HUSTLE MAN!

 

Hustle man, I believe was one of the favorites on the hit TV show “Martin.”  The actor Tracy Morgan gave us laughs every time he was on the show.  Hustle is a very common word in the African American Community.   It’s the word we used before many of us understood or respected Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurship.  Yes, for many those words were taboo.

There is a discipline that comes from working for someone.  They tell when you  when to come in, how long you get a break, what you can do, what you cannot do, how long for lunch and when you leave.  They even dictate for you the order you do your work, the way it is prioritized and then evaluate how well the work is performed.   However a majority of society still feel that the pursuit of obtaining a job (just-over-broke, jumping-over-bills) is by far the most admirable thing one can do.   In the African American Community, too often an entrepreneur meant someone who couldn’t hold a job or keep one long, it would also be the ‘code’ for illegal activity.  There were so many things that could go wrong for the person that didn’t work the regular 9-5.  He or she stood out and standing out has never been a good thing in the hood.  (I refuse to go into the details of that last statement because it would change the entire blog, we’ll discuss later).

Hustle was a dance move in the 70’s, but more importantly in the African-American community it was used to describe that person in the streets that worked multiple jobs, angles to provide a living for his or her family hence the funny character known as Hustle Man.  Every community has one!  I would argue that the best and most successful entrepreneurs have a hustle mentality that is key to their success!

I could refer to Webster but I will not.  A hustle mentality for an entrepreneur is having multiple plans for not returning to a job.  In Caucasian terms, (please no offense, I’m exaggerating for effect not offense) the term would be building an empire or enterprise.  Basically, one would take a series of jobs, or hustles and make them work.  It’s something as Black people we’ve done for years just to survive.  Accustomed to never being paid enough to do the same job as a white counterpart, taking on other jobs has always been the plan!  The jobs became entrepreneurial and at one point the service industry was shades of black n brown.  Somewhere along the line, we lost the hustle as opportunities opened up for more professional jobs.  Nothing wrong with the professionals, the doctors, the lawyers, nurses, scientists, paralegals, bankers and the like but if one is to survive and thrive, we’ve got to get the hustle mind back!

As an entrepreneur, the ability to focus on multiple projects is key.  I’ve heard people say recently that we as people don’t really multi-task but yet on every job description, I read the ability to do so has landed me in multiple places.  Not only that, as a woman, I multi-task daily balancing work n family and oh yea my hustle!  I digress.  Part of the entrepreneurial pursuit is being successful and that formula must include being focused enough to complete a pursuit and yet focused enough to work on others as well.  Having an entrepreneurial hustle may mean working two projects at once or working a regular job while building the business on the side.  It can be done but not with a limited mind.

The entrepreneurial mind has to grasp the concept and the discipline of working for another and yet understand the grasp of leadership and building USING the discipline gained from being under leadership.  He or she has to have a hustle, a get up and go when everyone else is stopping and resting.  He or she has to multi-task, working today but planning and thinking about tomorrow.  YEA it sounds impossible and sometimes it feels that way but entrepreneurship and a hustle mentality is beyond the right here and right now, it’s only for those who are really generational changers!

We called the guy in the hood a hustle man because often his product would change.  One day he was selling t-shirts, the next day purses, the next hour hats and the last thirty minutes of the day, watches.   People would laugh at the hustle man talking about how confused he was or that he couldn’t keep a job.  I wonder why we don’t laugh at ourselves going to work for enough money to keep us coming back the next day.  (just say hmmm)  NO One has ever gotten rich nor will they ever get rich working for someone else.  Not only that, the more you make the more you spend.  The thing about a hustle mind is the value of the dollar is ever present in your mind.  The discipline (ah ha) of having to make things happen takes your mind to new levels, new ideas and possibilities.  All of a sudden, you think more and think greater than 40 hrs a week and two weeks vacation.  It causes you to leave the wheel, hamster.

Yeah get the hustle mind back!