well now that we can see how short life
really can be what are you gonna do with
the rest of your life that’s a trigger
that’s the biggest trigger that I have
ever experienced what are you gonna do
the rest of your life and what I had to
do is I had to start taking some of my
own advice I have been telling people I
had written about it for a very long
time that if you’re doing something that
you’re not totally committed to if
you’re doing something that you’re not
totally passionate about you’re
compromising yourself every day I came
home one night from work spraying for
cockroaches and long story short I turn
on the Discovery Channel and I saw some
guys going through Navy SEAL training
and they’re going through hell week and
they’re getting their ass just beat you
know in out of the water
guys ringing the bell there was
suffering and I was waiting like 297
pounds and I had to make a change in my
life you know I was at all-time low and
I wasn’t going anywhere and I was
exactly what everybody said I was gonna
be which was nothing so I had to make a
change what was it about seeing
suffering that’s that’s really
interesting and I actually get it but I
engrossed Mall town the Klan
headquarters at that time was about 20
minutes from where I lived the one of
the high ups in the KKK son sat behind
me in two classes so you caught me nigga
a long time I got my first car they
spray-painted nigga we’re going to kill
you on it so I was just an insecure
scared kid and the only way I could find
myself was to put myself through the
worst thing possible I’m gonna say the
exact opposite of what the world today’s
world is saying so we read a bunch of
books nowadays
as humans we we want to find out how to
be someone else what we don’t do is we
don’t go inside so literally turn
yourself inside out read the book that
says like we’re writing a book every day
of our lives every day we’re seeing who
we are as people when I was growing up I
I lied for people to accept me because I
did accept myself so I would make up
stories so then you would accept me into
your world I would uh everything I did
was for someone else to like me it was
until I started reading my own book
about how pathetic I was as human being
I could play my dad I can blame kids at
school I could blame having health
issues ATD my mom not being around great
mom but she was doing her thing I could
blame a lot of people and that’s the
book I was reading and I put it off on
everybody else it was until I said you
know what for me to fix this I get a
read what the hell what the fuck is
wrong with David Garvey’s not not blame
anybody read my books okay I’m afraid of
my shadow how can I overcome that go in
and military get your ass kicked do
things you hate to do be uncomfortable
every day of your life Roger that I’m
not the smartest kid in the world okay
it says somebody saying oh no you’re
smart no no I don’t say that to yourself
I said to myself no I’m a dumb okay
Roger that how you get smarter educate
yourself so the things that we run from
we run it from the truth we running from
the truth man so the only way I became
successful was going towards the truth
as painful and as brutal as it is it
changed me it allowed me to become in my
own right who I am today
the world is a hurting place in the
world needs hope and the world needs
love without hope we feel like why are
we here
well brokenness here’s mine today I
still have no arms or legs but
everything’s changed everything
for me I was looking for hope and
happiness and I couldn’t see it for many
years in fact if this side of the table
represents my hope truth encourages me
to become all that I can be but then we
have lies every day coming in our mind
people who discourage us you know the
people that you have in your life who no
matter how good of a day you’re having
they’ll bring you down or and no matter
how bad of a day you’re having they’ll
bring you even lower you know what I’m
talking about
think of the three biggest discourages
in your life they’re not your biggest
discourages you are you are here in
takes three seconds for me to tell you
something discouraging but then you may
never forget my words I’ve met so many
50 year-old women and 40 year-old women
who still remember what their fathers
told them that they wish they never
heard words are powerful when you hear
those words and then your mind starts
growing with these lies Nick you’re not
good enough Nick just give up Nick
you’re never gonna get a job you won’t
get married you can’t even hold your
wife’s hand what kind of a father are
you gonna be if you can’t even pick up
your kids when they’re crying you’re
alone sure your parents hug you but
their hugs can’t heal you just give up
just give up just give up just give up
just give up at age 8 I thought that I
should commit suicide why I didn’t have
hope I thought I didn’t have hope today
you can see that I had hope
what’s the word believing in something
you do not see faith words can only do
so much
hugs can do much more than words but
when hugs can’t do anything that’s where
faith kicks in for me words and hugs
were not enough but I had no faith I’d
get it back by remembering that I might
die tomorrow that’s true
so I’m inspired by practicality and
reality and the truth which is it is
ridiculously impossible to become a
human being I am one I have other good
things going for me as a human being and
I’m just grateful you your dwelling and
looking at what you don’t have versus
looking at what you have if you actually
looked at what you had your health
you know living in America you know who
the heck knows what would be on your
list if you actually spent all your time
looking at that versus I don’t have a
million dollars I’m not famous I don’t
have this if you spend all your time on
what you have versus what you don’t have
you would be the happiest girl on earth
my mother taught me three things respect
knowledge search for knowledge is an
eternal eternal journey that’s like my
inner castle on 360 degrees by now it’s
always and and she taught me to not be
quiet – if there’s something I mind
speaking that’s what God that was a
breath she always taught but also to
listen and Joey is he talking this
little joke that God gave you two ears
to listen and one mouth to speak to ears
and one mouth
commonsense one month to speak but your
souls will listen and that’s where the
knowledge comes from listening and once
you get the NAS and you can speak
it helps you so she taught me respect
knowledge and understanding mostly use
your power of potential and make this
nation in this world a better place
it worked for this immigrant that came
over here to this country with $20 in
the pocket and I know and I guarantee it
will work for you to try and be decisive
I try and even if I don’t know what the
hell I’m doing I try to be decisive
because I think it’s very comforting and
reassuring and important to the people
that work with you to feel that whoever
is in charge knows what they’re doing
and knows what they’re thinking and that
if it’s a yes it’s a yes and it’s a no
it’s a no I mean I don’t think of myself
as a boss I mean I I think of myself as
someone who’s giving direction and
guidance and and vice versa well I sold
heavy-duty waterless cookware on the
door-to-door demonstration plan and that
was a marvelous experience it took me
the first two and a half years I
struggled financially now that doesn’t
mean I didn’t sell a lot because I did I
saw my furniture saw my car and that’s
fairly close to the truth it really was
then I went to a meeting and a man named
PC Merrill who’s an American Indian
persuaded me that I could be the number
one salesman in America out of the 7,000
member sales force he said you’ve got
everything that it takes to be a great
salesman if you just believe in yourself
and went to work on a regular schedule
and this is the cookware business that’s
right okay now put on the demonstration
door-to-door sales and so forth I never
had anybody say something like that to
me you could be a great when you could
be the national champion now I’ve always
been loved but nobody ever thought of me
as a champion because of mr. Merrill’s
integrity and because he had written the
training program and because he had set
all of the records I took him absolutely
at his word the previous year I had not
been in the top 5,000 out of that sale
7,000 member sales force but the year
after mr. Merrill got through with me I
was number two out of the 7,000 had
received the best promo
that that was available in the company
at that time and the interesting thing
about the success that year he did not
really teach me that much about sales
I’d been in at two and a half years at
that point but what he did teach me was
about who I was the picture ahead of
myself change dramatically asked I
started thinking as a champion and
performing as a champion and I did
finish number two and had that wonderful
promotion here’s an important point
nothing works the first time when you
try something new it probably won’t work
when you try something new several times
it probably won’t work and the turning
point in my life came when I would hear
good ideas and I was so eager to be
successful in selling I would run out
and try the ideas and they wouldn’t work
I try a way of getting an appointment or
answering an objection or closing a sale
it wouldn’t work and my natural response
ah and I think yes to be disappointed
and then I realized nothing works at
least the first few times so I decided I
would try a new idea five or ten times
before I pass judgment on I would not
just try it once and quit like most
people do and that changed my whole life
it was a turning point in my life
because I realized from then on if
you’ve got a good idea and you’ve got a
good goal and you want to double your
income and improve the quality of your
life and you have to try new things in
order to get new results it’s not going
to work the first time to say well that
didn’t work try something else and try
something else and try something else
now if you try only two things can
happen what are they succeed or fail if
you succeed you do more of it if you
fail you learn from it get smarter and
try it again so you cannot lose by
taking action you can only lose by not
taking action directed like music videos
before for the Foo Fighters and and it’s
I mean it’s easy I honestly I honestly
believe that if you’re if you’re focused
and passionate and driven you can
achieve anything you want to achieve in
life because I honestly believe that
because you’ll figure it out you know
what I mean so I never took lessons to
play the drums I just figured it out and
I never took lessons to play guitar it
may be a few but I just listened to
Beatles records you know
and so but I would listen to it I would
listen and were in practice by myself in
my bedroom obsessively and so throughout
life I’ve always kind of figured that
that’s just how you do stuff like if you
have a natural inclination and a real
like drive to do something that you can
figure it out for many years before I
wrote the power of now and it became
successful I was basically a failure in
the eyes of the world so he’s already
almost 50 and what has he achieved my
mom said you have thrown away your life
you had so many possibilities in your
life you walked out of graduate school
in Cambridge why did you walk out of
there you my mum and many other people
said this person has failed in life he
has no job he has no insurance policies
nothing no pension plan just almost
nothing in the bank failure and then a
few years later people bought the path
now and became a best seller Oh a big
success okay if I had arrived my
identity at that time from what the
world was telling me or my mind would
have told me if I have been listening to
my mind I would have been very unhappy
and I didn’t though I was fine because
my identity wasn’t derived from that
anymore
and fortunately even when in the eyes of
the world I suddenly became a success I
don’t want to derive my identity from
that it’s it’s a cheap substitute for
who I really am so I’m not I don’t see I
don’t arrive but the satisfaction it
comes is the satisfaction that the work
that’s happening the teaching that’s
happening is transforming people’s lives
that’s very satisfying I don’t get any
personal satisfaction so because it’s
not I don’t feel it as this separate me
produced it I have no education
I had no high school diploma I didn’t
even have a GED I quit high school and
halfway through grade 10 I didn’t have a
lot of options that would be a
dishwasher or a waiter custodial work of
some sort so I decided I might as well
go and do something creative I decided
to go to the comedy store the Laugh
Factory in the improv you know all all
of those clubs every night and make my
25 bucks a pop a set was my version of
Hiva later it was a compromise I decided
to make out of that came in living color
and out of that came touring their
auditoriums 5,000 seaters it was a
really creative time I was able to prove
that I didn’t have to be an
impressionist that I had a personality
of my own and however abrasive it might
be from time to time a long story short
all of it came from that compromise from
that deciding to do what I didn’t want
to do things you can’t do or the things
you’re not allowed to do look at the
executives come and say you can’t do
that whatever it is it’s too expensive
you get angry to get out of your mind
about it because you’ve been clinging to
this concept in this image that you have
of how it should be done and invariably
most times
after that storm has passed and you
actually sit down and go okay we can’t
do it that way how can we do it he end
up with something even better than what
was there before then you go that’s the
universe that’s how it works just like
relationships like everything the thing
that has taken away if you’re clinging
to it you’re trying to fix you’re trying
to secure it make sure it doesn’t go
away you think it your life will be
destroyed everything will be ruined
and it’s just the universe believes no I
have something better for you I just
have faith sometimes compromise is
actually the way to get to what you want
I don’t pay no attention to what they
say about me all I do is just do what I
have to do and get paid and that’s it
but I don’t really pay no attention to
the rules of boxing I don’t pay no
attention I defy all the rules I define
I’ve added pages to the book of boxes I
have this game is such a thing now until
boxing promoters can no longer afford my
shows I have governments like Iran ready
to put up ten million for me to fight
Joe Frazier
I have governments like Cairo Egypt we
only put up six million with people like
Ron Lyle I have countries all like all
back to your zyre talking to my Bhutto
he wants him back again they put up five
more million for retirement fulmen when
we talk about 10 million and 6 million
and 4 million this is unbelievable and
they don’t expect to get the money back
they promote in their countries and
their ideals
so I’ve like sales so in this sport of
boxing until Madison Square Garden is
too small Yankees Stadium is too small
the Houston Astrodome the biggest
promoters in the wealth is Americans and
Englishman’s you can get for promotions
cannot just promote me no more you
understand so I’ve not only added pages
to boxing but added new sections to blue
boxing book so a friend of mine and I we
went for a run in Central Park the
Roadrunners organization on the weekends
they host races and it’s very common at
the end of the race they’ll have a
sponsor who will give away something
apples or bagels or something and on
this particular day when we got to the
end of the run there were some free
bagels and they had picnic tables set up
and on one side was a group of
tears on the table were boxes of bagels
and on the other side was a long line of
runners waiting to get their free bagel
so I said to my friend let’s let’s get a
bagel and he looked at me and said that
lines too long and I said free bagel and
he said I don’t want to wait in line and
I was like free bagel and he says not
that’s it’s too long and that’s when I
realized that there’s two ways to see
the world some people see the thing that
they want and some people see the thing
that prevents them from getting the
thing that they want I could only see
the bagels he could only see the line
and so I walked up to the line I leaned
in between two people put my hand in the
box and pulled out two bagels and no one
get mad at me because the rule is you
can go after whatever you want
you just cannot deny anyone else to go
after whatever they want
now I had to sacrifice choice I didn’t
get to choose which bagel I got I got
whatever I pulled out but I didn’t have
to wait in line so the point is is you
don’t have to wait in line you don’t
have to do it the way everybody else has
done it you can do it your way you can
break the rules you just can’t get in
the way of somebody else getting what
they want that’s rule number one takes
years to become a great chef what you
need to do is establish confidence in
yourself cooking is an amazing journey
and don’t think you can learn it within
three or four years it’s like studying
medicine it’s over a ten to fifteen year
period I’m 42 years of age and I’m still
learning new exciting things now that I
bring back to the fold but more
importantly provisionally I didn’t think
French was important at school and I
kicked myself now because I went to live
in France for three years and became
bilingual but I wish I’d studied harder
with a second language on my belt that
gives you a different culture gives you
a completely different level of
confidence learning French French
cuisine mannerism
and cooking in a very robust tenacious
way so yeah vision and open-mindedness
and we never cut corners I mean you
start cutting corners in food timeout
there’s no worse job to have than to cut
corners in food so attention to detail
amazing exciting journey one of the very
few jobs anywhere in the world that you
can travel get paid and experience
phenomenal food anywhere in the world
brilliant so what advice would you give
purely in an acting sense to yourself 30
40 years ago same advice I gave myself
30 to 40 years old ago job act there are
unfortunately those of us who say well
I’m gonna be a star that’s way out there
in the ether somewhere I won’t be a
working actor you can pull that off so
act work work I someone asked me in
watts and you’re about to do it what
would you do if you weren’t an act if
you didn’t make it as an actor what
would you do I have no idea I would act
somewhere maybe I’d be driving a cab
maybe I’m working somebody’s yard
whatever I’m doing I’m going to belong
to somebody’s little theatre group
I will act because I’ll die if I don’t
my advice would be the same for any kind
of entrepreneur and that is make sure
that you are focused on something you’re
passionate about so if you look at the
early internet companies they were
started and focused on doing something
that they thought was very interesting
long before the internet was fashionable
in anyway you know I I you know we are
currently an underdog once again we’ve
been in business for six years and there
was exactly one year where we were not
the underdog and that was 1999 I like
the the underdog years because it makes
you know I liked it when all the people
we hired their parents told them they
were crazy like that was the that was
kind of the good era fortunately it’s
back in 1999 all the parents were like
you know given their brothers and
sisters high fives you know my son is
working at amazon.com so that’s a very
you can’t follow the fashion when you’re
trying to do a startup company or I
think really anything in life but you
have to as an entrepreneur if you’re
gonna if you’re gonna build a company
pick something you think is interesting
that has the intersection of genuinely
creating real customer value and then
just stay right there and let the wave
catch you you know 12 years of research
11,000 pieces of data I had I did not
interview and all that time a person who
would describe themselves as joyful or
describe their lives as joyous who did
not actively practice gratitude and for
me it was very counterintuitive because
I kind of went into the research
thinking that the relationship between
joy and gratitude was if you’re joyful
then you should be grateful but it
wasn’t that way at all it was really
that practicing gratitude invites joy
into our lives and when I say practice I
think this is this is the part that
really changed my life it changed my
family and the way we live every day
when I say practice gratitude I don’t
mean kind of like the attitude of
gratitude or feeling grateful I mean
practicing gratitude these folks shared
in common a tangible gratitude practice
they either kept gratitude journals some
of them did interesting things like at 1
2 3 4 like at 12:30 for every day they
said something out loud that they were
grateful for they one of the things that
we do like we say grace at dinner and so
now after grace we go around and
everyone in my family says something
they’re grateful for I mean including
what’s interesting is when we first
started I have a first grader at first
grade son Charlie and eighth grade
daughter Ellen and at first I thought
and we’ve been doing for a couple years
now like they’re like oh god mom and if
there was a little like this is you know
are you experimenting on us it’s a
little bit of that but now what’s
interesting
even after we did it for like a couple
of weeks that on those crazy busy nights
where we’re trying to like get to soccer
and piano and homework and Steve and I
are just like we can we say a quick
prayer we start eating my kids are like
whoa what are you grateful for and it’s
absolutely does it invite more joy into
our house it also is such a soulful
window into what’s going on in my kids
lives you know so there’s some days
where my 8th grader will be like I’m
joyful that there’s a huge thick wall
between my room and my brother’s room
you know something is very you know
honest but their other day she’ll say
you know she had a friend whose mother
recently died and she said yeah for a
month she would say I’m just so grateful
that y’all are healthy right now you
know and so not only did it make us all
more aware of what we had and more
willing to slow down and really be
thankful for the joyful moments we had
but it let me know where she was
emotionally in her life you know my son
is always yeah I’m grateful for bugs I’m
grateful for frogs but sometimes he’ll
say you know I’m grateful that you
picked me up early or you know I’m
grateful that I finally understand
adjectives you know so it’s there’s a
great quote that says it’s not granted
it’s not joy that makes us grateful it’s
gratitude that makes us joyful and
it’s by a Jesuit brother a Jesuit priest
and I guess I was just amazed to find
that bubble up so strongly in the
research it’s life-changing and I also
know career-wise how important it is not
to be too highly specialized especially
these days in the world of media it is
crucial to have multiple interests and
skillsets to have tried and possibly
failed and many different undertakings
the young people that we hired today at
Conde Nast are fearless polymaths
hardworking and passionate creative and
curious don’t be afraid to fail
because if you’re afraid to fail then
you’re always holding yourself back
because you’re afraid that if you go all
out you may fail well in weightlifting
we learned it very quickly the only way
you could break a record is if you’re
willing to fail that’s when you put on
more weight you try it some of them see
maybe don’t you would not be able to
lift it we just happen to me many times
but eventually when you train hard
enough you will lift it so don’t be
afraid to fail you I mean how far can
you fall it’s too much money here I mean
nobody should be hitting lotto 436
million and we got people starving in
the streets that is not idealistic
that’s just real that is just stupid
there’s no way Michael Jackson sedan or
whoever Jackson so they have a million
thousand Drupal billion dollars and
there’s people starving there’s no way
there’s no way do these people should
own planes and their people don’t have
houses apartments shacks drawers pants I
know you rich I know you got 40 billion
dollars but can you just keep it to one
house you only need one house and if you
only got two kids can you just keep it
to two rooms I mean well I have 52 rooms
and you notice somebody with no room it
just don’t make sense to me and don’t
and then these people celebrate
Christmas they got big trees huge trees
all the little trimmings everybody got
gifts and it’s my stuff
and they’re having a white Christmas
they having a great Christmas eggnog and
the whole nine that’s not fair to me so
you can hold a ballet and that can be
successful and you can hold a rock
concert and that can be successful just
don’t hold a ballet and advertise it as
a rock concert and so you need to be
clear with all of your stakeholders with
you know are you holding a ballet or are
you holding a rock concert and then
people get to self-select in you know we
hire people who are who are really
motivated by building new customer
experiences they like to pioneer they
like the rate of change they they wake
up in the shower motivated by thinking
about customers and occasionally
somebody joins Amazon who their primary
motivation comes from being thinking
about competition or competitors those
people can find Amazon a little Dolph
you know so and again it’s not about
right or wrong it’s just that different
people are motivated by different things
and what happens with corporate cultures
is that over time that you people
collect themselves you know in a way
where they like that culture and then it
becomes self-sustaining it’s not that
difficult really to step out of the
stream of thinking so one way of course
it’s meditation it’s the traditional
approach is you have certain periods of
time once or twice a day when you sit
down close your eyes and instead of
involuntarily being drawn into the
continuous stream of thinking you
usually in with meditation you have a
technique or message you focus your
attention on one thing which could be a
mantra that you preach it could be your
breathing it’s a very ancient meditation
it could be the inner feeling in your
body the sense of aliveness that pervade
pervades your body in other words you
take attention away from thinking and
that’s already a great realization that
you are able
you ever actually have a choice of
directing attention you don’t have to go
to you don’t have to go with your
attention all the time where the
habitual thought patterns want you to go
the the abbot your thoughts returns want
your attention every time every thought
says I may take give me your attention
follow me they call this way and another
negative thought and another one and
another one we need to be able to sell
whether it’s Kickstarter whether it’s
near times whether it’s your local
newspaper you need to be able to
communicate effectively and so which is
why when entrepreneurs ask me for books
to read outside of business books I say
on writing well bird by bird all books
on writing improving communication David
Ogilvy oval view an advertising study
print ads where you have very little
space I think those are all very very
effective the best entrepreneurs I’ve
ever met are all good communicators it’s
the one perhaps one of the very few
unifying factors they’re exceptional
communicators practice is the only way
to get better at communicating and
practicing speaking does not provide you
generally with something to review later
which is why the written word is so
powerful writing is thought crystallized
on a piece of paper that can then be
reviewed it’s very difficult to do that
with speech which is why I recommend
people focus on honing their skills in
writing take time to study good direct
response ads take time to for instance
maybe develop a swipe file so one of the
things that I did for years is any time
I bought something I would identify the
ad the phone call
the print ad the the offer whatever it
was that made me decide to buy it and I
would either cut it out or record it put
it into Evernote whatever it might be
and save it so I had a record of
everything that I bought and why I
bought it and then I could go back and
review it and I’ll be like Oh looks like
I fell for this this and this not a bad
way it looks like this tipped me from
yeah or not interested – yeah it spent
five fifty five hundred five thousand
dollars on that yeah I save all that
everything that works in sales has been
done already you do not need to reinvent
the wheel so just keep track of the crap
that you buy or the awesome stuff that
you buy and decide what was the trigger
what push me over the edge and then just
sell the people like you that’s what I
do it’s really easy
people are like who’s your market I
might well you know I’m a thirty
something that’s that based tech savvy
male so why don’t I just solve those
people it’s a lot easier than trying to
guess my first passion before food was
was football but as always a good eater
great level food I grew up partly in
Scotland polygon south so we had that
sort of token of appreciation of
home-cooked food then I was very lucky
to get on a foundation course spending
the last year in my school at a
foundation course studying maths English
tune half days a week and then learning
to cook 14-hour days a week and it was a
sort of new experiment now we had
trouble with buy my first set of whites
and chef knives and we
on the boundary roundtable to come up
with something like 85 90 pound the
moment that didn’t have to get my first
set of whites so I still remember that
day now and how I ecstatic and happy I
was when I got given my first set of
whites mine eyes and all of a sudden
know when you go on that mission
football was a sort of huge burning
ambition and I was trying to decide yeah
I had a horrific injury where’s my
collagen and then all of a sudden you
know what you do so they can get better
but I had this little burning desire of
this sort of a chef it’s this this
ambition and then I sort of channeled
that frustration from football into
cooking in a way that I I just I just
wanted to learn the foundation course
was huge
there are sitting guild 7:06 I was a
mature part-time student and mum doesn’t
have the money to send me to college
full-time so it was it was hard but what
I did do is take a job in the industry I
work six days a week and went to college
one day which so then everything started
becoming clearer got my qualifications
the basic and then went to London and
that’s where it really just you know
took off if you want to be successful
and starting a business then you study
what people have learned and everything
that people have learned that written
down or shared in seminars or put onto
audio programs is I learned this from a
very wise man named cop cop Meyer who
spent more than 50 years studying
success and he had developed more than
1,000 success principles that he had
derived out of something like 6,000
books and when I met him I asked him the
question you would ask have all these
thousand principles because I had
studied it all which is the most
important principle of all and he said
Brian he said it’s simple he said use
proven success methods he said learn
from the experts he said Brian you’ll
never live long enough to learn it all
for yourself so why I find is that
successful people are those who learn
from others who’ve gone before them
unsuccessful people try to make it all
up like a cook going into the kitchen
taking ingredients out of the cupboards
throwing them all in a bowl and
wondering why it doesn’t taste
this is why people sales careers why 80%
of sales people are functioning well
below that potential only 20% make all
the money
why 20% of businesses in any industry
make all the profits why 20% of the
professionals in any service make 80% of
the money and so on it’s because they
follow proven success principles proven
recipes proven formulas proven
combinations and they just do them over
and over again until they master them
then they can do the more and more of
them faster and faster easier and easier
at a higher level of quality and all
that translates into greater results
I was presentable but I wore the same
two suits I had two suits man that I had
to wear every day for a year one blue
one gray the joke around the office
started
oh that’s Chris Gardner he’s re-enacting
the Civil War some days with the norm
some days he’s with the South so many
people I talked to at that time for all
he paid they say this is the stupidest
idea you have ever got but I think I
don’t wear the stupid a clever as long
as people use it now we have 800 million
people using this Ali pay so to really
take a longer-term view not just you
know to look three months from now but
look three years now and but the future
is gonna come whether you like it or not
so you want to kind of be one step ahead
it’s a mind game then it’s why think
it’s psychology and everything again
life most of life comes down to
psychology doesn’t it it starts here in
the internal world before you can master
the external world you have to master
your own internal world that’s the true
secret to success there are many ways to
get the things that we want for
ourselves in our lives but basically it
all begins with how we choose to think
as you think
so shall you be seven little words that
I think are perhaps the most important
things that we can learn and master in
our lives
this whole proverb notion that I become
what I think about all day long and once
you know that what you think about is
what expands you start getting real
careful about what to think about you
don’t allow your thoughts to be on
anything that you don’t want or that you
wouldn’t want to have manifest or show
up for you in your life I met my best
when I’m around people who believe what
I believe I know it seems silly but I
try very very hard to sort of stack the
deck you know to put myself in a
position of strength so for example you
know somebody asked me just yesterday
have you ever had sort of a bad you know
engagement I was thinking myself I’m
like not really but it’s not because I’m
some sort of sort of genius a nice
ending anything like that it’s because I
stack the deck it’s because I want to be
there I want to be around people who
want me there in other words if I’m
somebody’s tenth choice and like you
know I’ll probably turn it down
whereas if I’m their first choice they
really want me there and so I’m more
likely to have a good engagement they’re
supportive of me I’m supportive of them
and so yeah I’m at my best right when I
stack the deck when I choose to be in an
environment where where my strengths are
are they’re part of your financial IQ to
know there’s three types of income so if
you’re gonna say it work hard most
people are working hard for earned
income and that’s what these guys are
working for the trouble with earned
income in America at tax rates
approximately 50% or as Warren Buffett
says it’s a shame that his secretary
pays a higher percentage in taxes and he
did although he makes billions of
dollars so when you say to a child go to
school and get a safe secure job you
telling them work for earned income the
worst type of income the second type of
income is portfolio income and today as
I speak and they’re trying to change
this it’s about 20% in portfolio income
is generally known as capital gains if I
buy a stock for ten dollars and I sell
it for $50 the $40 gain is tagged
at 20% or if I buy a house for a hundred
thousand I sell it for two hundred
thousand that’s a capital gains type of
event so you pay a lot of tax for that
and the third type of income which is
the which is the best type of income
excuse me I can’t spell again it’s
passive income and this is income that
just comes in a regular basis one of the
reasons I am wealthy and is able to
retire at a young age is because I
worked hard for passive income not
earned income I don’t flip real estate
generally not portfolio income what
don’t flip stocks I want passive income
so today the new rules of money is
important to understand what are you
going to school to become es
entrepreneur or investor and what kind
of income you’re working hard for earned
portfolio or passive and if you know
what you’re doing you can pay zero
pratense percent taxes legally and this
can be done all over the world people
say we can’t do it in my country well
these people can’t do it in any country
but in most parts of the world
governments need these people so they’re
always giving tax incentives for for
investors and business owners or for
passive income so those are some of the
new rules of money you’ve really got to
know what you’re working hard at and
what kind of work are you performing
what kind of income are you working hard for
really can be what are you gonna do with
the rest of your life that’s a trigger
that’s the biggest trigger that I have
ever experienced what are you gonna do
the rest of your life and what I had to
do is I had to start taking some of my
own advice I have been telling people I
had written about it for a very long
time that if you’re doing something that
you’re not totally committed to if
you’re doing something that you’re not
totally passionate about you’re
compromising yourself every day I came
home one night from work spraying for
cockroaches and long story short I turn
on the Discovery Channel and I saw some
guys going through Navy SEAL training
and they’re going through hell week and
they’re getting their ass just beat you
know in out of the water
guys ringing the bell there was
suffering and I was waiting like 297
pounds and I had to make a change in my
life you know I was at all-time low and
I wasn’t going anywhere and I was
exactly what everybody said I was gonna
be which was nothing so I had to make a
change what was it about seeing
suffering that’s that’s really
interesting and I actually get it but I
engrossed Mall town the Klan
headquarters at that time was about 20
minutes from where I lived the one of
the high ups in the KKK son sat behind
me in two classes so you caught me nigga
a long time I got my first car they
spray-painted nigga we’re going to kill
you on it so I was just an insecure
scared kid and the only way I could find
myself was to put myself through the
worst thing possible I’m gonna say the
exact opposite of what the world today’s
world is saying so we read a bunch of
books nowadays
as humans we we want to find out how to
be someone else what we don’t do is we
don’t go inside so literally turn
yourself inside out read the book that
says like we’re writing a book every day
of our lives every day we’re seeing who
we are as people when I was growing up I
I lied for people to accept me because I
did accept myself so I would make up
stories so then you would accept me into
your world I would uh everything I did
was for someone else to like me it was
until I started reading my own book
about how pathetic I was as human being
I could play my dad I can blame kids at
school I could blame having health
issues ATD my mom not being around great
mom but she was doing her thing I could
blame a lot of people and that’s the
book I was reading and I put it off on
everybody else it was until I said you
know what for me to fix this I get a
read what the hell what the fuck is
wrong with David Garvey’s not not blame
anybody read my books okay I’m afraid of
my shadow how can I overcome that go in
and military get your ass kicked do
things you hate to do be uncomfortable
every day of your life Roger that I’m
not the smartest kid in the world okay
it says somebody saying oh no you’re
smart no no I don’t say that to yourself
I said to myself no I’m a dumb okay
Roger that how you get smarter educate
yourself so the things that we run from
we run it from the truth we running from
the truth man so the only way I became
successful was going towards the truth
as painful and as brutal as it is it
changed me it allowed me to become in my
own right who I am today
the world is a hurting place in the
world needs hope and the world needs
love without hope we feel like why are
we here
well brokenness here’s mine today I
still have no arms or legs but
everything’s changed everything
for me I was looking for hope and
happiness and I couldn’t see it for many
years in fact if this side of the table
represents my hope truth encourages me
to become all that I can be but then we
have lies every day coming in our mind
people who discourage us you know the
people that you have in your life who no
matter how good of a day you’re having
they’ll bring you down or and no matter
how bad of a day you’re having they’ll
bring you even lower you know what I’m
talking about
think of the three biggest discourages
in your life they’re not your biggest
discourages you are you are here in
takes three seconds for me to tell you
something discouraging but then you may
never forget my words I’ve met so many
50 year-old women and 40 year-old women
who still remember what their fathers
told them that they wish they never
heard words are powerful when you hear
those words and then your mind starts
growing with these lies Nick you’re not
good enough Nick just give up Nick
you’re never gonna get a job you won’t
get married you can’t even hold your
wife’s hand what kind of a father are
you gonna be if you can’t even pick up
your kids when they’re crying you’re
alone sure your parents hug you but
their hugs can’t heal you just give up
just give up just give up just give up
just give up at age 8 I thought that I
should commit suicide why I didn’t have
hope I thought I didn’t have hope today
you can see that I had hope
what’s the word believing in something
you do not see faith words can only do
so much
hugs can do much more than words but
when hugs can’t do anything that’s where
faith kicks in for me words and hugs
were not enough but I had no faith I’d
get it back by remembering that I might
die tomorrow that’s true
so I’m inspired by practicality and
reality and the truth which is it is
ridiculously impossible to become a
human being I am one I have other good
things going for me as a human being and
I’m just grateful you your dwelling and
looking at what you don’t have versus
looking at what you have if you actually
looked at what you had your health
you know living in America you know who
the heck knows what would be on your
list if you actually spent all your time
looking at that versus I don’t have a
million dollars I’m not famous I don’t
have this if you spend all your time on
what you have versus what you don’t have
you would be the happiest girl on earth
my mother taught me three things respect
knowledge search for knowledge is an
eternal eternal journey that’s like my
inner castle on 360 degrees by now it’s
always and and she taught me to not be
quiet – if there’s something I mind
speaking that’s what God that was a
breath she always taught but also to
listen and Joey is he talking this
little joke that God gave you two ears
to listen and one mouth to speak to ears
and one mouth
commonsense one month to speak but your
souls will listen and that’s where the
knowledge comes from listening and once
you get the NAS and you can speak
it helps you so she taught me respect
knowledge and understanding mostly use
your power of potential and make this
nation in this world a better place
it worked for this immigrant that came
over here to this country with $20 in
the pocket and I know and I guarantee it
will work for you to try and be decisive
I try and even if I don’t know what the
hell I’m doing I try to be decisive
because I think it’s very comforting and
reassuring and important to the people
that work with you to feel that whoever
is in charge knows what they’re doing
and knows what they’re thinking and that
if it’s a yes it’s a yes and it’s a no
it’s a no I mean I don’t think of myself
as a boss I mean I I think of myself as
someone who’s giving direction and
guidance and and vice versa well I sold
heavy-duty waterless cookware on the
door-to-door demonstration plan and that
was a marvelous experience it took me
the first two and a half years I
struggled financially now that doesn’t
mean I didn’t sell a lot because I did I
saw my furniture saw my car and that’s
fairly close to the truth it really was
then I went to a meeting and a man named
PC Merrill who’s an American Indian
persuaded me that I could be the number
one salesman in America out of the 7,000
member sales force he said you’ve got
everything that it takes to be a great
salesman if you just believe in yourself
and went to work on a regular schedule
and this is the cookware business that’s
right okay now put on the demonstration
door-to-door sales and so forth I never
had anybody say something like that to
me you could be a great when you could
be the national champion now I’ve always
been loved but nobody ever thought of me
as a champion because of mr. Merrill’s
integrity and because he had written the
training program and because he had set
all of the records I took him absolutely
at his word the previous year I had not
been in the top 5,000 out of that sale
7,000 member sales force but the year
after mr. Merrill got through with me I
was number two out of the 7,000 had
received the best promo
that that was available in the company
at that time and the interesting thing
about the success that year he did not
really teach me that much about sales
I’d been in at two and a half years at
that point but what he did teach me was
about who I was the picture ahead of
myself change dramatically asked I
started thinking as a champion and
performing as a champion and I did
finish number two and had that wonderful
promotion here’s an important point
nothing works the first time when you
try something new it probably won’t work
when you try something new several times
it probably won’t work and the turning
point in my life came when I would hear
good ideas and I was so eager to be
successful in selling I would run out
and try the ideas and they wouldn’t work
I try a way of getting an appointment or
answering an objection or closing a sale
it wouldn’t work and my natural response
ah and I think yes to be disappointed
and then I realized nothing works at
least the first few times so I decided I
would try a new idea five or ten times
before I pass judgment on I would not
just try it once and quit like most
people do and that changed my whole life
it was a turning point in my life
because I realized from then on if
you’ve got a good idea and you’ve got a
good goal and you want to double your
income and improve the quality of your
life and you have to try new things in
order to get new results it’s not going
to work the first time to say well that
didn’t work try something else and try
something else and try something else
now if you try only two things can
happen what are they succeed or fail if
you succeed you do more of it if you
fail you learn from it get smarter and
try it again so you cannot lose by
taking action you can only lose by not
taking action directed like music videos
before for the Foo Fighters and and it’s
I mean it’s easy I honestly I honestly
believe that if you’re if you’re focused
and passionate and driven you can
achieve anything you want to achieve in
life because I honestly believe that
because you’ll figure it out you know
what I mean so I never took lessons to
play the drums I just figured it out and
I never took lessons to play guitar it
may be a few but I just listened to
Beatles records you know
and so but I would listen to it I would
listen and were in practice by myself in
my bedroom obsessively and so throughout
life I’ve always kind of figured that
that’s just how you do stuff like if you
have a natural inclination and a real
like drive to do something that you can
figure it out for many years before I
wrote the power of now and it became
successful I was basically a failure in
the eyes of the world so he’s already
almost 50 and what has he achieved my
mom said you have thrown away your life
you had so many possibilities in your
life you walked out of graduate school
in Cambridge why did you walk out of
there you my mum and many other people
said this person has failed in life he
has no job he has no insurance policies
nothing no pension plan just almost
nothing in the bank failure and then a
few years later people bought the path
now and became a best seller Oh a big
success okay if I had arrived my
identity at that time from what the
world was telling me or my mind would
have told me if I have been listening to
my mind I would have been very unhappy
and I didn’t though I was fine because
my identity wasn’t derived from that
anymore
and fortunately even when in the eyes of
the world I suddenly became a success I
don’t want to derive my identity from
that it’s it’s a cheap substitute for
who I really am so I’m not I don’t see I
don’t arrive but the satisfaction it
comes is the satisfaction that the work
that’s happening the teaching that’s
happening is transforming people’s lives
that’s very satisfying I don’t get any
personal satisfaction so because it’s
not I don’t feel it as this separate me
produced it I have no education
I had no high school diploma I didn’t
even have a GED I quit high school and
halfway through grade 10 I didn’t have a
lot of options that would be a
dishwasher or a waiter custodial work of
some sort so I decided I might as well
go and do something creative I decided
to go to the comedy store the Laugh
Factory in the improv you know all all
of those clubs every night and make my
25 bucks a pop a set was my version of
Hiva later it was a compromise I decided
to make out of that came in living color
and out of that came touring their
auditoriums 5,000 seaters it was a
really creative time I was able to prove
that I didn’t have to be an
impressionist that I had a personality
of my own and however abrasive it might
be from time to time a long story short
all of it came from that compromise from
that deciding to do what I didn’t want
to do things you can’t do or the things
you’re not allowed to do look at the
executives come and say you can’t do
that whatever it is it’s too expensive
you get angry to get out of your mind
about it because you’ve been clinging to
this concept in this image that you have
of how it should be done and invariably
most times
after that storm has passed and you
actually sit down and go okay we can’t
do it that way how can we do it he end
up with something even better than what
was there before then you go that’s the
universe that’s how it works just like
relationships like everything the thing
that has taken away if you’re clinging
to it you’re trying to fix you’re trying
to secure it make sure it doesn’t go
away you think it your life will be
destroyed everything will be ruined
and it’s just the universe believes no I
have something better for you I just
have faith sometimes compromise is
actually the way to get to what you want
I don’t pay no attention to what they
say about me all I do is just do what I
have to do and get paid and that’s it
but I don’t really pay no attention to
the rules of boxing I don’t pay no
attention I defy all the rules I define
I’ve added pages to the book of boxes I
have this game is such a thing now until
boxing promoters can no longer afford my
shows I have governments like Iran ready
to put up ten million for me to fight
Joe Frazier
I have governments like Cairo Egypt we
only put up six million with people like
Ron Lyle I have countries all like all
back to your zyre talking to my Bhutto
he wants him back again they put up five
more million for retirement fulmen when
we talk about 10 million and 6 million
and 4 million this is unbelievable and
they don’t expect to get the money back
they promote in their countries and
their ideals
so I’ve like sales so in this sport of
boxing until Madison Square Garden is
too small Yankees Stadium is too small
the Houston Astrodome the biggest
promoters in the wealth is Americans and
Englishman’s you can get for promotions
cannot just promote me no more you
understand so I’ve not only added pages
to boxing but added new sections to blue
boxing book so a friend of mine and I we
went for a run in Central Park the
Roadrunners organization on the weekends
they host races and it’s very common at
the end of the race they’ll have a
sponsor who will give away something
apples or bagels or something and on
this particular day when we got to the
end of the run there were some free
bagels and they had picnic tables set up
and on one side was a group of
tears on the table were boxes of bagels
and on the other side was a long line of
runners waiting to get their free bagel
so I said to my friend let’s let’s get a
bagel and he looked at me and said that
lines too long and I said free bagel and
he said I don’t want to wait in line and
I was like free bagel and he says not
that’s it’s too long and that’s when I
realized that there’s two ways to see
the world some people see the thing that
they want and some people see the thing
that prevents them from getting the
thing that they want I could only see
the bagels he could only see the line
and so I walked up to the line I leaned
in between two people put my hand in the
box and pulled out two bagels and no one
get mad at me because the rule is you
can go after whatever you want
you just cannot deny anyone else to go
after whatever they want
now I had to sacrifice choice I didn’t
get to choose which bagel I got I got
whatever I pulled out but I didn’t have
to wait in line so the point is is you
don’t have to wait in line you don’t
have to do it the way everybody else has
done it you can do it your way you can
break the rules you just can’t get in
the way of somebody else getting what
they want that’s rule number one takes
years to become a great chef what you
need to do is establish confidence in
yourself cooking is an amazing journey
and don’t think you can learn it within
three or four years it’s like studying
medicine it’s over a ten to fifteen year
period I’m 42 years of age and I’m still
learning new exciting things now that I
bring back to the fold but more
importantly provisionally I didn’t think
French was important at school and I
kicked myself now because I went to live
in France for three years and became
bilingual but I wish I’d studied harder
with a second language on my belt that
gives you a different culture gives you
a completely different level of
confidence learning French French
cuisine mannerism
and cooking in a very robust tenacious
way so yeah vision and open-mindedness
and we never cut corners I mean you
start cutting corners in food timeout
there’s no worse job to have than to cut
corners in food so attention to detail
amazing exciting journey one of the very
few jobs anywhere in the world that you
can travel get paid and experience
phenomenal food anywhere in the world
brilliant so what advice would you give
purely in an acting sense to yourself 30
40 years ago same advice I gave myself
30 to 40 years old ago job act there are
unfortunately those of us who say well
I’m gonna be a star that’s way out there
in the ether somewhere I won’t be a
working actor you can pull that off so
act work work I someone asked me in
watts and you’re about to do it what
would you do if you weren’t an act if
you didn’t make it as an actor what
would you do I have no idea I would act
somewhere maybe I’d be driving a cab
maybe I’m working somebody’s yard
whatever I’m doing I’m going to belong
to somebody’s little theatre group
I will act because I’ll die if I don’t
my advice would be the same for any kind
of entrepreneur and that is make sure
that you are focused on something you’re
passionate about so if you look at the
early internet companies they were
started and focused on doing something
that they thought was very interesting
long before the internet was fashionable
in anyway you know I I you know we are
currently an underdog once again we’ve
been in business for six years and there
was exactly one year where we were not
the underdog and that was 1999 I like
the the underdog years because it makes
you know I liked it when all the people
we hired their parents told them they
were crazy like that was the that was
kind of the good era fortunately it’s
back in 1999 all the parents were like
you know given their brothers and
sisters high fives you know my son is
working at amazon.com so that’s a very
you can’t follow the fashion when you’re
trying to do a startup company or I
think really anything in life but you
have to as an entrepreneur if you’re
gonna if you’re gonna build a company
pick something you think is interesting
that has the intersection of genuinely
creating real customer value and then
just stay right there and let the wave
catch you you know 12 years of research
11,000 pieces of data I had I did not
interview and all that time a person who
would describe themselves as joyful or
describe their lives as joyous who did
not actively practice gratitude and for
me it was very counterintuitive because
I kind of went into the research
thinking that the relationship between
joy and gratitude was if you’re joyful
then you should be grateful but it
wasn’t that way at all it was really
that practicing gratitude invites joy
into our lives and when I say practice I
think this is this is the part that
really changed my life it changed my
family and the way we live every day
when I say practice gratitude I don’t
mean kind of like the attitude of
gratitude or feeling grateful I mean
practicing gratitude these folks shared
in common a tangible gratitude practice
they either kept gratitude journals some
of them did interesting things like at 1
2 3 4 like at 12:30 for every day they
said something out loud that they were
grateful for they one of the things that
we do like we say grace at dinner and so
now after grace we go around and
everyone in my family says something
they’re grateful for I mean including
what’s interesting is when we first
started I have a first grader at first
grade son Charlie and eighth grade
daughter Ellen and at first I thought
and we’ve been doing for a couple years
now like they’re like oh god mom and if
there was a little like this is you know
are you experimenting on us it’s a
little bit of that but now what’s
interesting
even after we did it for like a couple
of weeks that on those crazy busy nights
where we’re trying to like get to soccer
and piano and homework and Steve and I
are just like we can we say a quick
prayer we start eating my kids are like
whoa what are you grateful for and it’s
absolutely does it invite more joy into
our house it also is such a soulful
window into what’s going on in my kids
lives you know so there’s some days
where my 8th grader will be like I’m
joyful that there’s a huge thick wall
between my room and my brother’s room
you know something is very you know
honest but their other day she’ll say
you know she had a friend whose mother
recently died and she said yeah for a
month she would say I’m just so grateful
that y’all are healthy right now you
know and so not only did it make us all
more aware of what we had and more
willing to slow down and really be
thankful for the joyful moments we had
but it let me know where she was
emotionally in her life you know my son
is always yeah I’m grateful for bugs I’m
grateful for frogs but sometimes he’ll
say you know I’m grateful that you
picked me up early or you know I’m
grateful that I finally understand
adjectives you know so it’s there’s a
great quote that says it’s not granted
it’s not joy that makes us grateful it’s
gratitude that makes us joyful and
it’s by a Jesuit brother a Jesuit priest
and I guess I was just amazed to find
that bubble up so strongly in the
research it’s life-changing and I also
know career-wise how important it is not
to be too highly specialized especially
these days in the world of media it is
crucial to have multiple interests and
skillsets to have tried and possibly
failed and many different undertakings
the young people that we hired today at
Conde Nast are fearless polymaths
hardworking and passionate creative and
curious don’t be afraid to fail
because if you’re afraid to fail then
you’re always holding yourself back
because you’re afraid that if you go all
out you may fail well in weightlifting
we learned it very quickly the only way
you could break a record is if you’re
willing to fail that’s when you put on
more weight you try it some of them see
maybe don’t you would not be able to
lift it we just happen to me many times
but eventually when you train hard
enough you will lift it so don’t be
afraid to fail you I mean how far can
you fall it’s too much money here I mean
nobody should be hitting lotto 436
million and we got people starving in
the streets that is not idealistic
that’s just real that is just stupid
there’s no way Michael Jackson sedan or
whoever Jackson so they have a million
thousand Drupal billion dollars and
there’s people starving there’s no way
there’s no way do these people should
own planes and their people don’t have
houses apartments shacks drawers pants I
know you rich I know you got 40 billion
dollars but can you just keep it to one
house you only need one house and if you
only got two kids can you just keep it
to two rooms I mean well I have 52 rooms
and you notice somebody with no room it
just don’t make sense to me and don’t
and then these people celebrate
Christmas they got big trees huge trees
all the little trimmings everybody got
gifts and it’s my stuff
and they’re having a white Christmas
they having a great Christmas eggnog and
the whole nine that’s not fair to me so
you can hold a ballet and that can be
successful and you can hold a rock
concert and that can be successful just
don’t hold a ballet and advertise it as
a rock concert and so you need to be
clear with all of your stakeholders with
you know are you holding a ballet or are
you holding a rock concert and then
people get to self-select in you know we
hire people who are who are really
motivated by building new customer
experiences they like to pioneer they
like the rate of change they they wake
up in the shower motivated by thinking
about customers and occasionally
somebody joins Amazon who their primary
motivation comes from being thinking
about competition or competitors those
people can find Amazon a little Dolph
you know so and again it’s not about
right or wrong it’s just that different
people are motivated by different things
and what happens with corporate cultures
is that over time that you people
collect themselves you know in a way
where they like that culture and then it
becomes self-sustaining it’s not that
difficult really to step out of the
stream of thinking so one way of course
it’s meditation it’s the traditional
approach is you have certain periods of
time once or twice a day when you sit
down close your eyes and instead of
involuntarily being drawn into the
continuous stream of thinking you
usually in with meditation you have a
technique or message you focus your
attention on one thing which could be a
mantra that you preach it could be your
breathing it’s a very ancient meditation
it could be the inner feeling in your
body the sense of aliveness that pervade
pervades your body in other words you
take attention away from thinking and
that’s already a great realization that
you are able
you ever actually have a choice of
directing attention you don’t have to go
to you don’t have to go with your
attention all the time where the
habitual thought patterns want you to go
the the abbot your thoughts returns want
your attention every time every thought
says I may take give me your attention
follow me they call this way and another
negative thought and another one and
another one we need to be able to sell
whether it’s Kickstarter whether it’s
near times whether it’s your local
newspaper you need to be able to
communicate effectively and so which is
why when entrepreneurs ask me for books
to read outside of business books I say
on writing well bird by bird all books
on writing improving communication David
Ogilvy oval view an advertising study
print ads where you have very little
space I think those are all very very
effective the best entrepreneurs I’ve
ever met are all good communicators it’s
the one perhaps one of the very few
unifying factors they’re exceptional
communicators practice is the only way
to get better at communicating and
practicing speaking does not provide you
generally with something to review later
which is why the written word is so
powerful writing is thought crystallized
on a piece of paper that can then be
reviewed it’s very difficult to do that
with speech which is why I recommend
people focus on honing their skills in
writing take time to study good direct
response ads take time to for instance
maybe develop a swipe file so one of the
things that I did for years is any time
I bought something I would identify the
ad the phone call
the print ad the the offer whatever it
was that made me decide to buy it and I
would either cut it out or record it put
it into Evernote whatever it might be
and save it so I had a record of
everything that I bought and why I
bought it and then I could go back and
review it and I’ll be like Oh looks like
I fell for this this and this not a bad
way it looks like this tipped me from
yeah or not interested – yeah it spent
five fifty five hundred five thousand
dollars on that yeah I save all that
everything that works in sales has been
done already you do not need to reinvent
the wheel so just keep track of the crap
that you buy or the awesome stuff that
you buy and decide what was the trigger
what push me over the edge and then just
sell the people like you that’s what I
do it’s really easy
people are like who’s your market I
might well you know I’m a thirty
something that’s that based tech savvy
male so why don’t I just solve those
people it’s a lot easier than trying to
guess my first passion before food was
was football but as always a good eater
great level food I grew up partly in
Scotland polygon south so we had that
sort of token of appreciation of
home-cooked food then I was very lucky
to get on a foundation course spending
the last year in my school at a
foundation course studying maths English
tune half days a week and then learning
to cook 14-hour days a week and it was a
sort of new experiment now we had
trouble with buy my first set of whites
and chef knives and we
on the boundary roundtable to come up
with something like 85 90 pound the
moment that didn’t have to get my first
set of whites so I still remember that
day now and how I ecstatic and happy I
was when I got given my first set of
whites mine eyes and all of a sudden
know when you go on that mission
football was a sort of huge burning
ambition and I was trying to decide yeah
I had a horrific injury where’s my
collagen and then all of a sudden you
know what you do so they can get better
but I had this little burning desire of
this sort of a chef it’s this this
ambition and then I sort of channeled
that frustration from football into
cooking in a way that I I just I just
wanted to learn the foundation course
was huge
there are sitting guild 7:06 I was a
mature part-time student and mum doesn’t
have the money to send me to college
full-time so it was it was hard but what
I did do is take a job in the industry I
work six days a week and went to college
one day which so then everything started
becoming clearer got my qualifications
the basic and then went to London and
that’s where it really just you know
took off if you want to be successful
and starting a business then you study
what people have learned and everything
that people have learned that written
down or shared in seminars or put onto
audio programs is I learned this from a
very wise man named cop cop Meyer who
spent more than 50 years studying
success and he had developed more than
1,000 success principles that he had
derived out of something like 6,000
books and when I met him I asked him the
question you would ask have all these
thousand principles because I had
studied it all which is the most
important principle of all and he said
Brian he said it’s simple he said use
proven success methods he said learn
from the experts he said Brian you’ll
never live long enough to learn it all
for yourself so why I find is that
successful people are those who learn
from others who’ve gone before them
unsuccessful people try to make it all
up like a cook going into the kitchen
taking ingredients out of the cupboards
throwing them all in a bowl and
wondering why it doesn’t taste
this is why people sales careers why 80%
of sales people are functioning well
below that potential only 20% make all
the money
why 20% of businesses in any industry
make all the profits why 20% of the
professionals in any service make 80% of
the money and so on it’s because they
follow proven success principles proven
recipes proven formulas proven
combinations and they just do them over
and over again until they master them
then they can do the more and more of
them faster and faster easier and easier
at a higher level of quality and all
that translates into greater results
I was presentable but I wore the same
two suits I had two suits man that I had
to wear every day for a year one blue
one gray the joke around the office
started
oh that’s Chris Gardner he’s re-enacting
the Civil War some days with the norm
some days he’s with the South so many
people I talked to at that time for all
he paid they say this is the stupidest
idea you have ever got but I think I
don’t wear the stupid a clever as long
as people use it now we have 800 million
people using this Ali pay so to really
take a longer-term view not just you
know to look three months from now but
look three years now and but the future
is gonna come whether you like it or not
so you want to kind of be one step ahead
it’s a mind game then it’s why think
it’s psychology and everything again
life most of life comes down to
psychology doesn’t it it starts here in
the internal world before you can master
the external world you have to master
your own internal world that’s the true
secret to success there are many ways to
get the things that we want for
ourselves in our lives but basically it
all begins with how we choose to think
as you think
so shall you be seven little words that
I think are perhaps the most important
things that we can learn and master in
our lives
this whole proverb notion that I become
what I think about all day long and once
you know that what you think about is
what expands you start getting real
careful about what to think about you
don’t allow your thoughts to be on
anything that you don’t want or that you
wouldn’t want to have manifest or show
up for you in your life I met my best
when I’m around people who believe what
I believe I know it seems silly but I
try very very hard to sort of stack the
deck you know to put myself in a
position of strength so for example you
know somebody asked me just yesterday
have you ever had sort of a bad you know
engagement I was thinking myself I’m
like not really but it’s not because I’m
some sort of sort of genius a nice
ending anything like that it’s because I
stack the deck it’s because I want to be
there I want to be around people who
want me there in other words if I’m
somebody’s tenth choice and like you
know I’ll probably turn it down
whereas if I’m their first choice they
really want me there and so I’m more
likely to have a good engagement they’re
supportive of me I’m supportive of them
and so yeah I’m at my best right when I
stack the deck when I choose to be in an
environment where where my strengths are
are they’re part of your financial IQ to
know there’s three types of income so if
you’re gonna say it work hard most
people are working hard for earned
income and that’s what these guys are
working for the trouble with earned
income in America at tax rates
approximately 50% or as Warren Buffett
says it’s a shame that his secretary
pays a higher percentage in taxes and he
did although he makes billions of
dollars so when you say to a child go to
school and get a safe secure job you
telling them work for earned income the
worst type of income the second type of
income is portfolio income and today as
I speak and they’re trying to change
this it’s about 20% in portfolio income
is generally known as capital gains if I
buy a stock for ten dollars and I sell
it for $50 the $40 gain is tagged
at 20% or if I buy a house for a hundred
thousand I sell it for two hundred
thousand that’s a capital gains type of
event so you pay a lot of tax for that
and the third type of income which is
the which is the best type of income
excuse me I can’t spell again it’s
passive income and this is income that
just comes in a regular basis one of the
reasons I am wealthy and is able to
retire at a young age is because I
worked hard for passive income not
earned income I don’t flip real estate
generally not portfolio income what
don’t flip stocks I want passive income
so today the new rules of money is
important to understand what are you
going to school to become es
entrepreneur or investor and what kind
of income you’re working hard for earned
portfolio or passive and if you know
what you’re doing you can pay zero
pratense percent taxes legally and this
can be done all over the world people
say we can’t do it in my country well
these people can’t do it in any country
but in most parts of the world
governments need these people so they’re
always giving tax incentives for for
investors and business owners or for
passive income so those are some of the
new rules of money you’ve really got to
know what you’re working hard at and
what kind of work are you performing
what kind of income are you working hard for
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