I’m the anti-hustle, burnout recovery coach. So when I’m doing a lot of work, sometimes I start thinking that I’m doing it wrong. That I should never be busy, because that goes against what I teach.
And then I had a human design reading. It blew my mind!
First of all, I thought Human Design was like, the latest Myers-Briggs or enneagram or DISC assessment. And it kind of is, but it’s like all those things had a baby with astrology and twenty other modalities of self-knowing.
Turns out, I’m a Generator. They’re the most common type. And my first thought was “Aw shucks, why am I not special?”
Y’all. I am so special.
Generators, as the name suggests, generate. We work. We labor. We make things.
This guided consultation from the queer and magical Avory Faucette helped me realize that I love working. I love being busy. I just love being busy doing MY WORK. Not somebody else’s work. This is why I make a terrible employee but a FUCKING AWESOME coach and contractor. If we choose each other, that’s where the magic happens!
Here’s the difference between work and hustle
I LOVE making new things. I used to make a different new thing every quarter. Free offers like Creativity Under Capitalism (a mini course), the Creative Block Quiz, the Fuck New Years Resolutions workbook (my most popular free thing), and the Achieve Your Dreams without Burnout Workbook are just a few of the things I’ve made in the last two years.
Where I made a mistake was continuing to make a new thing each time, rather than refine and re-release a thing I already made.
Yes, I love making new things. But I’m also learning to love re-using things I’ve already made.
And honestly, my work NEEDS to be showing up for clients who have hired me to deliver services to them. I can’t enroll a course and then say “Thanks for buying, time for me to go make a new course!” I have to stop making new things and focus on what I have already created. I have to deliver it. I have to exist with it.
That’s the difference between work (create, deliver, evaluate, change if needed, deliver again) and hustle (create, create, create, create, create…)
And busy isn’t bad – as long as it’s positive for you.
In my reading with Avory, I learned that I actually thrive on being busy to the point of… let’s call it ‘comfortable fullness.’ Once I have hit my limit of work, I go into rest mode. And hearing that from hir gave me a sense of cosmic permission to be as busy as I want with work that fulfills me.
Because it’s not hustle. I’m not busy for the sake of busy. I am in control of my schedule and how I organize it, and I am now at a point where I’m comfortably fully booked. I won’t take on more clients than I can handle, and I even (gasp) turn away potential clients that aren’t as aligned with my most sacred and powerful work: Helping people live their most passionate lives through creative expression.
Seasons of work and rest
I love to teach the concept of seasons. In the fall and winter, I tend to slow down. It’s time for soup and warmth and coziness. In the summer, I work longer hours because I feel more energetic. But even more than the Earth’s seasons, we all move through seasons unique to us. The more I understand my unique, personal balance between work, life, play, and rest, the more I realize that balance means sometimes you pour more into one of those categories than another.
I believe we go through seasons of work and rest. The best example is parenting. A new parent is not getting much rest, and they are putting in a ton of work and labor. Eventually, though, they’ll get more balance back and can have a season that is more restful. That’s an extreme example, but it gets the point across.
I’m in a season of work right now – I’m enrolling my twelve month writing incubator, Working Title, and it’s been a nonstop masterclass in learning to follow my gut and honor my deepest values as a business owner and a human being.
I extended my enrollment period, because four days between my free training introducing the incubator and the end of enrollment felt too rushed to me. It felt hustley to ME to market nonstop for four days. It felt hustley to ask my CLIENTS to decide with such immediacy. Enrollment is now open until Friday, November 25, and I have time set aside on my calendar this week to talk through potential clients’ questions and writing goals to make sure it’s a good fit and an easy, enthusiastic yes to join the program.
I extended the payment plan, because it felt right to make it more accessible for neurodivergent and disabled writers who may not have the larger payment amounts handy. I had intended for the full payment of $3,000 or six payments of $500 to add a more premium touch to their decision to join. Like, this is a serious incubator and you should take it seriously. But that commitment comes from the decision to join, not the payment plan. So it’s a 12 month payment plan now to offer more accessibility.
I couldn’t have made these decisions if I was following a non-negotiable hustle schedule. I got to experience the joy of marketing and selling this program from my humanity instead of a checklist.
Hustle can sneak back in!
Being in this season of work means that I’m already planning for December and January’s work too. Anticipating what’s coming down the path. And I was trying to pack on way too much. Another launch for my monthly creative membership, new podcast material, and a new creative block quiz, for starters.
Thankfully, I was working all this out verbally with my assistant, who was like, “Bro, chill.”
What they actually said was, “You’re carrying too many swords,” a callback to my tarot reading this morning where the 7 of swords told me to calm the hell down and stop doing so much stuff.
It happens so fast, how hustle can sneak right back in. Even in the middle of unlearning it. (Especially in the middle of unlearning it). I got to this period of abundance and alignment by following what was best for me, showing up authentically, and believing that opportunities were already all around me. That will continue to serve me. I don’t have to work long, intense weeks back to back and Always Be Launching.
On that note, I scaled back my plans (ie, the stuff I thought “I should do” to keep this month’s momentum going) and will be getting used to the new workload of leading Working Title while I let other things go on a bit more auto-pilot.
My podcast is undergoing a rebranding, and though I’m very eager to record new material for that, I’ll be spending the next month or two promoting pre-existing episodes. BECAUSE I ALREADY DID A LOT OF WORK. And it’s okay to use the work you’ve already done so that you can rest more instead of just making and making and making.
Rather than do a new membership launch for my monthly membership, I’m focusing on showing up and providing quality, valuable, affirming coaching for my existing clients. The new stuff can come later, once I’ve rested and spent time delivering.
I appreciate that business is booming, even as I have to recalibrate my work schedule to accommodate it all.
Thank you for being here for my journey and growth! I hope this post resonated with your inner hustle mindset and gave you some cosmic permission to let go of something that was holding you back or leading to self-judgment.
Caitlin Liz Fisher 