Give Up the Hustle

It’s not that you need to hustle to survive, it’s that you seek the hustle to thrive, and still at the expense of yourself and others. ~ DHH, Basecamp

As we are closing the year, I do want to encourage readers and clients, as I have for many years, to give up the grind. Most things simply don’t matter. They don’t move the needle of your life towards results that make a meaningful impact for you and your business.

So, why not do less things that are more meaningful with more intensity? Your creativity in this age will have more impact than your productivity. And having the awareness to figure out what priorities are going to make a difference for you in the coming year is a wonderful way to get off your own treadmill and improve your life, results and health.

I have trimmed my hobbies over the years and focused more intensely on enjoying and committing to a few these days.

I enjoy the company of a few great friends rather than spread myself thin over lots of social pulls. It’s much more sane and helps me be a better friend to the ones I know are valuable.

There are some fantastic projects and ventures that I have committed deeply to. That has meant saying no to projects or invitations that may be ok, but don’t necessarily have much more impact. I only have so much energy.

Our family has shifted to new seasons in the teen years and I have given myself more to a different role as a husband and dad. I like this new season and I like how we are rolling as a family together through the journey. We are heading towards lifelong friendships.

I think the hustle has become a yellow light for me. It tells me that I am being inefficient with my commitments, time and energy. There are ways to get much more bang for the buck by simply detaching, questioning and prioritizing what matters.

You can save your soul a bit by questioning the madness.