Chapter 20
What's Your Trauma Hustle?
Are you being driven — or are you being chased? Most people believe they're hustling from ambition. What they're really hustling from is fear.
An Excerpt from the Upcoming Book — You Can Relax Now — Coming Soon
"I didn't know it back then, but I was in a full-blown and very deep trauma hustle. My nervous system was stuck in a constant loop of go go go because I was so afraid of what would happen if I stopped."
What if I told you that most people believe they are hustling because of ambition, but what they are really hustling from is fear? This fear runs in the background — in your subconscious — and it hums beneath your deadlines, early mornings, tension and the knot in your stomach that never fully goes away.
It is the reason you panic when there is nothing to do, why rest makes you feel guilty, and why you can hit every goal and still feel like you are one step away from losing everything. That is what a trauma hustle does. It convinces you that if you stop, you will lose everything. That your value is in your usefulness.
I lived this. I wore pressure like a badge of honor and built an empire while dragging my body through hypervigilance. Eventually my body stopped whispering and started screaming — panic attacks, migraines, chronic illness, cancer. That crash forced me to meet the real me and begin the deep inner work. I learned that you can still be wildly successful without living in overdrive 24/7.
Interactive Assessment
Identify Your Trauma Hustle
Answer honestly. There are no wrong answers — only patterns waiting to be seen.
This quiz will help you identify which of the 8 trauma hustle patterns may be running in the background of your life. 16 questions. Takes about 2 minutes.
The 8 Patterns
Types of Trauma Hustles
Different flavors, same root issue: a dysregulated nervous system that links safety, worth, or love to productivity.
The Common Thread
All these hustles come back to the same root issue.
A dysregulated nervous system that links safety, worth, or love to productivity. Your body learned: Being still = unsafe. Working = safe. Achieving = valuable. Hustling = survival.
From Overdrive to Alignment
The Shift
What a Healthy Hustle Looks Like
A healthy hustle is not the absence of ambition. It is ambition without the anxiety. Drive without the desperation. Movement without the running.
🔥→✨
From
Hustle from fear
To
Move from clarity
⚖️→💎
From
Worth tied to output
To
Worth is inherent
😰→🧘
From
Rest feels dangerous
To
Rest is strategic
⏳→🌊
From
Driven by scarcity
To
Grounded in sufficiency
🎭→🪞
From
Prove yourself
To
Trust yourself
🫥→❤️
From
Numb with work
To
Feel and still function
"You can still be wildly successful without living in overdrive 24/7. That is the real flex."
— Jen Guidry
Go Deeper
Journal Prompts
Grab a pen. These are not questions to think about — they are questions to feel through.
What does my body feel like when I'm in overdrive? Where do I feel the tension?
When was the last time I rested without guilt — and what made that possible?
If I stopped hustling tomorrow, what am I most afraid would happen?
Tip: Write without editing. Let whatever comes up come up. Your nervous system speaks through your pen.
7-Day Challenge
The "Unhustle" Challenge
Seven days to begin separating your worth from your work. This is not about doing less — it is about being more.
Progress
0 / 7
Day 1: Catch the Pattern
Notice one moment today where you feel the urge to be productive out of anxiety rather than purpose. Don't change it — just notice it.
Day 2: Name the Fear
When the hustle urge hits, pause and ask: What am I afraid will happen if I don't do this right now? Write the answer down.
Day 3: Scheduled Stillness
Block 20 minutes of intentional stillness. No phone, no tasks, no 'productive rest.' Just sit. Notice what your body does.
Day 4: The Honest No
Say no to one thing today that you would normally say yes to out of fear, guilt, or obligation. Notice how it feels in your body.
Day 5: Rewrite the Story
Write a new belief to replace the old one. Example: 'My worth is not determined by my output. I am valuable at rest.'
Day 6: Body Check-In
Three times today, stop and scan your body. Where are you holding tension? Breathe into it. Let your shoulders drop. Unclench your jaw.
Day 7: Rest Without Guilt
Take a full rest day. No work, no hustle, no 'catching up.' Let yourself experience a day where you are enough without doing anything.
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