You have to leave the hood behind if you want to really prosper as an entrepreneur as a legal entrepreneur.

We all come from different backgrounds, raised in different cultures, Even if we grew up in the same country.

There may have been a time in your childhood or adulthood where certain behaviors, ways of speaking, and conflict resolution were handled in ways in which others might find offensive or frightening, for a good reason.

If you grew up in a place where conflict and pack violence (a.k.a. gang violence) was a part of everyday living,  you may have some serious work to do on yourself if you haven’t already started.

When you get into running a business these tendencies may still influence some of your communication with team members, clients, and leads.

I have learned this myself in my business many times. Especially when there are problems where money is on the line.

You have to change your way of thinking as an entrepreneur

You can’t take the hood with you if you want to prosper as a business owner.

​Even well-known individuals like rappers, actors, and athletes who grew up in bad neighborhoods have changed how they look at life.  They’ve leveled up as humans and left the old part of themselves in the past. They want no part of it anymore for a good reason.

The hood culture is designed to keep you poor.

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When you’re running a business you’re going to deal with all kinds of people from many different backgrounds. Not everyone receives information the same way. 

If you’re accustomed to only talking to the same group of people in a certain way, you my notice communication problems in your business. Sometimes these problems can get out of hand due to your own bad programming from the hood.

I’ll give you an example. 

In the past when you lived in the hood You may have solved problems a different way. 

A simple disagreement could easily turn into a fistfight in a blink of an eye. Maybe, you even looked at other people you didn’t know as a threat just because you didn’t associate them with your clik or gang. Maybe you looked at a certain race of people as the enemy. These are all things that have to go.

Now just because you’re an entrepreneur doesn’t mean you have to turn into soft individual that gets stepped on. But you need to learn to set boundaries in a way which is not threatening while maintaining your professionalism.

It takes a lot more strength to control your emotions and actions under stress.

​Now this might sound contrary to your past programming. If you lived in the hood, usually people who immediately explode and “don’t tolerate shit from anyone” are the most respected and praised for their strength. 

If this is how you think you need to change your programming. 

In fact the complete opposite is true. The ones who can tolerate the most and keep their sanity, are the strongest.

I’ll give you an example.

Let’s say you have a client that is trying to take advantage of you. Let’s say he’s now starting to complain and make things up. Let’s say he’s even taking this a step further and has done a chargeback on the services that he paid you for.

So now he’s not only lied to you, he’s now stolen from you…Take a moment to imagine how you would feel in this situation. You would feel the fire explode in your chest and your throat. 

Now in the past if someone pushed you to this state of mind you would’ve most likely blown up, taken violent action, or at the bare minimum said threatening and offensive words with the intention of following it up with physical force.

Even though you have clear evidence that this person is trying to step in your way and take from you, you still need to stay calm and level-headed. 

Stay calm under pressure

​In a legal business setting, you need to keep your professionalism. Even if you’ve done nothing wrong and you’re being oppressed. The way you act, and what you say cannot be undone. 

So if you want to make it clear that in this situation the other person is in the wrong, you need to maintain your professionalism. 

This means taking a deep breath when you feel this feeling of fire and rage. Stick to the facts, Stick to the evidence, keep everything in writing, if possible record the conversation if you’re on the phone. You need to treat this as if you are a lawyer.  In a legal business setting you are not in the streets. 

You can assert your stance on something in a powerful way but, it doesn’t have to be ghetto or violent. I’m speaking from experience. 

I’ve had this happen several times. I’ve had to check myself while feeling the fire raging through my body and feeling my blood boil.

I’ve still slipped in some of these situations but, I quickly got it together and did my best to keep focused on the facts, the data, and the evidence. I did this until the problem was resolved.

Surprisingly after some of these situations, I’ve even apologized to people who have purposely tried to do me wrong for me not being 100% calm myself. 

 It takes a lot of mental growth to get there, especially if you come from a place where a punch to the face is one of the most common ways to resolve something.

Fix your mindset from the hood

​To wrap it all up you have to leave the hood in the hood, you need to take time to identify hood tendencies in your thought patterns, in your speech, and in the content that you consume. 

Leaving the hood behind does not only mean leaving it behind physically,  you have to digitally leave the hood behind. 

Cut out watching street fight videos or road rage videos. Be conscious of the music you listen to, and make sure that what you listen to and watch serves you and helps you grow. 

There’s nothing wrong with admiring the strength that you’ve gained living in difficult situations. But there comes a time when you have to change your lifestyle and who you surround yourself with.