Cut the Bull*$#% and Start Hustling
Yeah, I know it’s a harsh title but after three rewrites of this article, it’s the only appropriate one that fits. This is a message to myself as much as it is to my clients, prospective clients, and anyone else needing a good swift kick in the a*#…
You want something in life. It’s not what you have now.
This is basically a stripped down version of everyone’s life story. What differs though is the foundation of beliefs we all have about acquiring it.
The athlete envisions a win.
The average player believes he’s playing against an opponent and spends more time defending his/her goal than working on bettering their own game. They’re easily triggered by external forces. Game time becomes more of a judge-jury experience where they fight in every play to prove their worth.
The pro understands that they have already won and spend their practices winning the one battle that counts: the internal one. They know that if they can conquer their demons in practice, no one and no thing can use those triggers against them. When they show up to play, success is the only outcome they will accept.
The average player focuses on how others will view him/her, doing what matters only for show. The pro cares more about being a pro when it actually counts most…when no one is watching.
Why you’re stuck
Let’s face it, too many people are stuck on blame…it’s always someone else’s fault that we can’t win, right? They had better luck. They had more opportunities. They had a better environment.
“But moooommmm, they got more than me!!!” Do you hear the whiny kid inside?
The main thing differentiating an average mind from a pro mind is a shift in perspective from blame to extreme ownership. There’s no room to see how one can grow when focusing on all the reasons why they can’t.
Hobby vs Profession
You have a choice each day: find an excuse to not get the important things done so that when it counts you have a good story about why you didn’t succeed OR prepare each day to win the game before it’s played and learn how to better play the game along the way.
Life offers us many choices. We are given the chance to be active on offense, in control of the ball, working toward a win…or defense which forces us to keep our space safe, protect ourselves from the oncoming forces, and battling with the ball in the hands of of our opponent (usually played by our Ego).
If we manage to harness enough courage to take control of the game, conditioned beliefs, habits, and patterned responses will all challenge us to go back to defense. You can’t expect to go from zero to hero without properly preparing, right?
Now, not only do we have to figure out how to stay in control of the game, we now have to fight against the internal pull to give up, make excuses, and sabotage our efforts. The only good news…THIS is the beginning of the journey from average to pro and your life will be so much sweeter when you finally choose it.
In those tumultuous moments of will vs physical strength, committment vs mental stamina, we have a real opportunity to shine. It’s like saying “I’m ready, let’s do this!” to the Universe and embracing the hustle as your new flow despite the pain your Ego is trying to draw your attention to.
Hustling is a state of mind AND a daily grind
“Hustle beats talent when talent doesn’t hustle.” It’s the perfect way of saying your talents are worthless if you are not willing to use them. Good genetics, some miraculous ability, or even just a great idea have no impact if they are sitting on your shelf collecting dust.
Living a life that exudes excellence requires daily grind. It demands us to stand up in growth and expansion. It forces us to face our fears, challenges our comfort zones, and pushes every boundary we believe to be true.
Take action each day to grow and have no one to blame for your success but yourself….or choose to stay the same and stop making excuses for your stagnation as you have no one to blame but yourself.
