The Hustler’s Playbook: Luck Loves a Hustler

The hustler never sits around waiting for their lucky break. The hustler goes out and engages with the world, and in doing so, creates new opportunities. To the non-hustler, it looks like the hustler got lucky. But the hustler knows that luck won’t sit on your couch and watch television with you.

Luck loves a hustler. Luck follows the hustler around like it is their shadow.

The hustler is always engaged with their world. They’re involved in work projects, personal projects, community projects, charitable projects, and just about anything else they find interesting or useful. Because the hustler is out in the world, they make a lot of connections, and they bump into a lot of opportunities.

A hustler will say, “Yeah, it was lucky I said ‘yes’ to this one thing because I met so and so and we got to talking.”

The non-hustler doesn’t put themselves out into the world, at least not enough to make a difference. Because they aren’t involved enough, they never create an opening for luck to step in. The non-hustler would like to win the lottery, but they never buy a ticket.

But bumping into opportunities isn’t enough. The hustler acts on those opportunities. The hustler says “no” to a lot of small things so they can focus on bigger things. This doesn’t mean they say “no” to everything. The hustler says “yes” to things that look like opportunities. They say “yes” to projects where they will learn new things and meet new people. They say “yes” to business ideas where they can create value and capture some of that value. They say “yes” to growth opportunities, even when it makes them uncomfortable.

Every once in a while, luck decides the hustler is hustling enough and some initiative the hustler is involved in takes off.

The non-hustler doesn’t see many opportunities because they aren’t around to see them. When they do see opportunities, they don’t grab them. Luck doesn’t hate the non-hustler. She just can’t find him.