As I finally lay down in my bed to fall asleep at the end of a long day, I’m completely exhausted – but there’s an overwhelming sense of accomplishment when I think about all the things I did throughout the day. Sure, it starts all over again tomorrow. The list keeps growing, the momentum doesn’t stop. But I can fall asleep knowing I worked my ass off that day – and I’ll tell ya, it feels damn good.
I’m not saying that I never get stressed out or overwhelmed, of course I do. And I’m not saying I always get everything done that I plan to either, but I certainly try. I set ridiculously high expectations for myself and have a habit of over-committing at times, but I’m getting a lot better at prioritizing and getting the most efficient use out of every hour in my day.
When you have a long list of goals and a high sense of urgency, you have to make the most out of your time. For the most part, I try to plan out nearly everything – I set deadlines, estimate the approximate amount of time it takes to get the task done, then go, go, go. When unexpected things come up, I evaluate what absolutely has to get done and what I can postpone until a later time. I don’t mind being fast-paced, nonstop. I actually love it. I work my ass off at my day job, and over lunch (if I get one) I’ll fit in a Pilates or Kickboxing class at the gym, or will meet with a potential business partner or contact. I attend networking/industry events in the evenings and in between I’ll bring my laptop to catch up on reading articles and blogs, work on outside projects, Skype with someone from Twitter or respond to personal e-mails. A few nights a week I cocktail at a restaurant for some extra cash. I still manage to find time for social-type activities, like happy hours, concerts, dinner with friends or stopping up to visit my grandma or mom. And then because I’m not busy enough, I started training for a marathon (half-marathon now), so I squeeze that in, too.
Ok, I admit that it’s maybe a little over-the-top and some people might think I’m slightly (or really) nuts. But I have large goals and I know that it takes hard work to achieve them. And that “hustle” is what makes me happy at the end of the day. Honestly, sometimes I still have a hard time understanding why someone doesn’t operate the same way I do, but it all comes down to what we personally need to feel fulfilled. Grace Boyle wrote a great post about respecting this and appreciating these differences in the people in our lives. And I absolutely do. But that’s another reason I’ve really enjoyed blogging – because I’ve met a lot of other people who are working to #Crushit every day, just like me. 
Do I worry about getting burnt out sometimes? Yes, because I’ve been there before, but the difference is that this time around I’ve identified the goals/projects I really need to focus on to get where I want to be. I used to attend each and every event under the sun, but I don’t now unless I think it’s truly going to benefit my career or it’s worth sacrificing something else. I’m learning to say no. And what has been extremely helpful is that now I’m building relationships with others who work just as hard (and even way harder) than me at kicking ass each and every day.
What do you have to accomplish each day to feel awesome about yourself and your life? Why do you think some of us are soooo different in this respect?
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