I don’t like to think too far ahead so
you haven’t told I don’t like too far
ahead people say it like goals long
distance goals and that’s too much
for me
I already feel like I’m living it and
then I just carry on the old I you know
carry on day by day already living the
final goal the goal of being the world
champ and I already carry myself like
I’m my world champ and I already speak
like I’m a world champion and and that’s
it I just carry on day by day so I’ll
take it as a corpse a lot again like I
said you were asking ask me about the
future I’ll let you I’ll let you know a
little bit closer and I mean as far all
I can see right now is the cold that’s
all I can see everyone in this room
knows how to create you’re not a manager
of your life you’re a creator of your
life or you wouldn’t be in this room how
do you create your life you get hungry
for something don’t you who has done
something in your life that once seemed
difficult or impossible and now it’s
part of your life who’s got something in
your life in this area say I how did you
do it you created it three ways number
one you decided there’s something you
wanted so bad that you unleashed all
your desire you became obsessed with it
if it was a business or a car or a
relationship or a transformation in your
body if there’s something you want sin
vision and now it’s real it’s because
you didn’t just envision it you brought
so much emotion to it then now it’s in
your life it was once a dream it was
once a goal and now it’s in your life
how many have something like that in
your life now say I you may take it for
granted now hopefully not but it was
once just a vision may have seemed
impossible at one time so how did you do
it you started with a concrete vision of
what you wanted and you focused on it
continuously didn’t you wherever focus
you envision something you got clear
about it and then you start thinking
about all the reasons why you wanted it
you got excited about it so this is
what’s next for me now I want this you
may have dreamed about a thought about
and talked about it but when you focus
on something continuously something
magical happens you get insights don’t
you you overhear a conversation hear
something you wouldn’t have heard if you
didn’t have that outcome or goal that
you wanted so badly who has ever come up
with something obsessed about it didn’t
even know how to do it and it just
happened and it came together who’s that
that experience say I so why don’t we
tap into that power now for your
business in life whether it’s personal
or people around me when you see people
that are positive that looking something
good and something bad that took place
they move along in life faster they’re
veteran and people want to be around
these people I mean too often people
gossip the one gossip person wants me
around the other person that gossips but
they don’t realize when you gossip
you’re saying something heard about
somebody else you’re telling everybody
what if part of it was wrong you had to
go out and tell every person you told
this oh I’m sorry it was wrong tell
everybody you told it’s not going to
happen so it seems you learn about don’t
gossip don’t belittle people if you
don’t have to god please don’t try and
look at the positive angle what good
could come out of something and that
possum nest is gonna make you live
longer happier and wake up in the
morning happy not oh my god I got I got
a work I can’t wait till I get home I
want to retire because people are not
positive they were not happy and what
happens they retire they hate their job
they retire three or four years later
their debts they have nothing to do that
positive attitude be around positive
people encourage positiveness if you
find yourself walking around just
complaining all the time around people
that complain a lot
man move or just try and do something
different change your life being
positive and a positive attitude is find
something positive and something bad
makes you look for solutions when I was
down and out okay hmm Oh pop bottles
let’s get the pop bottles cash em in
I always want to constantly evolve you
know I always want to constantly grow on
everyone that get to a point where I
feel like I got to figure it out you
know I always want to like kind of like
push myself to be better you know and do
and do greater things no matter what it
is I mean I want to be the best I’m a
competitor you know I like to compete
you know like growing up with you know
with the name Michael Jordan you know
I’ve always had a certain pressure
pressure on on myself and and always
having to kind of like you know put
people wrong and and and
then I just kind of kind of put an
instant chip on my shoulder I want it
just to be great you know and do great
things and um and then and also help
people man I’m really big into the next
generation I feel like that’s all I saw
that’s the only way it’s gonna get
better moving forward is if you know you
gotta leave this world in a better place
than it was when you came in you know
187 – question mark I don’t know when
I’m gone and I’m saying but I want to
work on my – and I’m saying I won’t work
on that that time that I’m here and it
is some and I I can make it easier
for the next round of filmmakers and the
next round of actors coming up you know
that’s it
and I mean then I didn’t know I’ll be
I’m continually going out on that you
have to treat yourself like you matter
because if you don’t then you don’t take
care of yourself and you become vengeful
and and and cruel and you you take you
take it out on people around you and
you’re not a positive force none of
that’s good
so you suffer more and so does everyone
around you and there’s a malevolence
that enters into it none of that’s good
so that’s what happens if you don’t
treat yourself like you matter and then
what happens if you don’t treat other
people like they matter
well you lie to them you cheat them you
steal you you enter into impulsive
relationships with them they can’t trust
you that doesn’t go anywhere they don’t
like you you you end up alone at best
and maybe like incarcerated at worst
like that doesn’t work and so you watch
the people around you who thrive
regardless of what they say they act out
the proposition that everyone matters
and then you have a functional society
and I think okay well if if if when you
act out the proposition that everyone
matters you have a functional society
maybe that’s evidence that that
proposition is true it’s like I think
it’s I think it’s true you need to bet
on your strengths and don’t give a
about what you suck at you’re gonna way
too many people in this room are gonna
spend the next 30 40 years of their
lives trying to check the boxes other
things that they’re not as good at and
that you’re gonna waste a load of time
and lose I highly recommend auditing
yourself or if you have no empathy or EQ
or self-awareness then find somebody in
your family or friendship that does and
let the
tell you who you are and once you
believe that either for yourself or
someone else told you go directly all
chips all into that because that is the
only possible way in my opinion watching
from the outside that is let me rephrase
that is a very highly likely way of
over-indexing because the truth is if
you want to be an anomaly you’ve got to
act like one
you know like and so that’s it that’s
what I got so thanks for having me as I
started studying people that did more
not people that didn’t do more not
people that said do less not people that
said hey don’t be satisfied or be
satisfied not people that said hey be
grateful for what you have I started
studying people that said and had done
more that you can do more that’s who I
listen to today I listen to the people
aren’t my friends in my life the people
I listen to the people I talk to the
people that I follow on Facebook or
YouTube or Instagram
I don’t follow everybody I follow the
people that say you can do more dude I
follow the people that say I am doing
more I follow the people that are
actually doing something on this planet
to make a difference for the better you
have to be selective you have to give
something up okay you cannot listen to
everybody to every voice to every person
is quit or given up you got to make a
decision if you have that little voice
inside of you that says you can do more
you have to to give attention to that
voice and you got to feed it with those
that support that idea that you can do
more focus on things that are AI driven
artificial intelligence driven whether
it’s machine learning deep learning
learning neural networks medical
applications but within ai ai is a buzz
word that everybody is using right now
you know every
and to that point you know we as all
guys we go back and it’s like 1995 we
talked about the Internet and I would
say to people back in 1995 look if you
don’t understand the Internet you’re not
gonna be able to do business and now
that’s just blocking attack lane that
seems obvious back then it wasn’t right
I could even take you further back to my
first company you know what we did was a
company called micro solutions and we
did local area networks on wide area
networks and I used to walk into
companies and say you’re gonna have to
hook these pcs together at some point
that’ll make you more productive more
effective you know give you a
competitive advantage and people are
like now I just carry this floppy from
this PC to that PC yeah okay
but today we’re at the same type of
inflection point with artificial
intelligence you don’t have to be an
expert and be able to put together your
own neural network you know you don’t
have to know what weights and biases are
but but you have to have more than just
a cursory understanding just like you
have to know the difference between you
know different types of websites and you
have to understand ecommerce if you’re
in the e-commerce you have to have a
cursory understanding of how apps work
you’re gonna have to have at least if
not more cursory understanding of
artificial intelligence because it will
change everything we do and if the
internet was 10x in terms of change to
business artificial intelligence will be
100x
or more if you go to my house right next
to my bed there’s a book machine
learning for dummies if you go into my
bathroom there’s deep neural networks
for dummies right if you go there’s a
something for dummies in every room of
my house you know they could go to ways
I know but I’m just telling you put the
time I mean I’ve taken you know I can’t
even tell you how many hours now I spent
every week if not daily working like
I’ll go into Amazon AWS and go through
their machine learning tutorials don’t
think to yourself I’m not technical
enough or I’m not going to get this or I
don’t get into this or it’s too much try
it get as far as you can because it’s
like doing a basic website and a little
bit of HTML
just having done that you feel smarter
and you feel a little bit more confident
about this you know I don’t want to be
an alarmist but I’m trying to scare the
hell out of you because it’s important
it’s a very natural process to begin
something to be very excited and then as
you go down that process to realize yeah
I actually don’t like this it’s not
giving me as much energy as I thought it
would is taking energy away and
therefore I want to give up and quit
that thing and she said if you do that
once or twice like hey so be it but if
you’re doing it every time if you just
love that initial rush that excitement
of something new but the actual
nitty-gritty reality of getting good at
it of doing what Michiyo kaku calls
having but power meaning you’ve set your
butt in the seat and you do the work if
that’s really your problem and nothing
is interesting enough for you to sit
there and do the work you haven’t
developed grit yet and so grit is the
ability to persevere to see things
through to go past the point at which it
has stopped being fun and it becomes
boring because you believe in your end
goal enough you’re excited by what
you’re trying to accomplish so much that
you’re willing to fight through all of
that difficulty you’re willing to fight
through the boredom you’re willing to
fight through the unease that arises
when you step outside your comfort zone
you’re doing things you’re not good at
and things that are boring those are the
two things that I find killed most
people they just cannot handle the
things that make them go oh god like I’m
not very good at this and I’m feeling
really badly about myself and they
forget that they can get good on a long
enough timeline and then to inevitably
in any pursuit of greatness in any
endeavor where you’re trying to gain
mastery you’re gonna get bored because
practice is repetition it’s doing
something over and over and over and
over to really train yourself to get to
the point where you’re truly exceptional
and there’s just so much boredom
inherent in that process so building in
the resilience to see all that stuff
through is the key part of grit so when
we came to America we were poor and
broke the way I look at it because we
would always run out of money before run
out a month we decide you know do we do
without electricity or or gas because
some months we couldn’t afford to pay
both and you know being broke is being
without money being poor as being kind
of scarcity minded poor minded and we
just realized that money’s for the rich
money’s for the the Americans it’s for
the people who were born here who went
to college
and that’s how I grew up and later Jim
Franco taught me that hey you know what
you can’t be scarcity minded you can’t
you have to live in abundance you have
to understand that people just want a
solution to a problem and they don’t
care about the color of your skin about
the level of your education they want a
solution to prom so he taught me he had
to break all these old patterns that I
had right what were some of the patterns
some of the patterns were that money’s
for the white folk and not for the
foreigners you actually thought yeah I
really cuz that’s that’s how it was
because every time we went and got got
more food stamps it was all foreigners
there’s no white people in line at least
not not in the parts of Santa Ana that I
was raised and so I felt that money was
for the people who were telling us to
leave this country go back to your own
country and that also puts a chip on
your shoulder right against them and so
I guess I had some reverse racism
towards towards white America now I
realize for no apparent reason there was
a couple of idiots and every culture I
imagine right but so that was one
pattern that I had another pattern that
I had was that being proud to be
blue-collar like my dad was like and he
still says this work is holy and I
believe that work is holy but the fact
that he had so many jobs a paper route
pumping gas worked at a pizzeria and so
because of that mindset blue collar blue
collar we were always this blue-collar
mentality and I took pride in being
blue-collar another pattern Jim Franco
had to had the break was I think dude be
white collar don’t use the shovel sell
the shovel I’d never heard that phrase
before I’m the guy that took pride in I
could dig a deeper hole a deeper trench
I could I could outwork you but that’s
still trading time for dollars and so to
be able to break those limiting belief
systems that I had to me was huge and
all of a sudden I realized I’m no longer
poor minded I may end up broke again I
do really well now but I may make one or
two bad decisions with my money or my
investment and ended up being broke
again but I’ll never be poor and I know
how to get back from broke because I
know how to add value to society solve
problems and exchange for money but I’ll
never be poured and it pours a State of
Mind of feeling out of control
scarcity minded taking pride in being
blue-collar no one should ever take
pride in being blue glare period period
you’ve got a brain you’ve got a solution
to a problem that people want to pay for
put it out there so when you say
scarcity minded abundant minded what do
you mean
well the scarcity minded person says Oh
someone else opened up a gym you know
across the street from me they’re gonna
put me out of business I better charge
less right the abundant minded person
says someone else opened up a gym across
the street from me I better out service
them out work them out social media them
right so the scarcity minded person is
always the sky is falling the Chicken
Little mentality the oh my gosh if Trump
goes into office then we’re all screwed
oh my gosh if Hillary goes into office
and we’re all screwed I don’t care who’s
in office anymore I control my own
economy the economy can crash and go
back up and back down again I will find
a way as Tony Robbins says I’m built for
winter I just didn’t know it and so more
people need to be abundant minded in
that with the economy crashes I just
have to deliver more value and create
this category of one about myself if
competition shows up I have to out
service them out work them out social
media them versus shrivel up and die how
did you stay motivated all the time
people ask me that all the time and the
answer is I did it and neither did you
to become successful the separator in
life is really important you’ll think
the most inspired motivated person wins
nah not really
it’s the person who can work on the days
that are not inspired and motivated it’s
what do you do when you’re not feeling
great what do you do when it’s not your
best day how do you do that carries you
through as rituals and habits so when
you’re fatigued when you’re tired when
you’re under pressure you react
reflexively and so successful people
rely on habits and rituals not just
their inspiration and motivation level
of course we’re both professionals and
being motivated and inspired but that’s
not every day every minute and so what
do I do I work on the days because my
habits and rituals carry me through and
so for me here’s how I look at my life
in my day if I can control the first 30
minutes of my day and the last 30
minutes of my day I have a whole lot
better chance of the middle of my day
being controlled and so I’m a freak
about the first 30 minutes of every day
it’s really about the first
45 minutes and I’m obsessive about the
last 45 minutes of every single day
that gives me some illusion in my mind
and measure of control the other thing
it does it delivers to me habits and
rituals that serve me that I do every
day that are consistent it gives me
comfort in stormy times that ocean out
there is raging at the top right now
right the waves are crashing at the
bottom of that ocean it’s completely
calm at the bottom of that ocean is the
habitual part of the water right it’s
the if the part of the war that stays
the most consistent that’s why it’s so
calm okay
so when you see someone how to control
their emotions or up and down all the
time
this is someone who is without rituals
and habits successful people have those
and so they do and so it keeps me calm
it keeps me comfortable there’s a very
thin dividing line between success and
failure when you start a business from
scratch and you know if you don’t have
enough money to pay the bills you go the
wrong side of that dividing line and if
you can somehow get enough money to pay
the bills
you stay the right side of that dividing
line you know I’ve always been running
running running faster than perhaps I
should me and I’ve have great difficulty
saying no to things so keep on taking on
new things and we’ve just managed to
stay the right side of the dividing line
over the last 50 years in business but
but equally in those early days when you
when you’re starting a business without
any financial backing it’s it’s it’s
easy to slip the wrong side and in fact
you know most entrepreneurs do do slip
the wrong side and report the important
thing is then just pick yourself up and
you know start again and if it doesn’t
work at that time keep keep going until
you do succeed and not to give up you’ve
lived a life dominated by doubt and fear
step that’s how you step into bravery
step take the step step aggressively
towards your fear and that that step
towards your fear is the step into
bravery because we’re we’re scared of
what we don’t know and there’s only one
way to learn and to know and that is to
confront that fear you have to step you
have to go and this simple action this
simple attitude it answers so many
questions so many questions how do you
get to the gym every day you step you go
how do you how do you change your diet
you step you go how do you overcome fear
of failure fear of success or or fear of
fear itself you step and how do you face
the fear of the unknown your step don’t
wait anymore don’t think anymore don’t
plan anymore don’t contemplate anymore
don’t make any more excuses or
justifications don’t rationalize
instead be aggressive take action now
and what is the first action that you
need to take what’s the first step you
need to take the first step you need to
take is just that step when I decided to
do this I I first talked to my my wife
who is sitting here in the audience and
she had married a you know relatively
stable goofy but still relatively stable
a person working at a Wall Street firm I
worked at a quantitative hedge fund and
this was a hard decision and I was
looking for the right framework in which
to make that kind of important decision
and and and the right framework I found
is a regret minimization framework and
that’s just a nerdy way of saying that
you want to project yourself to age 80
and then think back over your life and
and if you’re if you’re if you’re 81 or
the thyou want to minimize the number of
regrets you have throughout that period
of time I think this is something a lot
of people do maybe subconsciously they
probably very few people probably name
it regret minimization framework because
most people are healthier than that but
but it was a very clear way for me to
think about making that kind of life
decision and then in the way it helped
was I thought okay if I go do this thing
and participate in this thing called the
Internet that I genuinely believe is
gonna be a big deal and if I fail am I
gonna regret having tried and failed and
I knew the answer that was no but I also
knew that if I didn’t try that I would
always regret that I would always wonder
and it would haunt me and until that you
know mythical day which I actually hope
will come when the things most matter
you so desperately don’t want to destroy
it for being scared that you can really
destroy it sure when I hosted the Oscars
I was
I was like wow man this is a billion
people and I just thought okay whatever
you do just remember you’re a kid from
moronga in Sydney you’re hosting the
Oscars have some fun you know and
luckily for me those turning points I’ve
somehow always stuck to that idea of
just having fun
people just afraid man so many people
are afraid of rejection of failure but
without failure you’d have no success
we’re stuck the most biggest failure I
had a TV show called the big house got
picked up by ABC they told me that we
were gonna do 12 episodes flew me down
to New York this is the biggest news
ever
I’m about to be rich holy Sh I’m 22 I
got a TV show I’m writing executive
producing starring in the show you know
what no I’m not just gonna go down there
by myself
we gotta bring the cash they said no
Kevin we only flying you I said well I’m
a paid for the cast to come I took my
own money flew them all down in New York
get to New York put on my suit people
taking pictures of me walking out this
is the best thing ever
holy Sh I’m famous this is what it is I
get to the up front up front to where
they announce your TV shows the slew of
shows they’re announcing their time
slots I’m next they’re about to announce
the big house somebody puts their hand
on my chest and says Kevin wait they
talking to earpiece they said nope I’m
standing with him right now I’m like
what’s going on well they want me to do
you know they want me go on the other
side or something he goes okay I’ll tell
him they cancelled they’re not gonna
pick you up you got a step back and I
was like that don’t sound right
literally that fast they sent me home
they’re like you got to just go home
TV show got picked up six months later
for six episodes the third episodes air
they cans will show again I got to show
can’t do twice in a 6-month period which
has never been done before I’ve booked
about three more pilots got canceled
there was a show called John Stamos his
show he was a publicist and they wanted
me as a series regular the show was
going great ratings were good put me on
the show show got canceled it was
everything got touched on TV tundish I’m
now just sitting out here doing nothing
I handle money borrowed money left him
right I decided to say it I said I’m
just gonna do stand-up comedy and focus
on my craft
and I slaved the role about five years
doing the same circuit over and over you
really think creativity is important
whether whatever you do I think it’s fun
to be creative with meals that you cook
or meals that you eat or vacations that
you go on or dates that you set you know
I just think it’s fun to be creative
everyone likes that and I think
authenticity is just super important I
might be hyper aware of it because I
grew up in an industry that’s wrought
with inauthenticity that people will
look you right in the face and and
totally tell you what you need to hear
at the moment I don’t think that’s
unique to that industry but it’s filled
with it there so I I think transparency
and authenticity is just super important
I don’t mind having conflict with
someone if we can then be done with it
it’s that years spent where you know
that something’s going on and you’re not
talking about it those awful
Thanksgivings with the family of cousins
or you’re like hey Jim I know I hate
that I hate that life’s too short for
that stuff
just saw this Rumi quote that I love set
your life on fire and seek those who fan
your flames the philly translation of
that is don’t be hanging with no jank
ass jokers that don’t help you shine the
prerequisite for spending time with any
person is that they nourish and inspire
you
they feed your flame look at your last
five text messages are those people
feeding your flames or dousing your fire
put your phone down for just a second
and look around look to the people
around you are those people throwing
logs on your fire or they pissin on it
the people that you spend time with are
gonna make or break your dreams
everybody don’t deserve to be around you
you got to defend your light with your
life so who are the people in your life
that are fanning your flames shout them
out tag on below 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
want to hear you explain it why
suffering was the thing that triggered
that thought well for me growing up I
came from a horrible background I got
called nigger every day of my life
growing up lived in a small 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 stabbed
behind me in two classes so you called
me nigga a long time I got my first car
they spray print nigger 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 four 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
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
wouldn’t I say no but for me to fix this
I get a read what the hell what the
is wrong with David Goggin
not blame anybody read my books okay I’m
afraid of my shadow how can I overcome
that go into 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 do you get smarter
educate yourself so the things that we
run from we run it from the truth we’re
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 am
today being an actor or even being an
artist and I had studied in school
behind the camera was not even in the
vernacular of my dreams
I was raised 9 to 5 you go to work your
work you work your way up a scale that’s
from your old man right yeah yeah and
that was all I was able to even like I
said dream about so the idea of living
life and having a career that was in the
arts that was in the storytelling
business it was something that’s really
fun it was not something that like I
said I even dreamed up I was in the
right place right time right bar guy
found me and said you want to come in
and read for a part in a movie I’m here
producing called Dazed and Confused I
said sure I got to read for the part
it’s got three lines three lines turns
in three weeks work they’re paying me
325 bucks a day people were telling me
I’m pretty good at it and I think I’m
getting away with something and I still
do feel like I’m getting away with did
you have some of the most important
discoveries and inventions and
innovations within a field come from
people who are trained in a much
different field and who have an
outsider’s approach
Louis Pasteur was a classic example of
this he was trained as a chemist in
mineralogist so he brought a much
different way of thinking to the subject
of Medicine and German
a method that was infinitely more
creative albert einstein was a complete
outsider his two most important
discoveries came when he was working at
the Swiss Patent Office Google itself
exemplifies this idea it is perhaps the
most successful business on the planet
founded by two men who are relatively
complete outsiders to business and who
therefore structured and directed their
company in a very novel and creative
fashion I could go on and on and on with
this list including many great artists
there are two important reasons why
Outsiders generally have a creative
advantage first they are less steeped in
and burdened by the conventions of the
field that they are attacking they ask a
different set of questions they approach
problems from unconventional angles and
second they are often trained in totally
unrelated fields and so can make
interesting and creative connections
between two very different forms of
thinking like science and business or
chemistry and medicine or engineering
and design now we can’t all consciously
follow such a path but even within the
careers that were pursuing we can train
ourselves to think like outsiders and
help loosen up the mind in the process
do you think there were no hurdles or
obstacles that I had overcome but even I
got to high school I wasn’t ranked as
you know I wasn’t ranked I wasn’t highly
touted as a high school prospect I had
nobody really running knocking on my
door saying please please please come
play for our school until coach
McCullough called and you know
everything happens for a reason and
there’s there’s a story into everything
and and if you take time to realize you
know what what your dream is and and
what you really want in life no matter
what it is whether it’s sports whether
it’s in other fields
you have to realize that there’s always
work to do and you want to be the
hardest working person in whatever you
do and you’ll put yourself in position
to be successful and you have to have a
passion about what you do and basketball
was mine and that’s what scared me to
this point go into your house and go
quiet room and you close the lights draw
the shades and sit on a couch and
visualize a big fat check 25 G’s
thousand bucks us okay with your name on
it and I want you to imagine that check
and just make that check go bigger in
your mind and make it real more real and
just put it out into the ether of the
universe and the law of attraction will
take hold just think about it boom right
hello
if that’s your strategy for success only
that will show up in your mailbox is not
the check it’s a freaking eviction
notice from your landlord
they’ll be towing away your car your
wife your husband all for the next-door
neighbor and you’ll be so saying where’s
the check
where’s the check okay the secret is a
load of crap okay do I believe in
manifestation yeah damn straight I do
but you got to take action
I’m one of those unfortunate people I
tried it I really died some I tried it I
read books all be tried no it’s like I’d
try to trade for the check never came
but I went out and start taking action
guess what the check came with extra a
couple of zeros passion is not an
actionable word it’s correct you know
that those who do the things that
they’re passionate about do better but
it’s not helpful advice and so the
question is where does passion come from
passion is a result passion as an energy
passion is the feeling you have when
you’re engaged in something that you
love passion is the feeling you have
that you would probably do this for free
you know and you can’t believe somebody
pays you to do it you know and I think
we mistake that passion is something we
do in our private lives but it shouldn’t
be done you know in our careers for
example and I’m a firm believer that you
are who you are and anybody who says I’m
different at home than I am at work in
one of those two places you’re lying and
the goal is to make everything you do in
home and it works something that you
have excitement to do so how do you find
the things that you’re excited to do
well it’s actually easier than you think
what are the things that you love to do
what are the things that you would do
for free you know how can you recreate
that feeling and and be pay for it so
what are the things that I do on the
weekend right I love I’m very involved
in the art world I love to go to museums
and galleries but I love to go see dance
and performances because I want to see
how others are interpreting the world so
that inspires me new ideas new thoughts
new ways of looking at the world are
things that interest me privately and I
seek it out and pay money for it right
so does that mean I have to have a
career in the arts no it means I have to
have a career where new ideas are
explored where people are experimenting
and trying things out and I have to
explore new ideas and try things out and
I’m just as excited to go to work every
day as I am just you know go do
something on a Saturday night and so the
idea of finding your passion is
ironically simple because you should be
doing stuff that you enjoy
sometimes
what is the stuff that you enjoy and
then what is the stuff that you love who
the people you love and what our that’s
what they all have in common what kills
great businesses if you look at I do
believe in looking at history and I and
I try to I like to study failure
actually and my partner says all I want
to know is where I’ll die so I’ll never
go there and and we want to see what has
caused businesses to go bad and the
biggest thing that kills them is
complacency I mean you you want a
restlessness feeling that you know that
somebody’s always after you but you’re
going to stay ahead of them and you
always want to be on the move and and
when you’ve got a great business you
know like coca-cola wishes there aren’t
any like oh girl but but really the
danger would always be the you rest on
your laurels when I see none of that
obviously a coca-cola but that’s that
that is the key to to compete the same
way when you’ve got 1.8 billion servings
being sold daily as when you were
selling you know 10 a day and and that
restlessness that belief that that
tomorrow’s more exciting than today you
just have to have it permeate the organization
you haven’t told I don’t like too far
ahead people say it like goals long
distance goals and that’s too much
for me
I already feel like I’m living it and
then I just carry on the old I you know
carry on day by day already living the
final goal the goal of being the world
champ and I already carry myself like
I’m my world champ and I already speak
like I’m a world champion and and that’s
it I just carry on day by day so I’ll
take it as a corpse a lot again like I
said you were asking ask me about the
future I’ll let you I’ll let you know a
little bit closer and I mean as far all
I can see right now is the cold that’s
all I can see everyone in this room
knows how to create you’re not a manager
of your life you’re a creator of your
life or you wouldn’t be in this room how
do you create your life you get hungry
for something don’t you who has done
something in your life that once seemed
difficult or impossible and now it’s
part of your life who’s got something in
your life in this area say I how did you
do it you created it three ways number
one you decided there’s something you
wanted so bad that you unleashed all
your desire you became obsessed with it
if it was a business or a car or a
relationship or a transformation in your
body if there’s something you want sin
vision and now it’s real it’s because
you didn’t just envision it you brought
so much emotion to it then now it’s in
your life it was once a dream it was
once a goal and now it’s in your life
how many have something like that in
your life now say I you may take it for
granted now hopefully not but it was
once just a vision may have seemed
impossible at one time so how did you do
it you started with a concrete vision of
what you wanted and you focused on it
continuously didn’t you wherever focus
you envision something you got clear
about it and then you start thinking
about all the reasons why you wanted it
you got excited about it so this is
what’s next for me now I want this you
may have dreamed about a thought about
and talked about it but when you focus
on something continuously something
magical happens you get insights don’t
you you overhear a conversation hear
something you wouldn’t have heard if you
didn’t have that outcome or goal that
you wanted so badly who has ever come up
with something obsessed about it didn’t
even know how to do it and it just
happened and it came together who’s that
that experience say I so why don’t we
tap into that power now for your
business in life whether it’s personal
or people around me when you see people
that are positive that looking something
good and something bad that took place
they move along in life faster they’re
veteran and people want to be around
these people I mean too often people
gossip the one gossip person wants me
around the other person that gossips but
they don’t realize when you gossip
you’re saying something heard about
somebody else you’re telling everybody
what if part of it was wrong you had to
go out and tell every person you told
this oh I’m sorry it was wrong tell
everybody you told it’s not going to
happen so it seems you learn about don’t
gossip don’t belittle people if you
don’t have to god please don’t try and
look at the positive angle what good
could come out of something and that
possum nest is gonna make you live
longer happier and wake up in the
morning happy not oh my god I got I got
a work I can’t wait till I get home I
want to retire because people are not
positive they were not happy and what
happens they retire they hate their job
they retire three or four years later
their debts they have nothing to do that
positive attitude be around positive
people encourage positiveness if you
find yourself walking around just
complaining all the time around people
that complain a lot
man move or just try and do something
different change your life being
positive and a positive attitude is find
something positive and something bad
makes you look for solutions when I was
down and out okay hmm Oh pop bottles
let’s get the pop bottles cash em in
I always want to constantly evolve you
know I always want to constantly grow on
everyone that get to a point where I
feel like I got to figure it out you
know I always want to like kind of like
push myself to be better you know and do
and do greater things no matter what it
is I mean I want to be the best I’m a
competitor you know I like to compete
you know like growing up with you know
with the name Michael Jordan you know
I’ve always had a certain pressure
pressure on on myself and and always
having to kind of like you know put
people wrong and and and
then I just kind of kind of put an
instant chip on my shoulder I want it
just to be great you know and do great
things and um and then and also help
people man I’m really big into the next
generation I feel like that’s all I saw
that’s the only way it’s gonna get
better moving forward is if you know you
gotta leave this world in a better place
than it was when you came in you know
187 – question mark I don’t know when
I’m gone and I’m saying but I want to
work on my – and I’m saying I won’t work
on that that time that I’m here and it
is some and I I can make it easier
for the next round of filmmakers and the
next round of actors coming up you know
that’s it
and I mean then I didn’t know I’ll be
I’m continually going out on that you
have to treat yourself like you matter
because if you don’t then you don’t take
care of yourself and you become vengeful
and and and cruel and you you take you
take it out on people around you and
you’re not a positive force none of
that’s good
so you suffer more and so does everyone
around you and there’s a malevolence
that enters into it none of that’s good
so that’s what happens if you don’t
treat yourself like you matter and then
what happens if you don’t treat other
people like they matter
well you lie to them you cheat them you
steal you you enter into impulsive
relationships with them they can’t trust
you that doesn’t go anywhere they don’t
like you you you end up alone at best
and maybe like incarcerated at worst
like that doesn’t work and so you watch
the people around you who thrive
regardless of what they say they act out
the proposition that everyone matters
and then you have a functional society
and I think okay well if if if when you
act out the proposition that everyone
matters you have a functional society
maybe that’s evidence that that
proposition is true it’s like I think
it’s I think it’s true you need to bet
on your strengths and don’t give a
about what you suck at you’re gonna way
too many people in this room are gonna
spend the next 30 40 years of their
lives trying to check the boxes other
things that they’re not as good at and
that you’re gonna waste a load of time
and lose I highly recommend auditing
yourself or if you have no empathy or EQ
or self-awareness then find somebody in
your family or friendship that does and
let the
tell you who you are and once you
believe that either for yourself or
someone else told you go directly all
chips all into that because that is the
only possible way in my opinion watching
from the outside that is let me rephrase
that is a very highly likely way of
over-indexing because the truth is if
you want to be an anomaly you’ve got to
act like one
you know like and so that’s it that’s
what I got so thanks for having me as I
started studying people that did more
not people that didn’t do more not
people that said do less not people that
said hey don’t be satisfied or be
satisfied not people that said hey be
grateful for what you have I started
studying people that said and had done
more that you can do more that’s who I
listen to today I listen to the people
aren’t my friends in my life the people
I listen to the people I talk to the
people that I follow on Facebook or
YouTube or Instagram
I don’t follow everybody I follow the
people that say you can do more dude I
follow the people that say I am doing
more I follow the people that are
actually doing something on this planet
to make a difference for the better you
have to be selective you have to give
something up okay you cannot listen to
everybody to every voice to every person
is quit or given up you got to make a
decision if you have that little voice
inside of you that says you can do more
you have to to give attention to that
voice and you got to feed it with those
that support that idea that you can do
more focus on things that are AI driven
artificial intelligence driven whether
it’s machine learning deep learning
learning neural networks medical
applications but within ai ai is a buzz
word that everybody is using right now
you know every
and to that point you know we as all
guys we go back and it’s like 1995 we
talked about the Internet and I would
say to people back in 1995 look if you
don’t understand the Internet you’re not
gonna be able to do business and now
that’s just blocking attack lane that
seems obvious back then it wasn’t right
I could even take you further back to my
first company you know what we did was a
company called micro solutions and we
did local area networks on wide area
networks and I used to walk into
companies and say you’re gonna have to
hook these pcs together at some point
that’ll make you more productive more
effective you know give you a
competitive advantage and people are
like now I just carry this floppy from
this PC to that PC yeah okay
but today we’re at the same type of
inflection point with artificial
intelligence you don’t have to be an
expert and be able to put together your
own neural network you know you don’t
have to know what weights and biases are
but but you have to have more than just
a cursory understanding just like you
have to know the difference between you
know different types of websites and you
have to understand ecommerce if you’re
in the e-commerce you have to have a
cursory understanding of how apps work
you’re gonna have to have at least if
not more cursory understanding of
artificial intelligence because it will
change everything we do and if the
internet was 10x in terms of change to
business artificial intelligence will be
100x
or more if you go to my house right next
to my bed there’s a book machine
learning for dummies if you go into my
bathroom there’s deep neural networks
for dummies right if you go there’s a
something for dummies in every room of
my house you know they could go to ways
I know but I’m just telling you put the
time I mean I’ve taken you know I can’t
even tell you how many hours now I spent
every week if not daily working like
I’ll go into Amazon AWS and go through
their machine learning tutorials don’t
think to yourself I’m not technical
enough or I’m not going to get this or I
don’t get into this or it’s too much try
it get as far as you can because it’s
like doing a basic website and a little
bit of HTML
just having done that you feel smarter
and you feel a little bit more confident
about this you know I don’t want to be
an alarmist but I’m trying to scare the
hell out of you because it’s important
it’s a very natural process to begin
something to be very excited and then as
you go down that process to realize yeah
I actually don’t like this it’s not
giving me as much energy as I thought it
would is taking energy away and
therefore I want to give up and quit
that thing and she said if you do that
once or twice like hey so be it but if
you’re doing it every time if you just
love that initial rush that excitement
of something new but the actual
nitty-gritty reality of getting good at
it of doing what Michiyo kaku calls
having but power meaning you’ve set your
butt in the seat and you do the work if
that’s really your problem and nothing
is interesting enough for you to sit
there and do the work you haven’t
developed grit yet and so grit is the
ability to persevere to see things
through to go past the point at which it
has stopped being fun and it becomes
boring because you believe in your end
goal enough you’re excited by what
you’re trying to accomplish so much that
you’re willing to fight through all of
that difficulty you’re willing to fight
through the boredom you’re willing to
fight through the unease that arises
when you step outside your comfort zone
you’re doing things you’re not good at
and things that are boring those are the
two things that I find killed most
people they just cannot handle the
things that make them go oh god like I’m
not very good at this and I’m feeling
really badly about myself and they
forget that they can get good on a long
enough timeline and then to inevitably
in any pursuit of greatness in any
endeavor where you’re trying to gain
mastery you’re gonna get bored because
practice is repetition it’s doing
something over and over and over and
over to really train yourself to get to
the point where you’re truly exceptional
and there’s just so much boredom
inherent in that process so building in
the resilience to see all that stuff
through is the key part of grit so when
we came to America we were poor and
broke the way I look at it because we
would always run out of money before run
out a month we decide you know do we do
without electricity or or gas because
some months we couldn’t afford to pay
both and you know being broke is being
without money being poor as being kind
of scarcity minded poor minded and we
just realized that money’s for the rich
money’s for the the Americans it’s for
the people who were born here who went
to college
and that’s how I grew up and later Jim
Franco taught me that hey you know what
you can’t be scarcity minded you can’t
you have to live in abundance you have
to understand that people just want a
solution to a problem and they don’t
care about the color of your skin about
the level of your education they want a
solution to prom so he taught me he had
to break all these old patterns that I
had right what were some of the patterns
some of the patterns were that money’s
for the white folk and not for the
foreigners you actually thought yeah I
really cuz that’s that’s how it was
because every time we went and got got
more food stamps it was all foreigners
there’s no white people in line at least
not not in the parts of Santa Ana that I
was raised and so I felt that money was
for the people who were telling us to
leave this country go back to your own
country and that also puts a chip on
your shoulder right against them and so
I guess I had some reverse racism
towards towards white America now I
realize for no apparent reason there was
a couple of idiots and every culture I
imagine right but so that was one
pattern that I had another pattern that
I had was that being proud to be
blue-collar like my dad was like and he
still says this work is holy and I
believe that work is holy but the fact
that he had so many jobs a paper route
pumping gas worked at a pizzeria and so
because of that mindset blue collar blue
collar we were always this blue-collar
mentality and I took pride in being
blue-collar another pattern Jim Franco
had to had the break was I think dude be
white collar don’t use the shovel sell
the shovel I’d never heard that phrase
before I’m the guy that took pride in I
could dig a deeper hole a deeper trench
I could I could outwork you but that’s
still trading time for dollars and so to
be able to break those limiting belief
systems that I had to me was huge and
all of a sudden I realized I’m no longer
poor minded I may end up broke again I
do really well now but I may make one or
two bad decisions with my money or my
investment and ended up being broke
again but I’ll never be poor and I know
how to get back from broke because I
know how to add value to society solve
problems and exchange for money but I’ll
never be poured and it pours a State of
Mind of feeling out of control
scarcity minded taking pride in being
blue-collar no one should ever take
pride in being blue glare period period
you’ve got a brain you’ve got a solution
to a problem that people want to pay for
put it out there so when you say
scarcity minded abundant minded what do
you mean
well the scarcity minded person says Oh
someone else opened up a gym you know
across the street from me they’re gonna
put me out of business I better charge
less right the abundant minded person
says someone else opened up a gym across
the street from me I better out service
them out work them out social media them
right so the scarcity minded person is
always the sky is falling the Chicken
Little mentality the oh my gosh if Trump
goes into office then we’re all screwed
oh my gosh if Hillary goes into office
and we’re all screwed I don’t care who’s
in office anymore I control my own
economy the economy can crash and go
back up and back down again I will find
a way as Tony Robbins says I’m built for
winter I just didn’t know it and so more
people need to be abundant minded in
that with the economy crashes I just
have to deliver more value and create
this category of one about myself if
competition shows up I have to out
service them out work them out social
media them versus shrivel up and die how
did you stay motivated all the time
people ask me that all the time and the
answer is I did it and neither did you
to become successful the separator in
life is really important you’ll think
the most inspired motivated person wins
nah not really
it’s the person who can work on the days
that are not inspired and motivated it’s
what do you do when you’re not feeling
great what do you do when it’s not your
best day how do you do that carries you
through as rituals and habits so when
you’re fatigued when you’re tired when
you’re under pressure you react
reflexively and so successful people
rely on habits and rituals not just
their inspiration and motivation level
of course we’re both professionals and
being motivated and inspired but that’s
not every day every minute and so what
do I do I work on the days because my
habits and rituals carry me through and
so for me here’s how I look at my life
in my day if I can control the first 30
minutes of my day and the last 30
minutes of my day I have a whole lot
better chance of the middle of my day
being controlled and so I’m a freak
about the first 30 minutes of every day
it’s really about the first
45 minutes and I’m obsessive about the
last 45 minutes of every single day
that gives me some illusion in my mind
and measure of control the other thing
it does it delivers to me habits and
rituals that serve me that I do every
day that are consistent it gives me
comfort in stormy times that ocean out
there is raging at the top right now
right the waves are crashing at the
bottom of that ocean it’s completely
calm at the bottom of that ocean is the
habitual part of the water right it’s
the if the part of the war that stays
the most consistent that’s why it’s so
calm okay
so when you see someone how to control
their emotions or up and down all the
time
this is someone who is without rituals
and habits successful people have those
and so they do and so it keeps me calm
it keeps me comfortable there’s a very
thin dividing line between success and
failure when you start a business from
scratch and you know if you don’t have
enough money to pay the bills you go the
wrong side of that dividing line and if
you can somehow get enough money to pay
the bills
you stay the right side of that dividing
line you know I’ve always been running
running running faster than perhaps I
should me and I’ve have great difficulty
saying no to things so keep on taking on
new things and we’ve just managed to
stay the right side of the dividing line
over the last 50 years in business but
but equally in those early days when you
when you’re starting a business without
any financial backing it’s it’s it’s
easy to slip the wrong side and in fact
you know most entrepreneurs do do slip
the wrong side and report the important
thing is then just pick yourself up and
you know start again and if it doesn’t
work at that time keep keep going until
you do succeed and not to give up you’ve
lived a life dominated by doubt and fear
step that’s how you step into bravery
step take the step step aggressively
towards your fear and that that step
towards your fear is the step into
bravery because we’re we’re scared of
what we don’t know and there’s only one
way to learn and to know and that is to
confront that fear you have to step you
have to go and this simple action this
simple attitude it answers so many
questions so many questions how do you
get to the gym every day you step you go
how do you how do you change your diet
you step you go how do you overcome fear
of failure fear of success or or fear of
fear itself you step and how do you face
the fear of the unknown your step don’t
wait anymore don’t think anymore don’t
plan anymore don’t contemplate anymore
don’t make any more excuses or
justifications don’t rationalize
instead be aggressive take action now
and what is the first action that you
need to take what’s the first step you
need to take the first step you need to
take is just that step when I decided to
do this I I first talked to my my wife
who is sitting here in the audience and
she had married a you know relatively
stable goofy but still relatively stable
a person working at a Wall Street firm I
worked at a quantitative hedge fund and
this was a hard decision and I was
looking for the right framework in which
to make that kind of important decision
and and and the right framework I found
is a regret minimization framework and
that’s just a nerdy way of saying that
you want to project yourself to age 80
and then think back over your life and
and if you’re if you’re if you’re 81 or
the thyou want to minimize the number of
regrets you have throughout that period
of time I think this is something a lot
of people do maybe subconsciously they
probably very few people probably name
it regret minimization framework because
most people are healthier than that but
but it was a very clear way for me to
think about making that kind of life
decision and then in the way it helped
was I thought okay if I go do this thing
and participate in this thing called the
Internet that I genuinely believe is
gonna be a big deal and if I fail am I
gonna regret having tried and failed and
I knew the answer that was no but I also
knew that if I didn’t try that I would
always regret that I would always wonder
and it would haunt me and until that you
know mythical day which I actually hope
will come when the things most matter
you so desperately don’t want to destroy
it for being scared that you can really
destroy it sure when I hosted the Oscars
I was
I was like wow man this is a billion
people and I just thought okay whatever
you do just remember you’re a kid from
moronga in Sydney you’re hosting the
Oscars have some fun you know and
luckily for me those turning points I’ve
somehow always stuck to that idea of
just having fun
people just afraid man so many people
are afraid of rejection of failure but
without failure you’d have no success
we’re stuck the most biggest failure I
had a TV show called the big house got
picked up by ABC they told me that we
were gonna do 12 episodes flew me down
to New York this is the biggest news
ever
I’m about to be rich holy Sh I’m 22 I
got a TV show I’m writing executive
producing starring in the show you know
what no I’m not just gonna go down there
by myself
we gotta bring the cash they said no
Kevin we only flying you I said well I’m
a paid for the cast to come I took my
own money flew them all down in New York
get to New York put on my suit people
taking pictures of me walking out this
is the best thing ever
holy Sh I’m famous this is what it is I
get to the up front up front to where
they announce your TV shows the slew of
shows they’re announcing their time
slots I’m next they’re about to announce
the big house somebody puts their hand
on my chest and says Kevin wait they
talking to earpiece they said nope I’m
standing with him right now I’m like
what’s going on well they want me to do
you know they want me go on the other
side or something he goes okay I’ll tell
him they cancelled they’re not gonna
pick you up you got a step back and I
was like that don’t sound right
literally that fast they sent me home
they’re like you got to just go home
TV show got picked up six months later
for six episodes the third episodes air
they cans will show again I got to show
can’t do twice in a 6-month period which
has never been done before I’ve booked
about three more pilots got canceled
there was a show called John Stamos his
show he was a publicist and they wanted
me as a series regular the show was
going great ratings were good put me on
the show show got canceled it was
everything got touched on TV tundish I’m
now just sitting out here doing nothing
I handle money borrowed money left him
right I decided to say it I said I’m
just gonna do stand-up comedy and focus
on my craft
and I slaved the role about five years
doing the same circuit over and over you
really think creativity is important
whether whatever you do I think it’s fun
to be creative with meals that you cook
or meals that you eat or vacations that
you go on or dates that you set you know
I just think it’s fun to be creative
everyone likes that and I think
authenticity is just super important I
might be hyper aware of it because I
grew up in an industry that’s wrought
with inauthenticity that people will
look you right in the face and and
totally tell you what you need to hear
at the moment I don’t think that’s
unique to that industry but it’s filled
with it there so I I think transparency
and authenticity is just super important
I don’t mind having conflict with
someone if we can then be done with it
it’s that years spent where you know
that something’s going on and you’re not
talking about it those awful
Thanksgivings with the family of cousins
or you’re like hey Jim I know I hate
that I hate that life’s too short for
that stuff
just saw this Rumi quote that I love set
your life on fire and seek those who fan
your flames the philly translation of
that is don’t be hanging with no jank
ass jokers that don’t help you shine the
prerequisite for spending time with any
person is that they nourish and inspire
you
they feed your flame look at your last
five text messages are those people
feeding your flames or dousing your fire
put your phone down for just a second
and look around look to the people
around you are those people throwing
logs on your fire or they pissin on it
the people that you spend time with are
gonna make or break your dreams
everybody don’t deserve to be around you
you got to defend your light with your
life so who are the people in your life
that are fanning your flames shout them
out tag on below 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
want to hear you explain it why
suffering was the thing that triggered
that thought well for me growing up I
came from a horrible background I got
called nigger every day of my life
growing up lived in a small 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 stabbed
behind me in two classes so you called
me nigga a long time I got my first car
they spray print nigger 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 four 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
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
wouldn’t I say no but for me to fix this
I get a read what the hell what the
is wrong with David Goggin
not blame anybody read my books okay I’m
afraid of my shadow how can I overcome
that go into 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 do you get smarter
educate yourself so the things that we
run from we run it from the truth we’re
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 am
today being an actor or even being an
artist and I had studied in school
behind the camera was not even in the
vernacular of my dreams
I was raised 9 to 5 you go to work your
work you work your way up a scale that’s
from your old man right yeah yeah and
that was all I was able to even like I
said dream about so the idea of living
life and having a career that was in the
arts that was in the storytelling
business it was something that’s really
fun it was not something that like I
said I even dreamed up I was in the
right place right time right bar guy
found me and said you want to come in
and read for a part in a movie I’m here
producing called Dazed and Confused I
said sure I got to read for the part
it’s got three lines three lines turns
in three weeks work they’re paying me
325 bucks a day people were telling me
I’m pretty good at it and I think I’m
getting away with something and I still
do feel like I’m getting away with did
you have some of the most important
discoveries and inventions and
innovations within a field come from
people who are trained in a much
different field and who have an
outsider’s approach
Louis Pasteur was a classic example of
this he was trained as a chemist in
mineralogist so he brought a much
different way of thinking to the subject
of Medicine and German
a method that was infinitely more
creative albert einstein was a complete
outsider his two most important
discoveries came when he was working at
the Swiss Patent Office Google itself
exemplifies this idea it is perhaps the
most successful business on the planet
founded by two men who are relatively
complete outsiders to business and who
therefore structured and directed their
company in a very novel and creative
fashion I could go on and on and on with
this list including many great artists
there are two important reasons why
Outsiders generally have a creative
advantage first they are less steeped in
and burdened by the conventions of the
field that they are attacking they ask a
different set of questions they approach
problems from unconventional angles and
second they are often trained in totally
unrelated fields and so can make
interesting and creative connections
between two very different forms of
thinking like science and business or
chemistry and medicine or engineering
and design now we can’t all consciously
follow such a path but even within the
careers that were pursuing we can train
ourselves to think like outsiders and
help loosen up the mind in the process
do you think there were no hurdles or
obstacles that I had overcome but even I
got to high school I wasn’t ranked as
you know I wasn’t ranked I wasn’t highly
touted as a high school prospect I had
nobody really running knocking on my
door saying please please please come
play for our school until coach
McCullough called and you know
everything happens for a reason and
there’s there’s a story into everything
and and if you take time to realize you
know what what your dream is and and
what you really want in life no matter
what it is whether it’s sports whether
it’s in other fields
you have to realize that there’s always
work to do and you want to be the
hardest working person in whatever you
do and you’ll put yourself in position
to be successful and you have to have a
passion about what you do and basketball
was mine and that’s what scared me to
this point go into your house and go
quiet room and you close the lights draw
the shades and sit on a couch and
visualize a big fat check 25 G’s
thousand bucks us okay with your name on
it and I want you to imagine that check
and just make that check go bigger in
your mind and make it real more real and
just put it out into the ether of the
universe and the law of attraction will
take hold just think about it boom right
hello
if that’s your strategy for success only
that will show up in your mailbox is not
the check it’s a freaking eviction
notice from your landlord
they’ll be towing away your car your
wife your husband all for the next-door
neighbor and you’ll be so saying where’s
the check
where’s the check okay the secret is a
load of crap okay do I believe in
manifestation yeah damn straight I do
but you got to take action
I’m one of those unfortunate people I
tried it I really died some I tried it I
read books all be tried no it’s like I’d
try to trade for the check never came
but I went out and start taking action
guess what the check came with extra a
couple of zeros passion is not an
actionable word it’s correct you know
that those who do the things that
they’re passionate about do better but
it’s not helpful advice and so the
question is where does passion come from
passion is a result passion as an energy
passion is the feeling you have when
you’re engaged in something that you
love passion is the feeling you have
that you would probably do this for free
you know and you can’t believe somebody
pays you to do it you know and I think
we mistake that passion is something we
do in our private lives but it shouldn’t
be done you know in our careers for
example and I’m a firm believer that you
are who you are and anybody who says I’m
different at home than I am at work in
one of those two places you’re lying and
the goal is to make everything you do in
home and it works something that you
have excitement to do so how do you find
the things that you’re excited to do
well it’s actually easier than you think
what are the things that you love to do
what are the things that you would do
for free you know how can you recreate
that feeling and and be pay for it so
what are the things that I do on the
weekend right I love I’m very involved
in the art world I love to go to museums
and galleries but I love to go see dance
and performances because I want to see
how others are interpreting the world so
that inspires me new ideas new thoughts
new ways of looking at the world are
things that interest me privately and I
seek it out and pay money for it right
so does that mean I have to have a
career in the arts no it means I have to
have a career where new ideas are
explored where people are experimenting
and trying things out and I have to
explore new ideas and try things out and
I’m just as excited to go to work every
day as I am just you know go do
something on a Saturday night and so the
idea of finding your passion is
ironically simple because you should be
doing stuff that you enjoy
sometimes
what is the stuff that you enjoy and
then what is the stuff that you love who
the people you love and what our that’s
what they all have in common what kills
great businesses if you look at I do
believe in looking at history and I and
I try to I like to study failure
actually and my partner says all I want
to know is where I’ll die so I’ll never
go there and and we want to see what has
caused businesses to go bad and the
biggest thing that kills them is
complacency I mean you you want a
restlessness feeling that you know that
somebody’s always after you but you’re
going to stay ahead of them and you
always want to be on the move and and
when you’ve got a great business you
know like coca-cola wishes there aren’t
any like oh girl but but really the
danger would always be the you rest on
your laurels when I see none of that
obviously a coca-cola but that’s that
that is the key to to compete the same
way when you’ve got 1.8 billion servings
being sold daily as when you were
selling you know 10 a day and and that
restlessness that belief that that
tomorrow’s more exciting than today you
just have to have it permeate the organization
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