When my friend Shannon asked me if I believed there was an underlying issue with hustle culture, I was excited. This topic isn’t spoken to enough. In the world of #entrepreneurlife, #millionairemindset, and #bossbabe, we see entrepreneurship overly romanticized on social media.
“Make your own schedule.”
“Work in your PJs.”
“Make your own money for your own pockets.”
What people don’t see is.
“Making your own schedule” often means working late into the evenings.
“Working in your PJs” means you miss out on the mental preparation that separates work from play.
“Make your own money for your own pockets.” - Okay. This one is true and does in fact feel great.
Despite this, to answer the question: "Do you think there is an underlying issue with hustle culture?"
I don’t.
I think hustle culture is great when it's done mindfully, with boundaries put in place, and without extremes.
There is something mildly addicting about healthy doses of stress. Maybe it's the assurance of knowing you’re pushing your comfort zone, learning, and growing. Maybe it's the level of fulfillment that comes from career progression, achievement, and output.
In this article, I go into the different types of emotional pressures I felt from working for myself, from feeling the pressure to succeed, to always being “on” as a service provider, and what it means to “train stress.”
I used to think that I needed to prioritize work over all else if I wanted to be successful. By the end of 2017, my second year of business, I had what on paper felt like a really successful year. I surpassed my sales target, scored some big names on my portfolio, and was already booked up for the first few months of the new year.
Yet for some reason, I still didn’t feel truly happy. Why wasn’t I celebrating? Was I just constantly heads-down on the go, that I forgot to make time to celebrate milestones?
I thought back on some of my happiest memories. Most of them from when I was a teenager, being carefree and doing dumb stuff with my friends. I realized that I didn’t see my friends often that year. I was too busy catching up on work - a never-ending list of to-dos. I was lucky enough to have friends who understood. But I wanted some sense of that youthful energy back. I wanted to have fun and be young while simultaneously working towards my goals.
“Is this how I want to live the rest of my life? Is this lifestyle sustainable?”
Ask yourself this question a lot. If the answer is ever no, then adjust. Take on less work. Adjust your ‘work-hours’. Change up your routines. Because what’s the point in working for the future on the off-chance that you will live long enough to enjoy it? Find balance now. Not later. Not eventually. Not after some milestone. Now.
So I stopped working 7 days a week and I started prioritizing do-nothing weekends.
I’m in a service industry. When I feel down, I can’t let it show in my business. Although, I am human. So it's only inevitable that sometimes it does.
There have been moments where I’ve sat in my car crying until the final few minutes before an event.
I knew I had to shake it off. I had to be personable.
Because I’m a professional.
So you dust yourself off. You put on your best friendly face. And you help your client celebrate their special day with their friends and family.
I haven’t exactly figured this one out yet asides from being proactive in taking care of yourself. And as proactive as you can be, sometimes life happens. You need to balance being professional, reliable, and accountable, with taking care of your health.
As with any service industry, you leave your personal life at home before you go into work. The client doesn’t need to know about your problems. They need to see the results that you promised.
So you are a professional. But you are human. Where is the middle ground?
For me, that middle ground was to follow through with the excellent service I promised upon taking on the job. And taking a break from accepting new projects until I felt ready and healthy enough to take on more.
My mom always taught me that your health should always be your number one priority. Because when you’re sick, nothing else matters besides getting healthy again.
Stress is a muscle. It’s a muscle with limits that I push time-and-time again. The amount of stress I can manage grows with practice. And my toolkit for managing stress grows too.
I become more resilient. And that’s a skill I can apply to every aspect of my life.
In this, I also learn what my boundaries are. What my red flags are. I learn how to catch myself early before I go into a downwards spiral towards burnout.
My personal signs are tense muscles in my neck and shoulders, eye twitches, having difficulty being present, and constantly thinking about what’s next on my to-do-list.
If I notice I’m too stressed, I’ll shift my priorities to tend to it.
Freelancing has won a few battles against my mental health. It’s also made me a lot tougher. It’s dropped me into the deep end to sink or swim. To make sure I’d definitely be swimming the second time around. I’ve overcome challenges that I would never have the opportunity to face in a traditional office job until much later in my career. And that makes me feel prepared to take on any new challenge.
“I’m so tired. But I’m also very fulfilled. It's weird” - I told Shannon.
Being an entrepreneur is hard. Being a solo-entrepreneur is hard. Not having a boss is hard. When things go wrong, nobody is there to fix it for you.
It’s just you.
But don’t get me wrong. Most of freelancing have been moments I fondly cherish. Moments of sheer giddy excitement. Feeling inspired and AHA moments. Celebrating wins. Launches. A deal closed. A job well done. A project I was proud of. A happy client.
It’s an all-encompassing experience.
“I’m so tired. But I’m also very fulfilled.”