If I'm honest, this isn't a one-size fits all concept. There are many businesses that would financially be unable to meet the proposed ideas I share because their business model was never structured to support a slower work pace to allow for more personal time.

I propose a 20-25 hour work week give or take, with compensation remaining the same as our current 40 hours weekly salary.

For a business to be successful in this way, they would need to build the business model around this concept from the beginning, and the founders would need to make peace with a slower growth expectancy at this rate.

There are many ways this can be done through shift work with multiple team members or staggard shifting. We see this type of shift work in places like hospitals, call centers, and security professions.

First and foremost, I am not an economist. I do understand that our current society was built on a radically different view point of business output and production.

My proposal is that, like with anything else, there are seasons for growth and production - and seasons for rest and reflection.

In my professional opinion and experience, the current cadence in which we work is not sustainable - and the mass exodus of the workforce in recent years support this.

Many entrepreneurs have created brands out of necessity for freedom, but they created their business based on the same principles of our perpetuated business ideologies.

This 'hustle' is prized among a few % of high-performing professionals who either have the resources to make this a sustainable lifestyle or they have a strong desire to attribute their value to their work. Essentially, many high-performing professionals that thrive in 40+ hour work weeks feel the need to see performance growth for a sense of validation in their lives.

In these cases, the root cause is much deeper, where generational experts confirm that we are influenced by our childhood upbringings.

It only makes sense then, that future and younger generations may feel differently about work and business than the previous generations.

This does not exemplify laziness - but rather poses a neutral observation that there seems to be more emphasis on creativity and exploration than tedious taskings and corporate conformity.

Is change really that bad?

Or can we potentially explore that work might bring new innovations and positive changes if we let our inspirations lead us?

This is a top question I've received working with various clients and a fantastic beginning to a mindset shift.

Similar to other human conditionings from our childhood, school age, young adult lives, etc. it requires acceptance that you would have to step outside of the "normalized" way of being.

We've normalized hustling and keeping busy as a society, and that has brought unwanted changes to our families, and personal wellbeing.

In order to shift your mindset, you'll have to make peace with the possibility that your business may grow at a slower pace. In return, you can work on developing and growing a team that feels fulfilled, loyal to the mission of your brand, and more creative as they have time and space for their personal growth.

Healthier humans = Better work.

Next, you'll have to make peace that you may choose to pay your team the same amount of money as a 40-hour per week professional, but setting a precedent for only 20 to 25 hours per week.

This is where human conditioning and greed sometimes get in the way because we've been conditioned to want to squeeze every penny out of our team for the sake of the bottom line.

When you build a business around this model - it CAN and will succeed, as with any business.

Third, is the realization that this is not the first time we've seen a desire for reduced working hours. The most recent in the 1940s set a new standard for 40 hours per week because professionals were working excruciating hours previously. In that time, 40 hours was seen as a positive step in the right direction - and it was!

The time for another shift is here, and the struggles of our society and world are telling.

I fully accept there are businesses and professionals that do not align with this way of thinking - and that's okay!

Despite recent legislative attempts on reduced work hours, I truly believe and have seen that there are many ways to achieve successes in business, and the 40+ hour work weeks are desirable for a percentage of those who are driven by professional performance.

However, work and business is not a one-size fits all. I learned this difficult lesson once I stepped into parenthood and found that I needed to reframe the way I viewed work so that I could be more present in other areas of my life. Therefore, my views on business have evolved as I changed over time based on my experiences - and this is the shift that many professionals are feeling.

This means that there are many professionals in different stages of their life who might warrant alternative working options. As a fellow community member, do we not want our future generations to have both financial abundance and parents who are present in their lives? Would this not benefit us positively in the end?

My purpose is to encourage conscious and new business owners that they can build a new way of working if they choose.

Once I began moving away from hustle culture in my own life, I began to realize that although I loved business - it did not need to dictate every aspect of my life. Commonly with entrepreneurs we feel compelled to pour every ounce of us (mind, body, and spirit) into creating a brand or movement that we feel passionate about or that brings energetic value in the form of currency.

For most - this leads to a burnout. Burnout is a clear sign that something is not aligned in our lives, and creates a friction or discomfort in our lives so that we feel compelled to make a shift.