Find Your Reason to Hustle

"Crush It" Essay Contest Winner Announced

Monica Everdyke left a perfectly "safe" job working for a college to start her own photography business.  She works another job at an entertainment agency to supplement her income, and still finds the time to coach softball.  If that's not hustle, I don't know what is. 

I talk with people regularly about their vision of a more gratifying life, and it's really common for them to not pursue that life because of the risk involved.  Anything worth having is worth taking a risk!  Monica gets it, and that's why she's changing her life.  And she's going to crush it.

As the winner of our essay contest, Monica will get a free copy of Gary Vaynerchuk's book, "Crush It."  I'm confident that Gary's book will inspire Monica and help her take her business to the next level.

Teenager Shows that Entrepreneurial Spirit is Ageless

"Here's the deal:  if you want it badly enough, the money is there, the success is there, and the fulfillment is there.  All you have to do is take it.  So quit whining, quit crying, quit with the excuses."

-Gary Vaynerchuk, in his book "Crush It"

We live in the greatest country in the world when it comes to entrepreneurship.  If you have a good idea and are willing to hustle, you can make big things happen.  This article in Spirit Magazine is a great example.

Leanna Archer was eight years old when she first asked her parents about starting a business.  Today her company grosses about $100,000 selling her family recipe for hair pomade.  She's 13 years old.

If Leanna can do it, so can you.

Win a Copy of "Crush It" by Gary Vaynerchuk

I want to keep learning about ordinary, everyday people who want more than ordinary, everyday lives.  In my attempt to better understand what drives the entrepreneurial spirit, I'm holding this essay contest.  The winner will get a free copy of Gary Vaynerchuk's new book "Crush It."

Essay Contest

Write an essay that incorporates the answers to the following questions:

1. If you could "crush it" at anything in life, what would it be?
2. How would you rate your own level of hustle on a daily basis in life?
3. Who would you most want to be successful for, in terms of their approval?
4. What's keeping you from crushing it right now?
5. What's your age, gender, and economic background?
6. How do you hope Gary Vaynerchuk's book would help you?

Your essay should give a little background on you, share some of your personal experiences, and tie the questions above together to help paint that picture of you.  By submitting an entry, you give your permission for your essay to be used on www.findyourreasontohustle.com.  All entries must be submitted by Sunday, October 18, 2009.  Send your entry to paul@paulramsay.com

I'll announce a winner on October 21.  Good luck!

Many Jobs Will Never Return. What Should You Do?

Read this article from the Wall Street Journal and then think about where you're at.  Is it in your best interests to wait for a new job to open in your current field?  Or should you be thinking about switching careers? 

In my experience working with people, the average person waits for an opportunity to present itself.  There is something to be said for having this kind of patience, but it could also be argued that if you do this you're just wasting time.  Every week that goes by that you're not earning puts you in a tougher place.  Every day that goes by where you're not advancing your own cause is a lost day. 

There's no perfect answer, but do yourself a favor and step back from your situation every now and then to evaluate what's going on; don't get tunnel vision.  If you're truly passionate about your work and you are committed to your profession for the long haul, then focus your energy on getting a new job in that profession.  But if you only want to stay in that profession because it's comfortable and you don't know what else you would do, you could be headed for trouble.

It's What You Do That Matters

Over the past year I've had a lot of great ideas.  Ideas for how to grow my business.  Ideas for new products.  Ideas for how to be more happy in my personal life.  Most of them are still just ideas. 

Sure, I've made a few of them happen, but the list of unfulfilled ideas is growing all the time.  That has to stop.  If my life is to become a better life, a life with meaning, a life of achievement, then it has to be a life of action.

Who invented the lightbulb?  Thomas Edison, right?  Nope.  Edison gets credit for the idea because he found a way to improve the lightbulb so that it could be viable as a commercial product, but other scientists had been working on the idea of a lightbulb almost 70 years before Edison.  Edison's ability to take action that resulted in getting the idea to become a reality is what secured his place in history.

It's great to have an idea, but if you don't do anything about it, then you're kind of falling short.  Getting a degree, changing your career path, starting a family, getting healthier... you name it.  They're all just ideas until you decide to relentlessly pursue them and take action.

Susan Boyle Reminds Us That it's Never Too Late

Susan Boyle appeared on the finale of "America's Got Talent" last night.  Before her performance, the show ran a piece about what has happened in Susan's life since she was discovered on "Britain's Got Talent."  Basically the hype and the attention overwhelmed her to the point that she had a bit of a breakdown.  She went to a clinic for exhaustion after the finale of that show, and now has returned to the public eye with her appearance on the American show.

Her story is such a fascinating example of how dreams can come true, but also of the old cliche, "careful what you wish for."  By making the choice to pursue her dream, at a time in life when many people would have thought it was too late, Boyle took control of her own destiny and changed her own life.  Then, the reality of that change was something different than what she probably thought it would be like, and it had a serious impact on her well-being. 

When we dream about a better life, we don't usually think about the challenges that would come along with having that better life, and there are always going to be challenges.  If we truly wish to live the dream, then we have to create a more detailed vision of what it would really mean to live the dream, so that we can prepare to live it fully.  Susan Boyle was lucky to have people around her at the time of her health challenge who were invested in her well-being and her success.  I don't know who they are, but certainly there were people there for her who protected her and helped her get back on her feet again so that she can continue to live her dream. 

Most importantly, her appearance last night reminds each of us that it's never too late, IF we're willing to make the choice and take the leap like she did.

Here's My Biggest Fear

My intention in creating this blog was to provide a source of information and inspiration so that others might be moved to action.  I didn't want to make a million dollars off this blog, or get famous off this blog (both of which I am definitely NOT doing, so there are two successes, I guess).  Since I started the blog, I've pretty much used it as a way to centralize news items that connect to the recession, how it's affecting people, and how some people are doing well in spite of it.  Then, one day I realized that I wasn't really bringing myself to the blog, and I think that good blogs connect the writer to the audience.

It would be easy to think that I'm writing this blog as some kind of expert.  That's usually what people do, right?  They pick a topic and write everything they know about it for others to consume.  That's not what I am trying to do.  For me, this blog is a constant reminder of my own weakness; a lack of hustle.  This blog is my chance to role model what I know I need to do, and what I think millions of other people need to do. 

We all get afraid on a daily basis.  Fear is a natural part of life.  My biggest fear, the one that comes to me on an almost daily basis, is that I am wasting time.  Each day that goes by, I am reminded of something that I didn't get done, something that may have taken me one step closer to being the better version of me that I wish to be.  The time that could have been spent taking that step is lost.  Gone forever.

Your life is just time.  It's all about how much you can get done before the time runs out.  I'm 35 years old, but I think I've probably only lived about 20 years worth of good living, and that's nobody's fault but mine.  I've watched WAY too much TV.  I've said "no" too many times when I should have taken the opportunity.  If I died today, I wouldn't complain because I've had a really nice, easy life, but I certainly would feel disappointed because my life could have had a lot more substance to it than it's had so far.

In this regard, I don't think I'm much different from the average American.  I believe we are a good people, but a spoiled people.  I believe that we have all the resources to be the greatest society the Earth has ever known, but we definitely are not headed in that direction.  Too many of us are not maximizing our time, this one life that we are given. 

I can't be responsible for others, but I am responsible for myself, and that is my greatest freedom.  If I am going to make this blog a thing of substance, then I must challenge myself as I challenge others.  I have to make the time I have matter, and the only way to do that is to hustle.

What Role Does Fear Play in Your Life?

Fear is the most common theme I come across when working with my clients.  Fear keeps a lot of people from taking action.  It's important to understand the role that fear should be playing in our lives, and to also assess what role fear is actually playing in your life.  Once you've done this, you put yourself in a better position to recognize when fear is working for you, and when it's working against you.

When properly utilized, fear is a blessing.  Fear is a natural alarm system, a way for each of us to pause for a split second and consider what is going on in a given situation.  Fear saves lives.  Fear keeps us from walking up to wild bears and trying to pet them, from running into burning buildings, and countless other risks that occur in our lifetimes.

From a neuro-biological point, fear comes from the amygdala, a structure in the brain.  When a threat is perceived, the amygdala sends signals to other parts of the brain that increase our reflexes, release adrenalin to make us stronger and run faster, and change our heart rate and breathing.  This is all part of the fight-or-flight response.  All of these things happen without you having to consciously think about them.  That's the wonderful protective nature of the mind.

Fear can get out of hand, though.  If we don't practice using our intellect to control our fear, it can actually become detrimental.  There are lots of fear-based conditions that people suffer from.  Phobias and anxiety disorders can affect the quality of a person's life.  Fear can keep a person from taking simple risks that would have positive rewards.  Making a career change, moving to a new place, or entering a committed relationship can all have wonderful rewards, but many people avoid these things because they are afraid of failing in the new enterprise.

You deserve to have the highest quality of life that you can possibly have, but you also have the responsibility of creating that quality of life.  It won't just be given to you.  You have to carve it out of your life like an artist making a sculpture.  There's nothing wrong with being afraid as you journey through this process, but it's important that you create a way to evaluate your fears and decide which ones are valid and which ones are unnecessary.  Learning when to listen to fear and when to push on in spite of fear is a huge part of acquiring wisdom.

Finding Money for College

The recession has some states reducing their funding of college programs, and shrinking endowments have tightened the purse strings at many schools, as well.  Families have taken the hit on their investment funds, so there's less money to pay tuition.  It can be pretty scary if you're a college student right now.  How do you pay the bills?

U.S. News and World Report has put together an article that gives you some helpful advice.  Read it, use it, and keep hustling!

Money Lessons Learned from the Recession

Here's a quick, but helpful article from U.S. News and World Report online.  It gives you six lessons that the recession has taught many people.  Really they are nothing new, but many people are learning them for the first time.