You are about to embark on a journey that will last the rest of your life. This book is all about how you get from the life you’re living now, to the life you dream of living. And just like anything that actually works, this journey requires a total mind shift, complete commitment, hard work, and most importantly, the willingness to believe you can make it happen.
WHAT IS #HUSTLEBELIEVERECEIVE ANYWAY?
#HBR is a mindset. It’s a way of life based on the belief that anything is possible if you are willing to bust your ass to achieve it and believe it will happen.
It is not a quick fix or a magic wand.
“Hustle” comes first because to get what you want in life you can’t just “ask” for it like the original saying; “Ask, Believe, Receive” stated. Instead you’ve got to be willing, ready, and able to WORK for it, a.k.a. hustle.
You also can’t achieve success or live your dream without “Believing” in both your dream and yourself. It’s the foundation of anything you will accomplish in your life.
And finally, “Receive” means that you expect your hustle and belief to pay off. You EXPECT to receive and sustain success/your dream for a lifetime.
In short, it is action, faith, and expectation.
Step 1: #DreamIT
“Being realistic is the fastest road to mediocrity. WHY would you EVER be realistic?” —Will Smith
What do you want?
When’s the last time you truly gave this question some serious thought? If you don’t know what you want, you’ll never know when you’ve got it.
What did you want to be when you were a little kid? Say, nine years old? You know, those times when you closed your eyes and daydreamed in class, or on long car rides, or all day every day. What kind of potential did you believe the world held for you? What made you excited?
As kids we had this amazing tool called an imagination. And for a few years, before “reality” was beaten into our brains, we had free rein to imagine life any way we wanted it to be. Those “daydreams” are often the core of what we truly love in life; they hold the key to our passion, even if the format changes over time.
Step 2: #ThinkIt
“What you think, you become.” —Buddha
Hate your life? Welcome to humanity! Many of us at one point or another have hated our life and tried to drown ourselves in a pool of self-pity. If you have never felt that way, I’m super jealous. But at some point most of us have found ourselves bitchin’ endlessly to anyone who will listen about how much our life sucks. You know . . . Your job sucks, you have no money, you’re sick of being broke, your relationships are all hot messes.
Your thoughts predict your future. Period.
If there is one thing you take away from the #HBRMethod, let it be this: what you think about and obsess over will become your reality. You are a reflection of everything you receive. So if you want blessings in your life, #GetGrateful. Act blessed. If you want love, give it. If you want success, act successful. If you want to live your dream, obsess about the moment when you are living it, and how happy it makes you. So this is the good news: Anything you dislike about your life today, you can absolutely change. And it all starts with #GetGrateful.
Step 3: #SayIT
“I believe you can speak things into existence.” —Jay Z
Sarah always tells her kids: “If you don’t want that to come true, DON’T SAY IT!” She has instilled in them even at their young ages, that you don’t say negative things about yourself, your future, or other people, because it will come true.
Luckily the opposite is also true. If you #SayIT you are giving it power. You are turning a thought and an idea into something REAL. When we verbalize our dreams and desires it gives them wings. This might be a bit girly, but Sarah thinks of them as fairy dust. When she speaks her dreams they float away like fairy dust, going to make those words a reality.
When you own your #LifePlan and dream, you change how you speak about it. Instead of saying “IF I become X,” you say “WHEN I become X.” It’s really that simple. You start verbalizing to anyone who will listen, or on social media, or however you can be held accountable, that you ARE working to achieve your dream. You talk about it in detail as if it’s a GIVEN. You know it’s coming. Not if, but when.
Step 4: #WriteIT
“Ninety-five percent of the successful achievers I have interviewed practice writing down their goals, plans, or vision for success on a regular basis.” —Joel Brown, Entrepreneur Magazine
To create the life of your dreams, you must have deliberate direction. You can’t expect to achieve success without goals and a plan, and you can’t expect to change your life without knowing what you want it to become. A #LifePlan is your personal written blueprint for success, your road map. It is a holistic look at your new life and what it will take to get you to your goals.
Have you ever stopped to actually plan your future life? What will it take for you to succeed?
Success is personally defined. It only matters what it means for YOU. Not “success” as defined by society or the media. Not what it means to your friend who always seemed to get the “lucky breaks,” or for your coworker or neighbor. It’s subjective, and it’s what you decide it will be.
Step 5: #SeeIT
“What you imagine, you create.” —Buddha
Now that you’ve identified your dream life and written it out, it’s time to vividly imagine it becoming a reality. Call it “visualization” or “daydreaming,” but every successful person I’ve ever met has credited their ability to create a visual movie in their mind as being a key part of their success. In fact, it is something they do naturally as part of their daily life; it’s simply who they are. The dream is not words, or a fleeting idea to them; it’s an actual living, breathing part of their life.
It’s five years into the future and you’re looking forward to a very “average day.”
- Who are you?
- Where do you live?
- What does your home look like?
- What are you doing that day?
- Where do you go for vacation?
- Where do you work?
- What is your relationship status?
Continue to map out every area and category of your life. Grab your journal and write down the answers to each of those questions, using as much detail as possible. This movie will feel very unrealistic to you at the moment. The more unrealistic, the better—as long as it’s aligned with your true self.
Step 6: #DoIT
“The dream is free. The hustle is sold separately.” —Unknown
It’s no wonder this step is missing from most “success” teachings; it’s the scary one. It’s the one that no one wants to talk about. It’s not sexy. It says you can’t just wish for something; you need to go make it happen. In our I-want-it-yesterday society, this is not what we want to talk about.
#TheHustle is the action that backs up everything we have learned so far. It’s the chance to actually get out there and start making your dream a reality. It’s all those little things we hustlers do to take our dreams from an idea to an experience.
#TheHustle is all about doing every conceivable thing within your power to make it happen. Hustlers will take two or even three jobs if they have to get where they want to go faster. They will work nights while they study their craft during the day, or vice versa. In short they don’t let anything get in the way of getting just one step closer to their goal.
Step 7: #BelieveIT
“All things are possible if you believe.” —Mark 9:23
The best way to actively build belief in the beginning is to fake it till you make it. If you want to be a successful business person, you should start acting like one. You buy a suit and tie (or heels) and you wear it to work, or to interviews, and even around town. You fix your physical appearance so you look like a successful “business person.” You start putting all your meetings in your calendar, and generally do anything you’d imagine doing if you already were a “success.” You are acting as if that is already you.
Before you know it, you will realize that people treat you differently than they did before. People notice you. You walk with purpose, with your head held high, and you conduct yourself in the manner of an extraordinary success. The strangers at the coffee place, or the supermarket, make eye contact and smile at you where before you were invisible; now you get respect. None of them know that it’s all an act at this point, and after a little while your brain won’t know it is, either. And that is the transition from faking it to actually believing it. It happens over time with a combination of what you think, what you say, and what you do.
This is an amazing and simple tool to trick your brain into believing. You can apply it to whatever your dream or goal is, regardless of your circumstances.
Step 8: #LiveIT
“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined.” —Thoreau
#HBRLife is the level that naturally follows #FakeIT. When you’re starting out you have to pretend to be successful, as we discussed, but over time a natural transition is made through #BelieveIT and wins with #ManifestThat!, which transition you into actually becoming a boss. It becomes your new identity; you are perceived by yourself and your peers as someone who is successfully living your dream.
But it doesn’t stop there, oh no. Any successful person will tell you that to maintain their success, they refuse to be satisfied. They are hungry for that next challenge, for the next level of achievement, and they always have an evolving #LifePlan for their future. That plan may look very different than the original, but they keep it current. They keep their goals clearly in view and continue to use all the tools that got them success in the first place to help them continue moving up the ladder.
The best way to keep moving forward is to realize how far you’ve come. Look back over your journey often, let your journal be proof of your progress, and let that inspire you to never give up.