Back in May, I made the decision to switch from the afternoon to the overnight shift, working 11:00 pm to 7:30 am. The reason for the change in schedule was twofold: 1) to be able to participate in a weekly group coaching call, and 2) to escape the negativity and gossip running rampant on the afternoon shift. As a morning person, I accepted the costs associated with the change. The biggest one? Sleep. Especially when I already struggled with getting adequate sleep. And as I tried to pursue my creative goals outside of work, I had to remind myself of this: do not quit.
Hustle and Grind
There was a time when I was able to push through the tiredness and sluggishness to keep up a certain level of productivity. While I’ve always struggled with sleep, as a flight attendant I used to fly all night to London (UK) and then immediately go for a run after arriving at the hotel. Or when working the more traditional nine-to-five, I got up anywhere between 2:30 and 3:30 am to write and run before the workday started. I was in the hustle-and-grind mode, or at least my version of it.
The older I get, the ‘harder’ it is to hustle and grind. When you’re working to achieve your dream, a lot of the advice out there is about getting up early, staying up late, and outworking the competition. What if that hustle leaves you tired? Or prevents you from making meaningful progress? Suddenly, ‘do not quit’ becomes hard advice to swallow. Sometimes you feel like you have nothing more to give. And now you’re asking yourself: Do you really have what it takes to hustle and grind?
There is Always a Cost
If you’re putting in those late nights and early mornings, then you know that “the hustle requires that you sacrifice relationships, weekends, and, above all, happiness today as you stumble towards the mirage of happiness tomorrow.”1 And when you do that—sacrifice everything for your dreams—be prepared, as I have learned the hard way, to face burnout at some point.
I liked to think, especially when I was younger, that I could go, go, go like the Energizer Bunny. And I could…for a while. Until my body crashed, and crashed hard. But Adam Alter reminds us in his book, Anatomy of a Breakthrough, that “Humans aren’t machines, and treating ourselves as efficient automatons is the first mile on the highway to burnout.”2 At the point of utter exhaustion, the only way for me to give ‘do not quit’ new life is to let my body rest.
Do Not Quit
In pursuing any dream, setbacks—financial, personal, emotional, or maybe professional. Depleted energy? Then it’s easy to lack the motivation to get up early in the morning like you used to. And then hitting the snooze but or crawling back into bed for multiple naps (that’s been me) becomes the norm. Despite all of that, do not quit.
Some people will tell you that if you’re not hustling then you’re not committed. If all you’re doing is binge-watching Netflix and only talking about your dream, then maybe you do have commitment issues. But if going all out for months on end leaves you exhausted, give yourself the grace to take a break, to rest or do something fun. I’ve seen that when I slow down, when I take the time to let my body rest, my focus and productivity improve.
Make it a priority—and one that you’re not ashamed of—to let your body rest when required so that you do not quit.
And, yes, you are loved, you are worth, and you matter. And you don’t need anyone’s permission to be—wholly and unapologetically—who you are.
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