Hustler’s Inspiration: Push It

No doubt that a lot of you may have seen a reduced number of posts over the month of September, and that is a perfect segway into this weeks Hustler’s Inspiration. This week, I would like to reinforce the idea of the push, that is the feeling or the drive necessary to fight through any adversity that you may face in your daily hustle. As they say, Life Happens, and hustler’s have to be ready for it when it does.

Pushing it separates the hobbyists from those who want a real career. There’s almost no place where this is more apparent than online and the world of blogging. If you choose to have a blog — excuse me, a successful blog — of course you know by now that content is king, followed by good levels of traffic and anything else that those Top 10 lists tell you is important for your future career. However, realize that so many of these lists exist, and so many people read them everyday, so you are going to have to stand out from the pack in order to have something that is truly different, and that is where pushing it comes in. No one advertises the push simply because it is not glamorous or sexy, but rather a “necessary evil” that involves hard work, dedication and drive. These are traits that often can’t be taught in school, but you can see it in examples of people and how they have built their lives: Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey and J.K. Rowling are often examples of people with drive because of how they first started out and overcame their various obstacles to obtain greatness. Of course, in the blogging world you have Steve Pavlina, John Chow, ShoeMoney and ProBlogger as examples of how a few keystrokes can turn into a few thousand dollars per month.

Keystrokes to…er, not that kind of cash

Ok, let’s try this again.

Yeah, THAT’S sexy!

Of course, even Da Hustler is attracted to writing a few good posts and waking up to a Google AdSense account full of riches, but without pushing it, all I’m attracted to is a dream. And as we all know, dreams are great places to be — until you wake up. So allow this to be your wake up call and continue your push to greatness. Remember, everyone had to start somewhere. Brand new hustles will be appearing this week so stay tuned!

Three female rap emcees emerged during a time when the industry was dominated by men.
They didn’t succumb to pressure, instead they pushed through it!

Hustler’s Inspiration: ShoeMoney Kicks Your Ass

And so does ProBlogger. And John Chow. Steve Pavlina kicks it hard, then has advice on how to nurse the wound.

Hopefully this advice will hit home to a lot of people getting into blogging because they want to get rich quick. Unless you have a plan that uses catchy headlines, a LOT of social bookmarking and networking, and several linkbait stories (such as the dude who tatooed ShoeMoney’s logo and website on his arm), then it’s not gonna happen captain. You’re gonna have to put your time in and earn your way to the top, so stop expecting to find a shortcut along the way. Even if you read all the sites out there and utilize all the advice that you can absorb, you still have to be yourself and be different.

Have an angle. Be an authority on a subject that isn’t common. Heck, even a good parody such as JohnCow.com is something ‘original’ and different. You don’t have to go to drastic measures to get attention, because as long as you offer something unique and valuable, you will naturally grow. I used to feel the same way about My New Hustle, wanting desperately to garner the attention of anyone willing to listen, but I realized that what I had to offer was indeed unique and different from the mainstream ‘make money online’ site, and thus I watched my readership and visits continue to grow since its birth. The same thing can happen to you, you just have to believe it is possible, then set out a plan to impact the world in your own unique way.

So stop comparing yourself to A-List Bloggers. They exist for a reason: to serve as an inspiration, not competition. They will continue to kick your ass until you have learned enough and given enough to climb your way to the top naturally. Any other way to the top will be short-lived, well, unless you’re this guy:

What’s creepier…the fact that he did it, or the way the guy looks?

Hustler’s Inspiration: Why President Bush Is Intelligent

Shippers do it. Miners do it. International travelers do it. Settlers did it. Even President Bush did it in regards to WMD’s.

Are you too good to do it?

One thing that really inspired me to do the ‘Hustler’s Inspiration’ series was other bloggers, and their attitudes towards accomplishing goals. Often I would visit a site and see webmasters advertise their hopes and dreams, either in their tag lines or in several posts. Most would post something such as “I want to be,” “I hope I can,” or any of the numerous variations of those statements. A couple of weeks ago I came across a travel site owned by a woman who goes by Debo Hobo (I have a knack for picking out some interestingly named sites). She wants to model herself after John Chow, the famous ‘Dot Com Mogul,’ and has a tag line that reads: The Ramblings of a Wannabe Dot Com Mogul. While nothing is inheritantly wrong with that, I thought that people could do so much more than just wish upon a star.

Debo Hobo Logo: Say that three times fast.

In one of my comments, I told Debo that she isn’t a wannabe, but rather a gonnabe. It’s really important for her and others to claim what they want, instead of shying away from it with statements based on a shaky foundation. We may ‘want’ world peace, a drug-free planet and no taxes, but how likely are we to actually get these things, especially if their are no set goals or plans in place? In contrast, ‘I will make $10k/month online’ is a much more solid statement that is based on a solid belief, and forces you to devise ways to achieve that goal. Saying that you will do something can inspire yourself to act, and it can influence others to pay attention to the next mover and shaker. Your mindset will shift as well, as you no longer are giving yourself an outlet to make excuses, but instead are forcing yourself to create a plan and really think about how you will reach the finish line.

So what exactly does it mean to ‘claim’ something? Let’s take a look at the definition:

claim /kleɪm/ Pronunciation Key – Show Spelled Pronunciation[kleym]

–verb (used with object)

In contrast, this is what we do when we hope, wish and want:

hope /hoʊp/ Pronunciation Key – Show Spelled Pronu[hohp]

–verb (used without object)

wish /wɪʃ/ Pronunciation Key – Show Spelled Pronunciation[wish]

–verb (used with object)

want /wɒnt, wɔnt/ Pronunciation Key – Show Spelled Pronunciation[wont, wawnt]

–verb (used with object)

In all of these examples, the meaning of the word was based on a feeling that may or may not come to pass. There is no certainty, no assurances, nothing concrete. If you don’t claim whatever it is that you want, how will you know that you will get it? The answer is, you won’t know. By definition, to claim is to take a much more powerful stance over the things you desire. You’re saying to the world that ‘this is (or will be) mine!’ and you are willing to do what it takes to maintain that stance. People have no choice but to respect that.

Even if you don’t reach your goal according to schedule or lose a couple of battles, claiming means that you will shake the dust off and get right back in race. Claiming is indeed, powerful stuff. Do you want to be successful, or do you already know that you will be? Claim it!