I Gotta Go Harder, Move Smarter, Think Wiser, Stack More, Talk Less

Submission 2,449

Part of a series on Sigma Grindset / Hustle Culture Memes. [View Related Entries]

About

I Gotta Go Harder, Move Smarter, Think Wiser, Stack More, Talk Less, is a hustle culture catchphrase popularized through ironic memes including image macros, where it is used alongside comedic images that do not necessarily represent the message of the phrase. The phrase has been used online since as early as December 2019 and became increasingly popular on sites like Instagram and X (Twitter) throughout the 2020s.

Origin

It is unclear who coined the phrase "I gotta go harder, move smarter, think wiser, stack more, talk less." The earliest known post to share the phrase was made on December 9th, 2019 by X^[1] user @ShondaraeG, stylized, "I gotta go harder .. move smarter .. think wiser .. stack more .. talk less," although it gained no interactions in four years and is likely not the true origin of the phrase.

The phrase continued to spread throughout 2020, becoming increasingly popular. On March 29th, 2020, X^[2] user @arioneroyal posted the phrase stylized the same way, garnering over 6,200 likes in three years. On June 9th, the Lil Durk Quotes Facebook^[3] page posted an image macro featuring an image of rapper Lil Durk under the phrase, sylized in the same way, garnering over 1,300 reactions and 52,000 shares in three years, marking the first known post using the phrase to gain significant traction (shown below).

Spread

The phrase became increasingly popular throughout the 2020s and started to become the subject of ironic memes. On September 9th, 2020, X^[4] user @RavenRaybay posted it, garnering over 5,500 likes in three years. On August 26th, 2022, Facebook^[5] page Ayy De La Lmao IV: The Wrath Of Gnawty posted a meme using the phrase over a sitting wolf image, which was reposted by Instagram^[6] user intellectualmimix on November 22nd, garnering over 6,200 likes in a year (shown below).

On January 27th, 2023, iFunny^[7] user Stallin posted an image macro of a cat with the phrase, garnering around five smiles in 11 months. On February 5th, X^[8] user @whotfisjovana posted another image macro using the phrase with a cat image, garnering over 1,400 likes in 10 months (shown below, left). On February 22nd, Instagram^[9] user catdeli9ht reposted the meme by iFunny user Stallin, garnering over 2,400 likes in 10 months. On April 16th, Instagram^[10] user cyberia.mp3 posted a cat meme using the phrase that gained over 6,000 likes in eight months (shown below, right).

On July 10th, X^[11] user @goth600 posted the phrase over an image of Vegeta smoking a cigarette, garnering over 900 likes in five months. On October 26th, Instagram^[12] user hiiikitty posted another cat version of the meme, garnering over 126,000 likes in two months (shown below). On December 7th, X^[13] user @ShitpostGate posted a version of the meme featuring an image of Andrew Tate with Roxanne Wolf on his lap, originally created by Instagram^[14] user bigbraintumor, garnering over 2,400 likes in a day.