Hustle With Humility
Every entrepreneur knows that success is all about the hustle, but for me, I always try to remember to “Hustle with Humility”. Why should you have humility when you know you are a badass captain of industry who closes million dollar deals like closing a car door?…..because sometimes you can have the most profound effect on other people’s lives when you least expect it.
For instance, I’m flying out of town last year, headed to Palo Alto, which is 30 minutes North of San Francisco, for the Passover weekend to spend some much needed down time with my 93 year old Poppy and the rest of the family. I rush to the airport with a million different things whirling around in the back of my mind, but most importantly, I was making that flight to Palo Alto. Nothing else mattered, just don’t miss the flight, don’t think about all of the deals you have going back home, don’t think about being “On” every moment of the day in case you meet a potential prospect, just don’t miss the damn flight Elijah!…and then a voice breaks my concentration. It was the voice of the SkyCap who was helping me with my luggage. He mentions to me in a quiet yet proud voice that I have a powerful name. In fact, he continues to tell me, he named one of his sons Elijah because he knew, right from birth, that he was meant for great things, so he had to give him a great name, a powerful name. So he gave his son the most powerful name he could, Elijah.
No! Not Now! I can’t miss my flight! I don’t have time to swap fortune cookies with someone that I probably won’t ever see again! So I looked up and as my eyes met his, the skycap with the eyes of a proud papa beaming with pride, the quick dismissive response that was on my lips disappeared and before I could gather my thoughts I found myself responding to him. I tell him that i, like him, believe there is power in a name, especially when that name comes from loving parents who raise their children to believe that they are born on this planet for a greater purpose. I then share with him an acronym I developed from the letters of my name to remind me of my greater purpose…
E= Empowering
L= Leaders
I = Inspiring
J = Joy
A = Applied to my life daily
H = Hustle with Humility
As I finished telling the SkyCap that the “H” in my name reminded me to always “Hustle with Humility”, his eyes welled up with tears and then he timidly asked if I would kindly write down the acronym and the meaning behind it so that he could share it with his wife and son. In fact, he said as he continued to fight back tears, that he would have a painting made each and every year with his wife and son, and each painting would contain that acronym, this way they would always be reminded of how you can speak positivity into someone else’s life through the power of their name. So after a couple more minutes of hand shaking and bro hugs, I headed into the airport to make my flight. As I settled into my seat on the plane, I realized something, that Skycap had taught me much more than I had taught him.
Every time, I feel my head getting to big or I feel too rushed to give a damn, I think back on that SkyCap and the tears in his eyes and I can’t help but remember to always “Hustle with Humility” because you never know the subtle yet powerfully positive impact you can have on others lives, just by sharing a little of yourself, a little of your time with them. The feeling I got as I looked into that proud papa’s face,his eyes filled with tears, is what lets me know I am on the right path. What assures you that you are on the right path? Do you share a little of your light with others each day, so that you may light their path to becoming the best version of themselves? So go on there Mr. Big Head and be too important to give a damn, as for me, I’m always gonna hustle with humility, a proud Skycap at the airport made sure of that.
