The Chief Executive Hustler

Copyright © 2013 by Vincent Mafu.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages quoted are from the New King James version of the Bible.

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Rev. date: 07/01/2013

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Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: Your Network Is Your Net worth

Chapter 2: Your Image Is Everything

Chapter 3: The Early Bird Gets the Worm

Chapter 4: It’s Lonely at the Top

Chapter 5: Success—Where Opportunity Meets Preparation

Chapter 6: Business Is Personal

Chapter 7: The Hustler’s Creed: Everything Is Negotiable!

Chapter 8: It’s Not What You Know or Whom You Know… It’s Who Knows You!

Chapter 9: Know Your Money!

Chapter 10: Know and Believe in Thyself

Warning!

Content Disclaimer

The information shared by Vincent Mafu is for education and

entertainment purposes only.

By reading this text, you agree to the following: You understand that the information contained in this book is just an opinion and should be read for your personal enjoyment only.

None of this material is to be considered personal or legal advice. You and only you are responsible for your own behaviour. By turning the page and reading this material, you fully understand this agreement and hold no person, besides yourself, responsible for your actions.

Turn page at your own risk!

Dedications

I want to dedicate this book to my son Nqubeko Mayibongwe Itamar Mafu. You are a gift beyond words. I give this to you as a blueprint to your success. Read it, practise it, and prosper. You are my firstborn and God’s property. The Kingdom of God is your mandate and life assignment. You have no option but to be a success.

‘The main thing is… that you know I love you.’

For Beginners

I want to begin the book by giving you a quiz questionnaire to answer. The quiz will not only set the stage for what you will learn in this book, but it will also give you some insight into yourself. The following questions come from a historically important work known as the Proust Questionnaire. These questions will tell you a lot about how you think. So compare your answers with others when you are ready.

1. Your most noticeable characteristic?

2. The quality you most admire in a woman?

3. The quality you most admire in a man?

4. What do you most value in friends?

5. What is your biggest flaw?

6. What is your favourite occupation?

7. What is your dream of happiness?

8. What in your mind would be the greatest of misfortunes?

9. What would you like to be?

10. In what country would you like to live?

11. Who are your heroes in real life?

12. Who are your favourite heroines in history?

13. What is it you most dislike?

14. What historical figures do you most dislike?

15. What natural gift would you most like to possess?

16. How would you like to die?

17. What is your present state of mind?

18. Which vices do you give in to the most?

19. What is your motto?

¹Were those questions hard to answer? They should have been. But if you felt stuck, hopefully, this book should be able to help you find the answers you didn’t have.

I am the star and director of my own life, not a member of the crew, supporting cast, or an extra. I understand that the only way to live the life I want is to live the life I want. Passion fuels me, but it doesn’t rule me. Reason cools me, and it never fools me. Action makes things happen for me. I have neither time nor patience for idle dreams. The only failure is the failure to try. Opportunities do not ‘present themselves’, they are created.

Fear is seldom useful, and even then only when wrapped in courage. A moment spent dwelling on the past is, generally, a moment wasted. I take responsibility for my mistakes but do not beat myself up over them. I take credit for my success but do not puff myself up over it. I get where I’m going by putting one foot in front of the other, just like everybody else. It’s up to me how I move my feet.

If something gets in my way, I smash it, climb it, or go around it—I never let it stop me. I love those who love me and pity those who hate me. I am happy to lift others up, but if they drag me down, I drop them like so much ballast. Nobody and nothing of consequence can stand between me and my goals.

Everybody who matters is already in my corner coaching me or in the stands rooting for me, but it’s up to me alone to win this fight. I won’t go down swinging because I won’t go down. I am the heavyweight champion of my world. I live my life like it’s the only life I’ve got. That’s not the only way, but it’s the only way for me.

Eighteen Words a Chief Executive Hustler Never Uses!

There are eighteen words which psychologically affect us on levels we may not understand, and they do much damage than snobs laughing at you for saying ‘Irregardless’. These words poison our self-image and condition our minds for unhealthy states of existence. Here they are in no particular order.

Broke—Something is only ‘broke’ if something is wrong with it. Is something wrong with you? Or are you just low on finances?

Hate—You can only ‘hate’ something when you dedicate thought and energy to it. You can’t hate something you don’t care about. ‘Hating’ consumes you with negative emotions, which affect you negatively, while changing nothing, whatever it is that you dislike.

Worry—Another unhealthy emotion. Are you ‘worried’ (scared), or are you concerned?

Wish—Is there a genie in a lamp somewhere? Are you a mat or a magic wishing well? In real life, ‘wishes’ don’t come true. Work does. Plans do. Wishes are for people who don’t work, don’t plan, or don’t work their plans.

Can’t—Saying you ‘can’t’ automatically weakens you. But you’ve been trained to think of life in terms of what you can and can’t do. Try to avoid saying ‘can’t’ for a day, and see how hard it is to think differently. In reality, because of all the infinite potential of the human mind, there is nothing you actually ‘can’t’ do.

Believe—To ‘believe’ something implies that you don’t have the evidence to ‘know’ it for a fact. You don’t ‘believe’ you have two testicles. You know it (unless if you have three). So why ‘believe’ things will work out? Easy! You didn’t plan enough to know if they will work.

May be—‘May be’ is one of the favourite words of people who either hate thinking or hate making decisions. Either way, make up your mind and live in the affirmation.

Ugly—Words like ‘ugly’ aren’t so bad as long as you remember that they are only opinions. Someone else’s perception of you does not have to be your reality.

Made—I chose the word ‘made’ (as in ‘she made me do it’), but I’m referring to any example of people using the passive voice. ‘Passive voice’ means when people say that something ‘happened’ to them or ‘caused’ them to do something. Doing this gives away all your power. People who talk like this don’t see themselves in control of their own lives. Don’t say, ‘He made me so when he kept chewing gum’, but say, ‘I became angry about his gum chewing.’ There’s a difference. First experience is someone else is running your show. Second example is you are running the show.

Could’ve—Ah, what a guilty word! But in life, there are no do-overs, so just get over it, learn from it, and move on. That’s all you ‘can’ do.

Want—When you say you ‘want’ something, you automatically tell yourself that you are lacking something. That’s the definition of ‘want’(to lack). So saying ‘I want…’ subconsciously creates a hole in you that you now must fill. When you can’t fill that hole, you feel like less of a person. When you do fill it, you realise that there’s never a way to satisfy all your wants. This is how people end up with addictions!

Need—Besides food, clothing, and shelter, what do you really need? Not much. You can survive without the new sunglasses or Manolos. Instead of using words like ‘want’ and ‘need’, be honest and say, ‘I’d like  . . .’ or ‘I plan to…’

Should—‘Should’ isn’t always a bad word, unless your life is full of ‘should’ without the actions that are supposed to follow. If you’re constantly saying, ‘I should work on my credit,’ ‘I should wake up earlier,’ and ‘I should stop drinking coke,’ and you don’t follow through… then you ‘should’ stop talking and start doing. On the other hand, if you’re always telling people what they should do, please make sure that (a) you’ve got your own life together and that (b) they want your advice in the first place. Otherwise, mind your own business.

Whatever—‘Whatever’ is what people say when they don’t care. Half of the time, they actually do care but try to act indifferent so no one will know how they really feel. That’s unhealthy. But not as unhealthy as really not caring! If you have a ‘whatever’ attitude to life, one day in the future, you’ll be looking back, asking yourself, ‘Man, whatever happened to everything that mattered?’ It’s good to be able to let stress and problems roll off you, but it’s another thing entirely to be completely apathetic.

Try—Whenever people fail at doing something, they love telling you that they ‘tried’. Well, if you ‘tried’ to pay the rent, does that mean you paid it? And when you tell your landlord you ‘tried’, will he let you stay? Trying is a word for people who give up because to ‘try’ something usually means you give it a shot and that is it. People who continue to work at something until they get it ‘strive’.

But—‘But’ is another weak word. Example: I’m qualified for the job, but they probably won’t like me because I’m in a wheelchair. ‘But’ weakens the strength of any positive statement you make, and sometimes, it’s strong enough to cancel it out altogether. Example: ‘I want to make more money, but I don’t want to work more.’ Watch how many times you contradict yourself with ‘but’ and work harder on being consistent.

Assume—I’m sure you’ve heard that ‘when you assume, you make an ass of u and me.’ Um, OK. All I know is that assumptions can be based on facts, but they usually aren’t. People usually assume things based on preconceived notions or ideas they have before they’ve even gathered any information. And when you assume, you’re usually only making an ass of yourself. Rather than assuming, ask.

Sorry—This one is a double-edged sword. ‘Sorry’ is a state of existence, as in saying ‘I’m sorry’ suggests something about you as a person. But what’s more significant is that a bunch of ‘sorries’ don’t solve any problems. People tend to think that simply saying ‘sorry’ is as good as resolving whatever is wrong. I always tell people, ‘Don’t say ‘sorry’ just make it right.’ On the other hand, our communities go through a lot of conflict because of the fact that we men have too much false pride to apologise to each other, even when we know we’re wrong. ‘I apologise’ goes a long way. ‘It’s my fault, so I’m going to…’ goes even a longer.

Your choice of words expresses the way you think. The way you think shapes your reality. So don’t pull yourself down with your own words.

Introduction

You can learn by ear or on your ass. Unlike school, however,

life teaches you lessons after you fail the test.

The term ‘recession’ does not exist in the vocabulary of an executive hustler, no matter the state of the economy; we apply hustlernomics to any given situation and win. The hustler does not have New Year resolutions; he has new day resolutions. Unlike economics, where supply is based on demand, hustlers use hustlernomics. They create a demand and then supply that demand.

We live in very uncertain times. Actually, life has always been uncertain. From ancient times until today, there have been very few things that human beings could consistently count on forever. Ironically, the only thing that is constant is change. Things are always changing. And likewise, we must also change to adapt to life’s inconsistencies in order to survive.

Survival is the lowest level of existence. Roaches ‘survive’. I assume that since you are reading this book, you don’t want to just ‘survive’, you want to live. Today, in order to live, we need money; that is why we work. Money is the fuel for life. It is the conduit of exchange. Your greatest asset is your time. Money is the reward you get for investing your time.

Current events have shown us that our economy is unstable. Regardless of the industry, job, career, business, or investment strategy, what goes up will eventually come down. Corporations go bankrupt, stocks fall, companies downsize, and businesses close. No one . . . no-thing is immune to or exempt from the laws of nature.

As an independent-minded thinker, we must prepare for the different seasons of our life, which I define as business. Living is a business, whether you know it or not. This is why we hustle. Whoever said you have to choose between working for an employer and working for ourselves?

The Chief Executive Hustler is about options. Life is about options. When you find yourself running out of options, you start dying. Life is a ‘do it yourself’ job. You are the CEO of your life. And from today, that’s how you must view yourself. Everybody in your life is your client, service provider, or worker, but you are the ultimate enterprise. Let’s evaluate the options.

Option 1—Work for an employer. Devote your time, energy, and life to someone else’s dream. Get paid consistently. Work longer hours in hopes of a promotion or bonus. If you lose your job in this scenario, you are in big trouble because your job is your only source of income.

Option 2—Work for yourself. Devote your time, energy, and life to your own dream. Get paid inconsistently. If anything happens to you personally in this scenario, or your business hits an unexpected slump, you are in big trouble because your business is your only source of income.

Why can’t you do both? Work for an employer and be self-employed. Hustle while you Work!

Option 3 (hustle while you work)—Work for yourself and work for an employer. Devote your time, energy, and life to your own dream while working at your job. Make a sometimes-inconsistent income but still get paid a steady pay cheque. If anything happens to one income in this scenario, you can use the other to carry you through the rough time because you have two sources of income.

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

Think of the farmer who plants various crops that bloom in different seasons. Different crops allow him to reap harvest from some crops during the summer and continue to profit from other crops during the winter.

The idea of The Chief Executive Hustler recognises the changing ‘seasons’ in business. It allows us to reap harvest (profit) from some streams during the good times and continue to profit from other streams of income during the downturn.

You’ve probably heard Robert Allen or Robert Kiyosaki discuss the importance of creating multiple streams of income (MSI). For the most part, they discuss this in reference to those who are solely entrepreneurs. The fact is though, no matter what you do to make a living, you are always working on multiple tasks. So the same concept of MSI can be applied even if you work 9 to 5.

Get the picture?

The idea behind The Chief Executive Hustler is nothing short of creating MSI. The concept of MSI basically expresses that we should create many opportunities for us to simultaneously generate income.

Never forget… when we discuss your job, it is considered only as a temporary means of security, not as a lifetime sentence of servitude. This manual will help you see the benefits of, and give you the strategies to use your job to launch your business!

People are looking for answers. They are tired of the old secret of success and get rich quick scams. The way to become successful is not a secret, and the only people that get rich quickly are those who are already rich or the lucky few. For the rest of us, it’s a matter of knowing one’s purpose, living with passion, and exerting one’s power through a lot of hard work or… hustle!

One more thing: There are only two categories of people: givers and takers. You either give orders or take them. You are either the kind of person who will have people working for you, bringing you the money, or the kind of person who will work for someone else, hand over your hard-earned dough, and let someone tell you what to do.

That’s all hustling is—controlling and mastering another. This reality may be offensive to some, but it’s real, and if you open your eyes to what is truly going on in this world, you will see that everyone falls into one category or the other.

The Hustler

Motivation + Plan + Focus = Hustler.

I’m more than a hustler—I’m a student. My educational terrain isn’t school; it’s ‘life’ . . . the institution is ‘Life University’ ‘I’ve been a student at LifeU for about thirty years. My major is ever-changing; currently, I’m in study to acquire the knowledge necessary to reach every desired outcome that appears in my inquisitive mind and to share that knowledge to my fellow man (and woman) so that the benefits of my studies are multiplied.

Interesting fact: In all my years of study, I’ve consistently run into a recurring message: the more I learn, the more I realise how little I actually know. Here’s how it works… the more I learn, the more my mind expands. As my mind expands, it increases my capacity to accept more data. As my mental capacity increases, my hunger for knowledge increases.

I will start by telling you what a hustler is not. A hustler is not a thief, a crook, a swindler, a liar, or a con artist. He or she may possess these skills. He or she may have even been one of these things in the past. But unless you drop the life of the criminal, you are a criminal. A hustler is not a criminal.

Hustler (noun)

— An enterprising person determined to succeed; a go-getter

Hustle (verb)

— To make strenuous efforts to succeed, especially in obtaining money and business.

— To be aggressive in business or other financial dealings.

— To use force and other tactics to advance to a better position.

When I use the word ‘hustler’, I don’t mean the guys who ‘hustle’ money out of you. The term ‘hustler’ describes anybody who ‘puts their bid in’, the go-getters, the guys and girls who are all about upward mobility. These people all have certain traits in common that set them apart from the average, slow walking bottom feeders…

1. Hustlers are opportunists—Most people can’t see the forest for the trees, meaning they can’t see what’s going on around them because of what’s going on directly in front of them. The average person doesn’t keep their eyes open for financial opportunities because they are too busy looking at their employer-set scheduled hours for the next workweek. Rather than seeing what little bit of spare time they have as an opportunity to build a side business, they waste time watching Family Guy reruns or watching Internet porn. On the other hand, a true-to-the-game hustler will be able to identify a money-making opportunity where others wouldn’t.

2. Hustlers are discontent—Hustlers don’t hear other people telling them how good they’ve got it. A hustler doesn’t take the advice of others when they tell him to relax because the will to hustle is born from a desire to be better, to earn more, and to transcend their origins. It is discontent with their living arrangements that keep a hustler in the streets all day, in the office late at night, or online posting blogs at 4 a.m.

3. Hustlers are survivalists—Life is not fair, and survival of the fittest applies everywhere. Every single animal alive on Earth today is here because it adapted to unfavourable (unfair) circumstances, met the challenge, and thrived. We humans have a stupid ‘I have a right to live and be successful’ attitude, but every hustler knows that if you don’t work, you don’t eat, there are no entitlements, and the world doesn’t give a blast about whether or not you are successful. With that attitude, a true hustler will go to sleep at 9.59 and be back on his grind at 10 (aka will work while others sleep), take crap and turn it into sugar, and climb out of whatever disadvantaged hole he finds himself in.

4. Hustlers are salesmen—A hustler must be able to sell; and not just items. A hustler must be able to sell herself, her ideas, and her business propositions to the right people. In an upcoming blog, I will go into detail on how to sell yourself and your ideas, but for now, suffice to say that this is an all important skill that you must master to get your hustle on. A salesman must be thick-skinned. The sales game is a brutal, ego-busting, thankless hustle. Many people will reject you and your offer A few will blatantly laugh in your face and ridicule you or the product that you are trying to sell. And a very, very few will actually buy what you are selling. You will face haters and hope-hackers, hopelessness, and fatigue. It’s hell, and you must pass through this furnace to be considered a true hustler!

5. Hustlers are networkers—A true hustler knows that his network is his net worth: Your Network determines your net worth. It is critical to develop quality networks, to get ahead in life. This principle is further expounded in the book. So you want to be a hustler? Now there is no excuse to you growing into a true hustler, other than your own apathy.

Be like a duck. Remain calm on the surface and paddle like hell underneath—Michael Caine.

The simplest and easiest way to success is hard work. Hustling is an art of turning nothing into something, and that is not magic… it is hard work. A hustler is someone who knows how to get any job done whether he knows the traditional way to do it or not. He is both confident and passionate about getting where he wants to go, a combination vital to any entrepreneur. Within those two factors, there is an undying ambition that will always be asking for more until the world has become his playground.

A hustler can find a way to turn water into wine. Look at Jay-Z, for example. The man used to be a drug dealer in Brooklyn and hustled his way to the top, now having a fundraiser from the president of the United States. The key traits that got him there are the art of the hustler, and they go something like this.

A hustle is an activity that hustlers devise to generate income or define their