Hustle Is A Lying Scoundrel

Hustle whispers seductively in your ears. It starts nicely... “Just a little more. Keep going. Work harder. You’re almost there.”  

You love its sweet words of encouragement, until somewhere amongst all your trying to get it right, it quietly, imperceptibly turns into a lying scoundrel. 

"If you stop now, you’re giving up. Everyone else is still working, what are you thinking taking time off? Your competitors have it all going on, you’re going to have to do more and try harder. It doesn’t matter that you’re tired, this is more important than anything. No-one else can do this like you can. You need the money.”  

On and on it drones, leading you down a dark and dirty path that offers a one-way ticket to exhaustion, burnout and, most miserably of all, the impossibility of having the ease and joy that set you on this entrepreneurial path in the first place!

Hustle is based on oft-repeated lies. That more is better. That working harder will get you further. That you have to be everywhere, always. That it’s all about you. That the more you push, the more you’ll achieve. That deadlines are everything. That planning is essential for success. That you aren’t successful unless you’re making big money. That you’ll only be respected if you hustle. 

And the biggest lie of all… That hustling is the only way to build an empire. 

It’s tempting to hustle when everything around you is falling apart.  Or when your business hits a growth spurt. Or when your ‘to-do’ list is a million miles high. 

These kinds of seductions are the choice-points where hustle insidiously sneaks into your life, showing up as the brilliant solution for your problem of the day. Sadly it’s only a temporary solution. And often it doesn’t even take you where it promises! Hustle is an asshole too. 

The next time hustle tries to sneak its suffocating arms around you with soft words sprouting unfulfillable promises, have the courage to refuse its sorcery. You can...

• Have the strength to find a more sustainable way. 
• Have the awareness to see the same old patterns coming and take a different path. 
• Have the curiosity to find a way that nourishes and nurtures you and your business. 
• Have trust in yourself that you know gentler, more joyful, faster ways forward. 

There are many alternatives to hustle. What stops you from choosing them every day is the same energy that underpins your choice to hustle. At some point, you made a decision that keeps the lies in place. Or you created a conclusion that makes hustle seem weirdly worthwhile, even when its killing you. 

You can keep drinking the kool-aid... or you can give it up for an island in the sun.

Here's a few questions that will start you on the sunny, sparkly adventure of giving up hustle:

• What would your life be like without the hustle? 
• What emptiness are you allowing hustle to fill? 
• What ease are you refusing by entertaining non-stop hustle? 
• What possibilities do you miss because hustle wears blinders?
• Which of your most promising ideas have been killed by hustle?
• What are you proving to whom by hustling?

These are courage-producing questions. When you seek the awareness that comes with them, you bring a new consciousness into your business. One that acknowledges all of the possibilities, not just the ones you’ve been hell-bent on creating. 

Tap into your intuitive senses. Have they been missing whilst you’ve been busy hustling? If so then you’ve been working slower, longer and more than you’ve needed to. How do I know this?

Your intuitive awareness shows you the fastest, most fun ways forward. It’s here to support you in creating elegantly… Elegance is an adventure in creating more, using less; being more, doing less; having more, working less. 

You can create forward momentum elegantly, or you can hustle. One gives energy, the other uses it up faster than you can produce it. One is sustainable, the other is a recipe for burnout. 

MAKE A NEW #HUSTLEFREE CHOICE...

Take the Wellbeing Quiz to find out if you have burnout or find out more about burnout prevention and recovery via my book ‘Living Beyond Burnout’.

Join the conversation. Tell us what you most struggle with in letting go of the hustle via the comments below...

Find out more about elegant, intuitive creating via my Business Alchemi suite of services. 

with love,

Lisa

P.S. You know how else I know #hustlefree is for me? I *always* make more money when I work less and follow my awareness. It's not just a theory ;)