Overcoming The “Hustle” Mindset: Dr. Sabrina Starling’s Tips For Struggling Entrepreneurs

The world is a busy, fast-paced place – especially if you want to make it in business. For entrepreneurs, many are on the clock 24/7 trying to make ends meet. Yet, does it always have to be so non-stop? According to Dr. Sabrina Starling, the answer to these stressed entrepreneurs is: no, it doesn’t have to be such a grind. 

Dr. Starling grew up in a house full of generational hustlers, and she developed into one herself. When in grad school to become a doctor of Psychology, Sabrina was teaching, in practicum, and a full-time student herself. “My anxiety was being driven by my workload,” says Sabrina. Growing burnt out in her first job in the mental health field, she switched to personal coaching as her own personal business. 

With a young baby to care for, Starling was determined to only put her in daycare for 25 hours a week; she ensured her business could run with only 25 hours of work a week. This shift from having to be on the go 24/7, to helping entrepreneurs prioritize their time efficiently is changing the game for many entrepreneurs who are being helped by Dr. Sabrina. These are just three tips Dr. Starling ensures that make all the difference in reaching your business’ best potential. 

Sustainability Is Key

As mentioned before, Dr. Starling began growing her business by just working 25 hours a week, while her daughter was at daycare. She believes work supports life, not the other way around. “To become truly successful, you have to make your business sustainably profitable.” You don’t want to create a business you know you will have to pour your all into everyday for as long as you run it. You want to be able to grow your business without losing yourself in the process. How can you find this sustainability? Limits force innovation and creativity. Limits create sustainability. Starling claims, “Find a niche and stick to it.” Once you have your business producing revenue, you have to weed out the extra and focus on what works and how to make it better. This will enable you to form your sustainable and long-lasting business without sacrificing the rest of your life for it. 

Innovate To Scale with Margin 

Dr. Starling’s second piece of advice for entrepreneurs seeking an alternative workload to the hustle culture is to innovate to serve your top clients. In order to ensure your business can grow without you looming over it constantly, you need to involve your team’s ideas and feedback from top clients to grow and change into new, exciting products or services. “Innovation can help lead to margin creation and value being added into your business.” After you have your business set up, listen to your top clients to determine what works and what doesn’t: you can see what more could be done. Innovation always encourages you to keep your business new and exciting, without falling into a rhythm of the grind day in and day out. To innovate is to ensure you and your business are growing closer to achieving your goals and mission. 

Form A Dream Team

A common mistake many entrepreneurs make is not creating a team to delegate responsibilities. It’s difficult to have a business that you’ve created with a specific vision and goal and then trust other individuals to carry out the same vision you have. People are not always going to have the same vision, however, that is why it is important to be selective in hiring your dream team. Once you have your team, you have to trust them to carry out the responsibilities you give them. Spread out operations into different categories, and hold your employees to the same “25 hour work week” principle. Creating this team will increase productivity exponentially, all the while alleviating your own personal stress you feel from running your business and maintaining the “hustle” mindset. 

If you are interested in learning more about Dr. Sabrina Starling’s entrepreneurial coaching as well as her own personal journey, you reach out to her on her website Tap The Potential or go listen to her podcast titled Profit By Design.