Let’s chat about how to escape the hustle culture. The idea of escaping hustle culture may come as an unpopular opinion, but as an entrepreneur for over 20 years, I have found myself on both ends of the hustle spectrum and I can promise you, my seasons of extreme hustle left me anything but feeling successful. 

But what exactly is “hustle?”

Hustle: Oxford Languages will tell you that as a verb or an action it means to, “force (someone) to move hurriedly or unceremoniously in a specified direction” or “obtain by forceful action or persuasion.”

As a noun, it’s translated as, “busy movement and activity” or, “a fraud or swindle.”

And somewhere along the lines, society has told us that we need to force ourselves to be hurried, we need to obtain success through forceful action, and we need to be busy swindling people, mainly ourselves, to believe this method produces ultimate success. 

I don’t know about you, but I will proudly confess that I want nothing to do with that kind of hustle in my business. Throwing out the idea of hustle in running a business does not mean that you don’t have to work hard, it simply means you don’t have to force a narrative that the more hurried you are, the more successful you’ll become. 

If you’re looking for more ways to escape hustle culture and spend your limited time focused on things that truly matter, get FREE access to my webinar all about building a profitable business even if you’re short on time! 

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In my experience, hustle culture gave me incredibly unrealistic and unsustainable expectations of not only what I could achieve, but what I should be achieving. After years of giving into the idea of never-ending hustle, I adopted an incredibly unhealthy lifestyle both mentally and physically which ultimately led to nothing but burnout. This idea of working ourselves to death and putting our personal lives last is simply not a trend I can get behind any longer and honestly, that should never be the goal of any entrepreneur. 

While I’m not entirely certain where this idea of hustling ourselves into an unhealthy lifestyle came from, I can tell you one thing for certain. So many entrepreneurs are spending their time forcing things that simply waste time and don’t make you any money. And they continue to hustle for things that aren’t even giving them results. But I honestly don’t blame them.

We’ve believed for so long that we have to spend a lot of time each week on making our business profitable so we start doing things that don’t make sense for our bottom line simply because we believe that in the long run, those hours will magically turn into money. Because again, hustle culture says if you aren’t hurried, if you aren’t always working, you aren’t going to grow.

One of the best ways to escape the chains of hustle culture is to have an abundance mindset. When you are working from a place of abundance, you don’t feel the need to hurry or hustle for the things you think you’re lacking. Learn more about having an abundance mindset here!

This is why I say three 20-minute time slots of work is enough for running your business. If you use those twenty minutes to put your head down and work on things that generate income, you’ve spent all the time you need to market and grow a successful business! 

But what are income-producing activities, you ask? 

While they will look different for every business owner and each individual entrepreneur, I have a few things that apply to each and every brand. So jot these down and start focusing on them today:

Reach out to the people who have already purchased your product or service. Ask them for feedback or testimonies you can share in your marketing, and even offer incentives for referrals! This is a great way to turn clients into lifelong customers who will continue to generate income for your business. And bonus: this takes very little time! You can even create a canned message that feels very personal and make it part of your work routine to always send the message out when you make a sale. Create a system for referrals that is simple and streamlined so you can simply share it with them and let the system do the rest.

 

Do you have an email list? If not, start one today and begin to create newsletters that market your brand and lead people to purchase your product or service. Be sure to also include value that is free for your subscribers, but use these emails to point them to a call to action that generates income. Send out one or two emails a month and pick the day or days they will go out each month so you can prepare for them and not be caught off guard when it’s time to write another one. Use past social content or blog copy to make it even easier to write in a timely manner. 

Be in the business of building relationships. Developing a relationship with people is one of the single best things you can do to turn friends into paying customers. People want to know, like, and trust you before they make a purchase with you. This is something that may not generate income immediately, but your efforts in building relationships will absolutely be well worth your time in the long run! 

The thing I love most about these three income-producing activities is that hustle is not required. You can work on these three tasks in the small pockets of your day without ever feeling like you can’t manage them. 

And if you’re a mom in business, you know all about working in small, available pockets throughout the day! Be encouraged mamas, it’s more than possible to be both super mom and successful entrepreneur and the secrets are all right HERE!

Snag this mom-trepreneur PDF

You do not have to give into hustle culture simply because you think it’s the only way to “make it.”  Trust in the skills you already possess, work with the current hours you already have, and focus on the work that truly matters to move the needle forward. You can spend the rest of your life working yourself silly but none of those hours will matter if you aren’t focused on the right things. Study your business from top to bottom. Discover the tasks that are meaningful and contribute to your bottom line and stay in that lane. 

No matter how big your business becomes, hustle is not required. Don’t lose sight of that.

For even more content on building a business with the skills and hours you already have, be sure to check out:

The Blush Pages Membership for monthly business content curated exclusively for members!

The Profit Plan for everything you need to start earning consistent income!

The Business Starter Kit for getting your business off the ground and out into the world!