You're Either a Customer or a Hustler: Consumption vs. Creating

Welcome back to another episode of Halftime Talks. My name is Rahim Rasul, and you’re listening to the podcast that recognizes that in the middle of your game of life, whether you’re 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 it’s gonna take to win the game.

So welcome back to another episode of halftime talks. If you know us, you know how we start. The first thing we do is center your mind with a little bit of appreciation. Today I want to appreciate something beautiful, something delicious, something lovely. I want to appreciate coffee, the roasters who make it, the farmers who grow it, the baristas who prepare it, and the caffeine that flows through it. The amplification of my Spirit on coffee is something immeasurable, something that I can’t put a price on. I love coffee. I love the flavor. I love how it tastes. I love the variety of blends from all over the world that it comes I love the hands who prepare it, the people who distribute it.

It’s just this beautiful thing that I can’t get enough of. So today I’m appreciating coffee. And some of you guys know this feeling that rush you get while you’re working with it, or it’s working with you. Hey guys, are you subscribed? Are you subscribed to halftime talks the podcast? If you’re not, make sure you go to iTunes and hit that button, smash the button. As they say on YouTubes, I like that. YouTubes, and in today’s episode, what we’re going to be talking about is we’re going to be talking about a concept of, are you a customer or a hustler? Obviously, hustler and customer has implications, but it is a mentality of either producing or consuming, right and so often right now our attentions are being ravaged by devices and so enter the psychology of taking ownership and agency of your future into your own hands by choosing, by the insights provided in this episode, are you a customer or hustler? Open your mind, strapping your seat belts, and let’s get ready to rock you.

I can’t tell you how often this song comes to mind. It’s a Jay Z song off the streets is watching soundtrack from 98 it samples a Mary J Blige featuring an LL Cool J. Song called an all night long. He can’t really say it any better, obviously, the reference to this was probably some illegal activities, but the concept holds true today. I guarantee there will be a time when science proves that there is somewhere encoded deep within our DNA, the fundamental instinct somewhere twisted around the helix strands are encoded, the natural instinct to be a hunter. And I know the vegans are probably offended, but there was a time when the necessity of hunting was never up for debate.

It wasn’t viewed as a sport or recreational distraction. It was essential to our survival. So now the customer, the customer, goes to the marketplace and feast on the creations, feast on the captured prey. Feast on the product that somebody is supplying. You’re either the customer or the hustler. So what do they hunt? What is at stake? What happens if they fail? What are they willing to risk, and what skills are required, and what has this process done to our natural evolution, this Hunter mentality, this creator mentality, which is so primal within our human. Makeup. So today, what are you hunting? What are you hunting? What are you creating?

What are you fashioning your brain, your skills and your resources to bring to that marketplace that I speak of. Have you asked the fundamental question, are you a customer, or are you a hustler? When I say a hustler, I’m not talking about that short sighted, low sprint towards just making that quick exchange, but I’m talking about, are you constructing the foundation, building the enterprise that you can eat off of for the long time, and because there’s something different when you’re the customer. You know how to consume, you know how to enjoy the rework and rewards of other people’s labor. But do you know how to create?

Do you know how to get in that mix and make it yourself? Because the hunter is one thing, and the person who eats what the hunter brings home is another, and that categorizes you easily as the hustler or the customer. The Hunter is the businessman. We bring things to the market and the customer take home from the market. And let’s be clear, we can be a combination of both, and nothing is wrong. I’m not trying to shame those who consume, but there’s a season for it. On the other hand, if you don’t have that unfinished project, and if you’re in the rut and you’re trying to create it, you need to fashion it.

It makes sense. And if you know there is something special that you are waiting on contributing to the world, then that’s where I challenge you. Stop consuming. And right now, our attention is the biggest commodity of modern business, once we’re able to direct our attention, ask yourself, where is it going? Is it going to the creation of your bliss or the consumption of somebody else’s understand that now is the time in human history where your attention is being engaged. Your attention is a commodity. What are you willing to do with it? Are you going to be entertained with social media hours and hours and spent ingesting the product, investing, ingesting, excuse me, on the creativity of others, rather than cultivating and harvesting your own.

So like Jay Z said, or ll in that sample of the Jay Z song, said, you’re only a customer when you’re walking in the presence of hustlers, you’re spending your money. You’re exchanging that valuable resource for what they have. But what if you create? What if you build the systems? What if you can scale your impact? What if you created? And like I said, this marriage, the dichotomy between the two. Must exist. It must continue. But when you find yourself on the outside looking in, I need to ask you a set of questions, does the need to consume outweigh your need to create? What will this creation of your product or project push you in position for what will the project do to you?

Has the project you’ve completed in the past transform in a way that you see and relate with the world where we stand stagnant, consuming, we don’t challenge, we don’t engage our mind. We sit there relegating ourself to be entertained, relegating ourselves to be guided and directed by the ambitions and intentions of other people. When are you putting yourself first? It is not self sacrifice. It is an absence of a choice. Part of this is that level of awareness. When you find yourself navigating through blogs, navigating through podcasts, navigating through the Twitter stream, what is this building in you, except the current events of things that you now feel intelligent about when you create.

It enlivens every aspect of your life when you create. And you are the husband and you are bringing things to the marketplace. You have learned how to hunt. You have learned how to launch you have learned how to bring something of value to. The world, and that can never be taken from you, consuming you have this cursory understanding of a bunch of general, generalities that people are directing at you, I would contend to you in this halftime talks, in this going into this next stage of your life this next week, the next day, the next month, the next term, challenge yourself to create something for others to consume, be it the product, be it an idea, be it a podcast, be it some substantive content which evolves, refines, and allows you to take that next step in your evolution.

Some people are addicted to consuming. Look at everybody you walk by them on their phone. They’re lost in the world of consuming content and creating this micro content. Be substantive. Challenge yourself to bring that substantive work to the world. Because when you’re walking in the world, ask yourself, Is this allowing me to be more of a customer because I’m buying, but what am I selling? Let there be parody. Let there be parody between the two. Peace, if you enjoyed this episode, make sure you go back and check out episode number 123, Salvador accepted. Episode 96 on leadership. Episode 76 on prolific work ethic, or episode 127 on the entrepreneurial mindset.

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