---
title: "Assassins Edge"
description: "For anyone thinking about working for themselves, the mindset that has to come first."
author: "Rahim Rasul"
type: "Podcast episode"
series: "Halftime Talks"
episode: 172
published: "2019-03-12"
duration: "10 min"
theme: "Work and mentors"
tags: "entrepreneurship, skill, mediocrity, standards, freelancing"
audio: "https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/rahimrasul/HTT_ASSASSINS.mp3?dest-id=175061"
url: "https://iloveprocess.com/halftime/assassins-edge/"
site: "I Love Process"
---

# Assassins Edge

_For anyone thinking about working for themselves, the mindset that has to come first._

**The question:** Have you sharpened your sword?

Listen: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/rahimrasul/HTT_ASSASSINS.mp3?dest-id=175061

## Before you listen

Every entrepreneur, and anyone aspiring to greatness, has to internalize one distinction: the assassin's edge. The aim is to cultivate skill that sets you apart from the pack, so that when people call on you to perform, you have it.

People who want to work for themselves often ask me what it takes. First comes a mentality: the mercenary mindset. You have been contracted to do a job, with a target and a criteria for success, and you execute it professionally because a lot is at stake, your time included. Think of hiring a plumber: you want the one who gets it done right. Early in my career I spent what felt like hours in Barnes and Noble, taking notes and deconstructing other people's work, because I wanted to be one of the best in the nation.

Listen for the line about mediocrity: the people who will accept it are hardly in a position to see your value. The same unrelenting standard applies inside a company.

## From the talk

> Exceptional can only be done when you begin to play outside of convention, and that time outside of convention is when we've sharpened our sword.
>
> Nobody wants mediocrity, and those who will accept it hardly are in a position to even see your value.
>
> We're not here just to make it to the end. We're here to do great while we're here.

## Sit with this

- Are you trying to be the best?
- How do we value our time?
- Are you the best at the table?

## Transcript

Welcome to another episode of halftime talks. I'm Rahim Rasul, and you're listening to halftime talks, the podcast where we recognize that in the middle of your game of life, whether you're up by 10 or down by 20, we all need halftime talks to uplift us, inspire us, and challenge us to bring that level of performance you and I both know it's gonna take to win the gay Halloween fun on the weekend me and get them one trick and treating little kids with bags.

Yo welcome back to another episode. My name is Rahim Rasul, and you know how we get started appreciation. Today, I want to give my sense of appreciation to those unplanned moments of amazing they ride on the rails of the broader general perspective of wanting to have a good time, but it is unknown, and it is certain how those details are going to congeal you know, beyond the shadow of a doubt that you are looking for a good time, and most of the time you Find a good time, but in those rare moments, those SKY What do they call it cloud, nine moments, unplanned, amazing happens and life orchestrates on your behalf, it shows you things that otherwise would not have appeared.

I love those moments. I've had those moments. I continue to have those moments, that I know you have too, and today, I want to appreciate those moments of unplanned amazing so I want to begin today before we jump into the episode and say Congratulations to you guys for tuning in to another episode. Congratulations for those of us who've been able to maintain our resolution, our resolve, that's what the word comes from, our resolve, to maintain our commitment this year to some of those things that we wanted to set forth. I love that feeling. I love that attention to detail. I love keeping our train on the tracks as long as it takes to succeed.

So without any further ado, you've probably read the show notes that Assassin's mentality as a freelancer, that's what we're going to talk about today, giving you some perspective on shoot my 17 years of being out in the marketplace, doing my thing and yeah, without any further ado, it's time to get your mind right, body right ready for another episode. So get ready to take some notes, even if all those notes are our mental notes. Let's go.

We're here with another episode, and I'm excited to talk about the topic. The topic, generally, loosely, is the assassin's mentality or the mercenary mindset. You often as a freelancer, self employed individual, I have conversations with people who are interested in pursuing that independent life. They're interested in working for themselves or starting their own company, or starting their own business. And they ask, what does it take? Or should I do this? Or is it the right time and before I get into the capacity to actually live this life or or flow with the ups and downs that it brings. There's a mentality that is essential, and it's an it's the mercenary mindset, that Assassin's mentality.

And what I mean by that, I don't mean that we have to be violent or that we are taking down heads of states, or we are but we've been contracted to do a job, and what separates us from the pact or the criteria in which we must get it done. Think for yourself, when you hire a plumber, do you want an average plumber, or do you want somebody who can get the job done and get it done right so there won't be a reoccurring issue when you get your tax. Is done. Do you care if they're cheap or do you want the highest return? And so as an independent you have to sharpen your sword.

The people who want the highest value also have a very specific criteria, and that is where the value is at. Mediocre is for people who don't have high criteria or understand high value. Early on in my career, I remember going to Barnes and Nobles and being trapped what seemed like for hours in my mind, thinking about ways and opportunities to increase my skill set. I didn't just want to compete within the small town that I was living in, big town, really, Houston, Texas. I wanted to be one of the best in the nation at a specific day. And so I would take those books, write notes, come home, play on it, go on the internet.

Internets, be inspired, deconstruct others works, try to incorporate those things into my process. And I began to build my base when I was hired by clients. They didn't want to average. They wanted something exceptional, and exceptional can only be done when you begin to play outside of convention, and that time outside of convention is when we've sharpened our sword, when we've researched and developed, when we've sharpened our sword to a degree of precision that not many other people can do so like taking a step back, slowing this conversation down, and just looking at like what makes a mercenary a mercenary? They are not they don't have any allegiance to any nation or an assassin.

What makes an assassin is that they have this specific skill set a target. They have a criteria for success metrics and able to execute on it unapologetically, they get it done, and they're professional, because if it goes the wrong way, there's a lot at stake. And as you as you're out there, either with consumers or other businesses, there's a lot at stake. One of the things that we don't take in consideration that is at stake as well is our time. And how do we value our time? We want to get in and out just like that assassin. We want to execute our mission just like that assassin, and we want to bring a level of skill that we are not bogged down by the typical friction that others experience and encounter.

We want to have that already solved. And so are you trying to be the best? Have you sharpened your sword, your skills, the thing that separates you from others understanding what you bring to the table. Are you the best at the table? At that? Because nobody wants mediocrity, and those who will accept it hardly are in a position to even see your value. So think about this as you begin to thrust forward into not only the year, but if you're in a season for starting your own or or launching out there. And I think even if you're within a corporate environment or business environment that unrelenting standard, to not accept yourself in a field of mediocrity, because we're not here just to get by.

We're not here just to get to retirement. We're not here just to make it to the end. We're here to do great while we're here, we're here to enjoy the journey and take this journey into places that others haven't conventionally seen. We're here to be that unique light which has been radiated from the ethers all the way into our physical body. And as we understand, acknowledge and even accelerate that understanding within us, we're capable of presenting the world a picture that hasn't been seen before, and that's the value that we can bring to each other, and that's the value our own passions, our own dreams.

Can bring to the world. My name is radio Rahim. This is halftime talks, thank you guys for listening. If you enjoyed it. Go to iTunes, subscribe, rate and review, share with a friend or more. Who know and until next time, this has been another episode of halftime talks, peace. You.