BLOG: Part I & II: The Hustle, The Grind & SUCCESS

Part I & II: The Hustle, The Grind & SUCCESS

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Part I: The Hustle & The Grind

By understanding the difference between the hustle and the grind, you will maximize your potential for optimum success.

You often hear people say, “I’m hustlin’” or “I’m on my grind”, but do people really know the difference between the two? If you did, you would understand, you can’t or should never do one without the other.

What is a hustle? As a member of this over-glamorized organization called the “Entertainment Industry”, the hustle is the quick, creative things you do to outshine your competitors and survive the hard times. .

It’s the simple things like studying your craft when the competition is sleeping or doing your homework to know every detail about the key players and decision makers, so when opportunity knocks, you’re PREPARED to open the door. The hustle is going above & beyond the call of duty. When you’re given a start time, it’s arriving 15 minutes early so you’re not 1 minute late. The hustle also involves survival skills.

In my example, when I sacrificed everything to follow my radio dream and youth outreach passions, I gave up a $60k salary to make $7 an hour part-time, so when the well ran dry and I had exhausted all of my finances, the hustle involved applying at restaurants to be a server, because I knew it would be good money in a quick amount of time – and time was money.

It also involved creativity and developing key relationships with the real go-getter’s who could help my journey. I offered my time and services to Frank Ski, Greg Street, Block of Block Ent for FREE because I knew how valuable their endorsements and confidence in my ability would be down the line. In the end, it “paid” off because I have incredibly strong relationships with these 3 individuals. When these 3 people speak my name, they speak great things and because of their influence, it’s EVERYTHING.

What is the grind? Whereas a hustle is short-term, the grind is long-term. It’s what reveals real character and genuine dedication. It’s the longevity in you and that “never give up no matter how hard it gets” approach.

In my example, when I began my career as an unpaid intern, no one guaranteed me a part-time slot after 2 months, and no one promised me a full-time salary after 2 years, so when I set on this road to make it, I said I would give it my all until I made it - period.

There were a long list of uncertainties, but my faith outweighed my fear and I committed without question. This is the beauty of the grind; it’s the heart of a winner, the passion of survivor. You don’t give up because the door gets slammed in your face and you don’t quit because 10 people told you, ‘No’. The only thing 10 no’s mean, is that you need to go knock on 100 more doors to get 1 yes.

When you consider the industry’s most successful people like Puff, Jay-Z, Will Smith, Beyonce and such, you must consider their path prior to the glory.

What do all of these people have in common? We see the glory, but few know the story. These individuals share an uncommon commitment to a long process I call the ‘grind’. Look where they are now… multi-millionaires living out their dream, and getting paid to do things they would be doing for free. But when the Record Execs told Jay-Z and Puff they weren’t good enough, did they give up? No, they continued forward until that one person gave them the ‘yes’ that opened the door to a whole new world.

What’s my secret to success, many people ask? Well, besides having an unwavering amount of faith in God, I quickly understood I had to be CREATIVE with my HUSTLE and COMMITTED to the GRIND… And the result is being blessed with success, as I define it.

Part II: The Miseducation of SUCCESS

So often, we watch an over consumed, quite materialistic and superficial societies define success as the amount of money and things they have acquired. For the majority of my life, I believed the hype and even anticipated my slice of this “Success Pie” I saw being passed around. At one point, I could even taste the sweetness and also knew I would be worthy of having second’s.

But as I came into my spirituality, got saved, and further developed my relationship with Christ, I realized, success had ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with any of these tangibles.

For me, success is everything intangible. It’s a peace within my heart and my mind. It’s a peace I didn’t find until I found God.

Once I fell in love with God, I gained a peace that reassured me of my purpose & outlined His favor. While I still am not making the money I deserve, still don’t have the car, home, shoes and handbags of my dreams, I have made it and I bask daily in my success because I have a peace within my heart. A peace that NO amount of money could ever buy.

I know who I am and I love that person, flaws and all. I have a healthy, intelligent and well-balanced child, who serves as my daily reminder of how good God is. I have friends and family who love me unconditionally and support me unreservedly. I have a job that I once dreamed about having and am praised by my peers and mentors frequently. I have an open and healthy mind that allows me to learn from others as I strive to constantly improve who I am and best of all; I have an incredible, awesome and most amazing personal relationship with God that serves as my inspiration to live each day with the utmost amount of character, integrity and honesty.

Yes, you better believe, God knows my name and calls it often. He reminds me how proud He is and continues to bless me and my loved ones for the choices I make day-to-day.

Do you know how amazing it is to be approved by God? I could care less about a credit card company’s approval or the approval of an employer, a man or so-called friend, because at the end of the day, none of these people will grant my access into the pearly gates of Heaven and reward me with Eternal life.

I seek His approval and have found it -- I am God’s Girl and this is my success.

Eternal Love,
Nina Brown

(This note was inspired by 3 Facebook friends who coincidentally all asked me to elaborate on the Hustle&Grind concept within the same week. After I received the last person's request, I knew God was telling me to share this story... I finally took the time to paint the picture with my words, and this is the result. To those 3 individuals, THANK YOU for being my inspiration... Continue to be a blessing with your energy and words!)