PURPOSEFUL HUSTLE BLOG

So you think you’ve found your purpose? That’s awesome! Purpose is truly a gift, but the only way to know if you are on the right path for YOU is to test it out.

In order to pursue our purpose as fully as possible, we need to build our community of people who help us grow and encourage us to hustle. We have so much to learn from each other that can take our work to the next level!

Have you ever heard of the 80/20 rule? It’s called the Pareto principle, and it states that roughly 80 percent of the effects come from 20 percent of the causes. This could be for anything: 80 percent of sales come from 20 percent of the customers, 80 percent of injuries are caused by 20 percent of hazards, 80 percent of points are scored by 20 percent of players on a team. You get the picture. The point is that a small concentration of energy, resources, talent or some other quality can create an immense impact.

Even for the Purposeful Hustler, managing time effectively can be a major struggle. We have endless to-do lists, only 24 hours in a day, and most importantly, a world to change! Every day can feel like a battle to just stay afloat, much less to swim forward. We are confronted with the most pressing question: Where do we even start?

If you are a business owner or manager, then you know how important it is to get your employees to hustle. No, we’re not talking about hustling around and acting busy, we mean getting employees motivated.

I get asked this question a lot - so I thought I would share my thoughts. I can only speak to my personal experiences but am confident that this applies to ALL parents and guardians.

I remember feeling overwhelmed as a young teenager standing on the grounds of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. I had chills all over my body and a stirring deep in my belly knowing that the life of one of my heroes was tragically taken just steps away from where I stood. Having the chance each year to set aside a day to reflect on the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy and his leadership is such a gift. When I think back to that moment, of the powerful experience I had as a young woman at that site, as well as what Dr. King was advocating for that day he was killed, something essential about purpose becomes so clear to me: our purposes will take us to different places, sometimes places beyond what we could have imagined. We have to trust it.

A Purposeful Hustler can do and be a lot of things. There is not one specific type of person who can work hard to make positive change in the world. The fact that we’re so different means we have such a variety of gifts to offer to make the world better. BUT, I have observed that there are some characteristics that most Purposeful Hustlers have in common.

Our purpose doesn’t always show up for us at the most convenient times. But then again, with how busy we are, when would be a convenient time? Do we ever really have time to drop everything and spend all of our time doing directly purpose-related work? For many of us, the answer is no. Those moments of vibrancy, instances of inspiration when we feel pulled into purpose-related work often come in the midst of the chaos of our lives.

There are events that wreck us, things that break us down in ways we weren’t prepared for, that make it hard to show up in the world the same way the next day. I’m sure we all can recall at least one such event pretty quickly. In moments like these, our purpose comes into question, and the thought of hustling may seem unbearable. When tragedy really hits home, it can leave us feeling absolutely powerless.