Excerpt: Hustle can help you get ahead. But, how good is getting ahead if you can’t stay ahead? Here’s what hustle culture is missing…
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Hustle has become wildly popularized because of how it can help you get ahead. What most people don’t consider, however, is not just how to get ahead, but how to stay ahead. Getting ahead short term is easy—just sprint as fast as you can. Staying ahead, however, is less about sprint and more about smarts.
Sprint too fast, too early into the race and you’ll gas out and quickly fall behind. Run at your maximum, ideal pace based on the distance you’re running, and you’ll perform much better. Hustle is good advice for sprints. Hustle is bad advice for marathons.
This isn’t to say that you don’t hustle while running marathons—because you most certainly do. But, to hustle without any mention of pace or being smart implies full blown, 100% max effort—which isn’t good advice.
Hustle is only as valuable for as long as it can be maintained. Running a 400 meter race at a 40 meter dash speed is great—until you completely fatigue and look up to see 360 meters still to go. One week of hustle is good. One month with an elevated pace, that’s below your full hustle speed, can be much better. A lifetime set at an elevated pace crushes both.
As we approach the new year and you’re thinking about what your resolutions or goals might be, think elevated pace rather than hustle. Think about kicking it up a small notch or two rather than trying to kick it up ten notches. Think smart rather than speed.
Another important mention is that hustle is only as valuable as it is productive. Running as fast as you can is great—so long as it’s towards the finish line. Running in any other direction is wasted effort. And while this might sound obvious, it’s a lot more gray than it might seem.
One of my ongoing goals is to build MoveMe Quotes into a high-quality, recognizable authority in the personal development world. And one of the ongoing struggles with that effort is balancing content creation with marketing and all of the intricacies that each entail.
Focus too much on content creation and marketing will suffer which means less people will know about the content. Focus too much on marketing and the content creation will suffer which means less value will be provided to those who respond to the marketing. So, where’s the finish line? How to hustle smarter rather than just faster? You can see where the gray comes in.
This is how it is in just about every important area of life. There are rarely distinct, black-and-white, clear cut finish lines. Rather, there are a crap-ton of different paths that you can (and must) choose from. Sprinting arbitrary forward on random paths won’t get you to the finish line efficiently (if at all). Better to plan your route first, with efficiency in mind, then run.
Finishing efficiently is about planning your route and managing your pace. And if you do so correctly, you might even forget about the finish line altogether. Not from being ill-prepared, but from the enjoyment and flow state that the run itself evokes. A “runners high” from your life efforts, so to speak.
How will I know when MoveMe Quotes has officially become “an authority” in the personal development world? I have no idea. But, that finish line is what drives me to maintain my elevated pace day-in and day-out. And I’m certainly enjoying the run along the way. I learned early on that burning out won’t help long-term. And I’ve been elevating my pace slowly for years. This, is how you hustle.
Read Next: How To Pace Yourself For Lifelong Habit Changes — The 70% Mindset
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Written by Matt Hogan
Founder of MoveMe Quotes. On a mission to help busy people do inner work—for better mental health; for healing; for personal growth. Find me on Twitter / IG / Medium. I also share daily insights here. 🌱
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