Daniel J. FrancoisHost, Beneath The Surface Podcast · Real conversations that matter

Is the Goal Even Yours?

21 Sept 2026 · 1 min

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1:13

In this brief conversational excerpt, Speaker A probes how hustle culture has shaped Speaker B's definition of success and whether that view has evolved over time. Speaker B reflects on having endured multiple intense challenges—describing it as "been to hell and back" and feeling as though they've lived several lifetimes—highlighting hard‑learned lessons and the development of resilience. Speaker A then shares a personal shift: moving from a 9‑to‑5 grind driven by external expectations toward a purpose anchored in family, specifically a desire to build a legacy for their daughter and embody perseverance when faced with adversity. The dialogue captures a transition from burnout and misaligned goals to a re‑aligned sense of "why," emphasizing intrinsic motivation, legacy, and personal meaning over hustle‑driven metrics.

Like, how did hustle culture influence the way you define success? And did it change over the years of actually from point it from like ground, from the ground level to where you are now?
Sure. Yeah, 100%. Right. So, you know, I, I've been, I've been to hell and back a few different times. I've had my challenges. I've learned some really hard lessons. I, I, I, I say that I've lived more than a few lifetimes, you know, with the amount of experiences that I've had, good and bad.
And I'm trying to figure out why am I keep doing this day in, day out job, 9 to 5 and everything. Then I see that picture of all 3 of us and I'm like, I'm doing this for them. I'm setting up a legacy for them, for my daughter. And I'm trying to show them that like when the going gets tough, I still go down swinging. So I think that's, that's really amazing that you shared that. That's, that's amazing. And I guess that kind of shifts from, from like burnout to try and find the wrong goal, to now that I had that resilience and I had that and I realigned everything to basically try to figure out not my purpose, but kind of figure out my, like I said, my why.