If you know anything about me, you know how much I love the hustle.
Genius idea on Friday and ready to launch by Monday morning? ✓
Jumping out of the shower to text my copywriter because I just had the most amazing idea for a blog post and it CANNOT WAIT? ✓
Going into labor with my baby while closing on my dream house? ✓
The bolder and riskier the project, the better. I love the feeling that when I dedicate myself to an “impossible” task, it becomes possible. How liberating and empowering is that feeling? It’s amazing how much you can accomplish in 48 hours if you just don’t give yourself the choice of failing.
Which is also why it drives me crazy when people accept the status quo that business progress should take a long time. That they should spend weeks “vetting” an idea. That it’s impossible to launch something in less than a month. That it’ll take them years to build a business.
Hell no! I’m a Queen of Hustle and that means I don’t have years to waste. I’m guessing if you’re reading this, you’re a Queen of Hustle too.
But being a 24/7 Queen of Hustle has one tiny drawback: I’m bad at rest.
I work with a lot of clients who have this same problem. They are so hands-on in their business that they think if they step back, everything will fall apart. Or if they truly take time off, they will be falling behind or “missing out.”
I never realized how bad I was at rest until I took ten weeks of maternity leave. Then I was faced with 70 days where my main job was just to rest. Instead of having business goals, my “goals” were to not think about business! Taking that time forced me to face my anxiety that if I wasn’t physically pushing it along every single day, my business would slowly grind to a halt and I would be forced to start everything back up from scratch. That if I truly just relaxed and pushed any thoughts of business out of my mind, I wouldn’t have the momentum to keep going. I would just get into my giant bed and sleep for a million years.
I couldn’t have been more wrong. I came back to work three weeks ago totally engaged and with a fresh perspective about areas that I’ve been stuck in. In the past three weeks, I’ve noticed that I’m faster to make decisions, clearer on what the priorities are and just overall having more fun when I’m working. The 10 weeks didn’t show me how fun resting is, it showed me how fun working is (when you’re well-rested!).
And, the numbers show it too: August was our biggest month of the year. We beat our revenue goal by 300%.
There’s an ROI to rest.
I’m not talking about warm and fuzzy ROI, I’m talking about money-in-the-bank ROI! If you are well rested, you will make more money, and it will happen faster and more easily. I used to think that If I spent 4 hours doing pilates or walking with a friend, that was four hours of revenue lost. Now I know that 4 hours of self care and rest will let me show up at work with so much focus and intention that I can get more done in one day than I do all week.
So ask yourself this:
- How much money could you make if you were fully rested?
- How much more fun could you have if you weren’t exhausted or worn out?
- How much more focused would you be if you felt 100% recharged?
I recently read this quote that Jeff Bezos said to Ariana Huffington about why he now has to have eight hours of sleep: “If I make half of the decisions, but they’re 5% better, that’s better for Amazon.” Makes total sense, right? So why aren’t we as invested in our rest as we are in our work?
Tomorrow is Labor Day and I’m sending you this newsletter to inspire you to do something relaxing with the people you love (or just yourself if that’s what you need!). Remember, you’re not slowing down. You’re recharging.
xo,
