Develop Your Hustle Plan

By Willie Jolley

In 2013, I believe there’s something more important than a business plan. It’s a hustle plan!

Take Outrageous Action
When I first started speaking, I discovered that the National Association for Campus Activities Convention was selecting speakers for the upcoming year. I desperately wanted to get into the convention hall to network for speaking opportunities. I had no money to pay the registration fee, so I did the next best thing. Standing outside the convention hall, I gave out my homemade yellow flyers marketing my services.

Soon, my friend (who was registered for the convention) twice admonished me to stop handing out my flyers: "Man, this is not how we do it. You are embarrassing yourself!" After he walked away, I continued until I had given them all out.

Later that day, a man hollered at me as I walked past the convention hall. I thought he was security and going to yell at me about breaking the rules. Instead, he asked if I had been the guy giving out the yellow flyers that morning. "Yes. I confess . . . it was me!" He replied, "Good! I’ve been looking for you all day! I’m the owner of the country’s biggest college booking agency. And if you have enough guts to hustle your materials like you did today, then I think you will be a big help to our agency.” He became my best booking agent for colleges!

Obstacles
When asked, “What keeps you from being successful;” people blame the government, the economy, their families, or the ‘‘isms’’ of life. You know, sexism, racism, ageism, etc. But, one important item is usually missing from their list - the person we see every day in the mirror - ourselves! We are the main obstacles to our success!

Overcome Yourself
Success follows the 80/20 rule. 80 percent of the work usually comes from 20 percent of the people. With personal achievement, this means we are responsible for 80 percent of our failure to hit our goals! And the outside obstacles are only 20 percent of the problem. That’s a WOW!

An African proverb states, ‘‘if you can overcome the enemy on the inside, the enemy on the outside can do you no harm!’’ Be brutally honest. Admit we are the biggest challenge to our own success!

Want to win?
Stop letting things happen to you. Hustle! Make things happen for yourself! Commit to overcome yourself – today!