From Hustle to Happiness: Redefining What It Means to Succeed

Ready to increase your revenue - and personal fulfillment - without working around the clock? Alex Schlinsky is here to show you how by sharing key takeaways from his new book, The Anti-Hustler’s Handbook.

3:03 – Introductions

3:27 – Alex’s journey post-college

Alex says that when he was in college, he was the owner of a digital marketing agency, although he didn’t know it at the time because digital marketing was his side hustle, and he was pouring his time and attention into getting a psychology degree. 

He burnt himself out by working too hard, so the idea of putting more years into school became untenable. He also wasn’t quite ready to be an entrepreneur and grow his digital marketing agency – so he threw himself into his passion, which was local sports. 

After two months straight of daily calls to the Miami Dolphins’ media department, Alex received a press credential. 

6:55 – Next steps

When Alex was in his senior year of high school, Facebook had just released the business pages feature. Alex had a neighbor who was a personal injury attorney, and this neighbor was convinced that Facebook would be crucial to bringing in business. The neighbor offered Alex $1,000 per month to post once per day on Facebook and run his email newsletter. 

Alex worked for about ten attorneys throughout his college years, waking up early to pull potential case opportunities (like recalls) and post them on Facebook, then heading to class for the day. 

10:03 – Burnout & heart surgery 

Alex had known he had a heart condition since he was about 18. His doctor had told him that there was a 95% chance that he’d have to have heart surgery at some point, likely after he was 50 years old. 

Alex said that this shattered his own ideas about his invincibility, and he channeled that uncertainty into his work. He put himself into overdrive, putting in maximum effort into all of his endeavors. 

About 10 years after his diagnosis, his heart had grown to the point of needing intervention. Alex said he accelerated the need for help by 30 years – and although the doctors couldn’t give him a straight answer, he connects early surgery and the 10 years of working in overdrive. 

Even when the doctors told Alex he needed open heart surgery, his first thought was about pushing the date until after a business event. He says this event was eye-opening to him. 

14:05 – How Alex supports other entrepreneurs without encouraging the hustle

Alex’s community (Prospecting On Demand) offers mentorship for agency owners, digital marketers, coaches, and consultants looking to scale their business. 

This is the tricky part: Alex says that for most people, “scaling” means acquiring more at all times. So even when you reach the top of one mountain, there’s always more to be gained. 

Alex makes a point of helping entrepreneurs define success. Everyone wants to be happy, and everyone wants to be free – and most people would define that as financial freedom plus time freedom. The trap that many entrepreneurs fall into is sacrificing everything for financial freedom. 

The anti-hustle model means doing the deep work beforehand to decide what happiness, financial freedom, and time freedom means to you. 

16:22 – The anti-hustle bait and switch

What’s big in the culture right now is hustle – it’s in books, in motivational speeches, on kids’ t-shirts. You’re not going to sell much by promising less (or at least, what seems like less on the surface). 

So at first, Alex will talk to people about what compels them, which on the surface is very hustle-y (namely: making more money).  Then they start to talk about the whys behind everything, and start reframing success. 

17:49 – An example of one student who learned to pump the breaks

When most people join the coaching group, come in with their chief interest being ROI. Alex says this is valid, but the actual impact of their group is often biggest in their clients’ lives, in their relationships. 

Alex had one client come in with a goal to make a quarter million per month. There was a clear number, but there wasn’t clarity around why he wanted to make a quarter million per month. Six months later, this client had reached 100,000 per month, and found himself making more money than ever before with more free time than ever before. Suddenly that 250K didn’t seem worth sacrificing everything to attain. 

21:25 – Cognitive dissonance 

Cognitive dissonance is the phenomenon when your mind thinks one thing, but your actions do not match it. For instance, at the moment (although Alex is committed to anti-hustle), he’s having to spend some late nights and long hours to get his book over the finish line. 

When organizations bring in Alex to speak, most of the time it’s on sales (and therefore accomplishment of goals). He’s trying to bring the anti-hustle with him, and that’s part of why he’s writing this book – as a companion piece to working hard to get things done. 

23:46 – The one lesson in entrepreneurship Alex wishes he’d learned sooner 

It’s supposed to be hard. You don’t get to a remarkable batting average without an enormous amount of practice and failure. So, if you’ve just failed at one attempt – that’s part of the process. Keep moving forward.

Learn more about our guest: 

Check out his mentorship program, Prospecting On Demand

Connect with Alex on LinkedIn

Check out Alex’s book, The Anti-Hustler’s Handbook