Listening To The Non-Hustlers

One of the things that differentiates someone who hustles from someone who talks about doing things but doesn’t actually do anything is that they seek social validation for their businesses or projects. This is different than testing the waters to see if there’s a market/product fit… or in other words… if there’s demand for the product or service you’re trying to provide.

I’ll be honest. I used to do this in the past. You tell your friends your ideas. You tell them what you’re going to do and what you’re not going to do. You let their approval or lack thereof guide your decisions and projects. It’s quite possible that the majority of ideas I had in the past didn’t take off because I let someone influence me.

Here’s something that I’ve learned:

Never listen to someone who hasn’t done, is not doing or isn’t trying to do what you want to do.

I come across this all the time. Someone will say: “Yeah I heard that such and such is a bad idea” or “Yeah… that sounds really hard… good luck with that.” They might even spit stats that may or may not be in used or taken from the right context. Not too long ago, I was talking to a friend of mine about future projects he’s been talking about doing for a while. I’ve identified couple of really great business opportunities for him and tried to plant the seed in his head. I know he could really capitalize on his natural abilities but more importantly, he already has an audience and pent-up demand for what he does. He has a better chance than even I do (just on product alone) to get out of the 9-5. And make a lot of money. Well, he proceeded to tell me about how his friend told him not to get started in this particular route because other people have failed. I asked him if his friend had done or was attempting to start his own thing. And of course the answer was no. Since then, I haven’t seen major efforts to launch his venture. Nothing infuriates me more than mediocre people bringing down others to that level. But of course, if you’re going to hustle, you have to take responsibility for everything around you… including who you hang out with and how positive they are.

You can go through life with a million ideas and never execute because you listened to someone without proper background in giving advice. The only reason I gave my friend some pointers and advice was because I’M TRYING TO HUSTLE. I’ve been involved in a successful business (as a business owner) for over a year. My business is profitable. I’ve hustled, knocked on doors, made sales, marketed, created, branded, designed, followed up. I’ve done the things I’m telling my friend to do. But unless he finds someone he can be mentored by (acc. to my friend, I don’t understand his industry which I think is a big cop out answer), he’ll never get started because he keeps getting his advice by the wrong people.

Testing your idea to see how viable it is and asking for advice or validation are two different things. Most likely, your family and friends are going to be a horrible source of advice (or validation) unless they’ve done what you’re trying to do. And even if they’ve been successful entrepreneurs themselves, they’ll probably tell you to find someone in your own industry to follow. Get your advice from people who have done or are at least trying to do what you want to do.

As for your idea, test the validity of that idea from actual potential customers. Not your friends or family…who again… will most likely not buy your products and services. And if they do, it might be to make you feel good… which is a horrible thing in business because you’re getting the wrong type of validation and not learning whether you have a viable product or market.

Get the honest truth from the right sources and you’ll be better at what you do because you’ll know what and how to improve and you’ll have a better chance at succeeding at whatever you do.