How My Thug Mentality Has Impacted My Business

I’ve always been open about my history.  I was a thug.

I surrounded myself with other thugs and we partied, caused trouble, and got into all kinds of shenanigans.  As a teenager, I thought that it was what I wanted my life to be.  I was surrounded by other kids with the same mindset I had.  We were living a pretty awesome life.  We created fear when we walked into a room.

I say “we created fear”, but I was 5’2″ and 140 pounds.  When I was alone I couldn’t strike fear into the heart of a small dog, let alone others my age.  What I had that set me apart from others was my fearless nature.  I built a reputation by taking on the “big guys”.  The truant officer visibly had his jaw on the floor when he saw that I’d beaten the crap out of a guy a foot taller and 150 pounds heavier then me.  The guy had said something terrible about my mother, I’d had no choice but to make him eat his words…

What do you think when you see a bunch of muscle bound brutes walk into a bar or any other place?  The energy changed when we were all together.  The room would get a little more tense with us in it.  I was the exception, most of the crew was 5 years older than me and far more dangerous.  You could feel the “I don’t give a fuck” attitude we all walked around with.  

As I got older, I grew a bit.  I also changed my “crew”.  In my late teens, there were only 5 of us.  We were all scary as hell.  We walked into any place with an attitude of ownership.  We were untouchable.  Cops knew about us, but they never caught us causing any trouble.  Rumors flew, but they couldn’t do anything until we got caught doing something wrong.

Once I was old enough to hit the bars, I had 3 best friends.  Over the years we’d each earned reputations.  One of us always got challenged.  I wasn’t a big guy and had always felt that I had something to prove.  When one of us got into a fight or caused some trouble, the head detective in our city would approach me and ask “Did you guys start this one”?  My response was always “No”.  He’d tell the other cops to arrest whoever made the mistake of crossing our path (they were usually unconscious).

When my daughter was born, I stopped with the gang crap and my thug attitude.  However, it is still a part of me.  I still think like a thug and here are 4 ways it’s made my business standards unique:

Loyalty

Once you’re with me, you’re always with me.  I make friends easily and quickly.  I follow my gut and am very quick to form bonds with other marketers.

In the “internet marketing” community, you’ll see groups of marketers that stick together and support one another.  I’ve been blessed to be a part of numerous networks.

I see the groups I’m a part of as extended family.  I’d take a bullet for my friends and they know it.  It’s just how I think…

The impact this has had on my business is profound.  Most of my relationships are permanent.  No matter how much time passes between us talking, it’s like we saw each other a week ago.  Rarely do I ask for help, but if I do my friends are always there.  They know that I’d be there for them in a heartbeat.

Take No Prisoners

If you’re not with me, you’re against me.  I fear no competition and will destroy anybody that stands in my way.

When I enter a market, my research focuses on weakness.  I find every possible weakness and exploit them to improve where I stand in that market.  I enter like a freight truck and run over my enemies.

Every cent other companies make in my market is mine.  I want it.  I will do whatever it takes to get it (within the limits of the law).  I see every sale they get as taking food out of my kids’ mouths.

I have a severe perspective on competition and it drives me to be the best in business.

Protective

I’m known to be fiercely protective.  Once you’re on my good side, it takes quite a bit for me to turn my back on you.  You can ask any of my “business friends” and most of them will have stories of my scaring the hell out of someone that I perceived as a threat.

I’ll never forget my first marketer’s cruise.  Most of us were inside the dance club and we’d all had quite a few drinks.  The music was loud and as some of us danced, random outsiders would try to pick up some of the girls.  I’d instantly start shooting dirty looks around the room.  The girls had their own way of politely telling a guy to leave them alone.  One guy refused to take any hints and kept trying to rub his junk on them.  Of course, I took it upon myself to pull the guy off to the side.  As I grabbed him by his collar and told him that he needed to leave, you could visibly see the fear in his face.  He finally understood that the ladies were not available.  Needless to say, we didn’t see him again.

When I first started attending events, I had to be calmed down often.  I’d see a potential threat or outsider do something I found insulting or rude and would get up ready to start (and finish) a fight.  It was pretty funny to see Erik Stafford (roughly twice my size) trying to calm me down as I attempted to rush and tear apart some random dude.  Yet, that’s exactly what happened.  A lot.

While I felt I needed to act this way, I realized over time that I was better serving my friends by keeping my mouth shut and letting them handle these situations in the way they wanted to.  I’m always there in the background if they need me or if things get out of hand, but it’s not my place to intervene unless someone asks me to.

Never Lose

I refuse to lose.  Failure is never an option.

If one thing doesn’t work, I’ll move onto the next thing and force it to work.  I get crazy ideas.  I don’t believe in limitations and view things that get in the way of what I want to achieve as little bumps in the road.

I won’t allow things to stop me from getting what I want.  There is always another option.  I’m unstoppable.

In The End

I’ll always be a bit of a thug.  I’ve grown more refined over time through an extreme focus on becoming a better man, a better father, and a better marketer.  I’m continually refining my craft and am always working to be better at everything I do.

Such is the life of a reformed thug…

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