My Ability + Motivation To "Do It All"

In the last few months my brain has been working on overdrive. This is because I had a lot of big business projects I have been working on, paired with a busy summer schedule. 

I am not one who thrives under pressure or under strict time limits, so making it all happen in a certain amount of time has been hard for me. This week that I am writing this blog has been the first week in a while where I am not rushing out the door or obsessing over all that didn’t get accomplished when I wanted it to.

My ability and motivation to “hustle” has changed a lot over the years. 

In grade school I always felt a duty to do it all and do it well since so many other kids didn’t have that in them. I wanted my teachers to be pleased with me and look at me as someone they didn’t have to worry about. I wanted to help the other kids who needed it and be a good leader. 

In high school, I was always motivated to “do better” than the girl sitting next to me. I used others' success as an inspiration to do things bigger and better to stand out. I was the one who started a project months before it was due just to get it off my plate and focus on the next best thing. In high school I felt like I needed that aspect of things to go well so I could feel good about myself when someone noticed how above and beyond I was going. I should note that in high school I did have a blip where my grades suffered a bit and went though that “I don’t care” phase when things were hard in my personal life. It lasted a year - I still cared but had little motivation to do more than the absolute bare minimum.

In college, I went through some more rough times. But this time I didn’t have high school life to distract me and so I was obsessed over my studies. I once again started and finished projects quickly, studied too hard and made it a point to do better at the things that were hard for me. But because college was a rough patch for me, that was ALL I cared about. It paid off when I got internships I wanted and academic scholarships, but I had one focus and it was to work hard.

All of this is to say that I have always been a good student, committed to getting it done, whatever it takes! Translating my past into how I operate now as a business owner I see some similarities and some differences.

Now, I find that my ability and motivation to hustle simply come from a place of wanting things to be done for myself and my life outside of business rather than to “win” compared to someone else or show how well I am doing to others.

I work best when there is a bigger reason that a goal needs to be accomplished. I worked hard the last few months to hire so that I could not feel as pressured to be the only one carrying my business. I did this to also take on a leadership role and help others accomplish their goals like I did in school. 

This was a nice topic for me to write about because it feels like I am able to notice how I have always been when it comes to working hard and that I am headed in a good direction. In the future, I hope to compete less with myself and not put as much pressure on myself to make it all happen, but I am happy to see I am now working hard for just me! I hope this allows you to think about where your motivation comes from and what tendencies you have been able to drop over the years that suited others rather than yourself!