Hustling
“It’s almost impossible to make a living off being a producer,” says Endeavor agent Brian Swardstrom. “You have to be rich or lucky or you end up out of the business. You have to hustle to eke out a living. You can’t just sit there like the old days when you could call your friends and get a kickback. That’s long gone. Some like Scott Rudin and Imagine and Working Title are doing their own thing. Everyone else is hustling their ass off.” – Variety
The ironic thing is that almost every person I’ve met in Hollywood spends most of their time trying to do a little actual work as possible – to avoid moving the product from shipment to sale. In school, you’re trying to learn how to be good at school instead of figuring out exactly what it is you’re supposed to do. Hollywood is the same way.
And after reading about every major American hustler of the last hundred years, I don’t think I came across a single one that wasn’t 1) Intimately aware of every step of the process 2) Almost 100% self-taught. Jail, for many of them, was their lucky break because they used the time for education – something infinitely different than “schooling.”
So, are you learning to hustle?
There’s a good line in Seth Godin’s purple cow when he talks about a bunch of companies that are getting an edge on their opponents and how it is cheating. Then he asks, why aren’t you cheating?
Your idea is similar.
This is where the entitlement mentality slays otherwise intelligent people who could make it if they really tried. It’s really a matter of how bad do you want it? Many people are satisfied with just being comfortable. They don’t feel that need to be the best, or create the best. They just want to float along because they’re afraid of doing actual work.
Granted, that kind of attitude does not surprise me considering some of the jobs out there. Would anyone who isn’t obsessed with spread sheets be that interested in hustling as an Adjustment Claims Handler? I guess some people miss their calling, and their subconscious prohibits them from going full-speed in whatever safe vocation they’ve chosen for themselves.
On a side note, I don’t know about anyone else, but I think it’d be a great idea for Ryan Holiday to start a Tumblr blog. I’ve started a petition on mine here:
http://maxbro.tumblr.com/post/31853241
Do you have any book reccomendations on this topic?
I worked as a carny once. A good lesson in hustling, but not necessarily rewarding.
Reminds me a lot of Malcolm X.
“When I had finished the eighth grade back in Mason, Michigan, that was the last time I’d thought of studying anything that didn’t have some hustle purpose. And the streets had erased everything I’d learned in school; I didn’t know a verb from a house.”
Only in jail did he start the self-education process that made him the man that he was.
For me, it’s very coincidental that you would post this article know. I’m currently reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X, and just last night, I finished the section where Malcolm goes to prison due to hustling and spends every waking moment there devouring books.
It’s interesting to read because you can clearly see how his hustling and prison experience allowed him to be successful in his life after his release from prison.
Anyone interested in reading about hustling, I recommend reading both Autobiography of Malcolm X and also 50 Cent’s book, From Pieces To Weight. It’s also an interesting book, and one Ryan has recommended before.
This is why Rap music is dominating popular culture. Life is all about the hustle now. From Wall street to suburbia. Looking forward to reading “From Pieces to Weight”.
Ryan,
This was a great post.
This line is great: In school, you’re trying to learn how to be good at school instead of figuring out exactly what it is you’re supposed to do. Hollywood is the same way.
Keep it coming.
There’s no substitute for hard work. For every douchebag that achieves success through luck, there’s ten that got there by busting their ass.
The sad thing is, you never hear words like “sacrifice” anymore. Is it just me, or are we turning into a society of pussies?