What Does “Hustle” Really Mean?
Hustle is pursuing your passion when others aren’t.
Hustle is saying no to happy hour to prepare a pitch deck.
Hustle is having support emails sent directly to your personal inbox.
Hustle is waking up early on a Saturday to write a new company blog post.
Hustle is quitting Clash of Clans because it took more than 5 minutes of your day.
Hustle is wearing jeans for a week straight to reduce cognitive load and decision fatigue.
Hustle is skipping dinner and a movie because that $50 is two months of your team’s Github plan.
Hustle is tracking and measuring everything you do to ensure you’re spending time on worthwhile activities.
Hustle is having a constant thirst for knowledge. Doing anything and everything to improve.
And, yeah, sometimes Hustle is physically running to make a meeting on time because “traffic sucked” isn’t an excuse.
If you’re involved with the startup world, you hear “HUSTLE!” a lot.
It’s become synonymous with entrepreneurship. It’s transitioned from a verb to a mindset. This makes it tough to define.
More important is the objective behind the tactics… To create a value-adding product/service which, consequently, receives ubiquitous adoption. And doing everything you can to make it happen.
Another way of saying this…
Willing something into the world with everything you have
That’s not easy.
Taking something that doesn’t exist… and making it exist.
Making others understand it. Accept it. Adopt and embrace it.
That takes Hustle.
The actions. The mindset. Everything.
There’s another set of (equally important) actions that people unfortunately don’t talk about as often. The ones that prepare you to Hustle…
The Hustle Prerequisites
Preparing to Hustle is meditating in the morning before checking email.
Preparing to Hustle is walking during calls to stretch your legs and get fresh air.
Preparing to Hustle is stopping work to sleep. Knowing the extra hours at 50% won’t move the needle.
Preparing to Hustle is listening to your body and your mind. And taking care of them both.
Preparing to Hustle is not being afraid to ask for help when you need it.
Preparing to Hustle is not feeling alone. Having a support network cheering you on every step of the way.
Now — stop reading. Go Hustle!
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About Me: I’m Adam, a product manager turned founder. I write about my journey as an entrepreneur (building Moved) and a lifelong learner. Subscribe here to receive new content as I publish it.
