I tell you what, I’m a little bit sick of the constant “hustle” messages being broadcast all over the place.
Stories of business hustle, and the pressure to be on the go 24/7. To be scaling, and selling, and active on every single social media app for fear of being left in the dark ages.
Don’t even get me started on the 5am Club – those who swear the only reason they can make life work is by getting up at 5am ?
My coaching school advocates we can make “$100,000 in your first 90 days” (and then we feel sh!t for not achieving that).
There are all these posts about “wow, look at my first year in business, check out my amazing success” (and then we feel sh!t when we compare our reality to their filtered social profiles).
It feels like so much pressure and it’s no wonder that we think business has to be hard and stressful to be worthwhile.
When I first began my coaching business, I was working full time, studying as well, had just started a new relationship, and had bought a house.
I was seriously calculating how many months I could go without sleeping my preferred 7.5 hours a night before I reached burn out.
I felt like I really had to push myself and hustle for the first little while to get off the ground (you know, because I had to make 100 grand in my first 3 months).
Thankfully the universe stepped in and sent me to TedX Perth where Dr Ian Dunican gave a very inspiring and scientific talk about the impacts of reduced sleep, and I vowed then and there that I would not sacrifice sleep for anything (Phil knows all about this ? – if he wants nookie, we get to bed early!)
But seriously, what’s the hurry? Why all the pressure to be successful NOW? The world will keep spinning. Life still happens. We’ll get there eventually. Why the rush to “make it” so quickly?
So it’s refreshing for me to see examples of successful business people (actually, when I think about, these are business WOMEN) who are chilled AND successful. Who work 10-15 hours per week. They have a business they love and they make money they are happy with.
And it’s not like they started out hustling for 80 hours a week and THEN realised they could take their foot off the gas.
No, most started out with only limited time… you know, because… babies, and day jobs.
So they had NO CHOICE but to make it work.
They had to create shortcuts, and become really frickin good at prioritising, and holding themselves accountable to get sh!t done. They were focusing on what matters most, and ignoring or outsourcing the rest. They were learning to offer their services “1 to many” instead of “1 to 1.”
I believe in the saying “start as you mean to continue.” And this applies to everything – making friends… starting a job… diets & exercise. If it’s not sustainable, well, you won’t sustain it.
Have you noticed this whole “hustle” thing is a bit of a double standard?
And it doesn’t seem realistic to me.
We paint this vision, this future dream of lying on a beach while the money rolls in, while also glorifying the hustle and the struggle ?♀️
I don’t believe you need to hustle to get there, and actually, I believe the hustle will NEVER get you there.
I reckon if you’re the kind of person who can sustain the 5am starts and the 80 hour work weeks and the go-go-go… In reality, you’re probably not going to enjoy slowing down, even when you CAN take your foot off the gas.
If you’re like that, you would struggle with so much free time. You would THINK you’re working towards this wonderful vision, but in reality, you would get bored. If you’re like this, you need to be on the go and hustling and thriving under stress. Some people are wired that way and that’s ok.
But if you’re NOT wired like that, and you are killing yourself now by “hustling” because you think you’ll get a break later, then you’re only bypassing your precious life right now.
If you want to build a business that allows you time with your family, to pursue hobbies, to live a chilled life, then you need to slow down and create it like that from the start.
At first, it might SEEM like it’ll take longer to get there, but in reality, what I’m learning and seeing in real life is…
1. Who cares?
And 2. The hustle is actually NOT quicker.
Have you ever pushed yourself, and worked so hard that you burnt out? Then you needed to take a week or more off to recover. Then you feel guilty for taking the time off, so you push yourself even harder next time, and the damaging cycle continues.
And the worst outcome is this:
When you’re trying to force something magical to happen, it generally ends up like a pile of poop.
When I’m in hustle mode, and trying to force myself to be creative, I feel mentally stuck, I feel tired, drained, overwhelmed, irritated. My words are stilted and uninspired, I don’t appear vibrant in videos, and I don’t get those brilliant flashes of insight that come from the universe.
So if you want a creative business, where you work only a small amount of time each week, and still make heaps of money while being totally fulfilled, you need to start that way NOW. Start as you mean to continue.
By the way, it’s totally ok – and normal! – to NOT be a millionaire in your first year of business ?
(My first business took 6 years to hit the 7-figure mark, a fact I constantly need to remind myself of when I’m feeling the pressure)
If my words haven’t inspired you yet, I recommend checking out these amazingly inspirational (Australian!) businesswomen who are actively doing this right now:
Denise Duffield-Thomas (Money Mindset Mentor, and author of “Chillpreneur”)
Leonie Dawson (self-proclaimed “just a fucking idiot on the internet”)
And I’m sure there are many others, but these are the two that I’m loving right now.
So if this is the life you want, what DO you need to do?
? Figure out what you really want for your future, and map out how it can start to look like that NOW.
? Learn your values so you’re focusing on what’s most important to you.
? Work smarter, not harder (I know it’s a cliché, but when you have limited time, you need to be taking advantage of technology, virtual assistants, and finding ways to help more people without exchanging time for money).
? Know yourself – understand when you work best and what you need to thrive.
? Relax. What are you doing it all for anyway? Just do that now.
And what DON’T you need to do?
? Put yourself under unnecessary pressure.
? Work to self-imposed deadlines (unless you’re doing that to overcome procrastination – short term, specific deadlines can be very impactful!)
? Succumb to the fear of “I’m not where I thought I’d be by now”.
? Reduce your sleep time.
? Neglect your family, dog or house plants.
? Listen to anyone’s advice that you don’t feel good about – just because it works for them, doesn’t mean it works for you.
And on that last note – even mine! If this advice doesn’t resonate with you, just ignore me, and do your thing anyway.
You do you boo xx
Love,
Cat xx
PS. I believe in you, and you totally got this ?
PPS. Here are some mantras that helpfully remind me to chill the f* out:
The universe has a better plan ✨
Everything is happening at exactly the right moment ?
I’ve got plenty of time ?
Done is better than perfect ?
There is nothing I NEED to do right now ?
Creativity comes naturally to me ?
If it’s an aligned idea, it’ll stick ?
In stillness, I receive ?♀️
