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Episode 75. Hello my dear listeners and readers. I’m typically honest on this podcast and blog, but this time I’m going to break it down and be super honest. Despite being VERY intentional and trying everything I could try to not buy into hustle culture in my business, I fell into the trap. At times, I have pushed myself and my team too hard and ultimately this led to less quality work and some degree of failure.
I’ve thought a lot about this over the past few months. Including, but not limited to:
- How diet culture and hustle culture overlap,
- How failure truly can be a good thing,
- How you can learn from my experiences and regrets
What To Expect in This Episode:
I will cover:
- Some of the personal lessons I’ve learned about “Hustle Culture” in the past few months
- How Hustle Culture and Diet Culture are related and how they impact our motivation
- My early reflections on the reality of being a woman in our culture and how this impacts our relationship to food and ourselves
- About how my mind and body are telling me I must slow down, and how I’m learning to truly listen (even when in many ways it would be easier to keep hustling)
- What you can expect from me and the Motivation Made Easy podcast and blog moving forward (what the heck I mean by intuitive podcasting, lol)
- Some teasers for the upcoming topics on the podcast
- How you can stay in touch with me!
Hustle Culture & Me
Even when we try SO DARN HARD, sometimes we can’t escape it.
Despite doing a business training for 12 months all about “working smarter, not harder” and truly giving it my all, I didn’t quite create what I’d wanted to create.
I wanted to create a team who was invigorated and enthusiastic about the work. Who was intrinsically motivated, where it didn’t really feel like “work.” I certainly accomplished some of our objectives, but something was off. As the owner and CEO, I must look at myself first.
“You Have to Be Consistent.”
For 75 episodes, I’ve come out with a podcast and corresponding blog post every single week.
I heard over and over from online marketers, “consistency is key”!
I also heard that “If you stop creating consistent content, you will lose your listeners.
I also heard messages like,
“Most people give up just when they’re about to achieve success. They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game one foot from a winning touchdown.”
I feared (and still fear a bit) that if I slow down, I’ll lose momentum somehow. I’ll lose you my dear listeners. You will be swept away by some other podcast that does come out with weekly episodes NO MATTER WHAT and I’ll be lost to you in the abyss of the internet.
“I Don’t Want to Lose What I’ve Gained” – “Shoulds” and Online Marketing
Have you ever heard of the idea of “sunk cost”?
It’s definition is:
The phenomenon whereby a person is reluctant to abandon a strategy or course of action because they have invested heavily in it, even when it is clear that abandonment would be more beneficial.
It makes sense in many ways that once we’ve worked really hard at something, we don’t want to let it go. Abandon the effort. This can apply to relationships (“But I’ve invested SO much time in this already, we have so much history I don’t want to start over.”), education (“But I’m already 1/2 way through my degree program, I should just finish”), or work (“I’ve been in this career for so long, I can’t start over”).
When Pressure for Consistency Becomes Counterproductive
The question we really need to ask is, when are we “being consistent” and aligned with our values, and when are we creating more harm than good by following our routines?
When are we being fickle and flimsy on what matters to us, and when are we staying true to the best way to be for ourselves?
The reality is, as I often say, only the person in the body knows.
Only I could (can) decide if weekly episodes were still doable. I was SO hesitant to let them go. I was and am so proud of our weekly content. And the growth of the podcast.
AND, I really like to think deeply about things and make sure the content I’m creating is really useful to you. I want to make sure it’s accurate. Quality. And answers the questions and provides the support and inspiration you actually need.
And to do that, I need more space to think critically, listen to you, and craft episodes that truly meet your needs. There are a lot of incredible intuitive eating and weight inclusive podcasts out there. And while I think they are truly needed and wonderful, I’m truly to create something slightly different. Something that aims to give you the most accurate information possible, with as little bias as possible. Something that truly supports your autonomous motivation, but reminding you that while I don’t have all the answers for you and what you should do, and I never will, I will continue to strive to bring you the most accurate and up to date information to guide you on that next step in your journey.
How Moving Away from Hustle Culture Relates to Moving Away from Diet Culture
I can’t help but see the parallels between the ways I’m approaching business and the way many of us approach our bodies. So often, we get so caught up in changing our weight or body size, and we stress about “don’t the wrong things” as it relates to how we eat and how we move.
We lack trust in ourselves to “figure it out” so we default to expert opinions only, without evaluating or asking “how does this actually feel for me?”
There are MANY things I was told to do from a marketing standpoint that truly felt off to me. I was told to regularly show up live on social media, or regularly post on social media. Very quickly, I determined that I just wasn’t going to do that.
Additionally, having staunch deadlines for joining my program is another thing I’ve done, that hasn’t always felt quite right either. But I was taught “that’s the way you have to do it to get people to buy” so at times, I listened.
We are often told so many things about what the “right” way to eat and move out bodies are, how much to eat, how much to exercise, etc. But there isn’t a right way to eat and move that works for all. Just like there isn’t a right way to have a business or market that business.
How This Relates to How You Incorporate Health Advice
“Intuition is not a single way of knowing – it’s our ability to hold space for uncertainty and our willingness to trust the many ways we’ve developed knowledge and insight, including instinct, experience, faith
and reason.” – Brene Brown
Let’s say you listened to one of my episodes where we talked about plant-based eating, like the great conversation I had with Dr. Yami of the Veggie Doctor radio here.
You might hear how Dr. Yami was able to transition fairly quickly from chronic dieting and binge eating to plant-based eating and hear how happy she feels and may think “I should do that!”
But stop, take a breath, and ask yourself, does that truly make sense for me? Is this a good time to do that in my life? Do I need do it 80% to feel good about it? What about 10%?
Is my nutrition really what I need to focus on right now? Or should I focus on finding a great therapist to address my anxiety and stress? Or should I focus on implementing new routines to improve my sleep?
Just slow down, create stillness, and ask questions. Ideally, pull out a blank piece of paper.
Failure is inevitable, at Times
No matter how intuitive we are, no matter how much we try to incorporate the advice of experts and make it our own, for various reasons, we will fail. Perhaps we will fail because the right option for others was never the right option for us. Other times we will fail because the system sets us up for failure (cough – diet culture).
But again, we have to look at the systems we are using and others. Are they getting success? And even if they are, how are they different from us? Do they have more support? More privileges than us?
It’s easy with business to compare yourself to others, and yet, sometimes others have been in business for years. Or they can afford paid help with things like marketing, for example.
When you compare yourself to your friends who might appear to “have it more together” than you (with weight, health, or anything), are you considering the differences between you and them? Biological ones? Social support differences? We need to factor this in.
The Impact of Being a Woman
The other reality that I’ve been coming up against lately is something I don’t talk about all that much.
I sometimes will talk about how woman get more pressure to shape their body in a certain way than men, though no one is immune from diet culture of course.
But the other factor in all of this is that the vast majority of the time, women are still “head of the household.” As a new business owner, I’ve observed how my role as CEO in my business (most major decisions fall to me) is similar to my role in our home. And decision making is one of the most taxing tasks we can do.
So while we can work to change systems, outside of our home, and inside, the reality is we are still working within a system where women did not have equal rights, are still paid less when employed and get less funding for their businesses and these factors do in fact still work against us silently.
What to Expect from Motivation Made Easy!
Alright, so given all of this, what can you expect from the podcast?
I’m so glad you asked.
So, I’m going to try to do some “intuitive podcasting” haha. Which essentially means, I’m going to slow down, focus on creating great content for you, and continue to get your input on what you want and need to hear.
After this episode, we will take off several weeks over the summer. So this episode will come out June 13th, and then we will definitely take July off, likely some of August, and will be back by September at the latest.
I will still send out a few email updates over the summer, so if you aren’t on my email list make sure you jump on it now! I’ll be sending out a few emails to stay in touch in the meantime, and then will email again when we resume regular episodes in the fall.
Upcoming Topics
We already have some exciting upcoming topics that I can’t wait to share with you.
These include:
- A conversation with my colleague and “internet friend” Dr. Julia King all about anxiety and how it relates to body image, AND all about one of my newly absolute favorite books 4000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals. We will be talking about the themes from the book, how it relates to anxiety and pressure, and how it gave me an immense sense of peace with how I spent my time that I’ve truly never felt before. We will cover how to make the most of our precious time on earth, without all the dang pressure!
- I will likely be talking to at least 1-2 physicians about weight loss in medical settings AND most likely focusing on what we know about new weight loss medications such as Saxenda and Wegovy.
- Other topics I’m researching/pondering include: intuitive eating and weight loss surgery, is weight loss long-term truly possible? What does the data say? How to communicate with your partner effectively to gain more support. How do you know if a restrictive mindset is causing your emotional or binge eating (and what to do about it), and much more!
Stay in Touch & Let Me Know What You Want to Hear About Next
So again please make sure you get on my email list. I will be sending out at least a few emails over the summer with content you wont get on the podcast, including my list of my absolute favorite shows and podcasts that inspire me to live a life filled with courage on connection!
Jump on my email list here. This is the best way to stay up to date with new happenings and offerings. I’m considering options for more affordable offerings to meet your needs so if that interests you you will also want to get and stay on the list!
If there are topics you’ve LOVE to hear about, please send me an email at support@drshawnhondorp.com or reply to one of the emails that I send out.
Make Healthy Living Easy
Have you ever thought… “I just need more willpower.” or “If I only had more self-control.”
Actually, that is rarely the problem.
One of the first steps to develop sustainable healthy habits is to learn to make healthy living easier, so we can use LESS willpower. Sound good?
Download this free guide for 5 science-backed simple strategies to use less willpower today!
Grab this free guide today for 5 science-based simple strategies to use less willpower today! Let’s start setting yourself up for success and regaining confidence in yourself.
Support Independent Bookstores Near You!
Did you know that that if nothing slows their momentum, Amazon will have almost 80% of the book market by the end of 2025?
Look, I love the convenience of Amazon, but I’ve got a super cool way that you can support local bookstores and my blog and podcast simply by buying books like you already do! You can choose any bookstore on the list in the US and Canada (they plan to expand to other counties in the future) OR you can just let the donation get split between all stores. As of this recording, they have raised 15 million dollars for local bookstores. On my bookshop, you will see my absolute favorite books related to health and wellness, courage and vulnerability, and even my favorite fiction and kids books!
My recent favorite related to improving the quality of our lives was Digital Minimalism. Our family actually has decided to do an optional screen free August to re-evaluate the role of screen time in our lives.
So if you believe in supporting local businesses, please consider buying your books through Bookshop from now on!
The Psychology of Wellness Bookshop Link.
Disclaimer: This blog and podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual professional advice or treatment, including medical or mental health advice. It does not constitute a provider patient relationship.
Disclosure: Using the Bookshop.org links in this post means that I would get an affiliate fee if you purchase from the online bookshop (this supports my business, and local bookstores too!).
Credit: This blog post was written by Dr. Shawn Hondorp and edited by Caitlyn Galvin.