Why Some People Change Their Tune About the “Hustle”

We heard all about hustling or the hustle. It’s where you buckle down and get through your goals. However, some of this tune is changing.

This is because the people who are changing their tune about it have already achieved their goals. They aren’t telling you to stop hustling. They’re telling you to take care of yourself. They know because they ran themselves ragged to achieve things. It’s hard to get out of that high energy and take a load off.

For some, stopping their hustle is not ideal, because they’ve not reached their goals.

However, in saying that, it makes me wonder if the goals are achievable or far fetched. I think some people have some people lofty goals. That’s fine, but I believe in chunking your goals out, and giving yourself a reward. I also believe in having common sense about taking care of yourself, even when you’re busy hustling.

Because the word ‘hustle’ has been tossed around a lot, people get sick of it. I’m not. It’s just another word, like ‘working hard’. Disliking the word is ridiculous. Dislike the concept, if you’ve been running yourself ragged, and haven’t been taking care of yourself.

Some of the most amazing “hustlers” have looked pretty run down after a time. It should be a note or lesson learned for those in business, that you don’t have to “monkey see, monkey do.”

I still like to hustle, but it’s not going to prevent me from having fun. For example, in the past, I use to go to conferences, attend the speak dinner, go to speak, help out in the Happiness Bar (at conferences), and miss the after party. I went home directly after the conference. Sure, I met some people, and made some contacts, but during that time, I wasn’t enjoying myself as much.

A couple years ago, I was lucky to make a friend of Michele Butcher Jones. Both of us speak at WordCamps over the US quite frequently, and we’re from the same area. She encouraged me to come out and hang with other speakers and people of interest. It as the best decision I’ve made to date. I’ve met people I can call really great acquaintances and even friends. I’ve been able to brainstorm ideas and network with people I never would’ve thought of before.

I’ve even stayed an extra day before or after the conference to enjoy the city that the event was held in. I even spend a day off, after getting back from a conference, in order to process everything, and rest. I’m a lot happier too.

I still “hustle”, but I do it smartly, and in regards to my mental and physical health.

So rather than just work hard, play hard, let’s work smartly, and we can still play hard.