Welcome to your weekly reset for your side business. My mission is to help you stop doubting your progress and start building momentum, one email at a time.

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I used to think the answer to everything was just… more.

More hours. More content. More posts. More effort.

Business not growing fast enough? Hustle harder.

Not seeing results? You’re clearly not working hard enough.

Feeling exhausted? Push through it.

So I did.

I hustled.

I posted on LinkedIn every single day.

Showed up with insights and content and engagement. I said yes to everything.

I worked late nights and early mornings and every spare minute in between.

And you know what happened?

I burned out. Hard.

Like, so hard that I just stopped posting altogether. Just quit.

My engagement didn’t go up before the crash.

My business didn’t explode.

My email list barely moved.

I was working ALL the time and had almost nothing to show for it.

Hustle culture isn’t a strategy. It’s a trap.

Look, don’t get me wrong. Building a business takes work. Real work.

But somewhere along the way, we started confusing “working hard” with “working constantly.”

We started believing that if we’re not exhausted, we’re not doing enough.

That rest is for people who aren’t serious. That boundaries are for people who don’t want it bad enough.

And the worst part?

When the hustle doesn’t work, we blame ourselves.

“I guess I’m not cut out for this.”

“Other people can handle it, why can’t I?”

“Maybe I’m just not disciplined enough.”

But here’s the truth they don’t tell you:

Most people hustling themselves into the ground aren’t building lasting businesses.

They’re just really, really busy.

There’s a difference.

So I spent months posting on LinkedIn every single day.

Thought leadership posts. Commentary on industry trends. Engaging in the comments. Connecting with people. Showing up, showing up, showing up.

My content got likes. People told me they found it valuable. It felt like I was building something.

Until I looked at my actual business results.

My email list had grown by maybe 20 people in six months.

My offers? No traction.

I was hustling hard. But I wasn’t growing.

Because I was doing what felt productive instead of what actually was productive.

I was busy. I was exhausted. But I wasn’t making progress.

Hustle without strategy is just noise.

And honestly? It’s a great way to hate your business before it even gets off the ground.

That’s exactly what happened to me. I burned out so completely that I just stopped. Stopped posting. Stopped showing up. Stopped everything.

Because when your entire business depends on you being “on” constantly, what happens when you can’t be?

Everything stops.

So when burnout forced me to stop posting on LinkedIn, I had to get real with myself.

I couldn’t keep going the way I was going. Something had to change.

So I stopped asking “What else can I do?” and started asking “What’s actually working?”

And here’s what I found:

The daily LinkedIn posts? Likes and engagement with no real momentum. And the second I stopped posting, it was like I never existed.

But email? That kept going.

I had been sending one email a week. And even when I stepped away from LinkedIn completely, that consistency gave me space to breathe.

To figure out what my audience actually needed.

To get back to enjoying my business instead of just feeding the algorithm.

So I made a decision:

I stopped trying to be everywhere and focused on the one thing that was actually working.

Email.

One email a week. That’s it.

And that consistency gave me room to think, to strategize, to build something real instead of just staying visible.

Here’s the thing though—you still need social media.

That’s where people discover you. LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, wherever your people hang out.

I’m back on social now. But not every day. Not as my entire strategy.

I use Instagram to bring people to my email list.

That’s where the real relationship happens. That’s where trust gets built. That’s where sales happen.

Social media, YouTube, and Podcasts are for discovery.

Email is for connection and conversion.

One feeds the other. But only one builds a business that lasts.

And only one keeps working when you step away.

Busy looks like: posting every day, making content nonstop, feeling like you’re always “on,” and having nothing to show for it when you need a break.

Productive looks like: using social media to grow your email list, sending one email a week that builds trust, having a simple welcome sequence that actually works, building things that keep going even when you can’t.

Busy is exhausting and doesn’t last.

Productive is focused and gets results.

Busy asks “What should I do today?” Productive asks “What will move my business forward?”

Busy counts hours. Productive counts results.

Busy needs you there 24/7. Productive builds things that work without you.

Busy falls apart when you stop. Productive keeps building even when you take a break.

When I was hustling, I measured success by how much I posted.

When I got strategic, I measured success by how many people joined my list and how many actually opened my emails.

One felt like work. The other was work. The kind that actually mattered.

You don’t need to do more. You need to do the right things consistently.

And for most of us building businesses while working full time? The right thing is email.

Here’s why:

→ Email doesn’t require you to hustle. You write once, and it works for you over and over. Your welcome sequence runs automatically. Your weekly email goes out on schedule whether you’re busy or not.

→ Email doesn’t punish you for resting. Take a week off from social media and your engagement dies. Take a week off from email and your welcome sequence still introduces new subscribers to your work.

→ Email doesn’t disappear when you burn out. When I stopped posting on LinkedIn completely, my business didn’t stop. Why? Because people were still joining my email list. My welcome sequence was still running. I was still building relationships even when I couldn’t show up.

→ Email builds real relationships. Social media is a crowd. Email is a conversation. One builds a following. The other builds a business.

You can send one email a week and build more momentum than posting every single day on social media.

Why? Because you’re reaching people who actually want to hear from you, in a place where they can actually pay attention.

That’s not hustle. That’s strategy.

Listen.

You can’t build something that lasts on a foundation of exhaustion.

Hustle culture wants you to believe that rest is lazy. That boundaries mean you’re not serious. That if you’re not sacrificing everything, you don’t want it bad enough.

That’s bullshit.

I learned this the hard way, by burning out so completely I had to stop everything.

Real business owners protect their energy because they know burnout doesn’t build anything except resentment.

That means:

Setting work hours for your side business and actually stopping when you hit them.

Saying no to things that don’t move you forward (even if they feel productive).

Taking breaks without guilt.

Choosing one focused strategy instead of trying to do everything.

Building things that keep working even when you need to step back.

You’re not building a business to make your life harder. You’re building it to make your life better.

That only works if you’re still standing when you get there.

Stop hustling. Start focusing.

If you’re posting daily on social media: Try this experiment. Post 2 to 3 times this week instead of 7, and use each post to invite people to join your email list. Use the time you save to write one really good email. See which gets better results.

If you have an email list but you’re not using it: Send one email this week. Just one. Make it good. Make it real. Send it consistently. That’s more valuable than a week of daily posts that disappear.

If you don’t have a list yet: Set up your email platform this week. Pick one. Beehiiv, Kit, Mailchimp, doesn’t matter. They all have free plans. This is the one tool that’ll actually grow your business without the hustle.

If you’re already burned out like I was: Give yourself permission to stop the daily grind. Set up your email platform. Send one weekly email. That’s enough. That’s actually more than enough. It’s strategic.

I know you might be thinking, “But I need to post constantly to stay relevant” or “One email a week doesn’t feel like enough.”

Listen.

More isn’t better. Better is better.

You don’t need to hustle harder. You need to work smarter.

And smart looks like building something that keeps your business moving even when you’re living your life or recovering from burnout.

One focused email beats seven scattered posts every single time.

You’re not lazy for choosing strategy over hustle. You’re smart.

👉🏾 Hit reply and tell me: What are you hustling on that isn’t actually moving your business forward? Let’s figure out what to focus on instead.

Talk soon,

~ Kristina