Episode 3: Recovering From Burnout and Learning to Hustle Mindfully
In Episode 3 of my podcast Being Yourself Loudly, I do a deep dive into my experience with hustle culture, corporate america, freelance writing, self employment, burnout and so much more! I also introduce a concept called Mindful Hustling that has helped me stay ambitious and grounded at the same time. Here are some of the things I mention in this podcast:
Mindful Hustling is a concept that essentially allows entrepreneurs, or really anyone, live a more happy and fulfilling life by making choices that reflect their true values and authentic self. I also find it incredibly helpful for people who struggle with mental illness but are still ambitious and driven. I.e meeeee!
I was inspired to learn more about this after my coach Jenni taught me about value misalignment, which is basically a fancy way of saying that your values as a person are not aligning with the values of the job or people you are working with. For me, I was working for people who treated me poorly, i didn't know how to set boundaries via email without coming off as a bitch, and the work that I was doing wasn't stimulating in the ways i needed it to be. ALL WHICH ARE EXAMPLES OF this concept.
In my opinion, understanding your values is the first step of Mindful Hustling. If you want to learn more on the specific subject of values within a freelance business, I highly recommend listening to Season 4 Episode 5 of The Writers Coop all about creating a sustainable business structure.
One question that I was asked that helped me figure out these values, was asking myself HOW I WANTED TO SPEND MY TIME, REALISTICALLY. What did a day look like for me in this new world of following my core values? How often did I work? How much money do I make? What am I spending my time on? I urge anyone listening to ask yourself those questions, you might be surprised with what you learn once you let go of the external expectations that have been forced upon you by our capitalistic corporate system.
By doing this, I was able to see that I did not want to sit at a computer all day every day. I wanted flexibility to go for a walk, take a vacation, or even just watch tv in the middle of the day if my mental health was asking for a break.
Mindful Hustling also allows you to look at your goals from a place of authenticity rather than comparison. We can use my goals as an example. In the beginning of coaching when I was talking about my goals for the book, the first things I said was that I wanted to be published by a top ten publisher, be featured on Reeses Book Club, and be on the bestseller list. But upon reflection, with my coaches help, I began to see that these goals don’t match up with what I actually care about which is making an impact. Instead I was so focused on meeting these goals that I had seen other people get that I didn't even stop to think about whether or not they even matched my true values of the life I wanted to live.
While Mindful Hustling sounds amazing in theory, in practice it is obviously not that easy. And it largely has to do with fear. Fear of failing, fear of being worthless, fear of not making any money. Fear that no one will listen to me. Fear that is a direct result of the hustle culture I experienced for the first 25 years of my life. While I can't make hte fear go away, I do have tools for combating it. And maybe they might help you! The first is to remind my brain that the work I am doing is worth it: like “If I do this personal work and be vulnerable, I can live the life I want to live. I can make a difference. It'll just be about taking the risk of visibility. But there are not enough examples of young, real, ambitious successful women killing it in life while also struggling with mental illness. But me being myself loudly gives other people permission to do the same.
Another tool is to create a "container" for fear, like a notebook. Now when I am anxious and spiraling, instead of keeping it inside my head, i write it down on a big piece of paper everything i am anxious about. Today, my notebook has “create social media content, do PR, send pitches,” and a whole bunch of other stuff that I have been avoiding because I am scared of the rejection that may follow. But instead of ruminating over it, I simply close the notebook and move on to other things.
At the end of the day, fear is inevitable. Even now, I still struggle with feeling worthy on days when I just want to rest and watch Gilmore Girls and paint a picture. Or days when I look at the boss bitches on instagram sharing how much they made in a month doing the thing i want to be doing: being themself. But I know that this fear, this anxiety, It’s the price of admission for chasing my goal of being myself loudly. And it’s one I will proudly pay if it means I get to keep doing this work and sharing my experience with you all along the way.
