I can’t go online without seeing “#hustle” or “#hustling” painted across my social media. Apparently, my friends are “hustling” on their way to the gas station. Somehow they’re “on the grind” while seeing the latest Marvel movie or getting pizza. These terms are so overused, YOLO suddenly took a backseat.

Don’t get me wrong, the positivity of motivational posts are admirable and great. But I have to wonder, if I’m seeing a person post #inspiration everywhere, what are you actually getting done? When you spend so much time getting hyped by liking/sharing motivational posts, you’re taking precious time away from actually accomplishing those goals. I think it’s time we had a heart to heart.

#1 What does it mean to hustle?

Opportunity is everywhere, with the internet creating a democracy for business. Everyone can sell, market, and post online. And that’s the problem. Everyone can sell, market, and post online. With all this white noise floating around, it’s hard to figure out what to do or who to listen to. What does it really take? Is your friend Jo actually the “biggest hustler out there” while he binge-watches all of House of Cards?

Let me fill you in.

It’s not about being the best. It’s about having the patience, resilience, and willingness to put in the effort. You become the best by working harder than everyone you know. Simply put, there will always be someone working harder than you. The grind is keeping up that, with everyone else, consistently. The real hustle is putting in more effort, time, and sacrifice than you could ever imagine. Starting from the beginning of your journey, it means working really, really, really hard. Weirdly enough, this is where people usually get stuck or give up entirely.

As human beings, we’re inclined to make excuses for ourselves. Working hard becomes tiring and we and say it’s money, we can’t afford to do it. This is our biggest hurdle in our attempts to accomplish our goals.

That’s the true meaning of “hustling”. The willingness to put the effort into your dreams and not stop, for any reasons. Need to pay the bills? Keep your job and work your side-hustle during any free time. If you’re not willing to put in the effort, then you’re not ready to step up and play ball. It’s not hard, it’s long and tedious. Well I lied, it’s also really, really hard. How?

#2 The biggest secret of all

You don’t have to be great.

By Laws of Nature, if you put time and practice into learning something, you’ll eventually get good enough. Even if you’re the very worst ever at drawing, with more time and practice, you literally have to get better. It’s the by the laws of nature. No excuse, even if you mess-up royally or learn from a terrible mentor. If you adjust your sails, you have to get better over time. Time is the key word here. With time and effort, anything is possible.

“If you can dream it, you can do it” – Walt Disney 

I said you don’t have to be good, that doesn’t mean you have to work any less. The key is working smarter, not harder. That’s the goal and the endless mantra you should always tell yourself. Some parts will easier just as some parts become harder, like everything else. Time and effort are essential because it all comes down to :

1.  How patient are you?
2.  Are you willing to wait while you get better? How much effort are you willing to make time for your dream?

#3 Time Is Everything

The biggest part of the side-hustling is making the time for it, like scheduling date night. If you can eat ramen for a week to pay for that cruise, you can certainly invest in yourself. Find a job relating to your dream job or whatever your goal may be. If you can’t quit your job, work harder and gain experience elsewhere. As I stated earlier about our internet democracy, literally everything is at your disposal. Invest in online programs through recommended websites or enroll in college classes pertaining to your field. Skip the Marvel movie to accomplish anything and everything to help improve your skills in whatever your dream may be.

I honestly believe most people are put-off to this all when motivational speakers become too tough or use tough love. When people say “there’s no excuse” it’s not from a lack of empathy. Honesty is key, and it’s okay to admit working two or three jobs sounds impossibly hard. Working super hard isn’t the most fun lifestyle, it’s one of the myriad of reasons why independent businesses so frequently fail. Not only is it work, but it’s time. Time is the key, remember? People become discouraged when they finally gain the self-discipline to work really hard consistently and it doesn’t work out right away. That’s understandable, everyone wants instant gratification. That’s not the reality though, and it’s okay if working super hard doesn’t sound like a fun lifestyle for you. It can take months to years before you even see results, and it’s hard to handle it all yourself. The easiest way around that is to pay someone else to do it for you.

#4 Be Resourceful

You know the saying “there’s an app for that”? There’s a website somewhere ready to help you, right now. There are infinite online programs, business, or independent contractors ready to help you with anything and everything. Outsourcing has become a wonderful tool readily available to anyone because of the internet. 

Hire a cheap virtual assistant to save three hours in your day to read that book that will teach you what you need to know. Pay $15 to have someone do your laundry while you take that free seminar on public speaking or attend that university class that will help towards your degree. If you have more funds? More power to play with to be more efficient. There are businesses for practically anything you can think of, offering their services to help you directly. Have an invention or product that you have no idea how to make, market, or distribute? We at Source Direct make it our priority to assist people in creating and selling your dream product creation. We specialize in manufacturing and distributing and offer our services with every step of the process. We can help from the patent process to selling your dream product in stores for you.

If there’s a will, there’s certainly a way. There’s really no excuse with all of the free information available on the internet. It’s all up to you. Do you want to hashtag “hustle” your way through Netflix, or do you want to get started?

Krissy Pizzo is a writer and social media expert for Source Direct based in Palm Harbor, Fl. If you have any additional invention tips or comments, feel free to email her at kpizzo@thesourcedirect.net.