this idea that things are just fixed is
proven not to be the case you can get
better at things you can grow no matter
what obstacles you face in life if you
approach it with courage and conviction
you can find a way out of it but the
only way you’ll reach any height in life
and in love is by taking that chance
that you might fall you have to give you
all he’s an American singer songwriter
musician and actor he’s won ten Grammy
Awards one Golden Globe Award and one
Academy Award in 2007 he won the Hal
David starlight award from the
Songwriters Hall of Fame he’s John
Legend and here’s my take on his top ten
rules to success rule number one is my
personal favorite and I’d love to know
which one you guys like the best and as
always guys if you hear something that
really resonates with you please leave
it down the comments below put quotes
around it as well so other people can be
inspired also when you write it down
you’re much more likely to lock it in
for yourself as well
enjoy
the thing is every successful person you
know has failed at what they love to do
before
I’ve been unsuccessful in my career
you just didn’t know about it because I
wasn’t famous yet and I was trying to be
famous I was trying to get a record deal
for six years and I kept getting turned
down and any successful person you know
even though it seems like everything
just happened for them it usually was
preceded by a bunch of failure at least
a significant amount but the great ones
aren’t the ones that don’t fail they’re
the ones that learn from their failure
and they keep going and they’re
persistent in a tenacious and for me I
was trying to get a record gopher from
98 to 2004 and got turned down by every
major left a record label including the
one I’m fine to now and for me that
means that even when you hear no you
have to keep going through all those
nose until you get to yes a lot of
people think they’re prepared but you
may think they’re not for parents so
what has prepared me well prepared means
like I said you’ve got to be great at
whatever you’re doing even if you’re not
known for it you have to be developing
into someone who can be great and you
know if you read Malcolm Gladwell for
instance he believes you have to
practice 10,000 hours to be a genius at
any any particular field I don’t know
the exact numbers right but I’m sure the
directionally that’s correct you need to
spend a hell of a lot of time doing
something and practicing at it and
getting better at it for you to be great
and for a songwriter or a singer
that means writing that means listening
that means performing it means
practicing it means all those things and
if you’re not doing that you’re not
going to become great at we’re always
thinking about what it means to be
authentic as an artist and what it means
to be authentic and to be successful and
commercially viable the goal is to not
let the commercial invade your creative
process too much the goal is to just try
to write a great song just try to make a
great record just try to make a great
album and then the commercial side will
take care of itself but you know you
still have labels and RS in your ear you
still have marketing people in your ear
that you know want a certain thing out
of your first single and want a certain
thing out of your first video but at the
end of the day you’re your guiding light
your North Star has to be is this great
is this creatively something I can be
proud of because if you don’t do that
and I don’t know what the point is when
I was younger I didn’t really know that
you could just get better at things I
think we’re so used to the idea that
talented at something and and it’s sort
of fixed you know the idea that oh he’s
just a good singer you know and even
with singing I’ve gotten better at
singing as I’ve gotten older I wasn’t
singing in a way that was sustainable
and I wasn’t breathing right I wasn’t
doing a bunch of things correctly I
realized that there was a feeling that I
couldn’t crack through unless I actually
studied and work under a coach to get
better and this idea that things are
just fixed is proven not to be the case
you can get better at things you can
grow and even people that are innately
talented still need to go beyond that
basic talent that they have and
cultivate it I love what I do
I’m a musician there’s an industry side
of it but I think at the core what I do
is are going and write songs and I get
to perform them in front of thousands of
people who enjoyed it that is fun that
is great you know there are challenges
involve you you want to do well you want
to keep the public’s interest in their
excitement you want to
sell tickets you want to sell CDs you
want to continue to be successful in the
industry but like I said before I don’t
see a contradiction between doing all
that and have it fun and make a music
you believe in and so I don’t know
I hear people complaining about the
music business and there are certainly
things that you can complain about but
I’m having a great time I want to win
yes I want to be successful at what I do
and so I’m committed to working hard I’m
committed to going to the studio and
working on the song you know the
umpteenth version of it to make sure I
get it exactly right I’m committed to
that I’m committed to rehearsing with my
band so we’ll get the show exactly right
we want to do the best show in the
business yeah and so part of its just my
love of music part of its me being
competitive but all of that makes me
want to perform at a high level that’s
why this project why was it so important
to be a part of it well they sent me the
first script and I was just enthralled I
was like excited to find out where it
went
I thought it was an exciting story that
hasn’t been told in this way before and
I thought it was inspirational about
breaking free about having the courage
to do something against the odds so
congratulations on a baby girl thank you
very much and your daughter Steven what
do you want to take away from this I
want her to be inspired to know a bit
about American history and know about
where fathers people came from and also
to be inspired that no matter what
obstacles you face in life
if you approach her with courage and
conviction and you can find a way out of
it arm the car Novartis that doesn’t fit
so neatly into a radio format and you
know that presents a challenge but it’s
I think it’s one is worth you know it’s
worth it for me to to be that kind of
artist because I think it’s authentic to
who I am and if you’re not being
authentic to who you are then you won’t
be successful anyway usually and I think
that’s why I’ve been successful because
my fans believe what I’m doing and they
believe that I’m coming from a real
place also most of my songs are in some
way a co-write of some sort I usually
write most of the lyrics and melody but
a lot of times the music and the
backbeat are contributed by someone else
and or these in collaboration with
someone else and I’ve always been open
to that and it helps me kind of stay
creative and stay fresh and I think I
come into the collaboration with the
spirit of openness that not every artist
has some people are more guarded and and
more protective about their creative
process but I’m much more open and
collaborative and for me that’s the best
way to create everybody has a different
you know sweet spot and whatever makes
them happy whatever makes them most
comfortable but for me I feel very
comfortable in a collaborative
environment I treat it with humility in
the sense that I’m not went to my ideas
I’m willing to listen to someone else’s
I think I was decent think of taste
enough to be able to kind of appraise
whether or not something that someone
else is contributing is really quality
and good and then I enjoy that back and
forth
well I think that again speaks to great
confidence because I’m a writer and I
don’t show my work to anybody cared if
they like it I don’t trust them I don’t
like it I really get hurt by yeah it you
have to open yourself up to it but and
part of it is just being a little bit
fearless you know I don’t see me a
little bit fearless but you know you
just have to put it out there and not be
afraid somehow they scientifically
determined that the public is only
capable of liking the same 10 songs at
any given time so they simply play those
songs over and over and over and over
until you’re finally completely
exasperated then they move on now I’ve
had a 10 year career as a major label
solo artist and none of my songs has
ever been one of those 10 songs until
this moment and now and now all of you
a soul over me you’re tired of hearing
that I went to Penn why they’d bring him
back again that was my humble brag way
of saying I had the biggest song in the
country right now the reason I’m here
the reason I’ve had such a wonderful
journey so far as I found love yes love
we were all made to love and I found
that we live our best lives we are at
our most successful not simply because
we’re smarter but because we hustle
harder not because we can’t become
millionaires more quickly the key to
success the key to happiness is opening
your mind and your heart to love
spending your time doing things you love
and with people you love even though
we’re made to love we’re often afraid to
love we’re afraid of being hurt deeply
afraid of feeling the pain I went
through when my parents were divorced
but you’re never going to really love
something of someone unless you put
those fears aside don’t hold back
being in love means being ready to give
freely and openly and being ready to
risk something risking pain and
disappointment conquering your fears and
becoming a new Alice Walker once said
the more I wonder the more I love love
calls you to open your eyes to seek to
search to wonder love is all-consuming
it infiltrates your body allows you to
experience bliss joy and true friendship
you’ll be more disappointed when
something goes wrong you might fall
harder but the only way you’ll reach any
height in life and in love is by taking
that chance that you might fall you have
to give you all yes I’ve been not so
subtly working in my song lyrics in my
speech today
and some might think it’s all a bit too
much
Here I am this R&B singer with an album
called love in the future who’s recently
married and wrote the biggest love song
of the year and what did I choose to
talk about love is so corny isn’t it
it’s much cooler to be detached and
apathetic right we all like a little
snark and cynicism and irony especially
from our favorite artists and comedians
and writers I get it
but that cool detachment only gets you
so far
passion gets you a lot further it makes
you a better entrepreneur a better
leader better philanthropist better
friend a better lover I want you to live
the best life you can you can be
world-changers when you leave here today
you’re going to look for a lot of things
security money friendships sex all kinds
of things but the most important thing
you’ll find is love so love yourself
love your work love the people around
you dare to love those who are different
from you no matter where they’re from
what they look like and who they love
[Applause]
pursue this life of love with focus and
passion ambition and courage get it your
own and that will be your path to true
success
thank you guys so much for watching I
made this video because funky fund-me
asked me to feel there’s a famous
entrepreneur that you want me to profile
next leave it down comments below and
I’ll see what I can do
I’d also love to know what did you learn
from this video from John that you’re
going to take some immediate action on
in your life or in your business somehow
what was your favorite clip and why
leave it in the comments and join in the
discussion finally I want to give a
quick shout out to Ray Peterson ray
actually works on my team and he decided
to pick up a copy of my book your
one-word thank you for that Ray and for
taking a picture and posting it online I
really appreciate all the work you do
but also the support with the book so
thank you guys again for watching I
believe in you I hope you continue to
believe in yourself and whatever your
one word is much love I’ll see you soon
yeah we were a company called the Boston
Consulting Group we didn’t management
consulting and it was interesting you
know I had fun sometimes and I was bored
sometimes I was tired sometimes because
at the same time I was trying to make a
demo record playing live and doing all
these other things from a music career
but during the day I would be at work
and those it was an interesting time but
I learned a lot actually from being
there and I think I’m you know I needed
to do it anyway because I needed to make
money somehow I mean I could have got
another job but either way it was going
to take money and time to to invest to
do that so it worked out I have some
friends from there that I’m still very
good friends with and I learned a lot
there why don’t you learn what you learn
you’re just is not specific factors just
kind of how businesses run how they
think how how to do problem solving in
an in a smart way and I think those
things in the instincts that I developed
as a business person and then they help
you has a murder my business sir yeah
because really on all artists are in
some ways entrepreneurs and small
business so is there isn’t one client
that you work for the you say well
that’s that I had to solve one problem
over there and and now when I run my own
business I ran into it and I learned and
I use the experience to solve my own
problems are it’s not that easy
different I draw a line between between
the experiences but I think when you
have general knowledge and you develop
general instincts about certain things
it just helps your decision-making and I
think more than anything yesterday yes
you have to you know it
I envy to see beyond where you are which
you’re not the travesty on where you are
set goes beyond where you are think
about ways that you can wake up and make
a difference and after I did have some
great people around me my family
teachers people that believed in me and
encouraged me that they also highly we
fooled and figured it out after that a
lot of people wanna be stars so the
labels are in position where they have
to and should say no to most people that
come into their door and they need to be
really sure about you before they sign
you so they said no to me a lot they
said no to me even the label I’m signed
to Columbia Sony
turned me down you know like a year or
so before that side so it just shows you
that you have to be persistent you have
to keep trying to get better learn from
your criticisms and and and then just
play to win and that’s what I was doing
proven not to be the case you can get
better at things you can grow no matter
what obstacles you face in life if you
approach it with courage and conviction
you can find a way out of it but the
only way you’ll reach any height in life
and in love is by taking that chance
that you might fall you have to give you
all he’s an American singer songwriter
musician and actor he’s won ten Grammy
Awards one Golden Globe Award and one
Academy Award in 2007 he won the Hal
David starlight award from the
Songwriters Hall of Fame he’s John
Legend and here’s my take on his top ten
rules to success rule number one is my
personal favorite and I’d love to know
which one you guys like the best and as
always guys if you hear something that
really resonates with you please leave
it down the comments below put quotes
around it as well so other people can be
inspired also when you write it down
you’re much more likely to lock it in
for yourself as well
enjoy
the thing is every successful person you
know has failed at what they love to do
before
I’ve been unsuccessful in my career
you just didn’t know about it because I
wasn’t famous yet and I was trying to be
famous I was trying to get a record deal
for six years and I kept getting turned
down and any successful person you know
even though it seems like everything
just happened for them it usually was
preceded by a bunch of failure at least
a significant amount but the great ones
aren’t the ones that don’t fail they’re
the ones that learn from their failure
and they keep going and they’re
persistent in a tenacious and for me I
was trying to get a record gopher from
98 to 2004 and got turned down by every
major left a record label including the
one I’m fine to now and for me that
means that even when you hear no you
have to keep going through all those
nose until you get to yes a lot of
people think they’re prepared but you
may think they’re not for parents so
what has prepared me well prepared means
like I said you’ve got to be great at
whatever you’re doing even if you’re not
known for it you have to be developing
into someone who can be great and you
know if you read Malcolm Gladwell for
instance he believes you have to
practice 10,000 hours to be a genius at
any any particular field I don’t know
the exact numbers right but I’m sure the
directionally that’s correct you need to
spend a hell of a lot of time doing
something and practicing at it and
getting better at it for you to be great
and for a songwriter or a singer
that means writing that means listening
that means performing it means
practicing it means all those things and
if you’re not doing that you’re not
going to become great at we’re always
thinking about what it means to be
authentic as an artist and what it means
to be authentic and to be successful and
commercially viable the goal is to not
let the commercial invade your creative
process too much the goal is to just try
to write a great song just try to make a
great record just try to make a great
album and then the commercial side will
take care of itself but you know you
still have labels and RS in your ear you
still have marketing people in your ear
that you know want a certain thing out
of your first single and want a certain
thing out of your first video but at the
end of the day you’re your guiding light
your North Star has to be is this great
is this creatively something I can be
proud of because if you don’t do that
and I don’t know what the point is when
I was younger I didn’t really know that
you could just get better at things I
think we’re so used to the idea that
talented at something and and it’s sort
of fixed you know the idea that oh he’s
just a good singer you know and even
with singing I’ve gotten better at
singing as I’ve gotten older I wasn’t
singing in a way that was sustainable
and I wasn’t breathing right I wasn’t
doing a bunch of things correctly I
realized that there was a feeling that I
couldn’t crack through unless I actually
studied and work under a coach to get
better and this idea that things are
just fixed is proven not to be the case
you can get better at things you can
grow and even people that are innately
talented still need to go beyond that
basic talent that they have and
cultivate it I love what I do
I’m a musician there’s an industry side
of it but I think at the core what I do
is are going and write songs and I get
to perform them in front of thousands of
people who enjoyed it that is fun that
is great you know there are challenges
involve you you want to do well you want
to keep the public’s interest in their
excitement you want to
sell tickets you want to sell CDs you
want to continue to be successful in the
industry but like I said before I don’t
see a contradiction between doing all
that and have it fun and make a music
you believe in and so I don’t know
I hear people complaining about the
music business and there are certainly
things that you can complain about but
I’m having a great time I want to win
yes I want to be successful at what I do
and so I’m committed to working hard I’m
committed to going to the studio and
working on the song you know the
umpteenth version of it to make sure I
get it exactly right I’m committed to
that I’m committed to rehearsing with my
band so we’ll get the show exactly right
we want to do the best show in the
business yeah and so part of its just my
love of music part of its me being
competitive but all of that makes me
want to perform at a high level that’s
why this project why was it so important
to be a part of it well they sent me the
first script and I was just enthralled I
was like excited to find out where it
went
I thought it was an exciting story that
hasn’t been told in this way before and
I thought it was inspirational about
breaking free about having the courage
to do something against the odds so
congratulations on a baby girl thank you
very much and your daughter Steven what
do you want to take away from this I
want her to be inspired to know a bit
about American history and know about
where fathers people came from and also
to be inspired that no matter what
obstacles you face in life
if you approach her with courage and
conviction and you can find a way out of
it arm the car Novartis that doesn’t fit
so neatly into a radio format and you
know that presents a challenge but it’s
I think it’s one is worth you know it’s
worth it for me to to be that kind of
artist because I think it’s authentic to
who I am and if you’re not being
authentic to who you are then you won’t
be successful anyway usually and I think
that’s why I’ve been successful because
my fans believe what I’m doing and they
believe that I’m coming from a real
place also most of my songs are in some
way a co-write of some sort I usually
write most of the lyrics and melody but
a lot of times the music and the
backbeat are contributed by someone else
and or these in collaboration with
someone else and I’ve always been open
to that and it helps me kind of stay
creative and stay fresh and I think I
come into the collaboration with the
spirit of openness that not every artist
has some people are more guarded and and
more protective about their creative
process but I’m much more open and
collaborative and for me that’s the best
way to create everybody has a different
you know sweet spot and whatever makes
them happy whatever makes them most
comfortable but for me I feel very
comfortable in a collaborative
environment I treat it with humility in
the sense that I’m not went to my ideas
I’m willing to listen to someone else’s
I think I was decent think of taste
enough to be able to kind of appraise
whether or not something that someone
else is contributing is really quality
and good and then I enjoy that back and
forth
well I think that again speaks to great
confidence because I’m a writer and I
don’t show my work to anybody cared if
they like it I don’t trust them I don’t
like it I really get hurt by yeah it you
have to open yourself up to it but and
part of it is just being a little bit
fearless you know I don’t see me a
little bit fearless but you know you
just have to put it out there and not be
afraid somehow they scientifically
determined that the public is only
capable of liking the same 10 songs at
any given time so they simply play those
songs over and over and over and over
until you’re finally completely
exasperated then they move on now I’ve
had a 10 year career as a major label
solo artist and none of my songs has
ever been one of those 10 songs until
this moment and now and now all of you
a soul over me you’re tired of hearing
that I went to Penn why they’d bring him
back again that was my humble brag way
of saying I had the biggest song in the
country right now the reason I’m here
the reason I’ve had such a wonderful
journey so far as I found love yes love
we were all made to love and I found
that we live our best lives we are at
our most successful not simply because
we’re smarter but because we hustle
harder not because we can’t become
millionaires more quickly the key to
success the key to happiness is opening
your mind and your heart to love
spending your time doing things you love
and with people you love even though
we’re made to love we’re often afraid to
love we’re afraid of being hurt deeply
afraid of feeling the pain I went
through when my parents were divorced
but you’re never going to really love
something of someone unless you put
those fears aside don’t hold back
being in love means being ready to give
freely and openly and being ready to
risk something risking pain and
disappointment conquering your fears and
becoming a new Alice Walker once said
the more I wonder the more I love love
calls you to open your eyes to seek to
search to wonder love is all-consuming
it infiltrates your body allows you to
experience bliss joy and true friendship
you’ll be more disappointed when
something goes wrong you might fall
harder but the only way you’ll reach any
height in life and in love is by taking
that chance that you might fall you have
to give you all yes I’ve been not so
subtly working in my song lyrics in my
speech today
and some might think it’s all a bit too
much
Here I am this R&B singer with an album
called love in the future who’s recently
married and wrote the biggest love song
of the year and what did I choose to
talk about love is so corny isn’t it
it’s much cooler to be detached and
apathetic right we all like a little
snark and cynicism and irony especially
from our favorite artists and comedians
and writers I get it
but that cool detachment only gets you
so far
passion gets you a lot further it makes
you a better entrepreneur a better
leader better philanthropist better
friend a better lover I want you to live
the best life you can you can be
world-changers when you leave here today
you’re going to look for a lot of things
security money friendships sex all kinds
of things but the most important thing
you’ll find is love so love yourself
love your work love the people around
you dare to love those who are different
from you no matter where they’re from
what they look like and who they love
[Applause]
pursue this life of love with focus and
passion ambition and courage get it your
own and that will be your path to true
success
thank you guys so much for watching I
made this video because funky fund-me
asked me to feel there’s a famous
entrepreneur that you want me to profile
next leave it down comments below and
I’ll see what I can do
I’d also love to know what did you learn
from this video from John that you’re
going to take some immediate action on
in your life or in your business somehow
what was your favorite clip and why
leave it in the comments and join in the
discussion finally I want to give a
quick shout out to Ray Peterson ray
actually works on my team and he decided
to pick up a copy of my book your
one-word thank you for that Ray and for
taking a picture and posting it online I
really appreciate all the work you do
but also the support with the book so
thank you guys again for watching I
believe in you I hope you continue to
believe in yourself and whatever your
one word is much love I’ll see you soon
yeah we were a company called the Boston
Consulting Group we didn’t management
consulting and it was interesting you
know I had fun sometimes and I was bored
sometimes I was tired sometimes because
at the same time I was trying to make a
demo record playing live and doing all
these other things from a music career
but during the day I would be at work
and those it was an interesting time but
I learned a lot actually from being
there and I think I’m you know I needed
to do it anyway because I needed to make
money somehow I mean I could have got
another job but either way it was going
to take money and time to to invest to
do that so it worked out I have some
friends from there that I’m still very
good friends with and I learned a lot
there why don’t you learn what you learn
you’re just is not specific factors just
kind of how businesses run how they
think how how to do problem solving in
an in a smart way and I think those
things in the instincts that I developed
as a business person and then they help
you has a murder my business sir yeah
because really on all artists are in
some ways entrepreneurs and small
business so is there isn’t one client
that you work for the you say well
that’s that I had to solve one problem
over there and and now when I run my own
business I ran into it and I learned and
I use the experience to solve my own
problems are it’s not that easy
different I draw a line between between
the experiences but I think when you
have general knowledge and you develop
general instincts about certain things
it just helps your decision-making and I
think more than anything yesterday yes
you have to you know it
I envy to see beyond where you are which
you’re not the travesty on where you are
set goes beyond where you are think
about ways that you can wake up and make
a difference and after I did have some
great people around me my family
teachers people that believed in me and
encouraged me that they also highly we
fooled and figured it out after that a
lot of people wanna be stars so the
labels are in position where they have
to and should say no to most people that
come into their door and they need to be
really sure about you before they sign
you so they said no to me a lot they
said no to me even the label I’m signed
to Columbia Sony
turned me down you know like a year or
so before that side so it just shows you
that you have to be persistent you have
to keep trying to get better learn from
your criticisms and and and then just
play to win and that’s what I was doing
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