About That Hustle…..

One of my favorite finds in my inbox this week was a message written by Chelsea Brennan of Smart Money Mamas telling her readers “You Don’t Have to Hustle.”

Thank goodness for Chelsea (who happens to be a successful young mother and entrepreneur), because the idea of a pre-COVID style hustle feels anxiety-provoking right now.

It might have something to do with the fact that California had the good fortune of lifting its COVID restrictions on June 15th. Everyone seems to be “hustling” right back onto the freeway, making it so that many of us are going nowhere fast yet again. Or, it might be that I just feel like hustling to an airplane to reconnect with my sister who I haven’t seen in a year and a half.

Regardless, I feel like before we hustle out the door, we should seize the opportunity to get clear on our hustle. I don’t remotely feel that we should abandon the hustle, given we rely on it for invigorating levels of productivity and mind-blowing innovation. I just think we should identify when the hustle makes the most sense or doesn’t and where exactly it is we are hustling to.

It’s fun and satisfying to put in the major work hustle. If you have deadlines or unlimited energy, by all means, work hustle away.

But, as Brennan explains, the pressure we put on ourselves to keep the work hustle going can result “in burned-out adults who are trying to do it all instead of doing what’s most important.” We don’t want to hustle ourselves to the ground.

Lest we forget, and as Brennan reminds us, “You are worth more than that and your kids deserve to see you treat yourself well and rest.”

What if we embraced the “I’m gonna hustle this project like nobody’s business” mindset when our hearts and bodies were fully in it, or deadline demands are such that we must? Conversely, what if we considered an “I’m gonna break from my normal hustle and hustle to recharge“ mindset before we find ourselves reaching the point where we're short with our loved ones or our backs are tweaked from countless hours of sitting at the computer?

What if we actually paused in response to the mental and physical signals we were receiving and didn’t judge ourselves for doing so? It seems common sense to acknowledge that burnout is dangerous. It seems good maintenance to refuel before our gauges point to empty.

Brennan stresses that "not wanting to hustle all the time doesn't make you lazy and doesn't mean you can't reach your goals. It just means that you're human and you're listening to your body."

She adds that it's much easier to take a break from the hustle if you "surround yourself with people who believe in your goals - but also celebrate your joy."

It seems a fine time to identify and seek out those people and start hustling to maintain our health and our joy. It's a hustle without deadlines and a more memorable one too.

Love,

Molly