Why "the hustle" hurts us

I was so inspired by listening to Oprah's Super Soul conversation with Dr. Brene Brown that I had to sit down and share my thoughts with all of you! There were several pieces of insight that she shared that truly resonates as it relates to vulnerability and how the lack of it negatively impacts our culture and our lives. 

I believe that you can see this lack of vulnerability play out clearly in many jobs and companies today. Thankfully, there are a growing number of companies, albeit still small in comparison to the many, that seek and encourage their employees to be their true self both at work and at home. Those companies that have figured out how to truly get the best out of people are the ones that are winning, as research continues so show that employee happiness directly translates to better business performance. 

Unfortunately, for many, you are spending the majority of your days in a place that doesn't allow you to fully be yourself, whether that is spending your time on activities that you are passionate about or in doing work that aligns with your strengths. I know this because I suffered this myself and watched so many others struggle with the same challenge.

So this post is for those of you who don't feel as if you are living a fully authentic and balanced life, whether you are in a situation that doesn't feel like the right fit, are smack in the middle of the job search or just trying to find your way in life...I hope you find this article resonates & gives you the confidence to walk forward in your path, as only you can.

Excerpts from Oprah's Soul Session with Dr. Brene Brown:

Brene's original definition of courage is "to share all of yourself, your whole story with your whole heart. To me, I call the ego the hustler...and the ego says to me, you have no inherent worth, you gotta hustle for it baby. How fast you gonna run, how high are you gonna jump? How many likes do you have on facebook? How many comments do you have on that post? That's the hustle."

Oprah - "...We now live in a culture that measures itself, ourselves by how many likes we get on facebook."

BB: "We are in, I feel like, scarcity culture, never enough, never good enough, never thin enough, rich enough, certain enough and you know, what I think is interesting is ...I started my research six months before 9/11, obviously coincidentally, we are afraid. I would say the last twelve years have been marked by a deep fear in our culture. It is like a collective post traumatic response..."

Oprah: "We shifted from being alert and afraid, whether it is the orange code or the yellow code, we somehow internalized that fear and it shows up, it shows up in the bickering and the snarkiness. Yeah, we have internalized the fear..."

BB: "There is a thin film of terror wrapped around us...and so if it's not I'm not safe enough, or I'm not secure enough, it's I'm not liked enough, I'm not promoted enough, I'm not loved enough, scarcity - I don't have enough...at the very bottom, I am not enough."

"Guess what the #1 casualty is of a scarcity culture? Vulnerability...we shut down. The thing is people are like, oh well, we lose a little vulnerability, but vulnerability is not just about fear and grief and disappointment, it is the birth place of everything we are hungry for. Joy, creativity, faith, love...and the whole thing is, there is no innovation and creativity without failure". 

"Don't you love certainty? Gotta love it...and it's no good for us...I define vulnerability as uncertainty, risk and emotional exposure. To be human is to be in vulnerability. ...Faith minus Vulnerability & Mystery = Extremism. Don't call it faith if there is no vulnerability or uncertainty. If you have all the answers then don't call what you do faith."

Can you see how fear is stopping you from truly living your best life?  Don't let the fear of vulnerability & the lack of certainty stop you from following your heart, passion and purpose to truly live the life you are meant to live.  

My challenge to you today is this - truly think about what you are afraid of...what keeps you awake at night or continues to stir at your soul and DO IT ANYWAY! 

It is only through the conquering of our fears that we gain strength to walk the path we were always meant to follow.

Wishing you all the best,

Blake

P.S - Interested in hearing the full podcast of Oprah's interview with Brene Brown? Find it here!