Hustling or working your butt off to be happier can feel counter-intuitive. For some reason, no one has ever told us (or at least me) that happiness takes work. The quote above really highlights that sometimes you have to do things you don't enjoy or you have to put in the work to get to a place of happiness and to do the things you love.

For example, I am at my happiest when I spend time with my husband, I write this blog, I chat with friends or I play with my dogs. All of those things take effort and work. I have to set aside time to spend with my husband. We plan a weekly date night, we take the time to communicate and to share our thoughts. That's not always easy to do but it pays big dividends to my (and his) happiness. I am constantly writing down blog post topics/ideas and I set aside time in my week to write each post. Sometimes the writing comes easily while other times it takes me a very long time to get the words out in a coherent manner. Either way, I have to prioritize and work on producing a weekly blog. Chatting with friends means investing time for phone calls and setting up times to hang out. Playing with my dogs means training and engaging with them long before playing becomes even close to enjoyable.

What I'm getting at is that no matter what it is that brings you happiness, it takes a little hustle to get there. And my examples above are simple, everyday things. What about those big goals you have and the long-term things that will make you happy? Now to be fair, the things I listed above are all long-term things that I work at every day but what about happiness goals/activities like getting out of debt or running a marathon? Just like being in shape doesn't happen overnight and without work, it's the same with happiness health. 

Let's use those two examples, training for a marathon means a lot of running and cross training to be in shape enough to run 26 miles straight. That kind of dedication and training doesn't happen overnight and it might not be fun. But training for it and the actual event will bring you happiness (if it's a goal of yours). Same with getting out of debt. It's not fun to budget. It's not fun to not be able to buy whatever you want but it's a whole world of freedom and happiness when you are debt-free and you've worked hard to get there. 

Do you believe you should hustle for happiness? Have you ever thought about it before? I'd love to hear what you hustle for and how it makes you happier. Find me on Facebook or Instagram and share your hustle for happiness. 

Photo by Cristina Gottardi