How To Work Hard And Experience Ease In Your Business
Saturday afternoon, my husband, Eric, and I were heading to grab coffee and pop into a local shop just to explore for a bit. As he was driving us there I started to get annoyed and thought, “OMG why is he driving so slow… He's not even going the speed limit!” I could feel my stomach and chest tighten as the frustration grew. Right before I was about to say something, I paused (thankfully) and asked myself, “Why am I in a rush to get there? Why am I stressed right now?!”
We weren't in a hurry. This was supposed to be a fun and easy day, yet here I was unconsciously adding pressure to it.
I don't know about you, but I do this in so many areas of my life, especially business. Not only do I want everything to come together, oh basically YESTERDAY, there's an unconscious part of me that feels like in order for me to be deserving of success, I have to suffer or stress out first.
Growing up playing sports, hard work was revered and necessary if you wanted to win. My parents also taught me the importance of said hard work. I learned that how you do something is a reflection of who you are. I'm also a three on the enneagram (the achiever), so I really have an easy time leaning into this. And you know what, there's really nothing wrong with hard work! When done with purpose and joy, it can be really good for us and bring about so much growth and fulfillment.
Like most things, there's a healthy balance. When we start attaching our worth to our levels of productivity, we enter into dangerous territory that many people would now refer to as “Hustle Culture.”
This looks like sacrificing your health, relationships, and sanity in order to move forward in business. This can also look like finding meaning and validation based on how much we work or how stressed out we feel.
I've certainly been there. Years ago, I bought into hustle culture. I worked constantly, thinking that the more I suffered the more successful I'd become. Eventually, I burned out. I lost sight of my why and felt hopeless about ever reaching the type of success I craved. I wondered if I was going about it in the wrong ways, because I wasn't seeing results or enjoying the process. This was not the life I'd dreamt about.
Then, I started hearing more people in the online business space denouncing “hustle culture” and talking about having ease in your business.
At first, I thought they were delusional or didn't care about reaching their potential. There's no way things can be “easy.” We can't just sit here in our cozy little comfort zones and expect to accomplish any kind of intentional growth.
What I didn't know at the time was that while ease and hard work might seem like opposites, they actually CAN happen at the same time.
Somewhere along the way, I equated working hard with suffering and stress. They aren't the same. The way we have both is all in our mindset.
When you tie your worth to how much you struggle, it's uncomfortable to let things be fun and easeful. When you're used to suffering, you'll go out of your way to make things harder than they need to be. You'll overthink, doubt yourself, and second guess your decisions. It takes time and a lot of awareness to shift out of that.
It's less about what you do and more about HOW you do it.
For example: Imagine you're launching something, and for part of your launch strategy you have to write a series of emails promoting your offer. You have two options of how to go about this:
Option 1: You stress out, because launches are “supposed" to be stressful and hard. You find yourself complaining about how much you have to do, dreading the work, and procrastinating on writing the emails. You say you “work better under pressure,” but you actually hate how this feels and deep down feel frustrated. Now, you don't have a ton of time, so you have to spend every free second trying to finish. You wonder if anyone is even going to read them, let alone sign up for your program. Are they good enough? Are you good enough? You start doubting yourself. You have a higher chance of making mistakes because you're racing against the clock. You finally finish and are completely exhausted. You don't have much more energy to give your work, let alone the people in your life. You hate launching because of how stressful it is, but you also know it's necessary if you want to be successful. It's frustrating and you secretly wonder if you have what it takes to do this long term.
OR
Option 2: You're really excited about sharing your new program with the people you love serving. You feel the natural fears that come with launching, but you take a deep breath, and remind yourself that you have what it takes. You trust yourself and create space in your schedule to write your emails. You even make your environment inspiring by playing music, getting fresh flowers, and grabbing your favorite coffee. You get into flow because you're having fun and you're focused on the people you care about helping deeply. You know this will make a positive impact on their lives. You lead with joy because you love what you do and have a lot of passion for it. You knock the emails out with ease, and you're curious as to how they'll perform. Time will tell. You trust that the right people will sign up and you can't wait to serve them. You pack up your work for the day and meet a friend for a walk outside, or spend time actually being present with your family. You're grateful that this is your life and you feel like you're just getting started.
In both scenarios, the emails get done. The action was the same. It's the outcomes that will likely be different. The majority of communication is not in our words, but in our energy. When someone is operating out of fear, we sense that. When someone is really excited and full of joy, it's palpable. The difference is in the energy, and the second option is what it looks like when you merge ease with hard work.
When you work from a place of joy and purpose, your work actually gets better. Just like flowers can't grow in rotten soil, you can't thrive out of negative energy. It's amazing how much more we can do when we stop shaming ourselves into action, comparing ourselves harshly, and ruthlessly picking ourselves apart.
You can do hard things. And you can do those hard things with ease, and a lot of joy. Your worth isn't tied to your struggle. Your success isn't dependent on how much you suffer.
Work hard and let it be easy by leading with belief, joy, and curiosity. Your future self will thank you.
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