THE QUESTION

“Outside of your job, what’s your hustle?”  An associate recently asked me this over lunch.

I never really liked this word.  In my mind it has too many negative connotations like: someone standing on the corner trying to get you to do something you don’t want to do; the telemarketer who calls during dinner trying to sell you junk you don’t need; the department store sales person who seems genuine as long as you buy something so he can reach his quota; and big business that promises you great discounts on materials already overpriced.

A LOADED WORD

What’s your “hustle”?  We hear this word a lot nowadays and it seems like almost everybody has an “angle of attack”.  I never wanted to be perceived as a “hustler”.  Was I just overreacting?   After lunch, I looked up “hustle” on the internet at dictionary.com and sure enough - out of 21 definitions for the word in all of it’s tenses - 14 were negative.  4 were neutral and only 5 were positive!

HUSTLE OR HUSTLER

Typically, when someone “hustles” negatively, they’re trying to get over on someone else by creating a product/reality/impression that has the illusion of great value, but in actuality has none - at least not for the person being misled.  The “hustler” knows they have nothing of real value to offer, but there’s quick money to be made at the expense of others.

However, when someone “hustles” in the positive sense, they are not lazy about what they are working on, knowing that those who are dilligent ultimately, reap the reward. They are creating, quickly, a product/reality/impression that actually has tremendous value for both them and others!

I am reminded of two individuals quoted by Farrah Gray, in his book Reallionare.

“Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.” - Abraham Lincoln p.24

“Those at the top are those men and women who have done the jobs they had with everything they had of energy, enthusiasm and hard work.” Harry S. Truman p. 54

A person who “hustles” positively, looks to create impact in the lives of others that will translate into lives being changed for the better.  And they realize that instead of sitting around ‘waiting’ for something great to happen (for someone to come to them to see what they are doing), they must ‘go out’ and demonstrate what they are doing so that others can benefit from their experience.

MY FIRST BOOK

I think about this issue of hustling as it pertains to my first book, Transition: Breaking Through the Barriers.  Because others told me that the content is powerful, I published it thinking that people would make a path straight to my door.  Some did, but most have not.  When it came to marketing the book, my ‘hustle’ was weak.  I was learning about what needed to be done, but I so intimidated by rejection and the things I had yet to learn, that I didn’t press forward to the necessary level and as a result, my readership has expanded at a slow pace.  So I may have failed in this respect, but the greater failure would be not to learn, make the adjustments and press forward in confidence to make genuine and lasting connections with others. 

MY HUSTLE

So, outside of work, what’s my “hustle”?  Besides promoting my first book of poetry, short story and short essay - right now, I’m deeply involved in getting my second book (a novel) ready for publication.  My “hustle” is creating an entertaining and powerful story that inspires teens to see beyond their circumstances and work to develop their full potential - because anything is possible, even with the economy being in a terrible slump. And as the novel is being prepared for its Spring 2009 release, my ‘hustle’ is to let as many people as possible, know about it.

WHAT’S YOUR HUSTLE?

So, what’s your “hustle”?  What are you excited about doing?  How do you want to make a difference in the world?  What are you doing about it? 2009 isn’t a time to panic - it’s a time to focus on what’s truly important. God has given each of us at least one ability that we are to use - not only to make a living - but to make an impact.  In my opinion, it’s one thing to hustle and another to be a hustler.  Which one are you?

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Filed under: Risks and Opportunities

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