The Art of the Hustle 2 (Complete)

Chapter Eighteen

For the first time in a long while, Trevor had a purpose in his life — a reason for waking up. Thinking about his last conversation with Dr. Chang, Trevor decided on a whim to take on a protégé. It wasn't something he planned on doing at the end of that meeting, or something that he had done in the past. However, it was a way for him to give back and put his focus on something other than his sorrows.

Many other positive situations in his life have been a result of not following a path with a clear destination, and so he was keen to see what would come of it.

Trevor was excited to impart his wisdom on a young mind in Deon, who in many ways reminded Trevor of himself, albeit coming from a different place in life. Had Trevor grown up in Deon's circumstances or environment, he may have turned out the exactly the same way.

If Trevor could mentor and guide this young man down a different path, then it would be a proof of concept for what he ultimately wanted to do in life, which was to start a foundation to help kids just like Deon realize their potential.

True to his word, Deon showed up at 6:15 a.m. and waited in the lobby. Trevor came down promptly at 6:30.

"Thanks again for meeting me," Deon said.

"No worries."

"I'm curious to know why we are meeting so early."

"For no reason other than to see if you were willing to show up. Some people like sleep more than they like success, and I needed to know if you were the type to hit the snooze button, or if you were going to have enough motivation and will power to get out of bed when you didn't have to and make a change in your life. It was an easy way for me to test you. If you failed, then you would have saved me a lot of time. But you're here, so let's get started."

"Okay, what are we doing?"

"Early birds catch worms. From now on, I want you to be an early bird. Waking up before your competition will give you a huge mental advantage in life, not to mention you will carve out more time in your day to work on your projects."

"My competition?" Deon asked.

"Yes, others in life who want the same things you want and who are trying to take it from you. We're all competing."

"Okay. Well, I'm glad I didn't hit snooze. I was a little tired this morning to be honest. I was up late last night."

"Have you had breakfast?"

"No."

"Come on, there's a buffet upstairs. Let's get something to eat."

Trevor and Deon went upstairs to Oru, the hotel restaurant, and took a seat. A waitress came by and took their drink orders.

"Get anything you want," Trevor said, "it's on me."

"Yo, T-Money, thanks! It's cool to be friends with a billionaire."

"T-Money?"

"Yeah, that's your new nickname."

"Look, we're not friends," Trevor said. "Nor are we homies. This is a mentor / protégé relationship, and it will continue to be such provided that you listen and do what I say. So unless you treat this seriously, I don't want to waste my time. Got it?"

"Got it," Deon said.

"How much do you know about me?" Trevor asked.

"I did my research."

"Okay. Before you go further, you can ask me any question you like about business, but you must never ask me about my personal life. Understood?"

"Yeah."