Success born of adversity

There must be some hustlers born with silver spoons in their mouths, but none comes to mind. All the hustlers I know were in some significant way shaped by adversity.

Hustlers are born of adversity

Lots of hustlers were born to poverty. They tell stories of living with the fear of not having enough. Their hustle derives from the circumstances of their births. Others did poorly in school and were told they weren’t smart enough to succeed or amount to anything. Their hustle stems from a desire to prove those assessments wrong.

Some hustlers faced adversity in the form of physical or emotional abuse. Sometimes that abuse was simple neglect, which propelled them into work environments where they could thrive. Others lost parents to death or divorce. Hustling became their key to survival.

The challenges these hustlers faced made them who they are. It shaped them. But these days, there is a more dangerous form of adversity for many would-be hustlers, and that is a lack of adversity.

Your adversity is your lack of adversity

Chances are you were born not poor but middle class. You’ve never gone without anything you really needed (at least not for very long). You were given a head start on a lot of hustlers, if you chose to take it.

You were never told you were inadequate, that you weren’t smart enough or that there were things you couldn’t do. You never suffered physical or emotional abuse. The worst neglect you suffered was having two parents who worked hard to take care of you.