Leave the Hustle on the Dance Floor

I have been on a high since my Sunday F*ck the Hustle Workshop.

I had the honor of spending my Sunday afternoon with a group of women. Women who were generally from the same area but had different jobs, different zip codes, and different experiences, and were at different stages of their lives. Some came because they felt disconnected. Some came because they couldn't figure out why, despite doing everything right, something still felt off. Some just saw the title and thought, finally, someone said it.

During the session, I asked everyone to introduce themselves. Simple right? Well, there was a catch. I asked them to let go of their title, their company, and their job. Who are you, personally? What do you love? What makes you happy?

The answers in that room told me everything.

It was hard at first for everyone to disconnect themselves from the work they do. Because we have been taught, in ways both loud and subtle, that what we do is who we are. That our output is our worth. It's what we use as proof to the outside world.

And so the first introduction would start with a name, a stumble, a laugh, and then slowly, it would turn into "I'm a mom. I like yoga. I love cooking and spending time with family." It was a slow separation from their productivity and what lights them up. Highlighting the moments of joy.

Here is what I have come to understand after running this workshop more than once:

Hustle isn't a time management problem. It's a belief problem.

The women in that room weren't struggling because they were lazy, undisciplined, or unmotivated. They were struggling because, somewhere along the way, they had absorbed the belief that more effort equals more worth. That being busy means being valuable. That if they just pushed a little harder, they would finally feel like enough.

I know this pattern intimately. I lived it.

I was a nurse with years of clinical training and a deep understanding of the body, and absolutely no idea I was running my own nervous system into the ground. I skipped lunch. I ran on coffee until I crashed at 2 pm. I wore exhaustion like a badge and called it dedication.

Until my body made the decision for me.

A thyroid scare was my wake-up call, not because of the diagnosis, but because of what it revealed. My health had quietly become the last thing on my list. And I had done that. Unconsciously, one small deprioritization at a time.

So how do we change this?

We start by examining the belief underneath the behavior.

The overworking, the inability to rest, the guilt, the need to control everything — these are rarely the real issues. They are the symptom. Underneath them, there is almost always a quieter story running: If I don't do it all, I'm not enough. If I do it my own way, it won't be done perfectly. If I ask for help, I've failed. To be a good "x", I should be doing "y".

These beliefs don't announce themselves. They operate quietly, shaping our choices before we even realize we've made one. And the work, the real work, is finding where that belief came from and deciding, consciously, whether it still belongs to you.

So in the room, we dove a bit deeper to really understand what is important to us individually, letting go of the external drivers: How would you define success if you stripped money out of the equation entirely?

The answers are always the same, regardless of who is in the room.

Being more present. Having more freedom. Traveling. Having energy throughout the day. Spending more time with people they love.

Nobody said: answering emails faster or doing more at work.

And yet, that is how most of us spend most of our days. Optimizing for a version of success that doesn't even match what we actually want.

And listen, I understand that we all have responsibilities and constraints, whether at work or at home. I do too. I'm not here to say to blow all that up and focus only on yourself. That's not realistic, and honestly, that's not the point.

The point is the small moments in between.

It's the five-minute walk you take after lunch instead of opening another tab. It's stepping outside on a sunny morning. It's setting boundaries and saying yes or no to plans based on what would bring you closer to joy. It's choosing nourishing foods that keep your energy light and make you feel good. It's intentional breathing when we start to feel anxious, overwhelmed, or stressed. It's asking for help to take one thing off your plate and trusting that someone else will pick up the slack.

Health doesn't happen in a dramatic overhaul. It happens in the quiet, unglamorous decision to stop overriding yourself. Again and again and again.

And every woman in that room left with a version of that answer that was entirely her own.

So the question I want to leave you with is not "how do I overhaul my life?"

It is simply: what is one thing I can choose differently today?

If this resonated, I would love to go deeper with you into the beliefs, the patterns, and the nervous system responses that quietly run the show. A free 30-minute consultation is a good place to start. Let's talk about what's actually going on, and what becomes possible when you stop hustling against yourself.

You just need to be willing to take one step, even when it feels unfamiliar.
Services I offer:

• Reiki, 30 & 60 minutes

• Health Coaching Sessions using my NLP and Nursing background

• Essential oil rollers & all-purpose cleaning spray