not only do you have to move from point
A to B in life but point A is often a
very difficult place to be because we’re
fragile and bounded and mortal and
limited and because we know that and so
one of the implications of that as many
great religious traditions are at pains
to illustrate or demonstrate or proclaim
is that life is essentially suffering
and I believe that to be a fundamental
truth but but perhaps not the most
fundamental truth because I think the
most fundamental truth is that despite
the fact that life is suffering people
can transcend that and partly the way
they transcend that is by pursuing
things of value and so that if there is
no value proposition at hand then you
have no meaning to justify the difficult
conditions of your life and that’s
brutally difficult for people no
Nietzsche said he who has a why can bear
anyhow and you see and I’ve certainly
seen this as a clinical practitioner
that people who have no purpose in their
life are embittered by the difficulties
of their life and they become first
bitter and then resentful and then
revengeful and then cruel and there’s
plenty of places to go past cruel that’s
just where you start if you’re really on
a down if you look at a business the
chokehold on the growth of any business
is always a psychology and the skillset
of a leader and it’s 80% psychology and
20% mechanics meaning so many small
businesses you know the owner might be
an incredible innovator
maybe they write incredible code maybe
they’re a tremendous influence er but
they don’t know the economic side of
their business right and they find
themselves getting in trouble because
somebody’s giving them financial
information after the fact they don’t
have true financial intelligence to make
decisions and they get caught up can you
can you give me an example of a business
like that you have to name names no I
I’ll pick my own examples I had several
companies early in my career that we’re
near bankruptcy because I would sit down
and I would I knew how to produce
products it would change people’s lives
I knew how to market I knew that I built
teams of people but what I didn’t know
was finance so I’d look and say you know
ok what are we doing it oh you got a
great you know you got a 20% profit you
know you got
two million dollars in profit nosed a
little tiny company and I come the other
year there was no cash right I didn’t
know that profit is a theory and so just
not having that skill or someone might
be really great in finance but they’re
not any good in marketing so sometimes
it’s a skill problem but 80% of it you
can solve those skills you can get those
skills if you can change your psychology
but when you accept that oh my god the
markets down or oh my god the economy
and areas down when you allow the
environment to control your psychology
you’re not gonna win stop the laziness
and they will know how to stop the
procrastination and you know they have
some idea in their head you know some
kind of a vision what they want to do
but they don’t know where to start in
order start it you know they don’t know
where to start
and say they say hey where do I start
and and when’s the best time to start
and I have a very simple answer for that
year and now that’s it
you you want to improve you want to get
better you want to get on a workout
program or a clean diet you want to
start a business you want to write a
book or make a movie or build a house or
a computer or put together some mobile
you start right here and when do you
start you start right now you initiate
the action aggressively you go because
the idea isn’t gonna execute itself and
and the book isn’t gonna write itself
and the weights out in the gym they’re
not gonna move themselves you have to do
it and you have to do it now and that
means
you gotta stop thinking about it and
stop dreaming about it and stop
researching every aspect of it and
reading all about it and debating the
take that first step and make it happen
get after it and get after it
here and now
I think the successes of winning right
you want to be the best in the
neighborhood and then win the local
contest and then whatever whatever its
it just keeps going up and then by the
time you get there you can have a
stadium screaming your name it’s
actually happened a couple of times to
me and there is a visceral exhilaration
to it there is I’ve experienced that I
know what that’s like you land a trick
in there it just lights up it’s crazy
but the same time it’s hollow it’s
hollow that’s not the thing that can
drive you at least not for long
it’s being able to say oh I had that I
had a model or I had people or whatever
all of these honors eventually that
stuff phased to just static and you’re
left with you and your board and if you
decide that that’s what you love that’s
what you’re doing then your days are
numbered so the trick is to always peel
back of why am I doing this in the first
place oh yeah I still like I’m still
that kid on the farm you know and I
cling to that is you sorta need to
thinking about yourself as ESPN and HBO
and CNBC and the New York Times the
quicker all of you think of yourself as
that everything changes I literally
think that I garyvee don’t compete with
Richard Branson or with you know Mark
Cuban I think that Gary Vee competes
with Business Insider
and Forbes and and you know the Wall
Street Journal and complex magazine like
I I don’t think about competing with
humans I spend zero time even debating
that and so I think of myself Carlos is
a media company and so it’s the
difference between you know what I think
a lot of people do in our world they
turn into infomercials versus 20/20 if
you make content on Facebook and
LinkedIn and your email and everything
you do if you think of yourself as ABC
News if you think about yourself as fox
or CNN instead of an infomercial changes
everybody’s thinking like an advertiser
not as a media company and I think for a
lot of me it seems like you know I’m
watching your kind of behavior that’s
why I feel a little bit different
I’m not putting out content like an
advertiser with a short-term goal I’m
putting out content like a media company
with a long-term goal which creates
short-term opportunity it’s a very very
subtle but disproportionate reason and
and the luckier you are if you’re this
legendary as people are whispering to me
well then that means you’re sitting with
something which means you should be
recording all of it all of it that’s
right and the way to think about it is
some of you don’t have the dollars to
hire somebody yet and neither did I for
the first eight years the whole d-roc
thing and all this doesn’t you know I
love whatever was like easy for you Gary
you have d-roc now in it I’m like BIC I
didn’t have anybody for eight years and
I build up to it and then I had somebody
so like if you’ve got to do it in selfie
form good and if like for me I can’t
write I have a ghostwriter for my books
I have a ghostwriter for my LinkedIn a
medium right now I can’t write it’s not
how I communicate but I can do video
some of you are scared of video and get
awkward you’re more introverted so then
write use the medium that helps you best
I went to see a play with a friend of
mine who is an actor and the play was
awful
I mean a train wreck the script was
awful the directing was off I mean it
was an absolute train wreck
so the question does now the question
you asked was about collaboration right
should any of those actors have taken
the part now of course if you’re gonna
take a part because you need an extra
cash little extra cash or you want to
get a little extra practice then you
have to do so I think knowing I’m doing
this for the money or I’m doing this
just to keep keep my skills sharp but
I’m under no illusion that this is
something that I connect with but I’m
gonna do the best that I can and then
don’t lie to yourself you know the other
problems don’t do that too often because
that’ll just destroy any passion that
you have for your medium right and I
think and we’ve talked about this which
is which is any artist any person but
especially artists have to know they’re
why you have to know why you’re showing
up in the first place and you have to be
able to talk about it because if you
talk about it things happen people go I
like you right now you may not get the
part but you’re more likely to find
people who want to work with you even if
you’re not the most talented one who
auditioned this is my career by the way
right when I learned to talk about what
I believed I didn’t talk about the
things I’ve done I didn’t talk about the
parts I’ve had or the shows I’ve been in
or who trained me or the schools I went
to resume resume resume I started I
learned to talk about what I believed
and some people thought it was cheesy
they didn’t call me back good and some
people win
it’s great and I was not the most
talented not the most experienced not
the best at my field but because they
stood for or believed in what I stood
for they wanted to work with me they
would rather work with someone who
understood them who got them more than
somebody who would just take orders and
do exactly what they wanted regardless
of facility all good qualities but you
have to absolutely apply it to things
outside of just waking up early it’s
it’s everything it’s working out every
day making yourself stronger and faster
and more flexible and healthier
discipline is eating the right foods to
a fuel your system it it’s about
disciplining your emotions so you can
make good decisions it’s about having
the discipline to control your ego so
your ego doesn’t get out of hand and
control you it’s about treating people
the way you would want to be treated and
doing the tasks that you don’t
necessarily want to do but that you know
will help you or help your team it’s
about facing your fears takes discipline
to face your fears so you can conquer
them and that’s what discipline is
discipline means taking the hard road
the uphill road to do what’s right for
it’s so often the easy path the easy
path that calls to us to be weak for
that moment to break down for that
moment to give in to the desire and the
short-term gratification but the
discipline will not allow that the
discipline calls for strength and
fortitude and will it won’t accept
weakness it won’t tolerate another
breakdown the discipline can seem like
discipline is your best friend it will
take care of you like nothing else can
and will put you on that path the path
to strength and health and intelligence
and happiness and most importantly it’ll
está photo from their vacation ever
everybody’s putting out the most
exciting night of their lives people are
actually now doing things in real life
just for the photo to put on Instagram
and this is very important to understand
because we as humans are wired often to
envy and be jealous and curious and
dwell on not being on that boat and what
that leads to a short-term behavior
everybody’s looking to make a quick
dollar so that they can go on that yacht
or go to Ibiza or buy that car or that
bag or that sneaker and this is 100
percent the poison that is in the system
and so for me I want to know why why do
you want to be successful for me I
didn’t even really necessarily want to
be successful I just couldn’t breathe if
I wasn’t selling something or building a
business it’s all I knew there was
nothing else it was why it was such a
bad student
I couldn’t even appease the hour I
needed to be a decent student a day
because I needed every minute selling
baseball cards or wine or whatever I was
up to at that point in my life there was
no choice and so that’s what I wish on
everybody else I wish that you wake up
every morning and have no choice thing I
hear at book signings is women who come
up and they say it’s moms they’ll say
I’ve I’ve lost myself I don’t know who I
am I don’t know I don’t even know how to
find my why I don’t know what my passion
is I don’t know and I’m like who were
you before you were there mom who were
you before you were his wife who were
you before you were with your partner
who were you what were you into what did
you love what lit your heart on fire and
a lot of times the things that they
loved they feel stupid about they’re
like well the dance yeah exactly like
choir I loved you know but that like
somewhere along the way we got the idea
that if we couldn’t make
money at something it didn’t have any
value in our lives no dang it like
that’s the point that’s the point of
living like what are you doing if the
only thing that you have in your day is
how you show up for other people well
it’s no wonder that you’ve lost who you
are was at the top of the wine game and
I left because I won I didn’t want to do
it anymore
and went into marketing where everyone
liked the first article written about me
was like this guy huh wine Twitter I
think the article in the big advertising
magazine was Twitter boy is what they
called me Twitter boy thinks he’s gonna
come and win Madison Avenue hahahahaha
they’re not laughing anymore you know
and even this game now I can already
feel it I’m like oh man three four or
five years from now this thing’s a wrap
I’m gonna be the guy so I’m gonna have
to start selling oranges or something
you know I gotta figure you know I’ve
been have to figure something out
because I lose like I’m about to climb
back to sports I grew up a die-hard
Yankees Jets Rangers Knicks fan the
Yankees and Rangers won their
championships I literally stopped
watching them Knicks and Jets are gonna
take me a minute you know but like but
like I’m just about because I just love
the climb like even like back to sports
cuz that I think it’s great analogy I’ll
turn on a random game I need to know who
the underdog is that’s my team I’m just
about to climb you know like to me when
I see a kid wearing a Steph Curry Jersey
and that kid lives in New York I think
I mean it he’s he’s using somebody
else’s success to make himself feel good
I think the biggest tell of a losing
person is wearing a jersey outside your
own City person’s strengths are often
their biggest weaknesses and so that
also means that their weaknesses can be
their strengths so me I am weak in all
those ways that I listed I am weak but I
don’t accept that I don’t accept that I
am what I am and that that is what I’m
doomed to be no I don’t accept that I’m
fighting I’m always fighting I’m
struggling and I’m strapping and I’m
kicking and clawing at those weaknesses
some days I don’t but each and every day
I get back up and I move forward with my
fists clenched toward the battle toward
the struggle and I fight with everything
I’ve got to overcome those weaknesses
and those shortfalls and those flaws as
I strive to be just a little bit better
today than I was yesterday working
pretty hard and so there are a lot of
people but I’m one of them my cars
they’re pretty early and it’s in the
parking lot pretty late and on weekends
so and I value my family time a lot so I
I’m pretty committed to this and seeing
Apple turn around the company I mean
it’s I started the company with Steve
Wozniak in my parent’s garage you know
20 years ago and over 22 years ago and
so there’s a definite place in my heart
for this I’m drawing a salary if I think
$1 per year so I hope I’m not burdening
the shareholders too much and and I’m I
very much want to see Apple get turned
around and I think it’s gonna so I don’t
know how much more committed I could be
if people need these symbols well maybe
that’ll happen I don’t know but but you
know my answer to them is I don’t know
I’ve said before I was super focused
when I went to college I’ve been in the
SEAL Teams for ten years I was a
go-getter I was a hard charger I was
like oh you want me to read this book
boom I would sit down and just force
myself to read it and then got back to
the SEAL Teams and like like when I went
to college I literally read every single
thing that I was assigned and nobody
does that in college nobody does that
I’ve read every single page of every
single thing I was assigned during
college that’s ridiculous it’s almost a
waste of time it’s almost embarrassing
EKKO definitely thinks it’s a waste of
time but but it was because I just could
just go lock my brain down and get it
done and then get back to the teams in
to the teams officer in the teams you
have a lot of administrative brain work
to do evaluations and after actions
reports and all these things and I would
do the same thing I just go into
lockdown mode and I put my brain on it
and boom I’d go through it and just get
it done I would just be able to focus so
they each thing laser focus laser focus
I am stunned by how many people here
don’t realize that the quickest path to
happiness or more economics in business
given the context of this talk happens
to be in the thing that they love the
most yet they’re not willing to eat for
the next three to five years to get
there let me explain it blows me away
that if you’re ridiculously passionate
about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
now stick with me I know this is going
weird
that starting your Instagram account
your podcast and your YouTube channel
about Leonardo and Michelangelo and
putting out that content for a
three-year period in the long tail of
the Internet in the way that niche
marketing works if you focus on that
7:00 p.m. to 2:00 in the morning around
that world that literally within three
to four years the practicality if you’re
consistent to making between fifty and a
hundred thousand dollars a year in
affiliate fee Bay links and sponsorship
around being the foremost expert of
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a very
fascinating thing how many people here
and across this country right now rushed
because that’s where the gold rush was
I’m just fascinated by people’s passion
for the quick fix versus the marathon
I’m fascinated by people willing to put
in their body to lose 15 pounds that’s
some private-label horse from China
versus eating right and exercising let
me promise you something good and that’s
how I want to say it everything special
is hard seems like all the good people I
really want to hire it seems to take me
a year to hire him and it’s always been
that way even at Apple some of the best
technical people or whoever it always
seem to take me like a year to pry them
took me it took me over a year to high
mining Mike has the award you’re about a
year and a half and they’re all worth it
what happens is I usually meet somebody
that is really good I think is very very
good and you can’t get them and then you
go try to find other people and you know
nobody measures up you know when you
meet somebody that good just you always
compare them this one person you know
you’re gonna be settling for second best
if you compromise I’ve always found it
best not to compromise and if your
friend is facing a problem when you have
to make decisions on behalf of your
friend you tend to think from multiple
perspectives you think about multiple
outcomes and ultimately you make a much
better decision what they found research
though is if they put you in the exact
same situation facing the exact same
thing that your friend is you’re not
able to be so objective because you’re
emotional and you don’t make that
greater decision what’s the conclusion
well when you make decisions for other
people you’re great when we make
decisions for ourselves decisions that
can be emotional we’re not so good at it
that’s where the power of objectivity
comes in it’s the ability to make a
decision from a third party’s
perspective let me explain so if you’re
facing a really important decision and
you can feel yourself getting emotional
maybe you’re thinking about asking for a
raise or changing your career or
changing your major or ending a
relationship or starting a relationship
whatever it may be if it’s something
that is emotional for you you’re gonna
have a hard time thinking about all the
options and you’re gonna be really
attached emotionally because maybe
you’re concerned about the people who
may be impacted by your decision maybe
you’re managing that somebody’s going to
be disappointed or hurt by what you need
to do for you this is when the power of
objectivity is really important pick
somebody that you really admire I mean
it could be somebody like a Bill Gates
or a Richard Branson or an Oprah Winfrey
or maybe have a mentor and stop yourself
and ask what would Oprah do in this
situation what would Richard Branson do
in this situation what would your mentor
do in this situation bringing that level
of third-party objectivity will yank you
out of your body and your emotions and
it will help you give your
self the perspective that you need and
the distance from your emotions so that
you can actually assess your options and
make the best decision for you what
would Mel do if Mel were making this
decision the best decision you know
there’s a really interesting example of
somebody who did this in sports and at
the time he actually got a lot of flack
for it it was LeBron James now LeBron
James as you know played for the
Cleveland Cavaliers for a really really
long time and he’s arguably one of the
best basketball players to ever hit the
NBA so he made this announcement that he
was going to leave the Cleveland
Cavaliers where he had been playing for
ever had rabbit rabbit fans and who’s
gonna leave them and go to Miami and
interview to ESPN and what he said was
this he said LeBron James needs to do
what’s best for LeBron James
now people kind of laughed at him
because it’s a funny way to say the
sentence but this guy’s really smart he
was leveraging the power of objectivity
Mel Robbins needs to learn how to do
what’s best for Mel Robbins one thing
I’m positive about is how ry-
complaining is and how much I’m trying
to suffocate the practice of it I really
have been fascinated by people that have
changed their mindset into understanding
that everything that is not going well
right now is their fault it has been
remarkably important to me in
understanding that everything that I’m
not happy about has on me it’s it’s a
remarkably interesting brain twist the
amount of energy spent on things that
you can’t control versus being
accountable to what you can control has
been a huge separator for me in the last
four or five years as I’ve dug deep no
question the quickest way to happiness
is accountability when people start
looking for somebody else to be at fault
whether it’s the government or their
aunt or some or their boss they always
lose nobody’s ever done it by themselves
mm-hm
so the old the the entrepreneur that’s
popular right now is the guy that works
from home he’s a solopreneur
I don’t know if you have this term we
have been yeah yeah it’s a complete
misnomer nobody is ever existed on this
planet and done something successful by
themselves no it’s never happened so
there’s no there’s zero examples of
anybody that’s done any I mean Jesus had
had 12 had 12 guys he was rolling with
right Alexander the Great had an army
Genghis Khan had had a like you’re not
doing this thing by yourself nobody does
like for too long I ran by myself and
and it took a lot of energy you know it
took a lot of energy it takes more
energy running by yourself Ryan Seco
here the captain the pilot and and the
real estate dude he always says dude
it’s just more fun to run with the team
and he’s right yeah you know Henry Ford
people said Henry Ford made the car out
of his garage I said yeah but the
company didn’t make they didn’t make
through the yeah yeah so Mark Zuckerberg
so you know Facebook was made out of a
dorm Facebook was made when he moved to
Silicon Valley and started a company
Steve Jobs Steve and the other dude was
it dude yeah yeah they built Apple you
know supposedly built it out of their
garage yeah nobody knew about Apple
until he moved the company and started
in added employees so nobody’s doing
anything great by themselves here’s what
you’re gonna do it’s actually simple and
it’s not gonna be easy cuz you’re gonna
create all kinds of excuses and drama
for yourself okay you’re gonna set your
laundry stuff and when the alarm goes
off that’s what happened that gap is
gonna open up and you’re gonna feel all
rolling I don’t feel like it I’m over I
don’t want to I don’t feel like writing
a song anyway you know like that’s when
you have to take control you have to
take control you have to get up every
morning it begins by getting up because
if you let anxiety excuses self-doubt
all the win in that first decision the
rest
the deicide Zach so when the first
decision then exercise I don’t care
about the eating as much I know it’s
important that’s put garbage in but I
would rather see you first master
getting up on time do that for a week
then let’s add in exercise every day
ten minutes don’t start with like two
hours because then you’re gonna find an
excuse not to do it get up at seven
exercise for ten minutes then the third
week you’re gonna add in like I’m
actually gonna eat clean this week or
whatever the diet is that you want to
eat right you’re just gonna add in
things as you master the little things
but you’ve got to get up on time it
so the real estate it’s just what I’m
doing every day right it’s the speaking
it just all fits for me so I need a lot
of action but they all work like like my
hand I move my pinky and all the other
fingers removed so if I move this
business it touches these businesses the
businesses are all connected are
interconnected who they’re a bit
connected right so if I move one we came
here to do a speaking gig okay but we
stack this interview this is part of my
business right my our online presence is
dependent upon me being willing to do
this in addition we don’t go anyplace
for one thing mm-hmm so the guy that
tells you focus on one business we do
why don’t we have one finger why don’t I
just have one finger right at the floor
I said boom I got I got notice I got
five fingers and I got two hands I had I
had a girlfriend but this was before I
was married she says you want your cake
and you want to eat it too
and I said yeah well I have a cake if
you can’t eat it okay so my mom used to
tell me you need to focus on one thing
at a time I’m like five fingers five
feet two hands okay so I want my hands
and all a bunch of pies I just want to
be sure I want to eat that pie okay I
want to eat that meal right because I
think a lot of people have their hands
sorry I think a lot of people have their
hands and stuff they don’t really want
to eat the meal there’s another kind of
instinct
that you need to be on the lookout for
and this one is a liar this one is a
saboteur well this one is a back biter
and like the devil himself he’s a
shapeshifter
he’s gonna disguise himself and make you
think he’s got your best interest in
mind but he doesn’t this is the instinct
that says you’ve had enough this is the
instinct that says you’ve you’ve given
it your best shot you can you can stand
down you can back off you can take a
this is the instinct that says you can
rest now do not listen to that instincts
do not listen that instinct is a liar
and wants to bring you down that that’s
the instinct that’s a defense mechanism
it wants to give you an out
place to run to a little little place of
sympathy an amnesty a little place of
amnesty where everything is forgiven
we’re all these these failures can
gather together and comfort and drown
their sorrows in lies and in deception
and they tell each other and they’ll
No they’ll say the DAK the deck the deck
was stacked against you and they’ll say
it’s not your fault and they’ll tell you
it’s okay to stop it’s okay to settle
it’s okay to give up and that is the
instinct you need to fight you need to
push back to smash into the ground do
not take the easy way out do not give up
based on instinct if you are forced to
stand down to retreat so that you can
rebuild Andrea tack so be it but make
that decision based on logic not on the
instinct of surrender and defeat and you
need to train that instinct your
instinct train it to say get up go fight
on and if that is what you become if
that becomes your fundamental reaction
to adversity if that becomes your gut
instinct then you will overcome just
about anything that stands in your path
what was a very classic Silicon Valley
startup in the sense that Steve Wozniak
and my partner both worked for Hewlett
Packard matter of fact woz was still
working there when we started Apple and
hewlett-packard was the genesis of of
not just the concept of starting your
own company but and of course it was the
primary role model in the valley but it
was also the ethics or the ethical basis
of how you wanted to build your company
a company that was based on values not
based on just making money and HP had
had the HP way and they had a list of
their values and the first one was we
need to make a profit or else we can’t
keep this company going but after that
they got into how they wanted to treat
individuals and conduct their corporate
life and it was it’s very idealistic in
my opinion so we were we were very much
influenced by that the second thing that
made us very very typical in a way was
that we were building a product that we
ourselves were the customer for we were
building something we wanted ourselves
just like Hewlett and Packard started
building test equipment and equipment
for engineers well they were engineers
so they they could in essence do the
marketing they could figure out what an
engineer might want in a product as well
as designing we wanted a computer and we
knew exactly what we wanted in a
computer so we could do the marketing as
well as the engineering of that product
this changed later as we started selling
to people that were different than us
but certainly in the first
years of Apple we were selling the
people that were just like us and a lot
of Silicon Valley companies have started
that way and it’s it’s you know it’s
very efficient I think it works quite well
A to B in life but point A is often a
very difficult place to be because we’re
fragile and bounded and mortal and
limited and because we know that and so
one of the implications of that as many
great religious traditions are at pains
to illustrate or demonstrate or proclaim
is that life is essentially suffering
and I believe that to be a fundamental
truth but but perhaps not the most
fundamental truth because I think the
most fundamental truth is that despite
the fact that life is suffering people
can transcend that and partly the way
they transcend that is by pursuing
things of value and so that if there is
no value proposition at hand then you
have no meaning to justify the difficult
conditions of your life and that’s
brutally difficult for people no
Nietzsche said he who has a why can bear
anyhow and you see and I’ve certainly
seen this as a clinical practitioner
that people who have no purpose in their
life are embittered by the difficulties
of their life and they become first
bitter and then resentful and then
revengeful and then cruel and there’s
plenty of places to go past cruel that’s
just where you start if you’re really on
a down if you look at a business the
chokehold on the growth of any business
is always a psychology and the skillset
of a leader and it’s 80% psychology and
20% mechanics meaning so many small
businesses you know the owner might be
an incredible innovator
maybe they write incredible code maybe
they’re a tremendous influence er but
they don’t know the economic side of
their business right and they find
themselves getting in trouble because
somebody’s giving them financial
information after the fact they don’t
have true financial intelligence to make
decisions and they get caught up can you
can you give me an example of a business
like that you have to name names no I
I’ll pick my own examples I had several
companies early in my career that we’re
near bankruptcy because I would sit down
and I would I knew how to produce
products it would change people’s lives
I knew how to market I knew that I built
teams of people but what I didn’t know
was finance so I’d look and say you know
ok what are we doing it oh you got a
great you know you got a 20% profit you
know you got
two million dollars in profit nosed a
little tiny company and I come the other
year there was no cash right I didn’t
know that profit is a theory and so just
not having that skill or someone might
be really great in finance but they’re
not any good in marketing so sometimes
it’s a skill problem but 80% of it you
can solve those skills you can get those
skills if you can change your psychology
but when you accept that oh my god the
markets down or oh my god the economy
and areas down when you allow the
environment to control your psychology
you’re not gonna win stop the laziness
and they will know how to stop the
procrastination and you know they have
some idea in their head you know some
kind of a vision what they want to do
but they don’t know where to start in
order start it you know they don’t know
where to start
and say they say hey where do I start
and and when’s the best time to start
and I have a very simple answer for that
year and now that’s it
you you want to improve you want to get
better you want to get on a workout
program or a clean diet you want to
start a business you want to write a
book or make a movie or build a house or
a computer or put together some mobile
you start right here and when do you
start you start right now you initiate
the action aggressively you go because
the idea isn’t gonna execute itself and
and the book isn’t gonna write itself
and the weights out in the gym they’re
not gonna move themselves you have to do
it and you have to do it now and that
means
you gotta stop thinking about it and
stop dreaming about it and stop
researching every aspect of it and
reading all about it and debating the
take that first step and make it happen
get after it and get after it
here and now
I think the successes of winning right
you want to be the best in the
neighborhood and then win the local
contest and then whatever whatever its
it just keeps going up and then by the
time you get there you can have a
stadium screaming your name it’s
actually happened a couple of times to
me and there is a visceral exhilaration
to it there is I’ve experienced that I
know what that’s like you land a trick
in there it just lights up it’s crazy
but the same time it’s hollow it’s
hollow that’s not the thing that can
drive you at least not for long
it’s being able to say oh I had that I
had a model or I had people or whatever
all of these honors eventually that
stuff phased to just static and you’re
left with you and your board and if you
decide that that’s what you love that’s
what you’re doing then your days are
numbered so the trick is to always peel
back of why am I doing this in the first
place oh yeah I still like I’m still
that kid on the farm you know and I
cling to that is you sorta need to
thinking about yourself as ESPN and HBO
and CNBC and the New York Times the
quicker all of you think of yourself as
that everything changes I literally
think that I garyvee don’t compete with
Richard Branson or with you know Mark
Cuban I think that Gary Vee competes
with Business Insider
and Forbes and and you know the Wall
Street Journal and complex magazine like
I I don’t think about competing with
humans I spend zero time even debating
that and so I think of myself Carlos is
a media company and so it’s the
difference between you know what I think
a lot of people do in our world they
turn into infomercials versus 20/20 if
you make content on Facebook and
LinkedIn and your email and everything
you do if you think of yourself as ABC
News if you think about yourself as fox
or CNN instead of an infomercial changes
everybody’s thinking like an advertiser
not as a media company and I think for a
lot of me it seems like you know I’m
watching your kind of behavior that’s
why I feel a little bit different
I’m not putting out content like an
advertiser with a short-term goal I’m
putting out content like a media company
with a long-term goal which creates
short-term opportunity it’s a very very
subtle but disproportionate reason and
and the luckier you are if you’re this
legendary as people are whispering to me
well then that means you’re sitting with
something which means you should be
recording all of it all of it that’s
right and the way to think about it is
some of you don’t have the dollars to
hire somebody yet and neither did I for
the first eight years the whole d-roc
thing and all this doesn’t you know I
love whatever was like easy for you Gary
you have d-roc now in it I’m like BIC I
didn’t have anybody for eight years and
I build up to it and then I had somebody
so like if you’ve got to do it in selfie
form good and if like for me I can’t
write I have a ghostwriter for my books
I have a ghostwriter for my LinkedIn a
medium right now I can’t write it’s not
how I communicate but I can do video
some of you are scared of video and get
awkward you’re more introverted so then
write use the medium that helps you best
I went to see a play with a friend of
mine who is an actor and the play was
awful
I mean a train wreck the script was
awful the directing was off I mean it
was an absolute train wreck
so the question does now the question
you asked was about collaboration right
should any of those actors have taken
the part now of course if you’re gonna
take a part because you need an extra
cash little extra cash or you want to
get a little extra practice then you
have to do so I think knowing I’m doing
this for the money or I’m doing this
just to keep keep my skills sharp but
I’m under no illusion that this is
something that I connect with but I’m
gonna do the best that I can and then
don’t lie to yourself you know the other
problems don’t do that too often because
that’ll just destroy any passion that
you have for your medium right and I
think and we’ve talked about this which
is which is any artist any person but
especially artists have to know they’re
why you have to know why you’re showing
up in the first place and you have to be
able to talk about it because if you
talk about it things happen people go I
like you right now you may not get the
part but you’re more likely to find
people who want to work with you even if
you’re not the most talented one who
auditioned this is my career by the way
right when I learned to talk about what
I believed I didn’t talk about the
things I’ve done I didn’t talk about the
parts I’ve had or the shows I’ve been in
or who trained me or the schools I went
to resume resume resume I started I
learned to talk about what I believed
and some people thought it was cheesy
they didn’t call me back good and some
people win
it’s great and I was not the most
talented not the most experienced not
the best at my field but because they
stood for or believed in what I stood
for they wanted to work with me they
would rather work with someone who
understood them who got them more than
somebody who would just take orders and
do exactly what they wanted regardless
of facility all good qualities but you
have to absolutely apply it to things
outside of just waking up early it’s
it’s everything it’s working out every
day making yourself stronger and faster
and more flexible and healthier
discipline is eating the right foods to
a fuel your system it it’s about
disciplining your emotions so you can
make good decisions it’s about having
the discipline to control your ego so
your ego doesn’t get out of hand and
control you it’s about treating people
the way you would want to be treated and
doing the tasks that you don’t
necessarily want to do but that you know
will help you or help your team it’s
about facing your fears takes discipline
to face your fears so you can conquer
them and that’s what discipline is
discipline means taking the hard road
the uphill road to do what’s right for
it’s so often the easy path the easy
path that calls to us to be weak for
that moment to break down for that
moment to give in to the desire and the
short-term gratification but the
discipline will not allow that the
discipline calls for strength and
fortitude and will it won’t accept
weakness it won’t tolerate another
breakdown the discipline can seem like
discipline is your best friend it will
take care of you like nothing else can
and will put you on that path the path
to strength and health and intelligence
and happiness and most importantly it’ll
está photo from their vacation ever
everybody’s putting out the most
exciting night of their lives people are
actually now doing things in real life
just for the photo to put on Instagram
and this is very important to understand
because we as humans are wired often to
envy and be jealous and curious and
dwell on not being on that boat and what
that leads to a short-term behavior
everybody’s looking to make a quick
dollar so that they can go on that yacht
or go to Ibiza or buy that car or that
bag or that sneaker and this is 100
percent the poison that is in the system
and so for me I want to know why why do
you want to be successful for me I
didn’t even really necessarily want to
be successful I just couldn’t breathe if
I wasn’t selling something or building a
business it’s all I knew there was
nothing else it was why it was such a
bad student
I couldn’t even appease the hour I
needed to be a decent student a day
because I needed every minute selling
baseball cards or wine or whatever I was
up to at that point in my life there was
no choice and so that’s what I wish on
everybody else I wish that you wake up
every morning and have no choice thing I
hear at book signings is women who come
up and they say it’s moms they’ll say
I’ve I’ve lost myself I don’t know who I
am I don’t know I don’t even know how to
find my why I don’t know what my passion
is I don’t know and I’m like who were
you before you were there mom who were
you before you were his wife who were
you before you were with your partner
who were you what were you into what did
you love what lit your heart on fire and
a lot of times the things that they
loved they feel stupid about they’re
like well the dance yeah exactly like
choir I loved you know but that like
somewhere along the way we got the idea
that if we couldn’t make
money at something it didn’t have any
value in our lives no dang it like
that’s the point that’s the point of
living like what are you doing if the
only thing that you have in your day is
how you show up for other people well
it’s no wonder that you’ve lost who you
are was at the top of the wine game and
I left because I won I didn’t want to do
it anymore
and went into marketing where everyone
liked the first article written about me
was like this guy huh wine Twitter I
think the article in the big advertising
magazine was Twitter boy is what they
called me Twitter boy thinks he’s gonna
come and win Madison Avenue hahahahaha
they’re not laughing anymore you know
and even this game now I can already
feel it I’m like oh man three four or
five years from now this thing’s a wrap
I’m gonna be the guy so I’m gonna have
to start selling oranges or something
you know I gotta figure you know I’ve
been have to figure something out
because I lose like I’m about to climb
back to sports I grew up a die-hard
Yankees Jets Rangers Knicks fan the
Yankees and Rangers won their
championships I literally stopped
watching them Knicks and Jets are gonna
take me a minute you know but like but
like I’m just about because I just love
the climb like even like back to sports
cuz that I think it’s great analogy I’ll
turn on a random game I need to know who
the underdog is that’s my team I’m just
about to climb you know like to me when
I see a kid wearing a Steph Curry Jersey
and that kid lives in New York I think
I mean it he’s he’s using somebody
else’s success to make himself feel good
I think the biggest tell of a losing
person is wearing a jersey outside your
own City person’s strengths are often
their biggest weaknesses and so that
also means that their weaknesses can be
their strengths so me I am weak in all
those ways that I listed I am weak but I
don’t accept that I don’t accept that I
am what I am and that that is what I’m
doomed to be no I don’t accept that I’m
fighting I’m always fighting I’m
struggling and I’m strapping and I’m
kicking and clawing at those weaknesses
some days I don’t but each and every day
I get back up and I move forward with my
fists clenched toward the battle toward
the struggle and I fight with everything
I’ve got to overcome those weaknesses
and those shortfalls and those flaws as
I strive to be just a little bit better
today than I was yesterday working
pretty hard and so there are a lot of
people but I’m one of them my cars
they’re pretty early and it’s in the
parking lot pretty late and on weekends
so and I value my family time a lot so I
I’m pretty committed to this and seeing
Apple turn around the company I mean
it’s I started the company with Steve
Wozniak in my parent’s garage you know
20 years ago and over 22 years ago and
so there’s a definite place in my heart
for this I’m drawing a salary if I think
$1 per year so I hope I’m not burdening
the shareholders too much and and I’m I
very much want to see Apple get turned
around and I think it’s gonna so I don’t
know how much more committed I could be
if people need these symbols well maybe
that’ll happen I don’t know but but you
know my answer to them is I don’t know
I’ve said before I was super focused
when I went to college I’ve been in the
SEAL Teams for ten years I was a
go-getter I was a hard charger I was
like oh you want me to read this book
boom I would sit down and just force
myself to read it and then got back to
the SEAL Teams and like like when I went
to college I literally read every single
thing that I was assigned and nobody
does that in college nobody does that
I’ve read every single page of every
single thing I was assigned during
college that’s ridiculous it’s almost a
waste of time it’s almost embarrassing
EKKO definitely thinks it’s a waste of
time but but it was because I just could
just go lock my brain down and get it
done and then get back to the teams in
to the teams officer in the teams you
have a lot of administrative brain work
to do evaluations and after actions
reports and all these things and I would
do the same thing I just go into
lockdown mode and I put my brain on it
and boom I’d go through it and just get
it done I would just be able to focus so
they each thing laser focus laser focus
I am stunned by how many people here
don’t realize that the quickest path to
happiness or more economics in business
given the context of this talk happens
to be in the thing that they love the
most yet they’re not willing to eat for
the next three to five years to get
there let me explain it blows me away
that if you’re ridiculously passionate
about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
now stick with me I know this is going
weird
that starting your Instagram account
your podcast and your YouTube channel
about Leonardo and Michelangelo and
putting out that content for a
three-year period in the long tail of
the Internet in the way that niche
marketing works if you focus on that
7:00 p.m. to 2:00 in the morning around
that world that literally within three
to four years the practicality if you’re
consistent to making between fifty and a
hundred thousand dollars a year in
affiliate fee Bay links and sponsorship
around being the foremost expert of
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a very
fascinating thing how many people here
and across this country right now rushed
because that’s where the gold rush was
I’m just fascinated by people’s passion
for the quick fix versus the marathon
I’m fascinated by people willing to put
in their body to lose 15 pounds that’s
some private-label horse from China
versus eating right and exercising let
me promise you something good and that’s
how I want to say it everything special
is hard seems like all the good people I
really want to hire it seems to take me
a year to hire him and it’s always been
that way even at Apple some of the best
technical people or whoever it always
seem to take me like a year to pry them
took me it took me over a year to high
mining Mike has the award you’re about a
year and a half and they’re all worth it
what happens is I usually meet somebody
that is really good I think is very very
good and you can’t get them and then you
go try to find other people and you know
nobody measures up you know when you
meet somebody that good just you always
compare them this one person you know
you’re gonna be settling for second best
if you compromise I’ve always found it
best not to compromise and if your
friend is facing a problem when you have
to make decisions on behalf of your
friend you tend to think from multiple
perspectives you think about multiple
outcomes and ultimately you make a much
better decision what they found research
though is if they put you in the exact
same situation facing the exact same
thing that your friend is you’re not
able to be so objective because you’re
emotional and you don’t make that
greater decision what’s the conclusion
well when you make decisions for other
people you’re great when we make
decisions for ourselves decisions that
can be emotional we’re not so good at it
that’s where the power of objectivity
comes in it’s the ability to make a
decision from a third party’s
perspective let me explain so if you’re
facing a really important decision and
you can feel yourself getting emotional
maybe you’re thinking about asking for a
raise or changing your career or
changing your major or ending a
relationship or starting a relationship
whatever it may be if it’s something
that is emotional for you you’re gonna
have a hard time thinking about all the
options and you’re gonna be really
attached emotionally because maybe
you’re concerned about the people who
may be impacted by your decision maybe
you’re managing that somebody’s going to
be disappointed or hurt by what you need
to do for you this is when the power of
objectivity is really important pick
somebody that you really admire I mean
it could be somebody like a Bill Gates
or a Richard Branson or an Oprah Winfrey
or maybe have a mentor and stop yourself
and ask what would Oprah do in this
situation what would Richard Branson do
in this situation what would your mentor
do in this situation bringing that level
of third-party objectivity will yank you
out of your body and your emotions and
it will help you give your
self the perspective that you need and
the distance from your emotions so that
you can actually assess your options and
make the best decision for you what
would Mel do if Mel were making this
decision the best decision you know
there’s a really interesting example of
somebody who did this in sports and at
the time he actually got a lot of flack
for it it was LeBron James now LeBron
James as you know played for the
Cleveland Cavaliers for a really really
long time and he’s arguably one of the
best basketball players to ever hit the
NBA so he made this announcement that he
was going to leave the Cleveland
Cavaliers where he had been playing for
ever had rabbit rabbit fans and who’s
gonna leave them and go to Miami and
interview to ESPN and what he said was
this he said LeBron James needs to do
what’s best for LeBron James
now people kind of laughed at him
because it’s a funny way to say the
sentence but this guy’s really smart he
was leveraging the power of objectivity
Mel Robbins needs to learn how to do
what’s best for Mel Robbins one thing
I’m positive about is how ry-
complaining is and how much I’m trying
to suffocate the practice of it I really
have been fascinated by people that have
changed their mindset into understanding
that everything that is not going well
right now is their fault it has been
remarkably important to me in
understanding that everything that I’m
not happy about has on me it’s it’s a
remarkably interesting brain twist the
amount of energy spent on things that
you can’t control versus being
accountable to what you can control has
been a huge separator for me in the last
four or five years as I’ve dug deep no
question the quickest way to happiness
is accountability when people start
looking for somebody else to be at fault
whether it’s the government or their
aunt or some or their boss they always
lose nobody’s ever done it by themselves
mm-hm
so the old the the entrepreneur that’s
popular right now is the guy that works
from home he’s a solopreneur
I don’t know if you have this term we
have been yeah yeah it’s a complete
misnomer nobody is ever existed on this
planet and done something successful by
themselves no it’s never happened so
there’s no there’s zero examples of
anybody that’s done any I mean Jesus had
had 12 had 12 guys he was rolling with
right Alexander the Great had an army
Genghis Khan had had a like you’re not
doing this thing by yourself nobody does
like for too long I ran by myself and
and it took a lot of energy you know it
took a lot of energy it takes more
energy running by yourself Ryan Seco
here the captain the pilot and and the
real estate dude he always says dude
it’s just more fun to run with the team
and he’s right yeah you know Henry Ford
people said Henry Ford made the car out
of his garage I said yeah but the
company didn’t make they didn’t make
through the yeah yeah so Mark Zuckerberg
so you know Facebook was made out of a
dorm Facebook was made when he moved to
Silicon Valley and started a company
Steve Jobs Steve and the other dude was
it dude yeah yeah they built Apple you
know supposedly built it out of their
garage yeah nobody knew about Apple
until he moved the company and started
in added employees so nobody’s doing
anything great by themselves here’s what
you’re gonna do it’s actually simple and
it’s not gonna be easy cuz you’re gonna
create all kinds of excuses and drama
for yourself okay you’re gonna set your
laundry stuff and when the alarm goes
off that’s what happened that gap is
gonna open up and you’re gonna feel all
rolling I don’t feel like it I’m over I
don’t want to I don’t feel like writing
a song anyway you know like that’s when
you have to take control you have to
take control you have to get up every
morning it begins by getting up because
if you let anxiety excuses self-doubt
all the win in that first decision the
rest
the deicide Zach so when the first
decision then exercise I don’t care
about the eating as much I know it’s
important that’s put garbage in but I
would rather see you first master
getting up on time do that for a week
then let’s add in exercise every day
ten minutes don’t start with like two
hours because then you’re gonna find an
excuse not to do it get up at seven
exercise for ten minutes then the third
week you’re gonna add in like I’m
actually gonna eat clean this week or
whatever the diet is that you want to
eat right you’re just gonna add in
things as you master the little things
but you’ve got to get up on time it
so the real estate it’s just what I’m
doing every day right it’s the speaking
it just all fits for me so I need a lot
of action but they all work like like my
hand I move my pinky and all the other
fingers removed so if I move this
business it touches these businesses the
businesses are all connected are
interconnected who they’re a bit
connected right so if I move one we came
here to do a speaking gig okay but we
stack this interview this is part of my
business right my our online presence is
dependent upon me being willing to do
this in addition we don’t go anyplace
for one thing mm-hmm so the guy that
tells you focus on one business we do
why don’t we have one finger why don’t I
just have one finger right at the floor
I said boom I got I got notice I got
five fingers and I got two hands I had I
had a girlfriend but this was before I
was married she says you want your cake
and you want to eat it too
and I said yeah well I have a cake if
you can’t eat it okay so my mom used to
tell me you need to focus on one thing
at a time I’m like five fingers five
feet two hands okay so I want my hands
and all a bunch of pies I just want to
be sure I want to eat that pie okay I
want to eat that meal right because I
think a lot of people have their hands
sorry I think a lot of people have their
hands and stuff they don’t really want
to eat the meal there’s another kind of
instinct
that you need to be on the lookout for
and this one is a liar this one is a
saboteur well this one is a back biter
and like the devil himself he’s a
shapeshifter
he’s gonna disguise himself and make you
think he’s got your best interest in
mind but he doesn’t this is the instinct
that says you’ve had enough this is the
instinct that says you’ve you’ve given
it your best shot you can you can stand
down you can back off you can take a
this is the instinct that says you can
rest now do not listen to that instincts
do not listen that instinct is a liar
and wants to bring you down that that’s
the instinct that’s a defense mechanism
it wants to give you an out
place to run to a little little place of
sympathy an amnesty a little place of
amnesty where everything is forgiven
we’re all these these failures can
gather together and comfort and drown
their sorrows in lies and in deception
and they tell each other and they’ll
No they’ll say the DAK the deck the deck
was stacked against you and they’ll say
it’s not your fault and they’ll tell you
it’s okay to stop it’s okay to settle
it’s okay to give up and that is the
instinct you need to fight you need to
push back to smash into the ground do
not take the easy way out do not give up
based on instinct if you are forced to
stand down to retreat so that you can
rebuild Andrea tack so be it but make
that decision based on logic not on the
instinct of surrender and defeat and you
need to train that instinct your
instinct train it to say get up go fight
on and if that is what you become if
that becomes your fundamental reaction
to adversity if that becomes your gut
instinct then you will overcome just
about anything that stands in your path
what was a very classic Silicon Valley
startup in the sense that Steve Wozniak
and my partner both worked for Hewlett
Packard matter of fact woz was still
working there when we started Apple and
hewlett-packard was the genesis of of
not just the concept of starting your
own company but and of course it was the
primary role model in the valley but it
was also the ethics or the ethical basis
of how you wanted to build your company
a company that was based on values not
based on just making money and HP had
had the HP way and they had a list of
their values and the first one was we
need to make a profit or else we can’t
keep this company going but after that
they got into how they wanted to treat
individuals and conduct their corporate
life and it was it’s very idealistic in
my opinion so we were we were very much
influenced by that the second thing that
made us very very typical in a way was
that we were building a product that we
ourselves were the customer for we were
building something we wanted ourselves
just like Hewlett and Packard started
building test equipment and equipment
for engineers well they were engineers
so they they could in essence do the
marketing they could figure out what an
engineer might want in a product as well
as designing we wanted a computer and we
knew exactly what we wanted in a
computer so we could do the marketing as
well as the engineering of that product
this changed later as we started selling
to people that were different than us
but certainly in the first
years of Apple we were selling the
people that were just like us and a lot
of Silicon Valley companies have started
that way and it’s it’s you know it’s
very efficient I think it works quite well
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