Redefining Growth: Why Hustle Isn’t the Only Path to Progress

Let’s challenge a belief that’s quietly shaping how a lot of us live and lead:

That we have to earn our growth.

We don’t say it out loud, but we act it out all the time.

💪We hustle harder, thinking that once we’ve proven ourselves—then we’ll rest.

💪We over-deliver, hoping we’ll finally feel legitimate.

💪We delay the next step until we’ve worked just a little more, done a little better,   added one more credential.

And somewhere in the process, growth stops being a human experience… and starts becoming a performance.

Recently, I was having a conversation with someone who is in transition in their professional life.

They’re retiring from a career in the military, and they’re fortunate enough that their pension means they don’t have to immediately jump into their next role. 

But pausing isn’t necessarily something that comes naturally for them. This is someone who is growth-oriented, highly ambitious, and career-minded, but also someone who has done a lot of heavy lifting in their healing journey.

So when they got a little bit of space from that go-go-go pace, they realized they were at a fork in the road. They could look for a challenging big adventure that would define the next season of their life. Or they could pursue quieter, more subtle growth by finding ways to bring balance and to focus on the quality of life they want going forward.

Sometimes our options for growth can feel limited by our circumstances. We think our growth needs to focus on what our organization expects or needs or what it will take to grow our business to the next level or what it will take to progress to the next level in our career, so we only pursue options that fit those standards. And a lot of the time, the answers we get seem to be the same:

🏋️Dig deep.

🏋️Focus intensely.

🏋️Achieve more.

🏋️Hustle harder.

Here’s the shift:

You don’t need to burn out to be worthy of transformation. You don’t need to exhaust yourself to prove you’re serious. You don’t need to hustle to be allowed to grow.

Real growth isn’t about constantly grinding. It’s about alignment—between what matters to you and how you move through the world.

So let’s start rethinking what it means to grow.

What if we stopped seeing growth as only being found in the loud, wake-up-and-grind, hustle-till-it-hurts approach that burns people out?

Because real growth?

It’s not about doing more. It’s not about proving your worth. And it’s definitely not about waiting for the perfect moment.

It’s about choosing to show up—whether or not you feel ready. Focusing on what matters—rather than thinking everything matters. And believing that you don’t need to earn your right to evolve. 

Real growth is grounded and intentional. It helps you build confidence and trust in your own judgement and choices.

Let’s redefine growth as something sustainable, human, and worth repeating. This isn't just about doing less. It's about developing a growth mindset that genuinely serves you and allows you to feel the power of that forward momentum, instead of burning yourself out by trying to run at a pace defined by other people.

Do Less, Grow More: The Power of Subtraction

We've all been handed a very specific script for growth: stack your calendar, say yes to every opportunity, stretch yourself thin, and keep adding more.

But more isn’t always the answer. Most leaders and professionals I work with aren’t struggling because they’re doing too little; they’re struggling because they’re doing too much of the wrong stuff.

Real growth doesn’t come from constant expansion. It comes from focus. From depth. From doing the right things—on purpose. 

Think about what it means for a tree to grow. Sure, sometimes that growth looks obvious from the outside. The tree gets taller, puts out new branches, thickens its trunk. We could pull out a ruler and measure that version of growth.

But all of that expansion also requires the tree to invest in other kinds of growth. There are seasons where that looks like creating deeper, wider roots or resting to conserve its energy for the next big push or healing itself from illness or stress.

Here’s what approaching subtraction as growth might look like for you:

• Cutting something that’s no longer aligned. This isn't about failing; it's about outgrowing. Saying “no” frees up space to say “yes” to what truly fuels you.

  
  

  For an educator, this might mean switching from hours of written paper comments to focused student meetings for feedback and connection. For an entrepreneur, it could mean dropping an online course idea that doesn't fit your expertise, choosing to become a "master of one" instead of a jack-of-all-trades.

  
  

• Getting better at what you’re already good at. Instead of chasing every shiny new opportunity, refine your existing edge. Pushing yourself in areas where you already excel leads to quicker, more tangible growth. Focusing your energy on where you shine, instead of on what you think you lack, fuels meaningful and energizing growth.

  
  

• Choosing one thing to go all-in on. In the moment, it can feel powerful to make a dozen commitments, even if you know it means you can't give 100% to any of them. The “yes” itself gives us a boost of dopamine in the moment, and we think that's the energy that will carry us through the challenges.

  
  

  We take on a new role at work, sign up for that class, volunteer to chaperone our kid’s field trip, commit to 100 yoga classes in 100 days, join the book club. And each “yes" makes us feel good, like we're moving forward. But in reality, those quick dopamine hits don't lead to sustainable joy and satisfaction. We have to keep adding more and more to our plates to chase those highs, and the more we add, the more we stress ourselves out and beat ourselves up for not being able to see things through.

  
  

  What fuels a steady flow of dopamine is being able to achieve one small win at a time. That takes clear goal-setting and focus. Pick one area of growth and pour your full focus into it.

  
  

• Taking time to think. We're so busy doing that we often don't give ourselves enough space to ideate. Thinking is crucial deep work for real growth. When I was first building my business, I felt I always had to be "on." I'd schedule meetings constantly and check emails all day, because I was so focused on making sure I was delivering for my clients and engaging potential clients.

  
  

  But that didn't give me any mental space to process information and generate new ideas. So I started scheduling one day a week just for thinking—brainstorming, journaling, deep work without pressure to produce. That's when new ideas flowed, connections formed, and I saw the true direction for my business.

  
  

  The growth came from really being able to dig into my own ideas and from accepting that “doing" didn't always equal “moving forward.”

  
  

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Mindshift Pro Tip: The Basic Rest-Activity Cycle (BRAC) is our body's natural rhythm of roughly 90 minutes of high focus followed by 20 minutes of lower alertness. You can learn more about it here! If scheduling "thinking time" feels weird, try just leveraging your BRAC during your work day. When your focus drifts, lean into it. Set aside distractions and see where your mind takes you.

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We talk about mindset like it's an attitude, but it's also a filter.

If your mindset says, “I’m only growing if I’m adding more,” you’ll miss those powerful moments where subtraction is actually the smartest move. If we carried less, we could achieve more and make a bigger impact. You don’t have to constantly expand to grow. Sometimes the biggest growth happens when you refine, recommit, or release.

"Ready" Is a Myth: The Imperfect Leap Towards Growth

How many times have you told yourself, “I just need a little more time,” or “I’m not ready yet—but I will be…soon”?

It sounds responsible, even strategic. But "I’m not ready" is often just our fear wearing a clever disguise.

I've seen it happen: people delaying crucial conversations, holding back brilliant ideas, staying quiet waiting to feel fully qualified to step forward and lead. It wasn't because they lacked what it took, but because they were waiting to feel ready. 

Spoiler alert: That feeling rarely just shows up.

For example, an entrepreneur might shy away from risks that could lead to huge growth for their business because they don't feel fully prepared for potential challenges. A professional making a career transition might stay stuck in an unhappy role, convinced they need to pay their dues and gain more experience before they’ll feel ready to find a more fulfilling position.

If you’re in transition, you might feel you need the perfect mindset to leap. While mindset is core to everything we do, finding the "right" mindset isn't always the first step.

Here’s what I’ve learned: If you spend too much time trying to think your way into the right mindset before you act, you can get stuck forever. Sometimes, you just have to start with the action and let it fuel that mindshift.

Feeling ready is a byproduct of your actions—not a prequalification. You usually don’t feel ready until after you show up. After you speak up. After you step forward and suddenly realize, Oh…I can actually do this.

In every growth season, you have a choice:

🔹 Step in, messy and uncertain.

🔹 Or step back, waiting for certainty that never fully arrives.

One path builds momentum. The other often fuels regret.

We make the mistake of thinking we control outcomes, but we only control our actions, decisions, and choices. Stepping in isn't about confidence that things will work out exactly as planned; it's about confidence that you’ll handle and grow through whatever unfolds.

Stepping back is also a choice. You're choosing to waste precious time waiting for confidence in outcomes you'll only get in retrospect. If you never start, you'll never have anything to reflect back on and grow from.

There's a parable I really love that speaks to this:

If a bird is resting on a branch, she's not trusting that the branch will never break. She's trusting that her own wings can carry her if it does. 

So take a risk that’s worth taking. If you can imagine something good coming from it, lean in. The best that can happen is something wonderful. The "worst" is that you're better for having grown through whatever happens. 

Having a growth mindset comes with humility. You jump in, not because you’re sure of the outcome, but because you’re sure there’s potential for your own growth. You don’t need to be perfect, have every answer, or feel fully confident. You just need to move. The longer you wait for perfect conditions, the more likely you are to miss the moment that could change everything. Growth doesn’t wait for readiness. It meets you when you decide to show up anyway.

Practical Shifts: How to Redefine Growth Starting Today

Consider this your call to action. Here are concrete, immediate steps to start putting this redefined approach to growth into practice:

For Leaders & Organizations:

• Audit "Busy Work": Challenge your team to identify and ditch tasks that don't align with core objectives. Free up bandwidth for high-impact work.

• Champion Strategic "No": Empower team members to politely decline non-essential requests without guilt. This builds a culture of focus and protects time for strategic initiatives.

• Integrate "Thinking Time": Encourage and protect blocks of time for deep work, reflection, and ideation. Think "no-meeting Mondays" or dedicated innovation hours.

• Foster Imperfect Action: Create a culture where experimentation, learning from "messy starts," and taking a calculated risk are celebrated over waiting for unattainable perfection.

For Individual Professionals:

• Practice Intentional Saying "No": Decline one non-essential request this week without over-explaining. Notice the space it creates.

• Identify Your "One Thing": For the next 30 days, pick one area of growth to go all-in on. Dedicate focused energy, minimizing distractions. This is about embracing intentionality.

• Schedule "Whitespace": Block out 15-30 minutes daily (or a bigger chunk weekly) for unstructured thinking or quiet reflection. This isn't about productivity; it's about letting new ideas emerge.

• Take an "Imperfect Step": Think of one action you've been putting off because you don't feel "ready." Take the very first, small, imperfect step.

• Reflect on Alignment: Regularly check in: Does this activity/goal truly align with what matters to me? Is it leading me toward the growth I genuinely desire? This ongoing self-assessment is vital for developing a growth mindset.

Conclusion: Your Growth, Your Way

Growth isn't about constant struggle, endless hustle culture, or feeling like you have to earn your worth by exhausting yourself. It's about a powerful shift in how you see things: embracing intentionality, smartly subtracting what no longer serves you, and taking courageous action even when things feel a little uncertain.

You've got the power to choose your path. You have the ability to redefine growth on your own terms, stepping away from external pressures to cultivate a journey that's truly sustainable and fulfilling.

When you embrace this approach, you're not just growing; you're leading with clarity and confidence, showing up authentically in the world, and building a life that genuinely reflects what matters most to you.