Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson | Buy on Amazon UK | Buy on Amazon US

About Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter

Author: Curtis Jackson
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 304
Genre: Self-help memoir
ISBN-13: 9780062953803

Summary

Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter is a cutting-edge self-help memoir written by 50 Cent. For the first time ever, 50 Cent opens up and uses real examples from his life to demonstrate how to apply the lessons learned in your own life.

My Thoughts

Every true 50 Cent fan knows that he’s shown nothing but unwavering confidence throughout his whole career, and this confidence is often taken as ego and cockiness. But at heart, 50 Cent is a reasonable, loyal and ambitious person. It’s just that his good qualities are often outshined by the beefs, tabloid reporting and the thirst for hip hop drama that we all love.

But if you really paid attention to 50’s music, there was always more there than just clubbing, beefing and hustling. 50 Cent dropped a lot of gems throughout the years for the people who were really paying attention. But for those that weren’t, they saw him as the super controversial celebrity that hated everyone.

Well this book—Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter—gives you the Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson that you perhaps wasn’t paying attention to. In this book, 50 Cent really opens up and gives away many stories (some of them unheard) from his life so that the reader can learn something from each of them. And what’s even more shocking is that the hip hop megastar who is known for always winning, actually admits to taking some L’s and then learning from them. It’s a side of 50 that many have never been exposed to before.

For example: 50 plainly admits that other rappers are capable of outrapping and outperforming him. But what sets him aside is that fact that no one is ever going to outwork him.

It’s a level of self-awareness and honesty that many hip hop artists wouldn’t show in public. 50 even opens up about his damaged relationship with his first son and his son’s mother. A topic that can’t have been easy to write about.

Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter is centered around 9 themes, each chapter based on one of these themes. These are: Finding Fearlessness, Heart of a Hustler, Constructing Your Crew, Knowing Your Value, Evolve or Die, Power of Perception, If We Can’t Be Friends, Learning From Your Ls and The Entitlement Trap.

Each chapter gives many examples so that the lesson behind the themes is easy to digest. In some cases, 50 even breaks down stories from other entrepreneurs including Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Enzo Ferrari and Soichiro Honda.

While Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter has practical information for any audience, there’s no doubt that fans of 50 Cent himself will get a lot out of this too. The memoir side of the book over delivers.

50’s previous memoir—From Pieces to Weight—highlighted his life from birth all the way up to him signing a record deal with Eminem and Dr. Dre. For years, we wanted to know what 50’s life was really like during his successful career and in this book he gives us everything we’ve been wanting to know. From why the G-unit music group split up, to conversations he’s had with Robert De Niro, to his 2007 sales battle with Kanye West, and to why he left Interscope records and hasn’t been as focused on music for the past 10 years. He also shares how his hit Starz TV show, Power, came about.

This book completes From Pieces to Weight by showing the complete evolution of Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson.

Verdict

Whether you aspire to become an entrepreneur and are looking for practical lessons to apply to your life, or you’re someone who enjoys hip hop memoirs, or you’ve been a fan of 50 Cent for years…Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter is a phenomenal self-help memoir full of lessons and personal insight.

Entrepreneurs earn the right to be known as such, because they take the time to put in hard work and solve problems every day. Some play the long game, some play the short game. But each entrepreneur earns their position by gaining knowledge and putting it into practice. Some entrepreneurs are born with this drive; some can learn to harness it.

Having read some of the most important books for the entrepreneurial minded is something that helps to fuel that drive for success. But what books should entrepreneurs read? The following are among the most important books that entrepreneurs have either read or are going to read.

What Books Should Entrepreneurs Read?

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The Richest Man in Babylon

The Richest Man in Babylon is a bunch of parables that teaches the principles of money and wealth. Many an entrepreneur swore by these parables. With one in particular saying that this was the only book they every needed to read. Having the principles of financial knowledge is an important piece of an entrepreneur’s arsenal.

Some may find the book pretentious, because it’s not black and white with its lessons. But if you want to understand what the common person doesn’t about money, The Richest Man in Babylon is essential reading.

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The $100 Startup

7 years ago The $100 Startup made me quit my job. It filled me with the confidence that unlimited ways to make money existed and that I just had to push myself. I helped me understand that I had to put myself in the way of opportunity and I’d create a new income stream for myself. Although I temporarily returned to a 9-5, the principles of The $100 Startup stayed with me. And to this day I still live by the philosophy of creating a new business opportunity with low (or no) investment and then scaling it up. The $100 Startup includes lessons such as:

• Choosing your lifestyle
• Focusing on organic growth over advertising
• Bootstrapping your ideas
• Figuring out what you’re good at and much more

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The Art of War

Many wonder why a book about the philosophy of warfare is so popular among workers, leaders and entrepreneurs. And I admit that The Art of War is another of those pretentious books. But the principles are applicable in so many real life situations that any entrepreneur owes it to themselves to read this book. You can consume The Art of War in one sitting so its not exactly an inconvenience.

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Don’t Dumb Down Your Greatness

Written by the multi-talented entrepreneur, Anthony Frasier, Don’t Dumb Down Your Greatness is a book full of motivation for those coming from a lower economic lifestyle. The book is riddled with real jewels about entrepreneurial thinking, and it touches on some of the stigma of minorities in the tech industry.

Many self-help books are full of philosophical lessons, but Anthony uses real examples to explain logic to the reader. This is an effective way of understanding how to put your entrepreneurial thinking into practice, without the fluff.

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How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Known as one of the most influential books of all time, How to Win Friends & Influence People is an important book for leadership. The book has key strategies for leaders and the entrepreneur-minded. It’s also useful for the worker who strives to rise through the ranks. And it teaches you how to keep people on your side while doing so. Whatever your position, the fact is that appealing to others (be it a boss, client, customer or competitor) will help you rise to the next level. And this book shows you how to more effectively get others on board. Some of the major sections of this book include:

• Fundamental techniques in handling people
• Six ways to make people like you
• 12 ways to win people to your way of thinking
• How to change people without giving offense or arousing resentment

Feel free to recommend some more books for the entrepreneur in the comment section!