Ready to achieve your dream life? Get ready to do two things: Journal and hustle.
At least that's what Peloton head instructor Robin Arzón says she did to build her wellness empire and manifest her relationship with her husband, Drew Butler. And now she's helping others to do that with Welcome, Hustler: An Empowerment Journal, a self-care guide to help you become the CEO of your own life.
Yes, the woman famous for her intense-yet-inspiring rides and arduous-yet-aspirational strength classes wants you to slow the eff down and put pen to paper. But Robin, who welcomed her second child in July, knows that's easier said than done.
"I think back to when I was nine or 10 years old," Robin told E! News in an exclusive interview. "I tried 20 times in my life to start a 'Dear Diary' moment, I thought it was going to be like a Judy Blume book or something and it never materialized."
But a decade later, Robin credits the practice—which she admitted to starting "accidentally"—for helping her leave behind her career as a lawyer to pursue her passion for fitness.
"Just in an effort to reclaim my agency, I set a 10-minute recurring calendar appointment that blocked time, so that the other partners at the firm couldn't plan a meeting," she shared. "And it was in that time that I actually started journaling. My first journal was a legal pad."
An avid runner, Robin initially "grew to love and appreciate the stillness" that came from journaling, something she considers an essential aspect of a wellness routine, along with movement, and proper sleep.
"It serves two purpose," Robin explained. "It's cathartic and it allows us to release. It also should hold up mirrors to things that we want reflected back at us."
For the Swagger Society founder, that means a range of entries.
"Some of the things I write, they turn into a business idea or an email to my team," she detailed. "And then some of the other stuff is frustration, angst, anxiety, like that self-conscious version of myself that I can leave on the page.
"I realized as a runner and as an athlete, I could hold onto the process with a loose grip," Robin continued. "Once I allowed journaling to come naturally and less this work of art that I perceived it to be back in the day, I found a lot of freedom in it."
When it came to creating Welcome, Hustler, Robin wanted to help those who might be intimidated by the "paralyzing fear" of a blank page, including prompts, graphics, mantras and even her own personal journal entries as a guide.
"I encourage people to jump around and see what threads you want to pull on," the two-time New York Times bestselling author encouraged. "If there's a page and you don't like it, rip it out. Burn it! This is meant to be a living, breathing document. It's meant to go with you on your different chapters."
And the journal isn't just intended for your fitness journey, as Robin credited manifestation for her marriage, revealing she wrote out the traits she desired in a partner before meeting her husband, Drew.
"It wasn't really based on looks, and, of course, I wanted to be attracted to my husband," she detailed, "but I wanted to release the form and I wanted to really focus on how I feel, what our home looks like, what it feels like on a Sunday morning. Those qualities are what I really focused on."
Robin applies the same thought process to her business, working "to envision what would success look and feel like beyond a title or a bottom line," she said. "That allows me to dig a little deep with the details."
As Robin puts it, "someone who is willing to manifest with specificity and then work their ass off to achieve is a lethal combination."
Need proof?
"I literally manifested my wellness job at Peloton and the adjacent businesses that I have started since," she said. "That was coming home late from work as a lawyer, writing down things I wished and hoped I could get paid to do. And that's my life ten years later."
Not that Robin is done hustling yet, revealing she's in a "rebuilding phase" postportem now that 2-month-old son Atlas has joined older sister Athena, 2.
"One of the biggest things that called to me was the idea that it just takes one match to light a fire," she said of her current mantra. "There are so many moments where I'm physically fatigued and I find myself grasping for creative energy just because I am sleep deprived and stuff that felt easy in my third trimester of pregnancy doesn't feel easy right now. But I remind myself it just takes one spark. Keep showing up and discover what version of yourself is willing to light the fire today. Sometimes it's a spark, sometimes it's a blaze, and I give myself that permission, even though it's not easy."
To fuel that fire means committing to her wellness routines as an essential aspect of her self-care, especially as a busy mother of two and businesswoman.
"We have specifically arranged childcare for my husband and I for the 60 to 90 minutes where we need our workouts," she shared. "It's a requirement of our household that more days than not, we have that time. And that is something we are literally financially investing in with childcare because it is everything. It is literally how I can be a partner, a parent, a businessperson. That's the ground floor."
And whatever your foundation may be—whether it's a workout or grabbing a coffee with a friend—feel free to ignore any critics.
"That is such rubbish that we have to explain ourselves," Robin said of the pressure put on parents. "When you are away from your kids, you're neglecting them. When you're with them too much, you're not as fun as you used to me. You can't win, so if you are going to disappoint someone, at least make yourself proud so that you can be defensible when you look at your reflection in the mirror."
Or when you put your pen to paper.
Welcome, Hustler is available wherever you buy books.