You Don't Have To Hustle For Your Self-Worth
Before we jump in: This article was originally shared with my email community back in July. I'm sharing it with you on the blog today in the hope that it may be of some encouragement and insight to you in your creative journey right now, and also give you a little sneak peak of what you can expect from Weekly Letters too. If you'd like to receive letters like this one straight to your inbox every Sunday, you can sign up below. You'll also have access to over 100 past Weekly Letters too!
A mantra I repeat to myself over and over again in my creative work and life is:
I don’t have to hustle for my self-worth
I don’t have to hustle for my self-worth
I don’t have to hustle for my self-worth
It’s something that I talk about a lot with my clients too and I see over and over again the ways we can convince ourselves that we have to hustle for our self-worth in our work and our life along the way.
We can hustle for our self-worth in so many ways.
When we push our boundaries and compromise our core policies in the hopes of keeping a difficult client happy
When we seek approval from people who only ever criticise us and put us down
When we overwork ourselves just to prove that we have a good work ethic
When we don’t charge what we want to (and believe is right) for our services and products because we’re afraid someone will tell us that we’re too expensive
When we don’t bring to life the creative work we want to because we believe we haven’t earned the right to take up that space yet
And the danger of hustling for our self-worth is that it disconnects us from our core truth, our core values, and our core intentions for our creative work and life along the way - and ultimately, it holds us back from building that impactful, fulfilling, and sustainable creative life that we’re aching for.
It tells us that we’re not good enough.
That we’re not worthy of taking up the space we want to in the world.
That we should stay in toxic relationships and friendships.
That we don’t have permission to choose more for ourselves than burn out, overwhelm, and stress.
So here’s my question to you today: What are the ways you’re hustling for your self-worth in your business, your life, your creativity, and your relationships in this season of your creative work and life?
Maybe you’re sitting at your desk for more hours than you need to each day because you’re afraid it means you’re lazy if you don’t.
Maybe you’re charging too little for your services to even make ends meet because you’re afraid you’re not good enough to charge the amount you really want to.
Maybe you’re surrounding yourself with people who put you down and make you feel small because you don’t believe you’re worthy of friendships and relationships that lift you up and cheer you on.
Maybe you’re afraid to publish those blog posts or start writing that memoir because you feel like someone needs to tell you that you’re good enough before you do.
What would it look like for you to stop hustling for your self-worth in your creative work and life? How can you give yourself permission to choose more for yourself than hustling for your self-worth in your business and your life every step of the way?
Here’s to knowing that we’re already worthy of taking up the space that we want to in the world...
As always, I’m rooting for you!
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