If you are immersed in the daily hustle—a juggling act of being your best at work, home, and with your family—it’s likely that you have learned along the way to take a lot of deep breaths, laugh often, and continually reinvigorate your passion and purpose. When it comes to hustling, being on the right path is often what keeps you sane when the hassles hit, and it is what enables you to bend and flex your way through the twists and turns without checking out. Being on the right path helps you to answer the questions: Is this my purpose? Check. Am I making a positive impact? Check. Is it worth the daily insanity? Check.
Beyond that, the faith that the obstacles you face today will pass is critical to keeping things in perspective. It is perhaps just the right dose of positivity to get you through the tough times and help you to pave the way for all that is to come. There are so many hindrances that can drag us down daily, from work calamities, to professional or personal relationship issues, to family illness, to household or car-related hitches. If you live the hustle, rule number one is to expect the hurdles and learn to be agile and well versed in the art of pivoting.
I am a believer that tough situations are teachers, and if we allow them to instruct us, they not only build our resilience, but help us to grow. I’ve experienced this first hand in the physical during a number of 100-mile ultramarathon races: everything is happy and great, until I feel my body falling apart, my mind rejecting the race, that menacing little voice in my mind saying, quit – who cares, you don’t need to do this, and then, after climbing mountains or traversing trails or roads that go on forever, nearly falling asleep, throwing up a few times, the hassles slowly and surely begin to dissolve, and taking in the landscape, I experience euphoric this is awesome moments. My mindset transitions to this is what life is about: this struggle, this pushing, this meeting all these great random people and overcoming obstacles with them. And then, with the 100-mile finish line in the not-so-distant future, I am suddenly the most positive, upbeat, loving-life version of myself. 100-mile races for me are experiences in hustle, hassle, and positivity, all wrapped up in one neat and grueling package that leaves me re-energized and re-engaged in life. After an ultra-run, I am ready to tackle the world, positive and supercharged.
For those who don’t wish to wrap up hustle, hassle, and positivity into a long run, what are the options? How can one stay on course in the daily rush/do/achieve, greet the hassles with an open mind, and remember to seek the good and positive in all situations? I am a believer in the pause to positivity: the timeout to assess and analyze situations and visualize what you seek down the road. The pause is a great way to re-evaluate one’s purpose, transition one’s mindset, and implement solutions to get back on track. It affords us the opportunity to see the better and brighter side, find the humor in our misfortunes, and keep going. In our always-on lives, it’s up to us how we manage and embrace the hassles, and up to us when, how, or if we take the necessary time outs to recharge so that ultimately, we enjoy and thrive in the daily hustle.
Originally published in She Savvy.