The whole “rise and grind,” “never stop working,” “hustle” mentality isn’t healthy for anyone. But we hear it on Instagram, we see it on LinkedIn, and on those inspirational posters you put in your home office. At the end of the day, it’s not sustainable. All that talk about work doesn’t get to the thing that’s really driving you. Without going full Simon Sinek, we want to address what really gets you out of bed and at the keyboard everyday: your why.
Why do you wake up and bust your ass every single day?
It’s not for the sake of hustle or to land on Inc.com’s latest list. It’s for your family, for your kids, for the sake of having a life that’s not built around your job.
We’re going to get off the hustle soapbox for a few sentences (don’t worry, it’ll all come back around).
The last 18 months at SOCO have been tough, to put it mildly. Like a lot of you, it rocked us to our very core. It was an emotional roller coaster and there were days we didn’t know if we’d even make it. It challenged who we are.
At the best of times we were white knuckling this pandemic ride. We saw members lose gigs, income, and clients. We went through some of those awful moments ourselves. And it sucked.
However, in the midst of all this chaos, we rediscovered our own purpose. We’re here to support the “why” of each and every member in this community.
We remembered that SOCO’s purpose is to inspire people and give them an opportunity to build connections and access resources to pursue work that matters to them.
And we’re more fired up about this than ever.
In a strange way, we’re thankful for the hardships of the past year. It helped us remember why we’re here. Why this community matters.
And truthfully, we probably wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for folks who believed in us during the darkest moments of the pandemic.
So in the spirt of anti-hustle culture and discovering the “why” of SOCO, we’re creating a new series called “Why We Hustle.” It’ll features the stories of our members and what drives them everyday. We’ll discuss their passions and how they’ve overcome adversity to do work they love (hint: it’s not for the glory of hustle culture). And hopefully you’ll walk away feeling inspired and motivated about your own “hustle.”
Strap yourself in. It’s going to be a fun ride. You can read each story right here on our blog.