Drop the Hustle to Make Room for Intention
Our journals of late have been focused on ways to bring more heart centered intention to you and your business such as; using gentleness as a KPI for your business, that perfectionism is a trap of constant struggle, and creating space to slow down. It is important to us to continue to provide you with perspectives on how you can give yourself grace as an entrepreneur. We want you to achieve your version of success and do so feeling routed in your authentic self. This month let’s talk about the impact of the hustle message that we are commonly faced with.
Entrepreneurs are twice as likely to have challenges with mental wellness. Evidence suggests that entrepreneurs are more at risk of burnout because they tend to be extremely passionate about work and can be more socially isolated, have limited safety nets, and operate in high uncertainty. It is important to remain heart centered during your journey as an entrepreneur giving yourself grace when needed and trusting in divine timing.
Hustle messaging is reckless. Meaningful intention is impactful.
We all know that success in business is hard work. Hearing this message on repeat just sets us up to grind and push. We get caught up in the idea that if we just push a bit harder, or if we just hustle a bit more then we will achieve our goals. In reality, pushing relentlessly moves us farther away from success.
The goal should be to drop the hustle and instead focus on intentional impact. Let’s look at ways to create a system that supports intention impact.
Commit to time away from the business
A Harvard Business Review article demonstrated the hypothesis that without recovery periods, our ability to continue performing at high levels diminishes significantly. This is in direct conflict with the hustle mentality that the longer you persevere at work, the more successful you will become.
What really happens is that we lose our creativity. If we have extended periods of work without time off, we get into a zone where we lose our effectiveness, and our ability to find creative solutions. The impact of stepping back has been proven and when you return from your break you will be able to approach your business with meaningful intention instead of an anxiety riddled hustle.
Take time off!
Days of reflection – schedule time to step back to look at where your business is going. No less than quarterly but preferably monthly to focus on working ON the business.
Extended periods away – minimum of two weeks of true vacation where you do not have access to your email, and you are not called unless it is an absolute emergency.
Mental wellness – randomly throw in days that you play ‘hooky’. Do something just for yourself, no responsibilities, and no rules on what that means.
Embrace the chaos
For many of us, we are strongly influenced by the idea of getting all the work done before the end of the day. We have increased anxiety if we feel that there is too much going on and we will never catch-up. I have always wholeheartedly believed that a thriving business lives at the edge of chaos. I encourage my clients to embrace that edge of chaos and to understand that this means great things are happening. If your task list is short – there might not be enough happening. The trick is how to manage the chaos.
First step, embrace technology and utilize project management software. We use Asana but have also collaborated on projects using Trello. There are many choices but focusing on the overarching goal is project management software will bring you ease. Tasks won’t fall through the cracks. Your to-do-list will be reduced to manageable chunks and collaborating with team members and/or outside consultants will be much much easier.
Second step, be reasonable in your commitments. One of the significant things that I have encountered that brings stress to the entrepreneur is making unrealistic promises to clients. We are so anxious to please our clients that we don’t give ourselves realistic timelines. Slow down a second, consider all the variables on completing a project and then add a small buffer of ‘just in case time’. The old adage of under promise and over deliver remains true.
And finally, learn to live on the edge of chaos. Embrace that when there is more work than time it is because your business is doing well. Take a moment for reflection; have I over committed, have I been realistic in the timelines that I have communicated, am I utilizing my systems? You will be able to rest easy knowing that your tasks and deadlines are organized and that if you trust in yourself and your process you will manage the daily activity. From there release the anxiety knowing that although you are busy you are ‘on top’ of all the priorities allowing you to step away from the anxiety of hustling and moving towards intentional impact.
Direction is much more important than speed.
Many are going nowhere fast.
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