Why I Love "the hustle" ❤️ and my favorite quote

Today, I want to talk to you about the word hustle. This is a word that I think is open to a lot of interpretation. And I often hear people say they don't believe in “hustle culture.” Or, they don't subscribe to hustle culture. 

But I love that word. And I want to hustle because of what that word means to me and the meaning that I give it. So, like many words, we can give it a positive or a negative meaning based on what we've read, learned, and personal life experiences.

When I had my first business around 2003, my therapeutic massage center and then my day spa, I listened to many old-school motivational speakers. I remember going to Sam's Club and buying a set of CDs. And it was my first step into realizing that success is created right here. My thoughts create my actions, and they create my level of success. It was so empowering to realize it's all on me. 

Some people might stress out about that, but I was like, oh my gosh, I know that if I'm in charge of creating my success, there's no stopping me, right? That being said, of course, like everyone, I have my ups and downs and wins and losses, but I love knowing that I have the ability and the tools. And it just depends on what actions I take from day to day, what my life looks like, what my business looks like, what my house looks like, what every part of my life looks like is up to me. And I love that. 

When I first started hearing the word hustle, I took it as a very positive, like, let's go, let's do this. Let's create our lives. Let's go! That is how I interpret that word. And you know, we can use this example for many things. Somebody might say, oh, I need to save money. And for one person, that might be a great thing. To them, saving money means they've got security and a backup plan. Somebody else might hear the words saving money and think of deprivation or something that feels impossible for them. 

Or, the word money. Over the years, I've talked to people who say I don't even like money, and I wish there was no such thing as money. 

I've worked to figure out what I'm giving, what meaning I'm giving to different words and terminology, and change that for myself when necessary. 

For example, paying bills. Many of us hear that, and we're like, again, really have to do this again??  But you can give that whatever meaning you want to.  I've worked to flip my script around paying bills and many different words, including work. 

I look at my schedule all the time, and I hope I can work. 

I love my work, showing up here, talking to you, and creating the things I create, but that does not mean every moment is bliss and joy. It has its share of just technical stuff and parts of it that might not be my favorite, but overall, I love to work. 

It's a privilege and a blessing to have work to do in this world, whether it's at my day job or here, running my online business and creating courses, programs, and things for people. 

So, I look at the word hustle as my daily flow. Whatever I do each day is my hustle for that day. Some days, my hustle is cleaning my house and working in the yard. Some days, my hustle is trying to complete ten sales activities, walking my dog, taking a power nap, running my errands, making a healthy dinner, and getting my workout in. 

It all just flows together for me. Like today, my hustle is making this video for you. I walked my dog, I slept late, I'm going to get a massage, I'm going to send some emails, you know, all the different things that I do today. I've got to clean up my house for company, but it's all part of my hustle. And it all, for the most part, feels joyful to me.

So I like that word. If you don't like that word, pick a different word. But to me, hustle means every day, reaching my full potential for what that day is made for. Whether I'm just all in on working online or spending a day with my family, it means I'm all in on what I'm doing, and I'm doing it to the fullest extent of my mental and physical capabilities that day. 

I love, love, love this quote from Irma Bombeck. She says, “When I stand before God at the end of my life, I hope that I will not have a single bit of talent left and can say, I used everything you gave me.”

 I don't want to reach the end of my life and think I still have half a tank of gas left. I want to use every drop to live my purpose and do what I feel I'm here to do. Hopefully, some of that will help you, inspire you, and share what I have learned through trial and error and success and failure to help you reach your goals.