by Dr. Cindy Briggs
You have probably heard it before… hustle to accomplish your dreams. You need “more hustle”, and “hustle harder”. I have even seen books that encourage the “hustle”. And you know what….I have been guilty of falling into that trap. I have felt like I need to do more, faster, and keep up with everyone else.
Then it hit me— in the middle of my hustle– that it wasn’t me! I didn’t need to prove I was working more hours, or working harder, or doing more than the next person. Instead, I wanted to be remembered or noticed for my heart.
I have shared before that I am in the process of writing a book. It has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. This book is going to be for entrepreneurs based on Christian principles. I have the proposal completed, and I have had others say it is really good… BUT…. I don’t have a big enough “following” for the agents to move forward. I need to “hustle” to get to a certain number. I need to “hustle” to get people to connect with me and my brand. And for several months I leaned into the hustle when the revelation came that I am much more about HEART over HUSTLE.
I am a big fan of Natalie Franke from Rising Tide Society. Natalie started a whole movement around “Community over Competition” and it was amazing. She told people it was ok to connect. It was ok to build community and not fret over the whole competition aspect. I also took from that we did not need to constantly compare our journey to someone else’s. Each is unique and special. (By the way, Natalie is launching her book soon “Built to Belong“– you can preorder that HERE)
When my personal and business life started thinking I was tired of the hustle–I thought of Natalie and then I thought I want my legacy to be less hustle and more heart. If people know you care. If they know you are doing your best to help them… whether being a business coach, teacher, baker, or whatever… the “business” will come. I guess we could go back to Field of Dreams, “if you build it, they will come.” Let’s take that and make it, “IF YOU BUILD IT WITH YOUR HEART, THEY WILL WANT TO COME.”
You know I like to end my blog posts with the “so what”– how can you implement this right now.
- Start by looking at what you are doing right now— in business or personal life. What are the activities that are taking up most of your time/energy. Write them all down.
- Next to each item on the list– put whether you would describe this activity as “heart” or “hustle”. Hustle doesn’t mean bad… but is it something that brings you life. Is it something that is actually required of you, or have you just made it required?
- See if you can turn any of the hustles into hearts. For example, I still need to work on my overall following to get a book deal, but I can do that with hustle (meaning it is just a to-do) or I can put heart behind it and implement myself into these activities.
I believe that if we are more HEART… we are more authentic. People start to see us and our business for the right reasons and again they will WANT TO be a part of it.
To learn more, visit us at www.cindybriggsphd.com. Our mission is to provide programs dedicated to helping entrepreneurs and communities THRIVE!
