Let’s get one thing straight:
I hate the word “hustle” and everything it has come to stand for.
You’re an entrepreneur? Good for you. Now give up everything else in your life and dedicate it to your business.
Personal life? Who has time for that?
Health? You’ll sleep when you’re dead.
Anything that’s not directly related to growing your business? On the back burner until you “make it” and finally have time for other things.
The problem is: this moment we have right here… it’s the only one we get. The past is past. And the future is shaped by what we do in this moment.
So sure, it’s good to work toward building the life you want. But if you spend one hundred percent of your life hustling, the rest of your life is passing you by. Minutes you never get back. Moments that you might otherwise cherish for the rest of your life gone, passed over.
So why would I write a post about why I spend the holidays – a time that should be spent with family and friends – doing something that I just claimed to hate?
Because I think there’s a way to transform our relationship to hustle.
Hustle 2.0
I went to church when I was younger, but my belief system has shifted significantly as I’ve aged. I moved away from observing traditionally religious holidays (and don’t even get me started on the commercial holidays here in the States).
So while other families are spending time around the Christmas tree or celebrating other holidays, this time of year is just another calendar month for me.
(Also, almost no one sends emails on Christmas Day. This year I think I got a grand total of 5 emails the whole day. Talk about a good day to be productive!)
Don’t get me wrong, December isn’t all hustle. I took the day to observe Winter Solstice, which is the closest to winter “holiday” that I celebrate these days. And I went caroling with a group of folks back home on Christmas Eve, because it’s become a tradition of sorts and there’s hot mulled cider to warm up after.
And while we did head over the mountains for the week to spend time with family, I brought along my laptop and a list of priorities that will keep my business moving forward as we head into 2018.
Priorities, you can haz them
While many others in the US are powered down, taking a break for the last couple weeks of the year, I’m gearing up.
I’ve got a 5-week class series (MindFULL to Mindful) that starts at the end of January, and there are still spots available.
Hustle = doing promotion that gets butts into seats.
I’m planning a retreat for the spring (not yet announced) that needs to be planned and promoted.
Hustle = getting those details squared away.
And I’m working on turning MindFULL to Mindful into a digital offering, so that it’s not limited to students within driving distance of Charlottesville.
Hustle = setting the foundation for this new offering.
So with all this holiday hustle, when do I take time away?
Holiday = going totally off grid in two weeks. Heading to Sayulita, Mexico again for a yoga retreat with one of my favorite teachers.
That week at Haramara? THAT is my holiday.
My time to relax. To recharge. To sit by the ocean and listen to the waves crash against the shore. To delve deeper into my yoga. And to step away from the hustle and evaluate the past year.
Knowing that kind of holiday is on the horizon gives me a great reason to spend the weeks leading up to it with my head down.
It’s your life, so define your terms
When I say that I’m hustling during the holidays, what I really mean is that I’m working during what someone else defines as “holiday” – and then taking my own downtime, on my own terms.
It’s not about the “hustle.”
It’s not about conforming to a schedule that’s predetermined by centuries of religious practice or large corporations.
Rather, it’s about finding the mode of living that works for you, for your family, and for your business.
Because that is the kind of hustle I can get behind.
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