Hustle. It’s a word that’s been thrown around a lot by creatives lately. What makes it good? What makes it bad? In the fourth quarter, as a lifestyle blogger, designer, and owning a physical location, it seems like there is always more to do. The list gets longer as I try to grow my business. Over the past six months, it seems that clients have been coming out of the woodwork. I know for many this would be a great problem to have. As an entrepreneur, the drive to increase an income ceiling keeps me going, onboarding new clients quickly, and hoping that they have a great experience with our studio.

What makes good hustle?

What determines your workflow? How do you work on your business, not solely in your business? Is it okay to be overwork, impassioned, but constantly frazzled? What determines what you do and what you don’t do?

Rather than looking at lack of sleep as a badge of honor, I’m learning that saying no is a good thing. Also, everything I touch has purpose. (Nothing is done arbitrarily.) A few months ago, I was working on a talk centered around this topic. It reminded me as designer why I do what I do, what it is that I love, and what it is about work processes that I would rather avoid. As I was writing the talk, I found that there were things that absolutely drained me in the creative process. While somewhat self-aware as an individual, I would push through these things, rather than positioning myself as the expert that I was and saying “no” when I needed to.

A good hustle manifesto

Over a cup of coffee, I decided to write a good hustle manifesto. It would become the driving force behind my creative work, the companies I ran, and what the blog looked like. I decided I would only do good hustle. No longer content to run myself ragged, I decided better things in life and values were more important than making loads of money. It sounds counter intuitive, but as a creative it has given me more confidence in the projects I put my hands to.

Now it’s your turn. Write your manifesto.

(Download the art print here)