“People are about as happy as they make up their minds to be”
Now those aren’t my words, they are Abraham Lincoln’s. They are still very true and often disregarded.
My adaptation to this would be “People are about as successful as they make up their minds to be.”
People may disagree, find fault with that statement or plain call me names. I don’t care because I have made it up in my mind that I would be successful. The first time I said it out loud, I was about 10 years old. I actually said it as a way to torture my younger brother. I told him that he would be a homeless person and that I would be a millionaire. Now I am not exactly proud of telling him that, but we were young and that’s what boys do – they terrorize each other.
What was remarkable about that situation was that he asked me how I was going to do it. See, he was also the first person to not believe I could do it. That was the first time anyone had asked me how. It was the first time that I had actually tried to answer it. It was the first time I had actually wondered myself – how will I become a millionaire?
At that time the only rich people I knew were doctors. I thought that was the sure path to riches. So that was plan #1 – go to medical school and become a doctor. Then, as I was learning from television, real estate is the source of riches. But you needed money to buy real estate. So I was going to roll my doctor’s earnings into real estate. That’s how I was going to do it. That was my plan.
Well, I went to college. And I was taking all the science classes I needed to prepare for life as a doctor. Since I had no money, no scholarship and parents that couldn’t afford a fancy medical school, I had to come up with another plan – how to pay for medical school. I thought that I could become a Registered Nurse first. The J.C. I was going to had one of the best R.N. programs in the country. I also heard that R.Ns were pulling in $35 an hour. That was crazy, insane money to me at the time. At the time I was making $5 an hour at the gas station.
Well I had to go to the junior college and nursing school. To do this I did three things:
- Work graveyard at a Shell Gas Station
- Groom dogs in the morning and afternoons
- Sell weed at all times in-between.
Yeah I did it. I needed the cash and it was an easy thing to get in the neighborhood I lived in. The funny thing was that I wasn’t smoking it. I had a partner that I would pay to test it, let me know the quality (what I couldn’t ascertain from the physical appearance) and I would make the buy. I had to stay clean. I was also selling urine to people I was selling the weed to. I will tell you more about that operation later. I learned a lot about people and business by selling dope.
Anyway, these jobs paid for college but left me little time for anything else. Then one night I was at a party on the university campus (not the JC I was attending) and I got arrested for possession of a weapon on school campus. One minute I am minding my own business and the next I was eating a brick wall with my arm between my shoulder blades. Where I am from, possession on a school campus is an automatic felony. Luckily it was the first time I was ever busted for anything like that and after about 10 days in jail, I was out on probation. That was good because life inside was not for me. Plus I think one of the guards had a crush on me – I got strip searched a lot.
But while I was inside I had the opportunity to look around. What I saw was that the people inside didn’t seem as surprised with their situation as I was. I was convinced that even until I got into the booking area, that I was going to walk away clean. I always got away with whatever I was doing. I never got pinched. I woke up quick, fast and in a hurry. I was not the “Teflon Don”. I was a stupid 18 year old who got busted and was looking at 3 years inside.
So there I was sitting on my rack and thinking about where I screwed up. I was thinking about my goals and my plans to be a millionaire. Seeing yourself as a millionaire while dressed in county blues is about as hard as growing wings and flying away.
I sat down and started doing some math. I realized that my path to becoming a doctor was so expensive that, by my estimates, I would be 45 years old before I graduated and paid off my student debt.
If I were a patient man, I would not have been in jail in the first place. My plan had flaws that I didn’t see in my youthful ignorance. It was time for a new strategy.
As I sat there, my dreams like so many shards of broken glass at my feet, I realized that what I was good at was making money. I was making about $50 a day at the gas station. I was making about $150 a day at the dog parlor and about $75 a day with my other projects. I had no bills but food and school. If I stopped paying for school, I would be flush with cash. What if I invested it? That was the day I stopped being hustled and became a millionaire in mind. That’s when I stopped getting pimped by my own ignorance and took my first step as a Hustler.
Now, my one biggest regret is that I didn’t finish college. I may still go back. It haunts me almost every day. However, my purpose in going to college was to become a millionaire. Well I did that. But nothing makes up for ignorance. And by not going to school I made mistakes that I could have avoided. I also took risks that paid off, that an education may have prevented me from making. If given the option, I suggest going.
Either way, I decided I was going to be a millionaire. It wasn’t easy. I slept in cars, I ate from garbage cans, I slept on couches. You name it, I did it. I know how bad it can get and I know how good it can get. But when I decided that it is what I wanted, I had to put everything else down. I had to put down the dope. I had to put down the drink. I had to put down the crimes I was committing. I had to put down the emotional baggage. I had to put down everything that prevented me from reaching that goal. I had to put down everything that took money out of my pocket and pick up every dollar I could put my hands on.
I accomplished that goal. My next goal is 10,000,000.00. I will let you know when (not if, when) I reach it.
One more thing that Lincoln said was…
“Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.”
Stay strong hustlers. If I can do it, you can do it.
How is it you Americans believe that being a millionaire makes you happy or succesfull? It seems that the quest for perfect teeth, silicone tits, permanant suntans and little else seems to be the norm. Did you ever hear of creating something that people admire you for?
Hustling! What the hell is that? Who wants to do anything with a hustler? I thought twice about leaving a comment but you need to get your act together.
While you are struggling to make your ten mill make sure that you get as much joy as you can everyday. There is a risk that chasing money will lead you to die a very unhappy fella.
Don’t think that God has anything to do with things either. He/She doesn’t exist.
In a country where 80% reckon on being “christians”,has more people in prison per capita than anywhere else on the planet, where 80% of the wealth is with 5% of the population,have created nothing other than the best song book around and trouble in the World, hustling is nothing to be proud of. Most of the country do it.
C’mon man. The Baldchemist
I debated a little about allowing your comments so I guess we are even.
I never shy away from a debate, especially on my views and perspective. I take from the tone and content of your post that you are neither American nor from an American “ghetto”. The term “Hustler” has a specific meaning in these areas that is not negative as you presuppose.
I will post shortly on how we are going to define what a hustler is as I am getting quite a few readers outside of the United States that I am sure could benefit. I assure you, being a hustler is something to strive for.
In reference to my goals, none of them come at the expense of my family or my life. Because of what I have accomplished I get to spend MORE time with my family than my parents did with me. My kids run around my office, go on trips regularly and have all the amenities they need. On top of this they have me as a resource to help guide them through life with my experiences. I spend many evenings at my desk working while my daughter is asleep in my lap.
What I will teach my children is that comfort and free time comes with the price of hard work and dedication.
Keep on hustlin’ I will get back to you soon Baldchemist
Hey, thanks for posting Hustler. I really enjoy your blog. It’s really hard to find genuinely good business blogs on the internet. I think I’ve only found a handful, including yours. Best of luck reaching that 10,000,000.00 goal!
The baldchemist is hilarious! Something tells me he has terrible teeth and no money. “Create something the world will admire.” Every person who does that gets paid lots and lots of money. Besides, admiration only gets you an awesome ulogy. Hustling is what every single successfull person in the world does, whether or not they realize it. Money makes the world go round, not love. Let’s keep it real, we all want it. We all need it. And only those who lack the guts to go get it, make ridiculous assertions like god doesn’t exist. So to you Hustler I say “Get money/ Stay True. I hope you get 100 million and all the trimmings!
Dear PJ.
Well I ain’t ugly, have great natural teeth; take a look at http://www.thebaldchemist.com to see what I do for a living. I could buy and sell you twenty times over.
They are not assertions are they? The words are there for everyone to read. If i am mis-interpreting them, then they are not very clear are they? The word hustle is ambiguous in that case and assertive would have been more poignant wouldn’t you think. Never leave the punter in doubt as to what you require or mean. Business and vey lucrative business is what i do for a living.
So before you start throwing insults about my person in the safety of distance I suggest you make some effort to find out about who you are addressing; or perhaps thats a hustle also?
Hustler, who did you debate with about allowing my comments. Censorship pehaps? Democratic?
if you publish in the public domain expect what you pitched for- comment. The Baldchemist
Just by the way here is a copy and paste from thesaurus about what a hustler is:
hustler
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: con artist; prostitute
Synonyms: call girl, cheater, fast talker, floozy, grifter, hooker, rip-off artist*, scam artist, streetwalker, swindler, whore
OK?
Baldchemist
I debated with myself on publishing your comments because you obviously didnt understand the context of the conversation taking place. I have no problem with the judicious use of censorship. I censor the material I put before my children and I wouldn’t have anything posted here that I thought contributed negatively or without merit to the conversation. That is my right and since I’m the Boss who pays the costs, I will do as I please.
You are right, the definition of what we refer to as “The Hustle” or being a “Hustler” was not clear. That’s why I defined it later in The Definition of a Hustler
But your posting of a definition doesn’t really prove your point. In parts of Africa, “Cookie” is is the common vernacular for vagina and “Dolly” is the common vernacular for a prostitute. In the UK they have more bizarre slang than you can wave a stick at.
Hustle, is derived from a Dutch word meaning to shake or move vigorously. Thats what we talk about here. Making vigorous moves. Of course, we talk about this metaphorically and literaly.
To Hustle means to be in motion. You will never accomplish anything by sitting on your ass.
You pulled “Hustler from a Thesaurus. I took a look at a dictionary and found the following…
hus·tle (hsl)
v. hus·tled, hus·tling, hus·tles
v.tr.
1. To jostle or shove roughly.
2. To convey in a hurried or rough manner: hustled the prisoner into a van.
3. To cause or urge to proceed quickly: hustled the board into a quick decision.
4. To gain by energetic effort: hustled a hot lunch.
v.intr.
1. To jostle and push.
2. To work or move energetically and rapidly: We hustled to get dinner ready on time.
3. To act aggressively, especially in business dealings.
n.
1. The act or an instance of jostling or shoving.
2. Energetic activity; drive.
All other definitions in the dictionary that were construed as negative were classified as slang. We have already learned that slang and literal translations can be quite different.
Thanks for checking back on us. I DO appreciate your contibution.
Oh one last thought.
I find it interesting that someone who condemed all for being financially motivated as being obsessed and lacking of moral character because they were not “Creating something that people will admire you for” would turn and say “I could buy and sell you twenty times over.”
Some of us are not “For Sale”. That is why we work for ourselves or work towards that goal. No one can “Buy” me. I doubt that PJ is for sale either.