Hustle But Keep It Legit

Hustle But Keep It Legit

I meet young folks on daily basis, some calm, some very persuasive while others are just heady but one thing you cannot take away from them is how enterprising they are. Many CEOs at age 25; no matter how small the business is or how naive the idea is, they own it with pride. Things have changed and youths these days want to make it before 30. This is laudable and and believe me, if you are over 30 and still don’t have a sense of direction, you need to buckle up.

Some time ago I met a young lady and we got talking. She actually came to lodge a complaint about a service she needed to access but she wasn’t able to. In a bid to satisfy my customer, I had to improvise and was able to find a temporary solution for her.

This left her full of joy and a bit chatty. She introduced herself and her business, so inquired how she has been coping with her hustle especially with the COVID19 lockdown. She said things haven’t been easy and some times when she looks at other ladies she feels like she is missing something. She said, she sees other ladies driving luxurious cars, shopping abroad, hanging with big guys and living the life, yet they can’t point to any hustle or job that fetches them money. She said, some times she just wants to abandon her business all together and ask these ladies to show her the way.

In her eyes, I could see the passion for business and I could also the see pain of feeling left out. So I smiled and told her, I completely understand how she feels. Having to watch people ripe where they have not sow, having to see people do things that they should not be proud of and yet receive accolades and worship from people (fans), having to see people celebrate illegalities and overlook legal hustle, having to see unclad pictures and videos get all the attention and no one is willing to acknowledge the efforts of the innocent and on and on like that. She nodded!

I told her it is the social media world we now live in, many youths are pressured, some even by their parents, to make it either by hook or by crook and in as much as the temptations are high, we also have enough reasons not to lower our standard and be part of the ill in the society. Majority might believe that morality is a joke and isn’t worth it so long as you are making money and you are being celebrated. However, being upright, of high moral standard isn’t something you do so that you can be applauded, it is something you do so you can have peace of mind now and in future.

Having a legitimate hustle, might mean starting small and growing slow but steady, the money might not rush like you would like it but when you are consistent, you would eventually hit gold.

What is the essence of having it quick and it doesn’t last? Or having it huge and ending up being incarcerated before you could even start to really enjoy it? Or having it now and you can’t pass it to your children? Or having moments of fun and a lifetime of regrets? I told her there are five reasons I will advise her to stay focused on her hustle and not get distracted by what others are doing.

1. Karma: Whatever you sow, you shall reap that’s the law of Karma. If one sows the wind, one will definitely reap the whirlwind. Every decision has consequences; a person’s actions will come back to them. So it is safe to hustle legit, so that you reap huge legit rewards as against reaping a whirlwind.

2. Peace of mind: There is so much peace that comes with being on the right path. I took an interstate bus recently and a woman in the bus said I should come and sit at the back because police usually search people who sit in the front. I just smiled and told her, I don’t mind to be searched. When you do a legit hustle, you will be so at peace with yourself and the world around you because you have nothing to hide and nothing to fear.

3. Fun, Full and Forever: All three is only possible when your business or source of income is legit. It might take a while to get to that point but as you build gradually it becomes sustainable and then it overflows. You can’t build a life on ill-gotten wealth and hope it lasts forever, even if you had fun and it was full, it can’t be forever.

4. Future Regrets: You look at yourself 20,30 years from now, where do you see yourself? With your legit hustle, you can see yourself in many beautiful places and positions. You can see yourself, in other business lines and business empires. However, for an illegal hustle or body selling, there is always going to be one end, Future Regrets! There is no escape, the hands of the law might be slow and fragile but eventually it will catch up with criminals. And when the law fails, there is always a God, who is impartial, no matter how much people may want to rationalize or normalize harming others to enrich themselves.

5. Joy of success: There is a joy that comes with success, when your hard work pays off and you just want to share your secrets and testimonies with others. That feeling is what people doing illegal hustles will never know. The fact that you are able to speak publicly about your hustle, is a form of fulfillment on it own. That’s why most people who do illegal businesses or business they are not proud of try to have a cover business as front but it is never going to be enough to give them that joy.

So I concluded by saying this to her, “Lady be proud of yourself, you have kept your moral standard, shown your passion for your hustle and up until now you have stood your ground against selling your body or going into illegal hustle, and I am also proud of you. The sky is your limit, it may be slow growing but it would last forever. Don’t fall for the temptations, it might glitter but it is not gold because it can’t stand the test of time.”