Alignment Over Hustle

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Alignment Over Hustle: What I’m Letting Go Of This Season

As winter begins to loosen its grip and we move toward spring, I find myself returning—again and again—to the same reminders: slow down, breathe, be intentional. I am craving alignment, and I’ve learned the hard way that it doesn’t come from moving faster.

For a long time, I lived a hustle life by default. I believed that the harder and faster I worked, the quicker I would reach my goals—and therefore my dreams. But that belief, at least for me, turned out to be a lie.

On paper, I was doing everything “right.” I bought a house at twenty. I traveled. I owned the designer bags. All the things—emphasis on things. And yet, I was deeply unhappy. I was living a life that looked impressive to everyone else, while quietly competing in a race no one had asked me to run. I was exhausted, disconnected, and unraveling.

By the time I was thirty-three, my life had begun to fall apart. The divorce story is long and belongs to another chapter, but what emerged from that unraveling was a truth I could no longer ignore: slow was the way forward.

I came back home to California and began rebuilding one small decision at a time. I joined a yoga studio and settled into a steady practice—26 & 2, formerly known as Bikram. It’s a practice that forces you inward. You know the saying, you have to go in to get through? This is the embodied version of that truth. It taught me how to focus, how to listen, and how to move with intention rather than urgency.

I’ve said many times that yoga saved me—and it did. It still does. Whenever my practice slips, so does my sense of flow. When I look back on the hardest seasons of my life, one thing is always missing: I wasn’t connected to myself, to my body, or to stillness.

Alignment matters. It matters in our bodies as we age, in our relationships as they evolve, and in the work we choose to pursue. When we fall out of alignment in any of those areas, we are called to pause, reflect, and choose again. Nothing pulls us out of alignment faster than hustle.

And if I’m honest, I found myself out of alignment again.

Some of it was burnout. Some of it was pushing our farm business to grow faster than we were ready for. And some of it was old patterns resurfacing. The result was the same: strain on my relationships, my physical body, my mental health, and my sense of peace. The last two years have been a period of correction—learning how to maintain a slow, sustainable flow that aligns with what I believe the universe (and God) has for me.

Alignment doesn’t require a specific belief system. It simply requires clarity about what you believe—without outside influence. From there, alignment often begins with one simple act: letting go of what is heavy.

This season, I’m letting go of what no longer serves me.

Crappy food—gone.
Punishing workouts—no longer welcome.
Negative energy—released.

The people part is the hardest. But one idea I return to often in personal development is this: the five people you spend the most time with have the greatest influence on your life. If your goals are growth, health, peace, or stability, then your environment—and your relationships—must support that direction. Alignment sometimes means choosing distance without resentment.

As winter fades, I’m setting myself up for a slow flow that can sustain me through the busy months ahead. I’m not racing toward the next milestone. I’m placing my intentions gently into the universe and trusting that what unfolds will be what serves the highest good.

This season isn’t about hustle.
It’s about alignment—and choosing it, again and again.