Your “hustle” is not cool anymore

(I don’t proof, or erase once I write, just FYI)

Over the past couple of years I have started to hear and talk a lot about “the hustle”… The rappers, athletes, and social media have led us all to believe that all they/we do is “grind” and “chase that paper” etc…I myself have fallen victim to this and I think I realize what people are actually trying to say and it is time that we break it down.

I was recently at a real estate gathering in Newport and heard someone that is in our industry trying to sell themselves (even though they swear they were not)…  Their pitch included how hard they work and they are “always” available and “if you call me Sunday at midnight I will answer, my phone is always on!!!”   Now don’t get me wrong, I get what people are trying to say when they use this approach but all I could think when I heard this God awful pitch was “Man, your business must suck and you must not be that efficient with your time if you have to answer your phone at midnight”. 

Someone who is really trying to develop a good business and not just put on a façade to the general public will develop systems, checks and balances, a schedule, time blocks, protocols, and standards… Running a successful business doesn’t have to mean you are burning the candle at both ends.  I think it is just the opposite… If you are diligent with your time and can hold yourself and team accountable to stay on track you can most likely get more work done in less time.  Who is the smart one now? 

In real estate in particular I think we fall victim to doing whatever the client wants us to do for fear of losing the deal.  This is not to say that you should not focus on customer service, actually it is quite the opposite and I personally am learning ALOT about this currently from a great real estate agent in our market.  Setting the proper expectations, rules and boundaries falls under customer service…  This is someone’s most important purchase of their lives and I think that we need to find the balance of “being there” for our clients, but also getting clients to understand that there are “boundaries”.   If a real estate does not answer their phone at 7:30 or 8 o’clock at night, guess what???  They are probably with their family and that boundary needs to be respected.  Leave a message and get a call back the next day. 

The fact that smartphones and email make us available 24/7 does not mean that we actually are?  Quality of life is important because if your personal life suffers due to your inability to “shut it off”, mark my words when I say that it is only a matter of time before your work life suck because your personal life sucks.  It is inevitable.  I challenge you to take that “hustle” and turn it into a “plan”.   Once you have a plan, you are on your way and then you can hustle because by the very definition “hustling” is not a bad thing, but it is “hustling” with no plan in mind that gets people headed down the path of long hours, and subpar results.

hus·tle verb \ˈhə-səl\ : to move or work in a quick and energetic way

plan noun \ˈplan\ : a set of actions that have been thought of as a way to do or achieve something