I don’t often rant.

Well, okay fine, I do…just not always in public.

But today I just have to finally get it out of my system once and for all: I HATE being told that I have to HUSTLE if I want to succeed!

I hate the word Hustle.

I hate all that the word conjures up — cheap suits, the smell of cigarettes mixed with cologne and a hint of desperation, and the bitter taste of the word “no.”

It makes me feel rushed, and chaotic…like a hamster on a wheel (and if you don’t already know how I feel about that, you can read about it here.)

And it makes me feel pushy.

And kind of icky…and gross.

I read some Facebook image the other day with the words, “Life is 90% hustle, and 10% sleep.”

And this other one: “Hustle hard or die broke.”

Ugh.

This is just so NOT how I want to live my life…and not at all what I accept as being “necessary” for success.

Do I work hard? You bet I do. And I still sleep. Waaaayyyy more than 10% of my time.

Do I make sales calls? Ask for referrals? Tell people I meet about what I do and how I do it and that I am pretty darn good at it, too?

Yep.

But not a single moment of that time do I act or feel like or even remotely resemble One Who Hustles. (And not just because I don’t wear cheap suits.)

To hustle is, to me, to push…to shove…to go-go-go and force my way into the life that I have my sights set upon.

And I don’t want to force my way into anything.

On sales calls, I never want prospective clients to feel like I have schmoozed them into making a buying decision that was really not in their best interest. You’ll not hear the words, “If you wanted success in your business bad enough, you’d find a way to pay me.” I won’t tell someone that they must sell their grandmother’s ring to pay my fees and that if they don’t, they’re sabotaging themselves forevermore.

So. Effin’. Gross.

When I meet people, I don’t want them to feel like the conversation we’ve had is “all about me” and how they can help me…with not one ounce of interest in who they are and how I may be able to support them.

And when I am done work for the day, I don’t want every thought, every conversation, every interaction to be about business. Nope. Sometimes I want to zone out and watch Gilmore Girls with my kids. And sometimes I want to have a bath and think about when I am going to get myself back to those Rocky Mountains again…or whether or not now is the time to plant spring bulbs.

I have a life outside of my work, and the implication that I have to HUSTLE to succeed seems to negate any other pursuit in life, and that’s just not at all why I am in business.

I am in business to feel good about what I do. When asked the other day what I do that lights up my world, I said that my work lights up my world. And it does. I truly love what I do. And I believe I succeed in business not because I hustle, but because I don’t.

Because I believe in creating in ease and flow, not pushing and shoving my way along.

Because I believe in helping prospective clients make wise financial decisions, not pawn granddad’s medal of honour to pay my fees.

Because I sleep more than I work, not the other way around.

And because, I simply must add, I don’t wear cheap suits…or smoke cigarettes for that matter.

It takes guts and determination, drive and passion, tenacity and an ounce of batshit-craziness to build a business. But it also takes sleep. And ease. And having a life that you love at the same time. So you can hold the hustle, dear reader…and let’s go light up the world from THAT place instead.