How to know when to press or when to rest…
The year is 2022. On the tail end of a pandemic and at the beginning of a looming recession, women carry the balance of the emotional toll of coming out of one time where they just had to “put their heads down and get it done” only to be looking at heading into another one.
And if you’re a woman that runs a business on the internet, you’re met with polarizing content - you know exactly what I’m talking about…
Productivity Specialists and Hustle Culture Enthusiasts will remind you that the only person that can get you to your goals is YOU, putting the pressure of your success squarely on your shoulders. They’ll remind you of the things you want, and then tell you the only way for you to have those things is to give up something else you need.
Sleep when you’re dead.
Want to build a business you’re proud of? Eat, sleep and breathe it.
On the other end of the spectrum you’ll hear internet magicians talking about how when you “lean back” and stop trying to force it, it will come. That if you just “accept that it’s already yours” then presto! There’s a part of you that wants to believe it, really wishes you could just “chill out” and it would “arrive” but history tells you that you’re more likely to get what you want by busting your ass than “sitting back and waiting for it.”
You’ll also hear messages about choosing to “finish the year soft instead of strong,” and while there’s nothing inherently dangerous about that one, it’s really hard for you to choose it if you’ve got goals you want to reach but you’re weary.
I am sharing this with you because I suspect that like me, many of you fall into the category that knows it’s going to take hard work to pull your dreams off, but you’ve been sprinting for what feels like a marathon.
Each and every day there’s a list of things that need to get done in order to accomplish your goals, but you find yourself having to talk yourself up to get the work done.
The truth is, I’ve never fully aligned with hustle culture, and I’ve never understood the manifestation crowd. I’ve always straddled the line and it’s felt like the internet wants me to pick a side.
So if all this messaging has you confused at whether it’s time for you to double down and press towards your goals or take a breath, I offer you 2 things: 1, a different perspective and 2, a way to discern what you need.
- While the internet would have you believe otherwise, I am here to tell you that you don’t have to choose a side. You get to walk the ridge, toggling back and forth between the two. And honestly, most people are right there with you. You’re actually in the majority. You don’t have to be all in or all out. You can have periods where you sprint and periods where you sloth. Don’t make it mean something it doesn’t.
- If because of all this noise, you feel confused about whether you need to double down to reach your goals right now, or to come up for air and float for a minute, I am going to ask you a question and I just want your gut reaction. Do you have gas in the tank? Like if you HAD to, could you dig deep and pull up what you needed to rise to the occasion? Because you already know whether or not you have the fuel to pull it off, deep in your gut. The question is, can you tune out what everyone else is telling you, and listen to YOURSELF and YOUR BODY. Are you brave enough to admit when you don’t have the gas? Are you willing to give your body what it needs if you don’t without berating yourself? If you do have the gas, are you disciplined enough to hold yourself to using it? This all boils down to self awareness and then what you do with it. The internet has you disconnected from yourself because you’ve added in hundreds of other voices. If you can’t hear your voice, it’s time to press mute for a second. You know. You know you know, and now it’s time to list.
Perhaps the most important thing I want you to take away from this is that regardless of if you’re a lean back, lean in, or waffle-betwixt kind of girl, it’s not bad or wrong to be what you are. Trust that you know what you need, and you get after it the way you need to.