Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter

by Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson

The truth is that I work much harder than I play. That’s because I enjoy the work more. My

Figuring out the next deal, working on the next script, or planning the next album is more exciting to me than any beach or five-star resort.

It’s why a lot of people who work with me compare me to a robot or a machine. I’m made of flesh and blood just like everyone else, but I want it more. What really separates me from the pack is that I’m willing to hustle harder and make more sacrifices than 99 percent of the population.

Plenty of people might be willing to outrap, outperform, or even outsmart me, but no one—and I mean no one—is ever going to out-work me.

It’s not enough just to say you want to work hard. You have to commit to lifestyle choices that allow you to have the energy, focus, and stamina to actually do the work, too.

So many people prioritize lifestyle over work and then wonder why they can’t get ahead.

I just don’t need booze to enjoy myself.

AMzing

It’s very hard to stay relevant and keep your finger on the pulse of the culture if you’re afraid to go out and absorb the music in the club setting.

If there’s information you’ve been looking to get out of your co-workers—or even your boss—this is the time to get it. Your normally tight-lipped co-workers will be

all booze did was bring out his weakness and render his character unstable. And it wasn’t just him; across the board, it seemed that

All that I’d ask is that you are honest in your appraisal of the role drugs and alcohol play in your life.

Bill Clinton has probably inhaled more weed smoke than me.

HAhaha

I’m always at my most comfortable when I’m in complete control of my surroundings. And that’s very hard to do when you’re high.

get my energy from working out, and that hour or two in the morning carries me through the rest of the day.

I love knowing that I’m outworking my competition, but I also realize that I need to find a way to make sleep a bigger priority.

“The real secret is the most successful people have awareness of what their body needs and sleep whenever necessary.”

I’m trying to improve an aspect of my life, thirty days is the goal I set for myself. And I’ve always been able to meet my goal in that time frame.

When you break those habits, you’re going to be amazed by how much you can accomplish when you free up your focus and put everything you have into your work.

Because if you’re not able to focus and direct your hard work, you might be hustlin’ hard, but you won’t be hustlin’ smart.

It was an incredible victory—unprecedented, really—and after nine years behind bars and the suicide of the prosecutor involved in his case, Isaac was finally set free.

AMmmazing

There are a lot of people—way too many—who’ve been wrongly locked up but never came close to fighting their injustice the way Isaac did.

Isaac wasn’t willing to wait for someone else to decide if his life was worth fighting for. He took his fate into his own hands.

pun

Joke exploitin dofferent meanings

“What could I achieve with the same level of focus in my own life?” What if you spent seven or eight hours a day working toward something without any distractions?

I need this

Someone with a weak passion stance will probably get knocked over the first time they meet a little resistance. I’m not interested in being around that sort of energy.

Someone with a strong passion stance, on the other hand, will really dig in. Get their feet planted and shoulders squared up. So no matter how hard the world pushes back, or how much negativity gets thrown their way, they ain’t budging an inch.

My passion for acting, however, is just as strong as it is for music or business. There’s something

All Things Fall Apart.

I want to watch thiS

Freelancers.

To watch

All I know is that in the brief moment I saw him outside my tinted window, the only energy I felt coming from him was contentedness. It made me legitimately ask myself, “Yo, is this guy fuckin’ beating me in life?”

Hahahaha

What I was hustling for, and what I’m still hustling for today, is freedom.

Any of those scenarios is fine, as long as you are crystal clear about whatever it is. Without that clear vision, your hustle is never going to take you anywhere significant.

needed a flashy ride to announce to the entire neighborhood that I was a force to be reckoned with.

Hahaha

A lack of clarity about what people really want is what’s holding so many folks back.

In order to get the most out of your hustle, you have to be able to clearly define what you’re working for. For examples of how not to do it, take a look

Making boards with each other is a great way to get a lot of unspoken things out in the open.

vision board. The power of vision boards is real and very accessible.

This mentality is why people like me, Jay-Z, Puffy, Nas, and so many others have all done so well in corporate America. We keep finding success because we don’t get thrown by life’s inevitable setbacks.

I have to understand something completely before I’ll write a check to back it. I’ll spend hours online researching the industry, tracking its history, and figuring out who the most important players are. Then I’ll call any smart person I know who has experience in that space and try to pick their brains. Do you think there’s room for growth? Or is the space flooded? Am I going to meet resistance if I make a move? What’s that resistance going to look like? Who do I need as an ally?

But when he lost, it was a different story. If his team lost at 8 p.m., he could have thirty people in his suite ready to party, but he’d be in bed by nine.

Such discipline haha

At the end of the day, I like betting on sure things. And the only sure thing you can always count on, 100 percent of the time, is yourself.

No, they’re all going to tell you the same thing: their greatest skill is being an astute judge of character. Nobody, not even a rapper, makes it

watching someone in action, you’ll have to rely on instinct more. But once you do feel confident about someone’s loyalty and work ethic, that’s a person you need on your team. It’s a rare combination in the business world, but one that’s extremely valuable.

You won’t have the luxury of carrying anyone giving you anything less than their best.

No matter what position you’re in, when you make rules that benefit the collective good, you need to enforce them. Don’t let someone who’s focused only on themselves ruin it for everyone else. They can be hard rules to live by, but doing so will always pay off in the long run.

When someone perceives themselves as disposable, any sense of loyalty will vanish. Instead of waiting for an opportunity,

Confidence is great, but too much of it can make a fighter vulnerable.

“This motherfucker is trying to take food out of your children’s mouth. Do . . . not . . . let . . . him.”

HAaahaaha

Omari kept telling me he didn’t care if he lost the role, but I knew he didn’t mean it. That was just his ego talking.

Omari was prepared to let that opportunity pass without putting up a fight.