Here are 7 tips on hustling that anyone can use in any career field. These definitely worked for me and I hope they help you build more confidence in your hustle to achieve your goals too!

** These are some tips on what I have done in the earlier stages of my Show Business career — but these can certainly be applied to other fields of work as well.

1. Make Your Targets ~ Make a list of people you’d like to work with or reach in the near future. Keep that list somewhere you can see it. Cut out and post up places you’d like to be or events you’d like to attend. I used to keep a “Vision Board.” On my Vision Board, I not only hung up things and photos of people that inspired me but also reminders of my actual targets. For instance, I would cut out a flyer of a big event I wanted to be at — I didn’t just want to BE at this event…I wanted to be invited there as a Celebrity Guest (see picture below about this event). I would also cut out pictures and hang things that represented other goals I wanted to achieve. People, places, roles I wanted. These were all my “targets.”
2. Network ~ Have you heard the quote, “Your Network is your Net-worth.” It makes so much sense! Networking can play a huge part of you getting to where you want to be in your career or goals — And networking with the right people. Many of my jobs in Show Business came from me networking. If there’s an event close by where there will be many professionals in your field, if there’s a class you can take with others of similar interest, if there’s a show in town where all the people you aspire to work with are gathering GO THERE!! Show your best self and network your butt off! (…but don’t be annoying..because that ain’t cute)
3. Dedicate The Time ~ Schedule your day with all the things you need to do in life and be sure to carve out a block of time to dedicate to your hustle. For example, I would have a 2-3 hour block of time in the beginning of my day solely dedicated to things I needed to do for my hustle. Sending emails out, responding to emails, phone calls, submitting myself for roles, researching people to contact for goals I wanted to achieve, researching events/when they are, correspondence with my agent if we were working on projects, reading things that motivate me, goal setting. These are all things I would do everyday.
4. Be Ready For It All ~ Be ready to be adaptable to various situations. When it comes to you planning, be prepared for finding out new info last minute, getting there earlier than planned, getting out of there later than expected, being more social than you may have thought you’d be, and then there’s always more last minute changes. Part of hustling is having the ability to be flexible with what comes at you and working around obstacles quickly to get what you’re trying to achieve.
5. Multitask ~ With all the hard work you’re putting into your hustle, you may come out with a packed schedule. Knowing how to multitask will be very beneficial as you’ll most likely be juggling allot at once. The goal is to making it all happen. All the gigs you book, all the events you have to attend, all the tasks that need to get done and the many meetings to show up at, you might be tired but mastering the art of multitasking will help you make it all happen.
6. Thick Skin ~ Prepare for rejection, No’s, and Not Now’s. Prepare to get right back up after all of these and keep hustling! Many times you won’t get it the first time or you won’t get in after trying so hard. Just remember, it’s not the end of the road! Give it some time and keep trying. Hop on to your next goal while you’re waiting. Keep moving forward. Don’t let these “rejections” get you down. You need thick skin. Even the most successful people, the people you look up to have dealt with rejection, No’s and Not Now’s. Don’t give up. You just may have a different path to your goal.
7. Work Hard ~ If you want to achieve success, be ready to give up parties, be ready to sacrifice and be ready for little sleep because you’ll be working hard while others party, you’ll be up late and up early while others sleep in and you’ll be hustling and smashing goals while they all watch 🙂

Sound exhausting? Welcome to Hustling!

Photo above: As I mentioned above in 1. “Make Your Targets,” I had once put on my Vision Board a cut out of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. It’s one of the leading Film Festivals in L.A. and a great connect between the Indian Film Fraternity and Western Cinema. I dreamt of not just attending this Red Carpet event, but one day being invited as a Celebrity Guest to walk the Red Carpet. A year and a half later of hard work, hustling, and visualizing and here I am being photographed and interviewed, fully styled by amazing stylists, on the Red Carpet at IFFLA for my recent work in the industry. I have now attended their international Red Carpet Film Festival twice as a Celebrity Guest.