- August 6, 2018 -

August.

The month that Europeans go off the grid. Vacation for the entire month.

Most Americans are at least slowing down.

Lounging around the pool. Barbecuing in the backyard.

But not Gary Vaynerchuck. Nope, he's tripling down.

He's in the zone.

Hustling.

All in!

He's even created a video called "AUGUST."

Had I watched this in my 20's or 30's...I'd have been all about "Yaah! Hustle, dammit! I can sleep when I'm dead."

Did you ever look up the definition of the word "hustle"?

According to Webster, it means...

+ To push roughly; jostle.

+ To hurry, bustle.

+ To coerce or pressure someone into doing or choosing something.

+ To obtain by illicit action; swindle; cheat.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I'm not seeing a whole lot of positive spin there.

At best...it sounds like a lot of busyness.

At worst...it sounds like a recipe for either a stroke or a law suit.

Vaynerchuk does make a point that August can be played two ways depending on where your head is at.

...either grind it out and get a jump on the competition while everyone else is hanging out at the beach with Rosé in hand.

...or if you've hustled all year, you can afford to take a breather and make August a strategic planning month to gear up for the last quarter push.

BUT no matter how you play it...hustle is still part of the picture.

And that's where he and I part ways.

Less hustle, more consistent mediocrity.

If I could go back and restructure my investments, I'd have stuck to blue chip stocks that grow slow and steady.

Month after month.

Year after year.

Decade after decade.

Healthy projected earnings growth rates.

Like General Electric, Starbucks, Disney, Visa.

Instead of the high risk (potentially high reward) stocks and all the volatility that come with startups.

My point is this:

That guns-a-blazing, hyper-aggressive, sleep-deprived focus isn't sustainable over the long haul.

Over the last 35+ years, I've done the hustle.

Made millions, lost millions.

(Hate losing.)

And what I've found is that mediocre progress when done consistently is extremely powerful.

It's not about doing 110% day in and day out.

It's not about being being perfect every day.

(Version One is always better than Version None.)

It's about consistent, daily focus.

You're in this for the long haul, right?

You're building something of value with a plan to eventually either exit and sell or turn the business over to your children.

Pace yourself.

It's about making a little progress every day.

Moving forward a little every day.

Refining and optimizing a little more every day.

Even with mediocre results, slow and steady is attainable...and sustainable...and absolutely doable.

Because you don't give up, peter out, or get burned out.

So what's your August look like?

There are 25 days left to make a change.

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