Hustle Flow

I know you’ve heard it because I’ve heard it: to make the money you’ve gotta hustle. 

That’s absolute garbage.

To make money you have to be intentional about how you spend your time. I’m not a type-A person; I have goals and I’m driven but I don’t function well in strict practices or time constraints. I lose momentum really quickly if I start out hard and heavy with something and try to make that a system. 

I’ve learned what success looks like for me at this point in life: the ability to create and have a space to make memories with my kids. To do that I need an income. That income right now is driven by my job but my goal is for that income to be generated from this blog and podcast and eventually public speaking. 

To see success in life I have to be consistent in my work and what I produce. To do that I have to step into moments or times of grace flows. I don’t do the same things every day - I accomplish tasks when I have grace or brain space to do it. Example: I had a laundry/clothing sorting project I started three weeks ago. I had a lot of momentum when I started it but due to time and waking babies, I didn’t finish it until THIS PAST weekend.

Now, you could look at that experience and say, “I don’t finish what I start, “ or that, “I’m not committed” but the fact of the matter is I lost the momentum to finish it. What did I do in the meantime: edit my bathroom, start a new workout, plan 25 days worth of work outfits, pull out my kids summer wardrobes, edit and upload three podcasts, write two blog posts, assemble 25 cotton PPE masks, set up an Easter table, submit documents to run for office, and spend time outside with my kids. That’s what I did in my free time.

Then I got unexpected off day and the grace to finish the laundry task was available so I finished it. A mentor once told me, “If the effort is greater than the reward quit. Go do something else productive.” He was right. Every time I’ve started something and stepped away when I lost momentum I came back with a fresh perspective as well as the ability to get it [whatvever IT is] in record time. When I don’t strive, force, or push - it happens.

Moms of littles here me: YOU CAN NOT DO IT ALL ALL THE TIME. You can’t. And when you try to do it you’ll feel defeated. When you step into a grace flow you can sustain your momentum. Take the small things and knock them out and then when it’s time for you to do something big you have brain space for it. The laundry sorting thing took about 5 hours in total. I’m glad I took a pause and then resumed later.

If you feel like you have a lot of loose ends figure out what you have brain space for and tackle that one thing. You’ve got plenty of time to accomplish the tasks at hand. Just be patient with yourself to see them through. You have plenty of opportunities to be successful with your life you just can’t do it all at the same time. Instead of stressing yourself out by creating an endless daily task list create a list of objectives for your season (it’s taking up space in your brain anyway so put it on paper, the refrigerator, your bathroom mirror with a dry erase marker, whatever method you choose) and knock them out when you have momentum. Over time you’ll see that you got everything finished you just don’t have to stress out about it. 

And if you need a nap - take one. The laundry will still be there. The dinner will still be there. The shower you need to take will still be there.

Don’t hustle mommas. Flow.