You do not have as many hours in a day as Beyoncé 💁

Apr 03, 2019

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#WednesdayWisdom

"Poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence. It forms the quality of the light within which we predicate our hopes and dreams toward survival and change, first made into language, then into idea, then into more tangible action." — Audre Lorde

Morning Musings

I've oft had issue with the popular Instaworthy quote "You have the same amount of hours in a day as Beyoncé." Newsflash: no you don't. Yes, sure, we're all allotted the same 24 hours; however, Queen Bey has hired help paid (quite nicely I might imagine) to cater to her every whim; help her maintain her flawless physique; whip up a delicious meal at a moment's notice. The rest of us, however, do not.

While reading Tiffany Pham's You Are a Mogul (which will legit have you wanting to quit your job and build your own empire, if you're not careful), I was frustrated because she shared the same quote ... and, it seems, earnestly believed it, claiming you have 16 hours outside of your 9-5 to work on your side-hustle.

Um, no.

Admittedly Pham says she's not big on sleep, but I am. I did some quick math and deducted the optimal eight hours for a night of sleep; then an estimated two hours for my daily roundtrip commute; plus I factored in an hour or so for either the gym and/or a networking event, which left me with a grand total of five hours of "free" time to work on my side-hustle.

Again, no.

Because there's also cooking and eating dinner, and, you know, spending quality time with my husband. So in reality, those five hours are more like three-ish. And lately I've been thinking a lot about how I want to spend those three hours -- doing more of the things that bring me joy and fill my cup, and less of what doesn't.

I've been running next to people who aren't in the same race -- trying to keep up with full-time freelancers knowing I have a whole-ass day job and a whole-ass spouse at home. And I can't do it anymore. Ya girl is tired.

Stay tuned, because a change is gonna come. But don't worry, this newsletter isn't going anywhere. I'll see y'all next week, same time, same place.

Love,
L'Oreal

P.S. Much love and many thanks to everyone who joined me last night for my FIRST webinar!! Y'all are the best. (And here's the link to the Ladies, Get Paid! playlist to blast while you get that money, honey ... btw, it is definitely NSFW, so be sure to grab those headphones).

ICYMI

My homegirl Vanessa Flowers runs these awesome intimate networking events here in Chicago called Flower Girls Meet and last month, she invited me to talk about overcoming impostor syndrome with the group. Read the recap here.

Links I Love

My Latest Obsession

Warning: This book will both piss you off and inspire you in the most powerful way. Admittedly, Rebecca Traister hooked me with her 2016 book: All the Single Ladies. (What can I say? I'm a sucker for anything even tangentially Beyoncé-related.) And when I learned of her 2018 follow-up, Good and Mad, I knew I had to have it.

Traister, in her in-depth, yet personal reporting that I've come to love, both eloquently and accurately captures what it means to be an angry woman living in Trump Era. I especially loved the chapter about angry tears because haven't we all been there? (I secretly wish I could go back and tell a former boss I was crying because I was angry, not because I was sad or remorseful, but that's a different story for a different day).

If you want to take solace in knowing you're not the only one who cried the day after the election and are looking for inspiration to transform your anger into action, you'll want to check this out.

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