culture might get you the corner office, but Nietzsche wants you to get the universe.
Nietzsche’s Final Hot Take on Hustle
My guess is that if Nietzsche were alive today, he’d probably hate hustle culture.
He’d call out its obsession with external validation and its mindless devotion to the grind. But he wouldn’t tell you to give up entirely. Instead, he’d challenge you to hustle smarter—not harder—and to do it for reasons that actually matter.
So, the next time you’re tempted to post “Rise and grind” on Instagram, pause. Ask yourself: Am I chasing someone else’s dream? Or am I hustling toward my own Übermensch glow-up?
If Nietzsche had a LinkedIn bio, it wouldn’t say “Productivity Guru.” It’d say something like, “Creator of meaning, destroyer of mediocrity, lover of chaotic vibes.”
And maybe that’s the grind we all need to aspire to in 2025.
Be Well, Stay Kind, and Godspeed in the New Year.