"I'd rather die than be called 'lazy'." - Call Me Ace, LAZY
My friend, and the super creative, award-winning, multi-hyphenated, Shantae Howell, responded to my last piece, No Spoon. No Limit. No Excuses., with this:
"Many times actually, the ingredients for success are: constraint, scarcity, and discomfort" 😮💨 There's so much to unpack here! Getting comfortable with discomfort is a constant practice but (especially as Black people) I can recognize that constraint and scarcity often provides the pressure to make diamonds...but I don't wanna lol I'm tired of doing things "tight" it's absolutely exhausting and while the work may be great my mental health is not 🙈
I felt that – so much so that it inspired this piece.
For my creatives that are juggling a ton, always on, making fires while putting them out: when are we allowed to rest when we're always feeling pressed?
"Burnout" is a cop out. I could use a nap tho...
"The nerve of High Grade to tell the world he burnin' out, right? // Just focus on your blessings, Ace - like I ain't learn to count, right? //" - Call Me Ace, Gold Cuffs
Is "burnout" still a thing, or is everyone into self-care and boundaries now? Asking for a friend. 🧐
I know intimately what it's like to juggle a number of activities – some that my heart's invested in, while others just for the paycheck.
After a while, the cognitive dissonance of "the desires of my heart don't match the work of my hands" builds up – like plaque on teeth, or cholesterol in arteries.
If not careful, the manifested results can be serious.
Is it possible to be too ambitious? To have more on your plate than you should be pursuing?
Shoutout to Pendarvis Harshaw who wrote this article a few years ago where we discussed this very topic. Worth the read.
Give yourself some grace. Free of charge.
"Stayin' up, all nighters // stressin' hard 'bout this dream I love - asked myself, 'Do I still like it?' //" - Call Me Ace, RSUs
If you're starting to lose the love for the thing you love, that's a warning. If your loved ones are finding you to be increasingly irritable, you need to pause. Today.
Speaking from experience, we get so scared if we pause what we're currently doing that everything we've been building will all collapse.
It will not.
Or maybe it will. 🤷🏾♂️
And if it does, then it wasn't meant to stand. That's good – I encourage you to only invest in things that can outlast you.
But give yourself grace. The privilege to breathe. The freedom to make mistakes. The permission to step away and recharge.
Don't treat yourself like a heartless corporation: squeezing every drop out of you only to lay you off when you're not meeting their quotas.
You are human, not a machine.
To that end, here are 3 ways I've found you can systematically build grace into your entrepreneurial life:
- Workflows (automated systems): You may not be a machine, but you can use machines to operate like one. Invest in the right hardware/software and reduce the amount of manual labor you inject into your business. Let code do the heavy lifting. Of course, without losing the intrinsic value that makes your art human.
- Support (emotional systems): Curate your group of loved ones that will keep it real hold you up when you're losing sight and slipping down. This may be family, significant others, close friends, advisor / mentor, executive coach, like-minded entrepreneurs, etc. Be intentional with these relationships. Let them know explicitly that this is the role that your life depends on.
- Energy (recuperative systems): I had a coworker friend (back in my Facebook days) who was diagnosed with cancer. Almost every day we would catch up in the microkitchen, or sit out on the patio to soak up the sun and talk life. One day, she said something to me once that's stuck with me forever: "Make sure to take a vacation every day. Even if it's just for 5 minutes." In other worlds, make sure you're regularly refilling your tank to avoid the risk of looking up and suddenly realizing you've been driving on E nonstop for days.
In short, if we're tired, let's recuperate. Then, let's get emotional booster shots from our support council. Finally, with a hydrated mind and spirit, let's strengthen our workflows to remove the burdens from doing what we love – which is creating.
On that note, I'ma be OOO this weekend – looking forward to the recharge!
