The Art of the Hustle 2 (Complete)

Chapter Thirty

Walking through Whole Foods, Trevor pushed a shopping cart filled with groceries. Deon tagged along like a kid following a parent. He couldn't have been more bored.

"I don't think I've ever been in here before," Deon said, looking around. "This place is really expensive."

"Where do you usually get your groceries?" Trevor asked.

"Safeway or No Frills."

"Those places are good I suppose. I used to shop there for many years as well."

Stopping by the bulk section, Trevor lifted the lid to one of the bins.

"You mind grabbing me a bag?" he asked.

Deon ripped a bag from the dispenser and handed it to Trevor.

"Thanks."

"What are those?" Deon asked.

"Flaxseed. It's one of the most powerful foods in the world."

"What do you do with it?"

"You can put it in your smoothies. You make smoothies, right?"

"No."

"Do you have a blender?"

"No."

"You should get one."

"Um... okay."

They continued to go up and down the aisles. Deon hardly recognized a single brand. The whole time, Trevor would explain the various foods to him, the dishes that he could make, and variations to those dishes. Deon was overwhelmed to say the least.

"You want to be successful, you have to take care of your body and mind. You ever eat kale?"

"No, what's that?"

"How about acai?"

"Never heard of it."

"You ever heard the saying, 'Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime'?"

"No."

"Well, this is me teaching you how to fish. Think of this as more than free food, I'm trying to show you a better way. A healthier way of living. If you stick with this and make it a habit, then you will feel amazing and reap the benefits. People who eat the way you do often just accept feeling lethargic and take naps in the middle of the day. Life doesn't have to be that way. You have no idea how much better you will feel once you start eating healthy."

"I guess I can give it a shot."

"I'll get you a Vitamix blender too. Call it an early Christmas present."

"Thanks, I guess."

"When you get home, I want you to throw away all the junk in your house. Pour all the pop and juice down the sink, throw out all the cold pizza in the fridge, all the instant noodles, and junk food."

"I can't have juice? I thought juice was healthy?"

"There are vitamins in juice, but it's also loaded with sugar."

"Sugar is bad?"

"Sugar is very bad."

"With your blender, you can make smoothies, sauces, soups, ice cream made with nothing but frozen fruit."

"I had no idea."

"You still have no idea. We'll go to Costco after this and I will show you the Vitamix in action. They usually have a demo there."

"Ok."

"Do you have glass Tupperware?"

"I don't think so."

"Okay, we'll get you some of that as well."

"Why does it need to be glass?"

"It's for portioning out meals and sticking them in the refrigerator or freezer. You need to microwave them to heat them up, and it's not good to microwave plastic."

"I didn't know that."

"You have a microwave, right?"

"Yes, I have a microwave."

"Okay, good. Just checking."

Over the course of the next week, Trevor and Deon went to the gym nearly every morning. When Trevor regained his strength and endurance, he began to push Deon to his limits.

They lifted heavy weights and always made it a drop set or super set with no rest.

Trevor felt he could tell a lot about a person when they stepped into the gym. He would often schedule business meetings in the gym and then turn his back when it was the other person's turn. Later he would check the security tape to see if they cut any corners when they thought he wasn't looking. If they cheated in the gym, he felt they would cheat in business. It was enough to walk away from some large deals.

He eventually stopped doing this. He realized that it may have been the right idea, but the wrong execution since not everyone was into fitness as much as he was. Nevertheless, to deal with his trust issues, he always wanted to test people to see their true colours, whether at the gym or on the golf course. He wanted to know, would they break and succumb to the pressure of working hard, or would they have the heart and mind of a champion and never give up?

"Hey, I need a break," Deon said, gasping for breath. "I think I'm going to throw up."