The Real Reason People Can Do 100-Hour Work Weeks

February 6, 2018

Most people would cringe at the idea of working anything over 50 hours in their work week. But for others, 50 is just way too little. For Tesla boss Elon Musk, his week consists of working over 100 hours in order to keep his companies and ideas active. Does he need to work this much? For someone like Musk who is already massively successful and probably has more money than we could ever fathom, no.
The truth is, if you’re pulling 100-hour work weeks then it’s not just money you’re after–it’s something else entirely. Many people assume that working hard equates to living better. While it’s true that someone who works 100 hours will likely have more money than someone who just works 50 hours, money isn’t the only factor.
If you want some insight into how or even why people would ever work 100-hour weeks in order to run their business, then here are a couple of considerations to keep in mind that could change the way you see your company.
Working to Change the World
Companies like SpaceX are working to change the world. They’re launching rockets, they’re creating space transport and they’re essentially changing the way the world works. People like Elon Musk work over a hundred hours not because of money or materialistic reasons, but because they want to change the world for the better. When you have a desire to change the world, you’re going to work feverishly in order to achieve it. Even if your passion is to a new type of food to the masses or to introduce people to your art, changing the world is one of the reasons why people work so hard in the first place.
Working for Financial Freedom
Another common reason for people working a hundred or more hours is because they want to have financial freedom. Financial freedom involves investing your time and money in order to pay off loans, mortgages and other important expenses earlier in your life so that you can live more comfortably in the future. This often involves working hard to create multiple sources of income, and that’s where the long work hours come in handy. Of course, it also helps to have companies like debtconsolidation.loans to assist you in reaching financial freedom, but the main brunt of it will be working extra hours in order to create different streams of income to help you gain independence.
Working Because You Love It
And lastly, there are people that work over 100 hours because they simply want to. Some people are blessed with careers that they absolutely love and this is usually the result of a lot of hard work and passion. There are people that play music and create beautiful works of art as part of their job. They love their work so much that, to them, it doesn’t feel like work when they’re creating something. The same applies to people that work with the elderly or with children. They’re doing something that makes them happy, hence why the long hours don’t affect them.

Mark Asquith

That British podcast guy, Mark is co-founder of Captivate.fm, the world's only growth-oriented podcast host. A Harvard, TEDx, Podcast Movement and Podfest speaker (amongst many more!), he's a wildly approachable Brit and Star Wars/DC Comics geek.

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