What is Hustle? How do you know if you have it? Here's my story!

Hustle is known to most of us as working your butt off to earn a dollar. For me hustle is working my butt off to create a better future and career for myself. Like me, I'm sure you feel the same way. How do you create a life you are proud of and how do you make money doing that? Well, my answer isn't short but I promise it's meaningful.

Hustle for different people comes in different forms. Did you know for most of my life I've had multiple jobs?

Read my story: SORRY IT'S LONG...

Let me share a little about how I got my hustle. Since I was really young, I've always had expensive taste. I can walk in to any store and usually the first thing I pick up is one of the most expensive items in the store. Growing up, I would constantly ask my parents for things. They never gave much allowance ($10 a week if you finished my chores) nor did they give us lunch money (we had plenty of food at home to bring and they didn't care if that wasn't cool). Little did they know, by being this way- although it did annoy me- they drove me to be extra motivated to work for the things I wanted (thanks mom and dad). 
At 15, I got a job (under the table) serving pizza at lunch time at Dominos. I made $5, got free lunch and also saved money by not having to buy lunch. Right when I turned 16 I wanted a job. My parents weren't so fond of the idea, as I played 3 competitive high school sports along with competitive travel soccer. I convinced them that I could balance it all and got a job. I now had money to go to the movies, buy clothes, etc. The summer before college I got my first 40 hour a week job to save for school. 
The first year of college I didn't work, because I was a Division 1 athlete and my parents wanted me to focus on school and track. I absolutely hated it. I wanted my own money to spend and it felt suffocating to not have that freedom. I think this time in my life was HUGE in showing me if I want something bad enough I can make it happen. After that year, I decided track & field wasn't for me. I stayed full time at my college, but decided to go back to a sport I love (soccer) for fun. In order to play soccer, I had to also be full-time at the junior college I was playing at. This is where my hustle really took off. I went to 2 colleges full time, played soccer and worked at a restaurant. I was making money, in school learning and getting fit. All the things I love. This for one, showed me I could do anything I put my mind to and also taught me I can have fun doing it. I did this for 2 years and loved it.

After that, school was in full force working on my B.S. in Kinesiology, interning 3 days a week and I worked at a nice restaurant bringing in a good amount of cash, HOLLA! I worked on this blog in my free time and was also pretty much a fitness freak. I figured, if I kept doing things I love I will be all set!

Soon after I graduated college, I got a full-time job working at a physical therapy clinic 40 hours a week. The pay was absolute sh*!. I literally was making $12 an hour and most of my money was going to rent. I decided, why not keep your waitressing job? I loved it and it brought in extra money, score! I did this for about a year, and decided it was wearing on me. Between 2 jobs, working out a ton and feeling like I wasn't learning anything.. it was time for a change.

I decided to apply for corporate wellness jobs online. Fitness, health and people are what make me feel alive. Helping people reach their goals is so fun for me. I got my dream job at one of the biggest tech companies in the world running their fitness and wellness programs. This was an absolute dream. I moved to San Francisco for this job and was SHOCKED by not only the cost of living, but just the cost of everything in the city. My job took up most of my time, so I didn't really want a whole other job. However, about 6 months in to working there a life-changing opportunity came up for me.

I got asked to be a personal stylist. Oddly enough, I have always loved and adored fashion and with my 2 year stint being full-time at 2 colleges I even took a full years worth of fashion classes. This opportunity to be a personal stylist allowed me to be creative, do something I love and help this person feel great when they get dressed everyday. I felt like I was on to something and over the last few years this client turned in to 4 clients and 2 outside personal training clients. Making the time (on nights and weekends) for this seems to some as too much work, or not manageable. I beg to differ. When you're doing something you love it doesn't feel like work, and it opens so many other doors for you. I've learned the more apply myself, the more people I tell, the more opportunities arise.

Now how does my story let you know if you have this hustle?

My life experiences have pushed me to hustle at a young age, but you don't need to have the same experiences as me to find this. What it takes is goal setting and resilience.  You have to believe in yourself so much that failure is not an option. Of course little failures will happen, but you have to pick yourself back up. You have to take setbacks with poise and keep pushing for what you want even when you feel it may be nearly impossible. 

Figure out those goals, write them down, make a plan, go get them & don't give up!

Next post: What do I want to do in life and how do I get it? This post will be about narrowing down on what goals you want to focus on.