Hey Party People,
Here is another throwback post from October of last year, with a few added tweaks from me. As we enter September and get back to it we're all going to experience renewed pressures for the last quarter of the year. Ask yourself, what are you hustling for?
Renewed Post from October, 2020
I had an extra hour the morning I wrote this post, an hour I completely forgot I had! What a special realization that was because if I had remembered I would have planned something to do in that extra hour ahead of time. But instead here I am with words and feels flowing through me.
Today I want to talk about perfectionism and the hustle.
I picked up one of Brené Brown’s books this AM, Daring Greatly, and wasn’t feeling the chapter I left it on so I flipped back through the pages and landed on this exact topic – perfectionism. This is something I have ALWAYS struggled with all aspects of my life and up until recently I didn’t realize it was a belief around perfectionism, I felt it was me simply striving to do my best.
What I’ve learned though is that there is a difference between being perfect, and striving for your personal best. Being perfect is motivated by the external. We seek validation, approval, or assurance from others when we strive for perfection. When we push for our personal best this is internally motivated, where we desire the best version of ourselves, where we are at, at that moment. This is a key difference because when we seek validation from outside ourselves we will constantly miss the mark. This leaves us in puddles of shame, underachievement, or with feelings of unworthiness.
….......
Brene uses a term, Hustle for Worthiness, that I literally expressed out loud after reading it, “oh my god, that is so true!” Something clicked in my conscious brain and I thought, "How many of us do this – hustle for worthiness?" Truthfully, when you are out there working your butt off for someone else, spending endless hours on your email, reading alllll of the business or personal development books, who are you hustling for? Are you acting from within or are you motivated by fear or the need for outside recognition? What factors are pushing you to hustle all damn day?
What if we flip this concept, hustle for worthiness, and instead hustle for easy. Why do we so rarely consider this option? We have it so ingrained in our hearts and minds that things have to be hard that we fail to consider the idea that something could be easy. We all do this in different areas of life. Maybe it’s a job search, our pursuit for love, or friendships, or that dream home you’ve always wanted. If we could start to believe things were allowed to be easy and believed in that possibility, don’t you think it might come along a little easier?
*Edited*
I was programmed for a long ass time to believe I had to do it all and do it all with this intense fire-like energy. Contrast this with actions of ease, and being motivated from a calming place within. Hustle for easy, actually feels easy. This is not a shift that will come without intention, or in my case a serious struggle. Society has programmed us for a lifetime that doing more equals being valuable, worthy, and successful. But I want to remind you that You are valuable, more than worthy, and can have success right now without wearing down your mind, body, and spirit.
Let go of the tendency to hustle for your worthiness and instead breathe and try...
Doing less.
Accepting that being imperfect is beautiful.
Working on more things that make you happy.
Believing in the easy path.
And try to come back to you, the whole you.
Think about the concept, hustle for worthiness and how you might be acting this out in your world. Then consider how different it might feel to hustle for easy. Can we reach for ease instead of questioning it if it does feel easy? We easily accept the narrative that life is hard but why can’t it be easy? Do we always have to resort to the belief that we have to hustle in order to be happy? I don’t think we do, but rather we need to shift how we view ourselves first to create wholeness within. Then take action from there. Every once in a while lets take the path of least resistance and follow the yellow brick road all the way to our very own dreamland. Because if I were a betting woman, I bet that’s where the magic lives.
To get you moving and grooving this week, here’s your party jam.
Thanks as always for reading my thoughts and perspectives! I am thankful to be able to share it with you.
-S
P.S. Are you on the gram? Add me up and become one of my Party People! @theOnlySaraStepa I'll be back on social soon and can't wait for what's coming!
