You Can't Knock The (Sustainable) Hustle

Sleep is not for the dead. In fact, lack of sleep is likely to kill you far quicker. As the science shows lunch isn't for wimps. If you don't nourish yourself, your body can't take care of itself. It can't keep propelling you forward to your goals. So think very carefully about what it is you're trying to create. This is why the clarity is so important. Important because when you know what you are trying to create and where you're trying to go, you can spend your time on the right things to get you there. The things that are going to move the needle the more you expend your time more efficiently to get you to where you want to get to. You're listening to the Circle C Project. Welcome to the Triple CE Project, the podcast that helps you gain clarity, boost confidence, build courage so you can live lifeless. I'm your host, Ryan Spence, the big lore dropout, life coach, author, speaker, lover of hoodies, hip hop, and big, hairy, audacious goals. If you're tired of living the life you think you should want and ready to start living the life you do want, this podcast will help you get from where you are to where you really want to be. Sit now with friends, I invite you to grab a drink, take a seat, and allow me to guide you towards living a life that's lit. Hey. Hey. Welcome to episode 56 of the Triple C Project. Today I'm going to talk about hustle. Hustle, Hustle, Hustle. If you've read my book, the Triple C Method, you'll know that I like to look at the dictionary definition of a word and then sort of break it down. Because often words take on a meaning of their own. And that's just the way that language works. And sometimes that meaning can be changed or skewed innocently through the use of slang, through the adoption into different, just different languages. Sometimes it can be done by more nefarious means. I talked about that a little bit on. On Instagram this week, talking about woke. I was going to do an episode about that, but I might save that for a later date. So, hustle. I want to talk about hustle, because hustle is one of those things which is very polarizing. You have the glorification of hustle camp, and you have the demonization of hustle camp. And I think it's a little bit more nuanced than that, if I'm honest. So first, let's just look at what it means and for the purposes of this episode and what I'm talking about and the context in which the word hustle is, is used. Hustle means to effectively, to move forward urgently, to urge forward precipitately is what the definition says on. I think it's Merriam Webster on the Internet. So if we just take that, to urge forward precipitately and we look at the glorification of hustle camp, the pro hustle people, there's nothing in that definition that talks about getting up at 5am, that talks about having cold showers, lunches for wimps. You sleep when you're dead. There's none of that. It doesn't say that. But that's the way that hustle is viewed. In fact, it's actually viewed like that by both camps, the glorific glorification camp and the demonization camp. And that isn't really, for me, what hustle means. It's definitely not what it means in terms of the dictionary definition. And it's also not how I see hustle either. But if I was to go out there and say I'm pro hustle, I can see the, the avalanche of criticism that would come in. So I, I'm calling a new phrase, sustainable hustle. Sustainable hustle is what I think that I do. And it's kind of what I encourage my clients to do too. So what does that mean? Well, look, I do a lot, I have a lot of things going on, but I don't make that a problem because I know the vision of the life I'm trying to create, to build for myself. I know where I'm going and I also know where I don't want to be, which is back in big law. And so I move forward daily with a sense of urgency to get to where it is I want to get to, to create this life that I envision. And that excites me, that motivates me, that gets me up in the morning, ready to attack the day. And so if you look at the dictionary definition of hustle, that is a form of hustle. Because I'm urging forward, I'm moving forward with urgency. I want to get somewhere quickly. But as well as being a coach, I'm also a yoga teacher. I take my health and well being seriously. And so if I'm going to move forward at that quick pace, it needs to be done in a way that is sustainable. So multiple nights of little to no sleep is not going to allow me to do that. And actually, although in the short term it sounds like that's the way to move forward, in the long term, it's not because one of two things will happen. You'll get sick and it will slow you down, actually. And then you'll have to take long periods off to recuperate before you can get going again. So you're going to lose that consistency. But also if you get to where you want to get to, you're not going to be able to enjoy it because you're just going to feel like shit because you haven't taken care of yourself on the journey. So moving forward quickly does not mean moving forward at the expense of everything else. You need to be well. You need to keep yourself in check. And at the same time, there will be moments in this journey to get to where you want to get to, to creating this life that's lit there where you do have to work a little bit longer, a little bit harder, push a little bit more for that particular period to get that particular thing done. So looking at both camps, the glorification camp and the and the demonization camp, I think that you can take elements of both and sit somewhere in the middle. Because you've got to be prepared to do what's necessary to get to where you want to get to. If you want to create a life that's lit, you want to create a life that looks a particular way, you're going to have to do some serious work to get there. You're going to have to change how you think about things, change some of your habits, change your approach, do things that scare you. Hey, I'm interrupting myself to give you this short message. Now, if you're listening to this pod, you're likely looking to change your life. Here's the thing. Transformation doesn't happen by doing what you've always done. It happens when you change your thoughts about what's possible for you. My book, the Triple C Method, helps you do that by giving you the tools and strategies to stop living a life of lethargy and and start living life lit. Described as a transformational toolkit and the book I wish I'd had when I decided to leave corporate the Triple C method will change how you see yourself and how you live your life. Available now as paperback, ebook and audiobook, read by yours truly. Head to iamrinespence.com book or over to your favorite bookseller to grab your copy today so you can stop living a life of lethargy and start living life next. But at the same time, you're going to have to give yourself a break. You're going to have to rest, take naps, get a Decent amount of sleep each night. Look after your body, move it every day, you know, feed it well with good nourishing food, hydrate it with lots of water. You know, those things have to work together. You don't have to get up at 5am in the morning. I used to, but that was more because I needed to get up way, way before my kids when I was going to training for boxing match. But I don't do it now. It's more like six now, again to get up before my kids. You don't have to have cold showers every morning. I know that there's all this science about how great cold showers are and lots of people extolling the virtues, but look, I don't do cold showers. No chance. Maybe once I end up living in my tropical paradise and the sun is shining every day and it's beautiful and the weather's hot, maybe I'll get on to cold showers. But here in the uk, particularly through this winter, which seems to be never ending, there is no way in hell I'm having cold showers. I don't care what anybody says. But you don't have to. That isn't what you need to do to move forward. You just need to do the things that serve you. And doing the things that serve you may mean doing things that other people think are a problem, but it doesn't matter because it's your journey, it's your path. You do what you need to do to get to where you want to get to. It doesn't matter what anybody else is doing. So sustainable hustle is a thing because I've just said it is. But sustainable hustle, if I was to define it, all that that means is you move forward to where you want to get to with a sense of urgency. But you do it in a way that is sustainable. So in a way that protects your mental, your physical, your spiritual well being. Because there's no point achieving something if you're not intact, if you're not whole, if you're not well, there's just no point. And if you're listening to this, you're probably in a job, a career right now, big law, or some corporate position where you don't have that sustainability. Because the expectation is that you are always on call, that you do do the all nighters, you do pull the long hours and you do cancel that yoga class, that gym class, that run, that workout, because somebody's put a call in your diary or somebody's decided that you need an urgent meeting. That's not cool. And that's not the way that I wanted to live. That's why I left Big Law. And I'm sure that's not the way that you want to live either. But the difference is when you're going to off towards creating a life that you want, you're doing it for yourself. So when you are doing things like working long hours, like maybe having a couple of nights with not as much sleep as you would like, you're doing it because it's for something that is going to benefit you, you have control over. And that's a real difference because you can see what the benefits of this effort now are going to be. But you can't keep doing that in the long term. Sleep is not for the dead. In fact, lack of sleep is likely to kill you far quicker. As the science shows, lunch isn't for wimps. If you don't nourish yourself, your body can't take care of itself. It can't keep propelling you forward to your goals. So think very carefully about what it is you're trying to create. This is why the clarity is so important. Because when you know what you are trying to create and where you're trying to go, you can spend your time on the right things to get you there, the things that are going to move the needle the more you spend your time, more efficiently to get you to where you want to get to. So rather than trying to spread yourself thin and do all the things which is the fastest route to burnout, you can focus on the key things, the things that are most important, the things that, as I say, are going to move the needle. And by reducing the things that you're trying to focus on, you create more space to allow yourself to hustle sustainably, to give yourself that outlet, that space, that break. And just to share with you and give you an example that I do practice what I preach. Things have been pretty hectic this year. I have got a lot, had a lot of things going on, a lot of great things. But I was feeling like I really just kind of need a timeout, even if it's not a big break. I just need like a circuit breaker, like a day to just give myself some time. Because, you know, through the week I have a lot of things going on. I'm teaching, I'm contracting, I've got kids, you know, there's just a lot. So there isn't really this sort of low. I still go to my Pilates class, I still go do practice yoga. But I just needed a little bit of Space. And so when I had an unexpected day out, various strikes were going on. I wasn't doing my weekly trip to London. I took that time to sustainably hustle, to add some, to add some kind of some respite into everything. And I did that by taking myself off for a 2 hour massage, 30 minutes reflexology and a trip to the cinema. And it was wonderful. And then I came home and I felt amazingly relaxed and I had a really good night's sleep. And I woke up today refreshed and good to go straight into my meditation, straight into my yoga class, straight into my therapy session. I feel, I feel amazing. And so there you go. Everything that I'm doing is moving forward towards the life I want to live. I am, for want of a better term, hustling. But I'm hustling sustainably and I want to encourage you to hustle sustainably too. Don't sit back and think that you, you're just not going to do anything. You're just going to chill every day and still get to where you want to get to. That won't happen. Some people will say that dream, but it's not real. You can't change your life without making serious changes to how you live your life, to what you do in your life. And that change takes work and it takes you doing things differently and it takes you enduring discomfort. But it doesn't mean that it all has to be a big, massive daily struggle of pushing yourself to the limit every single day. You have to allow yourself time to recuperate. You have to allow yourself space, to think, to create, to breathe. And that's sustainable hustle. I'd love to hear what you think about the term hustle and about my new term, sustainable hustle. Which camp do you fall in? Do you glorify hustle? Do you demonize hustle? Or do you like this new middle way of sustainable hustle? And is that something that you already practice just having given it a name? Let me know. Hit me up on email. Hey am Ryan Spence.com and tell me or just drop a review. And in your review on Apple podcast, let me know what you take away from this episode, what you think of the term hustle and sustainable hustle and how it applies to you as in your life. I always love to hear from you. It really just helps me know that the show is doing what it's supposed to do. It helps me talk about the things that you would like me to talk about and share my experience and stories in a way that best support you and your journey of changing your own Life. Head to LinkedIn, Instagram, send me a DM, follow me on there, and I look forward to speaking to you next week and helping you move from a life of lethargy towards living life lit. Thanks for tuning in. But before you go, the weight of limiting beliefs is heavy. It literally weighs you down and keeps you stuck in that life of lethargy. I know. It's why I stayed in Big Law for so long, and it's why so many of my clients don't believe they can do the things that they want to do. But what causes those limiting beliefs? It's a lack of confidence. Lack of confidence in the belief that you can do the things that you want to do. And I've got something for that. It's my confidence journal. It's six journal prompts that I created that I've used to help me get from where I am to where I want to be. To help to give me the belief to do the things that seem outside of my control, outside of of what I can do. If this sounds like you, you need to get your hands on the journal. Best thing about it, it's free. All you have to do is head to iamryanspence.com, hit the button for Confidence Journal and get your copy today. It's going to help you start to reframe your thoughts and get you thinking about what you can do instead of focusing on what you can't do. Shed that load of limiting beliefs that you don't need to be carrying. See you again next week. And until that time, stop living a life of lethargy and start living life lit.