6 Strategies to Hustle When You Hurt!

Hustle is a word which can produce anxiety when your body does not always cooperate.

Hustle is defined as to proceed or work rapidly or energetically...to be aggressive. It is the mantra you must constantly repeat to crush your goals. Youve got to hustle, get after it, and put in the work if you want to see returns. But how do you hustle when you hurt? When you deal with challenges in life that are constantly in front of you, absorb your energy, and are not going to change?

Hustling When You Hurt

When I read the definition of hustle, words like rapidly, energetically, and aggressively are somewhat disheartening. In living with chronic pain I guard my energy wisely and want to be careful in everything I do as to not expend unnecessary energy. It is frustrating to know in my mind what I need to accomplish and not have the energy to follow through.

But you have to hustle. It is not an option. If you want to achieve your goals you need to put in the time, energy, and effort. You cannot sit idly by and expect success to be handed to you on a silver platter. You need to put in the effort to define your goals effectively and execute against them efficiently. But how do you apply energy and aggressiveness when getting out of bed can be the biggest win of your day?

While it is not an easy task, there are a few steps you can take in order to achieve your goals regardless of your circumstances.

1. Know Your Limits

You have to know your strengths and your weaknesses to create a framework for your goals. If you do not create the guardrails of how you are going to engage in hustle, then you are likely to crash off course. You need to understand the pain, limitation, or challenge you face. More importantly, you need to understand how your limitation affects your energy, relationships, concentration, or work? Then you can define your goals and execute against them based upon your life and circumstances.

You also cannot compare your energy or accomplishments against others. You are unique and will hustle on your terms. When you compare yourself to others you are placing unnecessary limits upon your success. Intimately understand your guardrails and make sure you are staying within them effectively. If you hustle outside your guardrails, then you are wasting energy which could be applied to a more achievable goal.

2. Be Strategic

You cannot do everything, but you can do a few things well. What are those traits or talents which make you a rock star? Engage in these tasks with all the fervor you have. Finding a purpose can help you weed out goals which may not play to your strengths. Your purpose will also provide a passion which will energize your hustle through the difficult times.

Jon Acuff wisely advises "Hustle without purpose is wasted motion." When you hurt or live with a limitation, engaging in areas outside your strengths, without purpose, are extremely draining. You need to be strategic in how you engage in your goals, when you start the process, and how you define an exit strategy. The best way to be strategic when you hustle is preparation. Find your purpose, create a plan, and execute against your plan with a singular focus.

3. Seek Counsel

Find a coach, mentor, or guide who can help you achieve your goals. When you live with a limitation you do not have extra energy to waste and you need to use your time and energy with guided purpose. Having wise counsel available to you can help reveal your strengths and weakness, and directly speak truth into your life.

What you gain is insight you may not see in yourself. A guide can steer you away from a goal you should not pursue. They can also point out a goal you should pursue but you may not have the confidence in yourself to acknowledge. Wise counsel can eliminate the fluff in your life and help you focus on what is important. You will still miss the mark at times, but you are eliminating those misses up front by being able to seek the counsel of someone who has walked the road ahead you.

4. Constantly Reflect

Before, during, and after you engage in your goals with strategic hustle, make sure you are being cognizant of your thoughts, emotions, and physical well-being. Does one type of hustle bring you energy and life? Why? On the other hand, is a task draining and a process you want to avoid? Why? How does your body, emotions, or mental well-being hold up in the midst of hustle?

Never disregard the amazing power of reflection. Too many times when we fail we get back up without ever attempting to discover why we failed in the first place. Being able to reflect on the WHY enables you to not make a specific mistake again or attempt a different route. Your reflection time is a valuable resource in your ability to hustle effectively.

5. Be Flexible

If you were 100% healthy you would still make mistakes and fail. This is a fact of life. But when you hurt, or live with some type of limitation, you have this thought in the back of your mind you could have done better if you were whole. This is where you need to stop and give yourself grace. If you are reading this, then you are a warrior. You do not sit idly by and let life happen, you attack it with all the might you have. That is awesome!

When you begin to hustle and do the hard work, always remember to be flexible. Use what you learned through your reflection and make adjustments. Sometimes it may be a little tweak to your goals, your schedule, or your routine. Or it may be a completely different direction than you were initially pursuing. Either way, you need to make sure you are giving yourself enough grace to make adjustments on the fly. Otherwise you will be constantly frustrated and impede your progress.

6. Walk Away Power

This could be the greatest gift you can give yourself in being successful. In order to use walk away power effectively you have to understand your ability to get up off the mat. It is important to know yourself, know when you need to stay in the ring and fight. Know when you need to take a break to regain energy. Even more important is to know when you need to walk away so you can fight another day. Walk away power goes hand in hand with being strategic and knowing the right time to engage.

Living with pain, a challenge, or limitation does not mean you do not have value. You still have purpose and a gift to share with others. You need to look at life differently, define success for yourself, and live life on your terms. Then you can hustle, even when you hurt, and achieve your purpose.