The hustle got me nowhere.
I’m not a millionaire, yet, or have a ton of followers in which I’m preaching my story. Though I do come across these articles on success all of the time. My boyfriend watches their Ted talks and videos every morning while I’m reading Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. (Please note that I do consider meditating in the forest for the rest of my life, at least once a day.)
This burning question of “how do I do it, too?”
Is the answer, the hustle?
Gary Vaynerchuk is especially relevant in our house lately. It’s energizing and motivating. He has a no B.S. Philosophy and is massively successful, in what it looks like, every area of his life. His message is that there is only success in the hustle, getting off your butt and making it happen. He obviously gets who he is, and it’s perhaps what’s driving him forward, striving for better, going after the impossible.
I hear this word “Hustle” all of the time in my circle of entrepreneur friends. Most of them really like it. My man is fueled by the hustle. I think it may represent the big breath we take before doing something uncomfortable, like putting yourself and what you offer out there. It’s a very masculine way of looking at business.
I personally find the word exhausting. I literally had to lay down for 10 minutes after writing the first paragraph. I can imagine Gary handing me my ass right now.
I get that the message is hard work pays off, but for some of us, how hard and at what expense? It’s like you’re on this mission to shamboozle a bunch of people into buying what you have and ultimately BUYING who you are. The literal definition of hustle, is “to persuade by force.”
I’m not so much hustle, more like huddle; you know… go inward, breathe your life in and out as it comes and the rest will follow.
People love games and I guess that’s what being an entrepreneur is. A game on how to maneuver your passions in the world and bring home the coins. It’s a game of hide and seek, searching and tactics. There are so many scripts on how to do, it correctly; testimonials on how this method brought them instant success, more clients and more money.
Truly, truly I profess, the hustle has never gotten me anywhere. The harder I TRY, the more I have less results and probably a hankering for a panic attack. It’s a lot of external effort when you’re trying so hard to make things happen. To force them.
As I look at the people closest in my life that had/have successful careers and are happy with what they are doing, I see action steps and dedication, but “hustle” wasn’t part of their business plan.
My mom was a successful business woman for almost 40 years. She was a hair dresser in California and she didn’t hustle any of it. She started to do what she loved and the world made space for her.
Mom was independent in her career, she was flexible to move salons, states, work for somebody else or open her own shop. She was a single Mom and I never saw her worry about getting more clients. She would just assess and move on to the next if needed. At 67 she still can say she loved what she did.
My friend Sara owns an amazing Boudoir Photography Company that she built from nothing after quitting her corporate job and leaping towards her heart. Yes, this woman works her ass off, but it’s not a hustle. She genuinely does what she loves and because it’s in service to the most amazing community of women, it propels her to work hard and she is growing and prospering.
We’re being asked to do something. I’m learning that you step up and meet it, shake hands and agree to follow through. To add benefit to the world and not manipulate it to our desire, we have to be truthful. If you are in complete belief and love with what you offer, it’s SERVICING the world not HUSTLING it.
The hustle just gets you into the next hustle. Each breath is what get’s us into the next moment. It’s trusting and believing in ourselves and what we have to give. In the end, we’ll find it’s the only way we really got anywhere.
This blog was really me talking to me. As I dive into my heart and grow my business I want to remind myself that everyone does things differently and my nowhere could be your somewhere.
Taking pieces of the vast knowledge of successful entrepreneurs and laying them in soft patches as we huddle over, layering in our own intuition, passion and intelligence, we can grow, nourish and sustain our climb to the next level.
Hustle and flow, but balance that shit.
