Are you a Hustler, baby? I see this word everywhere on the internet, so it must be important, right? Hustle, hustle, hustle. That made me tired and wanting to avoid the Hustle, just writing it out 3x.
I like the Hustle and I believe in the Hustle. I Hustle quite a bit myself. It's quite addicting. Ever feel stuck in the Hustle?
Maybe it is time to STROLL for a bit.
The STROLL, for me, is a lower-level HUSTLE. Movement forward is paramount, but resting at the moment is an essential ingredient. Baby steps, one foot in front of the other, incremental progress, etc. Key here is progress. Forward progress, more specifically. I have learned it does not have to get done as quickly and as pressured as you think.
When I am hustlin and bustlin 24/7, I become irritable, seek more perfectionism which ultimately makes my hustlin BUSY TIME. Yuck. Good intentions getting washed away by the constant movement. Gears are grinding and chipping. Doesn't make for a productive DB, now does it.
Too much hustle steals from more important life values. Self care, family care, leisure time, resetting, and rebooting.
If you are slacking on these essentials, all that hustle will be for not.
I am learning to Stroll. Note, I said 'learning'. The time where the journey is the destination. Always be learning.
THE STROLL
I have struggled with the Hustle my entire adult life. Becoming a dad at 23, had me hustling to:
Finish College
Get a J.O.B.
Be a Dad
Be a Husband
Getting a place to live
Feeding the Family
Entertaining the Family
Keeping up with the Jones'
Nothing could get finished fast enough and I felt like I was always behind the 8 ball. Fast forward and the hustle turned into stress, anxiety, worry, doubt and fear. Not fun. Something had to change. Of course I wanted to hustle this change in. Turns out habits are hard af to change. I decide to take one thing, eating for example, and aspire to change and improve. Slowly and steadily, with highs and lows, that habit has changed. Damned if it wasn't a good one to start with and use as an example. I will be sharing a lot on eating. Eating is fun.
I continue to move up and down, in and out of the hustle. Sometimes it has lead to burn out,and I do not return to whatever that hustle was.
Nugget of Wisdom: If you're unsatisfied with the hustle, you are doing it wrong.
Hustle just to hustle? No clear end game. I believe I have high functioning anxiety. Self diagnosis as I don't want a label by some dr sitting behind a desk, staring at me asking if 'the medication' is working. Creepy!
Some things helping me Stroll like a boss:
DO MORE OF/DO LESS OF:
I like the Hustle and I believe in the Hustle. I Hustle quite a bit myself. It's quite addicting. Ever feel stuck in the Hustle?
Maybe it is time to STROLL for a bit.
The STROLL, for me, is a lower-level HUSTLE. Movement forward is paramount, but resting at the moment is an essential ingredient. Baby steps, one foot in front of the other, incremental progress, etc. Key here is progress. Forward progress, more specifically. I have learned it does not have to get done as quickly and as pressured as you think.
When I am hustlin and bustlin 24/7, I become irritable, seek more perfectionism which ultimately makes my hustlin BUSY TIME. Yuck. Good intentions getting washed away by the constant movement. Gears are grinding and chipping. Doesn't make for a productive DB, now does it.
Too much hustle steals from more important life values. Self care, family care, leisure time, resetting, and rebooting.
If you are slacking on these essentials, all that hustle will be for not.
I am learning to Stroll. Note, I said 'learning'. The time where the journey is the destination. Always be learning.
THE STROLL
I have struggled with the Hustle my entire adult life. Becoming a dad at 23, had me hustling to:
Finish College
Get a J.O.B.
Be a Dad
Be a Husband
Getting a place to live
Feeding the Family
Entertaining the Family
Keeping up with the Jones'
Nothing could get finished fast enough and I felt like I was always behind the 8 ball. Fast forward and the hustle turned into stress, anxiety, worry, doubt and fear. Not fun. Something had to change. Of course I wanted to hustle this change in. Turns out habits are hard af to change. I decide to take one thing, eating for example, and aspire to change and improve. Slowly and steadily, with highs and lows, that habit has changed. Damned if it wasn't a good one to start with and use as an example. I will be sharing a lot on eating. Eating is fun.
I continue to move up and down, in and out of the hustle. Sometimes it has lead to burn out,and I do not return to whatever that hustle was.
Nugget of Wisdom: If you're unsatisfied with the hustle, you are doing it wrong.
Hustle just to hustle? No clear end game. I believe I have high functioning anxiety. Self diagnosis as I don't want a label by some dr sitting behind a desk, staring at me asking if 'the medication' is working. Creepy!
Some things helping me Stroll like a boss:
DO MORE OF/DO LESS OF:
- Listen/Talk
- Rest/Rush
- Attentive and Present/Distracted and Absent
- Read books/less device
- Grateful/Dissatisfied
- More breaks/less work
- Removing/Adding
- Art for me/Not for thee
- Print more/look at screen less
This was a quick brain dump. Each is a work in progress. All are worthy of elaborating on, and I will.
I keep a few of these in the forefront of my brain, daily. It seems these days, the imporant few for the day, quickly rise to the top. Sometimes they change daily. Other times they remain for a time. All valuable. Each one of these helps me appreciate the NOW. I can’t remember all of them every day and fail often (I am failing forward I think, better ask my wife and kids!).
Focusing too much on the future or the past is like simultaneously giving all of your children a piggyback ride.
The weight of the steps becomes overwhelming and you just stop and drop.
Don’t give up. Lighten the load.
Keep STROLLING.
Til next time
-DB