Living a Hustle-Free Life

Why do we hustle? I know hustle has taken on a bit of a pop-culture definition. Urban Dictionary defines hustle as rapidly moving towards goals, of always hurrying. But it also defines it as dishonest and unscrupulous. Moving quickly has become a badge of honour in our time. Moving quickly up the ladder of your career, in relationships, in finances, and constantly being busy and on the go is somehow viewed as desirable. As indication of a full and successful life.

But who made these rules? Who hands out the awards? Who says that life must be a hustle?

Recently I found myself in a position where everything stopped. I had just spent more than three years working full time and studying (basically full time) trying to get myself up the ladder, to the next check point. Chasing, chasing. I burnt myself out more than once along the way.

At the time that everything stopped, I had already been feeling that this wasn’t for me anymore. I felt trapped by the demands on my time made by others. I felt a big shift occurring in what I wanted my life to look like. Then the Universe stepped in and cleared out everything. Making way for a new hustle-free way of life.

So, there I was. No job. On a break from uni. And it was wonderful and unsettling and expansive and hard. I knew to the very core of my being that I was being given an opportunity. I had been given a clean slate. A blank piece of paper on which to create. From this point on, my life could look the way I wanted it to. Not the way society told me it should look. And not the way my logical brain was used to.

Now I want to share what I’ve learned, with the hope that it may ease the way for others wanting to give the bird to the shoulds of life and live hustle-free:

1.        Your brain will fight you every step of the way.

Changing your way of life or giving less importance to things that you once strived for will challenge you in ways you never thought possible. What becomes apparent is how conditioned we are to the way society, government and other powers want us to live. These conditions are upheld by our mind, they permeate our thoughts and going against them sets off alarms in our nervous system, in our body. Connecting to your intuition and following it’s call, no matter how crazy it may seem, is the key to moving towards a life that is filled with purpose. Your logical brain will fight you every step of the way. You will need to dig deep, calm your nervous system, and continue to follow the road less travelled. No one tells you how hard this is. Or how wonderful the rewards are.

2.        Finding yourself is part of the process.

When Urban Dictionary described hustle as dishonest and unscrupulous it was not wrong. But the dishonesty is not intentional. As we are conditioned to the ways of the world from the moment we are born, we bury pieces of our true selves along the way so that we can fit in and conform to what is expected of us. By the time we are adults most of us are walking around in a costume. We think this costume is who we are, unaware that we have buried, squashed, and moulded ourselves along the way. Removing this costume, layer by layer, will start to uncover the most authentic version of ourselves. This is the person we were born to be. This is who the Universe needs us to be.

3.        The destination will no longer be as important.

Goals are good to have, but every time you reach one you need another one. Or what if you have a goal that you never reach? You spend your life feeling bitter and resentful that you can never achieve the outcome that you desire. These days I live my life with appreciation and wonder. I look at the sun and the moon and the trees in awe. I revel in the feeling of sand beneath my feet. I take each moment of joy and I savour it. I don’t know where this path is leading me. I can’t see what is up ahead and I have never been less bothered by that. Being on the right path clears the way so that we can truly enjoy the journey, as cliché as that is.

This process will not look the same for everyone. In fact, I think it will be unique to each person on this journey. I’m not suggesting that everyone should quit their job and try to make a living from their hobby or passion project. What I am suggesting is that striving for standards that are not our own will never lead to fulfillment. Uncovering who you truly are and what you truly value will reshape your life in the most wonderful way. Because I’ll let you in on a secret: the ability to celebrate yourself just for being you is what life is about. It’s why we are here.