This morning I did a panel about Side Hustles and someone asked: “what is your definition of Hustle?”

I responded….. Hustle feels exhausting.

It’s about externally proving yourself and showing yourself to be working. Sitting in traffic to show your commitment to your work. “Busyness” comes to mind with hustle. “Noisiness” comes to mind with hustle and it feels vain. (I have a respect/hate relationship with the term hustle and side hustle tbh)

Hustle is misleading. It lies to us about what it takes to progress or be “successful”.

The most significant shifts you can make in getting the results you want aren’t usually grounded in “hustle” or “hustle-culture” but the work that isn’t public. Your mindset, motivations, thoughts, values and beliefs will change what you actually go ahead, and so arguably, that is where you should take some time to focus.

If you believe…

• Your time and energy are valuable
• You have a zone of genius
• You are worthy simply as you are
• You are not an imposter

You will….

• Seek to automate, innovate and experiment to gain results and accept and ask for help
• Know that it’s ok for some things to be easy and that’s not lazy
• Know that ambition isn’t a dirty word
• Set boundaries around what you will and won’t do and when
• Set boundaries around who has access to you
• Set a standard for self-care, balance and wellbeing
• Remember what sits in your sphere of control and what doesn’t

Who you believe you are will impact what you achieve, so as we enter our new quarter I want to encourage you to spend some time there, alongside your dashboards, reports and plans.

• What do you believe around time? Do you have enough? Does it work differently for you than others?
• What do you believe about your energy? Do you have enough? Are you refilling?
• What do you believe around balance? Do you deserve it? Do you believe in it?
• What do you believe about your ambitions? Are they valid, are you proud of them? Do you hide them?
• What do you believe about your skills, talent and experience? Is it enough? Do you weave them into your tasks or obsess over your challenges instead? Do you call challenges weaknesses? What’s the language that comes to mind?
• What do you believe around your boundaries? Do you deserve to have them? Are they theory but not reality?
• What do you believe about your capabilities? Are you capable of getting it done/hitting the target?
• What do you believe about your impact? Do you recognise the magnitude of it? Do you celebrate it? Do you reflect on it and repeat what has worked well and iterate what hasn’t?

Once you review your beliefs it becomes time to challenge yourself into action. What will you change? What isn’t as you would like it to be?

This could look like blocking time in your calendar, booking annual leave, adjusting the deadline for a goal or booking some coaching or investing in personal development. Maybe it looks like checking your email at specific points throughout the day and saying ‘no’ or ‘not this week’ to a few things.

If you are ready to create a work-life balance that automatically feeds into creating the career of your dreams, you should have a look at my 1-1 coaching.