Hustler VS Grinder VS Builder

Lately, I've been talking to my friends and associates...as I always do. On this particular series of conversations we have been discussing what a hustler is and what it means to be "on your hustle, grind, etc." I used to be an avid fan of the term "hustler" and "hustling," but lately the terms hustler, hustling, and grinding just don't seem like the right fit for what I am trying to accomplish and the hard work I have been doing.

By definition, a "hustler" is "an enterprising person determined to succeed; a go-getter"; by slang a "hustler is "a person who employs unscrupulous methods to obtain money. To me a hustler is someone who works hard for the sole purpose of having or making money, by any means necessary. I identify with the dictionary version, but it's that slang that gets me. Plus I think about how I am working hard for something more valuable than money...success and legacy.

So then I think of the work "grinding or grinder." By definition, as a verb, "grinding means to work or study laboriously. I don't know about you, but I don't plan on working to the point of exhaustion all my life. I am doing setting things in motion now so that the work essentially does itself. Think about it, our parents, the baby boomers, have been "grinding" all their lives. Some of them retire around 55 or 60, but in the world now-a-days it's not something that's guaranteed. Now many of them are forced out of retirement to continue working because the benefits aren't there anymore. I refuse to work this hard to not have a reward at the end. Period.

That led me to seek a word that best fit the process in which I am utilizing to create and accomplish my goals. I finally decided that the word "builder" was it. By definition, a "builder" is a person who builds. *straight no chaser* Isn't that what a hustler and a grinder is doing essentially? True, however, in my mind a builder has a clear cut vision of what he/ she wants to accomplish, they build and implement plans to build whatever it is that they want to build. And then thinking even further, you don't hustle your goals or dreams...you build towards them. You don't grind for success...you build it. You don't hustle your way to having money...you build your wealth.

At the end of the day, I am neither a hustler nor a grinder. I am a builder. I am building towards my success. Building towards my goals. And building a legacy for my descendants.

So...what are you? A Hustler. A Grinder. Or a Builder?

The Unemployed Entreprenur