In case you haven’t picked up on it already, we love a good GIF.
Lucky for us, we have an awesome team helping us design our very own bulldog-specific GIFs (fancy, no?) like the one you see above. We’re not gonna lie — it makes us feel pretty cool.
This particular GIF is one of our favorites, because it turns the spotlight on two of our very favorite things: hustle and heart. These are words that we bulldoggers like to throw around a lot, but in case you needed further clarification, we’re here to help. We’re not going to bother turning to Merriam-Webster this time, so please trust that our bulldog definitions will tell you everything you need to know.
Hustle: to focus intensely on one’s goals, to be relentless in one’s pursuit of progress (also a great hashtag)
Heart: an attitude of love and compassion, a caring approach
It may seem to you as though hustle and heart must often be mutually exclusive. How can one hustle with heart? Do we need to slow down our hustle if we want to come from a place of love? Do we need to dial back the heart aspect in order to live our full hustle potential?
It can be tricky for hustle and heart to co-exist, but it is possible. Check out our five tips to make it happen below.
1. Stop using the word “busy.” Do you find yourself regularly responding to the question “how are you?” with the word “busy?” Our culture and communities seem to run on busy-ness, but guess what? There’s no prize for the busiest person in the game. Start thinking about your hustle in terms of productivity, instead of just being busy. Stop worrying about how busy you are, and start considering what you’re producing, creating, and affecting. These metrics are more likely to keep your heart engaged in all of your pursuits!
2. Take time to celebrate small victories. If you’re constantly hustling, you probably forget to pause now and then to consider all of the great progress you’re making. These celebrations are necessary for feeding the heart side of any endeavor. Give yourself permission to throw a little dance party every time you take a baby step toward success. Doing so will help you maintain that all-too-tricky balance between hustle and heart.
3. Practice self-care in the process. Yes, we know — self-care has been pretty trendy these days, and you may be tired of hearing about it. But trends are trends for a reason, and finding ways to practice self-care amid the chaos of your own hustle is a great way to keep your head and heart fully in the game. Take time to exercise (why not a bulldog online class?), to read, to spend quality time with loved ones. A consistent self-care habit will add some much-needed balance to your hustlin’ tendencies.
4. Share! Bringing the people you care about into your hustle will add some much-needed heart to the process. Be open with your friends and family about the things you’re working toward. The more people are involved, the merrier the hustle will be!
5. Pursue passions. Another great way to ensure that hustle and heart can co-exist in your life is to do as much as possible to find parallels between the two. What elements of your hustle speak to the things that your heart cares most about ? You can find these parallels even if you’re working at a job you’re not crazy about or chipping away at fitness goals that are leaving you sore and grouchy. There’s gotta be some small piece of what you’re doing that’s consistent with your passion. Dig deep to figure it out, then keep it top of mind as you work hard to move the needle.
How do you balance hustle and heart? Tell us on Facebook + Twitter!
***You can get the bulldog experience anywhere, anytime with our online classes or via our app (App store | Google Play) — and make sure you check out our full line of bulldog swag, too! Don’t forget to subscribe to the bulldog blog so you can get e-mail notifications about every new post.***
Image: Seth Macey/Unsplash