many people spend their lives in a state
of almost permanent dissatisfaction
right
unfortunately so they may be looking for
some purpose or they may have given up
hope that there is some purpose for them
and they’re just surviving or making a
living or caught up in the doing holed
up in the doing in the stress of it
right and so usually when we talk about
purpose when people talk about purpose
they think of purpose in terms of future
where am I going what am I supposed to
do what’s the direction I’m going what
is my goal the goal that I want to
achieve and that of course is that it
has its place but I call that the outer
purpose more fundamental than the outer
purpose is what most people usually
overlooked and that is the realization
that what matters most is finding your
inner purpose so inner purpose is
aligning your life fully with the
present moment so that you are no longer
out of alignment with the present moment
which leads to the state of
dissatisfaction that we talked about
that is the reality for many people so
you have to go first of all beyond the
state of dissatisfaction that is so many
people’s reality right but you cannot go
beyond the state of dissatisfaction
through some future goal that says one
day I would like to be in a state of
fulfillment or satisfaction no you have
to enter the state of fulfillment and
satisfaction by becoming one internally
with the present moment in the your
purpose and your inner purpose is that
alignment with where you are right now
to be totally where you are and whatever
you are doing even if it doesn’t look
like you’re the life purpose for the do
you buy for the next 30 years right
whatever you are doing
now to be total in doing it and what no
matter what it is to be true to life
by being true to this moment 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 them 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 limited phrase 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 they’d 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 listening to the
people aren’t my friends in my life the
people are listening 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
– 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 get of attention
to that voice and you got to feed it
with those that support that idea that
you can do more I talked to so many
smart fantastic ambitious idealistic
hard-working kids and they’re right out
of college they’re in their entry-level
jobs and I’ll ask them how is it going
and they’ll say I think I’m gonna quit
and I’m like why they say to me I’m not
making an impact I’m like you know
you’ve been here eight months right they
treat the sense of fulfillment or even
love like it’s a scavenger hunt like
it’s something you look for my
millennial friends they’ve gone through
so many jobs they’re either getting
fired I mean it was mutual or they’re
quitting because they’re not making an
impact or they’re not finding anything
they’re looking for they’re not feeling
fulfilled as if it’s a scavenger hunt
love a job you find joy from is not
something you discover it’s not like I
found love here it is I found a job I
love that’s not how it works both of
those things require hard work you are
in love because you work very hard every
single day of your life to stay in love
you find a job that brings you ultimate
joy because you work hard every single
day to serve those around you and you
maintain that joy it’s not a discovery
but the problem is the sense of
impatience it’s as if an entire
generation of standing at the foot of a
mountain they know exactly what they
want they can see the summit what they
can’t see is the mountain this large
amove Abul object that doesn’t mean you
have to do your time that’s not what I’m
talking about take a helicopter climb I
don’t care but there’s still a mountain
life career fulfillment relationships
are journeys the problem is this entire
generation has an institutionalized
sense of impatience and do they have the
patience to go on the journey to
maintain love to feel fulfilled or do
they just quit and on to the next dump
and on to the next ghost and on to the
next 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
buzzword that everybody is using right
now you know every in and to that point
you know we as old 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 a
tackling that seems obvious back then it
wasn’t right I can 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 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 100 X or
more if you go to my house right next to
my bed there’s a book machine learning
for dummies be going to my bathroom for
many years before I wrote the power of
now and she became successful I was
basically a failure in the eyes of the
world so he’s already almost 50 and what
has he achieved my mom said you have
thrown away your life you had so many
possibilities in your life
walked out of graduate school in
Cambridge why did you walk out of there
you my mum and many other people said
this person has failed in life he has no
job he has no insurance policies nothing
no pension plan just almost nothing in
the bank failure and then a few years
later people bought the path now and
became a best seller Oh a big success
okay if I had arrived my identity at
that time from what the world was
telling me or my mind would have told me
if I have been listening to my mind I
would have been very unhappy and I
didn’t though I was fine because my
identity wasn’t derived from that
anymore and fortunately even when in the
eyes of the world I suddenly became a
success I don’t want to derive my
identity from that it’s it’s a cheap
substitute for who I really am so I’m
not I don’t see I don’t arrive but the
satisfaction it comes is the
satisfaction that the work that’s
happening the teaching that’s happening
is transforming people’s lives that’s
very satisfying but don’t get any
personal satisfaction though because
it’s not I don’t feel it as this
separate me produced it well 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 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
so entrepreneurs tend to miscalculate is
optimism has a place but I think even
more so for the first time entrepreneur
you need to be pragmatically pessimistic
what I mean by that is you need to
define all the worst-case scenarios in
terms of financial loss time loss etc
look at what you will learn if that
happens and accept and come to terms
with that before you ever start if you
don’t do that and you go straight into
battling the world trying to conquer the
world with rose-colored glasses on the
first time you hit a major hiccup you’re
gonna become really demoralized and you
will quit so optimism all that rah rah
rah that’s awesome but you need to hope
for the best and prepare for the worst
before you ever get started
ESPN called me they did a story on me
this past summer but they called me one
day now picked up the phone they said
there’s this inky Johnson
so last time I checked on inky johnson
they said is this the same guy that said
if you could change what happened to you
you wouldn’t I said absolutely
they said it’s our understanding the
game of football meant the world I said
at one point it did they said it’s our
understanding that your family was
banking on you making it to the NFL they
can have a better way of life I said
yeah that’s that’s correct and said
we’re coming to see you I said all right
cool come on and said but we don’t want
to see you in Atlanta we want to see
your Neyland Stadium on the exact yard
line where your life changes the same
time of day the only thing that won’t be
present its Air Forces team all right
cool and so they take me to Neyland
Stadium they put me on the exact yard
line with my life chains they said now
tell your younger self why you wouldn’t
stop your injury if you could if you
could be in the NFL right now making
millions of dollars tell you young
yourself why you wouldn’t
that situation if you could and let’s
say the reason I wouldn’t change it
believe it or not has nothing to do with
me
but on a personal level you he thought I
was gonna say because of the man that
I’ve become the perspective that I’ve
acquired my faith that been fortified he
thought I was gonna say something like
that I said no it has nothing to do it
has everything to do with the lies that
have been affected by the result of the
process and the thing that I represent
in the world what my spirit represents
once he might have seen me they think
perseverance well my spirit represents
when somebody see me they think don’t
quit it what my spirit represents when
somebody see me they think that’s a
quality individual right there what my
character represents in the world and
every single day we’re putting something
out like that represent something when
people see that they thinks it’s a
thought that comes to the month when you
say goes thinner he gave me that I felt
a certain type of woody but he gave me
to go stick I thought for certain time I
felt different gold-standard with me
because I think in what I do a lot of
business I’m in I’m gonna gold standard
because I don’t compromise and every
single day I’m gonna give you my very
best you could bet your bottom dollar
every single day I’m gonna bring that
gold standard to life and I’m not just
bringing it and one aspect of life I’m
bringing it every single aspect of life
I’m not gonna be one of these people in
the world that’s a public success but
they’re private failure I mean they give
everything they got to one aspect of
life but the other areas they lack are
know I’m gonna give every single thing I
got every aspect of my life because I
represent something when people see me
they think something whether that’s
character never given up never surrender
and the thing that we can never do is
forget what we represent because that’s
how guys end up under bridge on a
cardboard box sleep
they forget what they represent when
life hits him with that verse not only
charge for you never forget what you
represent I came home one night from
work spraying for cockroaches and long
story short I turn on the Discovery
Channel I saw some guys going through
Navy SEAL training and they were going
through hell week and they were 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 us 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
gonna 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 you so then you would accept me into
your world I would uh everything I did
was for someone else to like me it was
until I started reading my own book
about
pathetic I was as human being I could
play my dad I can blame kids at school I
could blame having health issues
ATD my mom not being around great mom
but she was doing her thing I could
blame a lot of people and that’s the
book I was reading and I put it off on
everybody else it was until I say you
know what 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 in
and military get your ass kicked
do things you hate to do be
uncomfortable every day of your life
Roger that I’m not the smartest kid in
the world okay it says somebody saying
oh no you’re smart no no don’t say that
to yourself I said to myself no I’m a
dumb okay
Roger that how you get smarter educate
yourself so the things that we run from
we run it from the truth we’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 I always want
to constantly evolve you know I always
want to constantly grow and every one
that get to a point where I feel like I
got to figure it out
you know I always want to like kind of I
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 out with you know
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 I just kind of kind of like put an
instant chip on my shoulder I want it
just to be great you know and do great
things and I’m and then and it also
helped people man I’m really digging
into the next generation I feel like
that’s the hall I saw that’s the only
way it’s gonna get better moving forward
as if you know you got to lead this
world in a better place than it was when
you came in you know I’m wearing 87 –
question mark I don’t know when I’m gone
and I’m saying but I’m gonna work on my
– and I’m saying I won’t work on that at
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 I didn’t know I’ll be I’m
continually going out on that 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 yeah I mean as far all I can see
right now is the cold that’s all I can
see 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 of
what 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 Mitch you 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
is 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 too
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 there’s deep neural networks for
dummies right if you can there’s a
something for dummies in every room of
my house you know they could go two 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 gonna 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 when I say life
doesn’t happen to you it happens for you
I really don’t know if that’s true I’m
just making a conscious choice to
perceive challenges as something
beneficial so that I can deal with them
in the most productive way you’ll come
up with your own style that’s part of
the fun you’ve lived a life dominated by
doubt and fear how do you step into
bravery 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 is 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 you 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
instead be aggressive take action now
and what is the first action that you
need to take what’s the first step
the first step you need to take is just
that step 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 and 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
always a blue collar mentality and I
took pride in being blue collar another
pattern Jim Franco had to have the break
was think dude be white collar don’t use
the shovel sell the shovel I had never
heard that phrase before I’m the guy
that took pride in I could dig a deeper
hole
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 to end 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 poor again and
poor is 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-collar 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 the 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 then
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
whether it’s personal or people around
me when you see people that are positive
that look at 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 must be around the other
person that gossips but they don’t
realize when you gossip you’re saying
something 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 gonna 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 Ness is
gonna make you live longer happier and
wake up in the morning happy not oh my
god I gotta go to 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 whoo Oh pop bottles
let’s get the pop bottles cash em in
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 your life that once seemed
difficult or impossible and now it’s
part of your life who’s got something in
your life for 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
goes energy flows 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 here something you wouldn’t
have heard if you didn’t have that
outcome or goal that you wanted so badly
who’s 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 so
that means taking things using things in
your life that are scarce using those
moments as a weapon using those as using
basketball is kind of like a vehicle
through which to express yourself right
so it doesn’t so at that moment for us
to face the Celtics again it’s not about
the Celtics it’s not about your opponent
it’s about you it’s about you taking it
and it struggles and channeling that
through the game right as it as a way to
to unleash right so now I became a
matter of how do i express that to them
how do I get them to that point where
they figure this out for themselves cuz
I can’t say hey listen I need you to
play harder so when she – well I had to
share my story I had to open up to them
and let them know I’ve dealt with things
this is the things that I use this is
how I go about focus this is how I deal
with adversity this is how I deal with
you know arguing with my wife the day of
the game is showing up to the game and
still having that focus to be able to
play like I used those things to open up
with them and then in turn they were
able to
to take those stories and make them
their own I’ve been making music now
with you know like Tony Bennett for a
couple years and you know Elton John is
you know one of my closest friends and
his husband David and they just have
showed me that like I’m a baby and my
artistry you know and I just have to
keep making music and keep going and so
my focus really for this album is
showing that to to young girls and to
enter boys that want to make music that
you don’t have to get lucky on the
internet it’s not a social media game
you don’t have to find a you know the
the the the hot producer and get the hot
track you know to be a star you can just
learn how to play an instrument and sit
in your room and practice and write
songs and poetry and then you can go
around the corner to the bar and meet
other artists that do the same thing
that you do and you can hang out and
talk about music and write songs and
then you can play at the spot around the
corner and gain one fan and then do it
over and over and over again until
you’re discovered you need to know what
your unique strengths are and be willing
to delegate so I would say that the
question of whether you should take a
skill learn it yourself
delegated someone else or hire a new
team member are determined by having a
very accurate self assessment and
assessment of your team’s skills not
only what you can do but what you should
be doing that’s very important so if
you’re a start-up CEO or founder and you
have a team of say two to ten people
as soon as you have funds to hire you
should not be focused on the things that
you are bad at sounds very very
intuitive but it’s not because you might
have enough time to do those things but
the question is do you have the
attention to dedicate to those things so
they’re not an interruption
especially if you’re a venture-backed
startup and you’re competing against
other companies that also have a lot of
funding the game the game and the race
goes to the Swift so you have to have
you have to have a lot of velocity there
were the things that I probably should
have done not from my perspective I mean
from my point of view I did the right
things every every film that I’ve done
I’m happy that I that I made that choice
I don’t have any regrets whatsoever but
I mean in terms of sustaining box-office
you know bankability I should have done
a few other things that I didn’t do but
I’m glad I didn’t do them I mean because
it wouldn’t been you yeah well I would
it would have been for the wrong reasons
I did everything that I’ve been lucky
enough to do I did for the right reasons
it’s it’s very easy to be seduced by
doing things efficiently trying to do a
lot of things well I don’t believe
that’s the most important thing the most
important thing is picking the right
things to do in the first place and
that’s being effective versus just being
efficient so within a startup its
success I don’t think is measured by how
many things you can do at once it’s
measured by how effectively you’re able
to pick the one or two things into the
highest priority and there’s always
going to be a seduction to get
distracted and focus on 20 things at
once and the most effective
entrepreneurs I know are very good at
focusing on one or two things and either
eliminating the rest delegating to other
people or outsourcing it so it’s not
done within the team but it’s actually
two third parties
I knew I was wired to be excited about
business how or why I don’t know but you
know and there’s certain guys they have
the genetics to jump out of the gym
right certain guys you know that you
know when they golf they have the muscle
memory and and the discipline
dirk nowitzki may not be the most
talented guy in the NBA but his
discipline and his focus to do what’s
necessary to be successful he’s willing
to do and combine it with being seven
feet tall and being skilled you know it
makes him an amazing basketball player
so it’s it’s understanding what your
skill set is finding the right place to
use those skills and then going for it
you know will that make you 250 grand it
depends if you pick the right industry
but whatever industry you pick if you
outwork everybody if you try to be a
little smarter than everybody if you try
to be a better sales person and
everybody if you try to be better
prepared than everybody you’ve got your
best chance because if you don’t do it
and somebody else does you know I have
the same work like someone’s trying to
take it all away from you you know work
you actually work like someone’s
spending 24 hours working 24 hours to
take it all away from you and that’s
kind of the way I look at it and I
remember asking my dad – I want a new
basketball shoes because I was a
basketball junkie back then he’s like
well your shoes work if you wanted new
pair tennis shoes you have to go out
there and get a job and I’m like dad I’m
12 years old and it just so happens he
was playing poker with his buddies and
one of his buddies just like well I got
a job for you I’ve got these garbage
bags that we distribute you could sell
them door-to-door I’m like okay and it
was when I was selling them and realized
that I’d like to sell and that I could
sell and that I recognized that selling
was was about providing the service and
creating value for people that I knew
that I would literally back then I knew
that I could always succeed I mean I
remember I was 16 I think when I started
a stamp company and started going to
stamp shows and trade shows and just
working a little bit harder than other
people and and trading up from one stamp
to the next I remember one time I
started with a quarter and bought a
stamp and left with $50 thinking hey if
I could do this I could do anything and
and it’s not that everything worked I
failed a lot but I never ever felt like
I I wouldn’t be able to work hard enough to see
of almost permanent dissatisfaction
right
unfortunately so they may be looking for
some purpose or they may have given up
hope that there is some purpose for them
and they’re just surviving or making a
living or caught up in the doing holed
up in the doing in the stress of it
right and so usually when we talk about
purpose when people talk about purpose
they think of purpose in terms of future
where am I going what am I supposed to
do what’s the direction I’m going what
is my goal the goal that I want to
achieve and that of course is that it
has its place but I call that the outer
purpose more fundamental than the outer
purpose is what most people usually
overlooked and that is the realization
that what matters most is finding your
inner purpose so inner purpose is
aligning your life fully with the
present moment so that you are no longer
out of alignment with the present moment
which leads to the state of
dissatisfaction that we talked about
that is the reality for many people so
you have to go first of all beyond the
state of dissatisfaction that is so many
people’s reality right but you cannot go
beyond the state of dissatisfaction
through some future goal that says one
day I would like to be in a state of
fulfillment or satisfaction no you have
to enter the state of fulfillment and
satisfaction by becoming one internally
with the present moment in the your
purpose and your inner purpose is that
alignment with where you are right now
to be totally where you are and whatever
you are doing even if it doesn’t look
like you’re the life purpose for the do
you buy for the next 30 years right
whatever you are doing
now to be total in doing it and what no
matter what it is to be true to life
by being true to this moment 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 them 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 limited phrase 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 they’d 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 listening to the
people aren’t my friends in my life the
people are listening 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
– 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 get of attention
to that voice and you got to feed it
with those that support that idea that
you can do more I talked to so many
smart fantastic ambitious idealistic
hard-working kids and they’re right out
of college they’re in their entry-level
jobs and I’ll ask them how is it going
and they’ll say I think I’m gonna quit
and I’m like why they say to me I’m not
making an impact I’m like you know
you’ve been here eight months right they
treat the sense of fulfillment or even
love like it’s a scavenger hunt like
it’s something you look for my
millennial friends they’ve gone through
so many jobs they’re either getting
fired I mean it was mutual or they’re
quitting because they’re not making an
impact or they’re not finding anything
they’re looking for they’re not feeling
fulfilled as if it’s a scavenger hunt
love a job you find joy from is not
something you discover it’s not like I
found love here it is I found a job I
love that’s not how it works both of
those things require hard work you are
in love because you work very hard every
single day of your life to stay in love
you find a job that brings you ultimate
joy because you work hard every single
day to serve those around you and you
maintain that joy it’s not a discovery
but the problem is the sense of
impatience it’s as if an entire
generation of standing at the foot of a
mountain they know exactly what they
want they can see the summit what they
can’t see is the mountain this large
amove Abul object that doesn’t mean you
have to do your time that’s not what I’m
talking about take a helicopter climb I
don’t care but there’s still a mountain
life career fulfillment relationships
are journeys the problem is this entire
generation has an institutionalized
sense of impatience and do they have the
patience to go on the journey to
maintain love to feel fulfilled or do
they just quit and on to the next dump
and on to the next ghost and on to the
next 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
buzzword that everybody is using right
now you know every in and to that point
you know we as old 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 a
tackling that seems obvious back then it
wasn’t right I can 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 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 100 X or
more if you go to my house right next to
my bed there’s a book machine learning
for dummies be going to my bathroom for
many years before I wrote the power of
now and she became successful I was
basically a failure in the eyes of the
world so he’s already almost 50 and what
has he achieved my mom said you have
thrown away your life you had so many
possibilities in your life
walked out of graduate school in
Cambridge why did you walk out of there
you my mum and many other people said
this person has failed in life he has no
job he has no insurance policies nothing
no pension plan just almost nothing in
the bank failure and then a few years
later people bought the path now and
became a best seller Oh a big success
okay if I had arrived my identity at
that time from what the world was
telling me or my mind would have told me
if I have been listening to my mind I
would have been very unhappy and I
didn’t though I was fine because my
identity wasn’t derived from that
anymore and fortunately even when in the
eyes of the world I suddenly became a
success I don’t want to derive my
identity from that it’s it’s a cheap
substitute for who I really am so I’m
not I don’t see I don’t arrive but the
satisfaction it comes is the
satisfaction that the work that’s
happening the teaching that’s happening
is transforming people’s lives that’s
very satisfying but don’t get any
personal satisfaction though because
it’s not I don’t feel it as this
separate me produced it well 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 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
so entrepreneurs tend to miscalculate is
optimism has a place but I think even
more so for the first time entrepreneur
you need to be pragmatically pessimistic
what I mean by that is you need to
define all the worst-case scenarios in
terms of financial loss time loss etc
look at what you will learn if that
happens and accept and come to terms
with that before you ever start if you
don’t do that and you go straight into
battling the world trying to conquer the
world with rose-colored glasses on the
first time you hit a major hiccup you’re
gonna become really demoralized and you
will quit so optimism all that rah rah
rah that’s awesome but you need to hope
for the best and prepare for the worst
before you ever get started
ESPN called me they did a story on me
this past summer but they called me one
day now picked up the phone they said
there’s this inky Johnson
so last time I checked on inky johnson
they said is this the same guy that said
if you could change what happened to you
you wouldn’t I said absolutely
they said it’s our understanding the
game of football meant the world I said
at one point it did they said it’s our
understanding that your family was
banking on you making it to the NFL they
can have a better way of life I said
yeah that’s that’s correct and said
we’re coming to see you I said all right
cool come on and said but we don’t want
to see you in Atlanta we want to see
your Neyland Stadium on the exact yard
line where your life changes the same
time of day the only thing that won’t be
present its Air Forces team all right
cool and so they take me to Neyland
Stadium they put me on the exact yard
line with my life chains they said now
tell your younger self why you wouldn’t
stop your injury if you could if you
could be in the NFL right now making
millions of dollars tell you young
yourself why you wouldn’t
that situation if you could and let’s
say the reason I wouldn’t change it
believe it or not has nothing to do with
me
but on a personal level you he thought I
was gonna say because of the man that
I’ve become the perspective that I’ve
acquired my faith that been fortified he
thought I was gonna say something like
that I said no it has nothing to do it
has everything to do with the lies that
have been affected by the result of the
process and the thing that I represent
in the world what my spirit represents
once he might have seen me they think
perseverance well my spirit represents
when somebody see me they think don’t
quit it what my spirit represents when
somebody see me they think that’s a
quality individual right there what my
character represents in the world and
every single day we’re putting something
out like that represent something when
people see that they thinks it’s a
thought that comes to the month when you
say goes thinner he gave me that I felt
a certain type of woody but he gave me
to go stick I thought for certain time I
felt different gold-standard with me
because I think in what I do a lot of
business I’m in I’m gonna gold standard
because I don’t compromise and every
single day I’m gonna give you my very
best you could bet your bottom dollar
every single day I’m gonna bring that
gold standard to life and I’m not just
bringing it and one aspect of life I’m
bringing it every single aspect of life
I’m not gonna be one of these people in
the world that’s a public success but
they’re private failure I mean they give
everything they got to one aspect of
life but the other areas they lack are
know I’m gonna give every single thing I
got every aspect of my life because I
represent something when people see me
they think something whether that’s
character never given up never surrender
and the thing that we can never do is
forget what we represent because that’s
how guys end up under bridge on a
cardboard box sleep
they forget what they represent when
life hits him with that verse not only
charge for you never forget what you
represent I came home one night from
work spraying for cockroaches and long
story short I turn on the Discovery
Channel I saw some guys going through
Navy SEAL training and they were going
through hell week and they were 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 us 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
gonna 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 you so then you would accept me into
your world I would uh everything I did
was for someone else to like me it was
until I started reading my own book
about
pathetic I was as human being I could
play my dad I can blame kids at school I
could blame having health issues
ATD my mom not being around great mom
but she was doing her thing I could
blame a lot of people and that’s the
book I was reading and I put it off on
everybody else it was until I say you
know what 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 in
and military get your ass kicked
do things you hate to do be
uncomfortable every day of your life
Roger that I’m not the smartest kid in
the world okay it says somebody saying
oh no you’re smart no no don’t say that
to yourself I said to myself no I’m a
dumb okay
Roger that how you get smarter educate
yourself so the things that we run from
we run it from the truth we’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 I always want
to constantly evolve you know I always
want to constantly grow and every one
that get to a point where I feel like I
got to figure it out
you know I always want to like kind of I
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 out with you know
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 I just kind of kind of like put an
instant chip on my shoulder I want it
just to be great you know and do great
things and I’m and then and it also
helped people man I’m really digging
into the next generation I feel like
that’s the hall I saw that’s the only
way it’s gonna get better moving forward
as if you know you got to lead this
world in a better place than it was when
you came in you know I’m wearing 87 –
question mark I don’t know when I’m gone
and I’m saying but I’m gonna work on my
– and I’m saying I won’t work on that at
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 I didn’t know I’ll be I’m
continually going out on that 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 yeah I mean as far all I can see
right now is the cold that’s all I can
see 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 of
what 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 Mitch you 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
is 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 too
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 there’s deep neural networks for
dummies right if you can there’s a
something for dummies in every room of
my house you know they could go two 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 gonna 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 when I say life
doesn’t happen to you it happens for you
I really don’t know if that’s true I’m
just making a conscious choice to
perceive challenges as something
beneficial so that I can deal with them
in the most productive way you’ll come
up with your own style that’s part of
the fun you’ve lived a life dominated by
doubt and fear how do you step into
bravery 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 is 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 you 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
instead be aggressive take action now
and what is the first action that you
need to take what’s the first step
the first step you need to take is just
that step 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 and 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
always a blue collar mentality and I
took pride in being blue collar another
pattern Jim Franco had to have the break
was think dude be white collar don’t use
the shovel sell the shovel I had never
heard that phrase before I’m the guy
that took pride in I could dig a deeper
hole
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 to end 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 poor again and
poor is 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-collar 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 the 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 then
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
whether it’s personal or people around
me when you see people that are positive
that look at 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 must be around the other
person that gossips but they don’t
realize when you gossip you’re saying
something 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 gonna 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 Ness is
gonna make you live longer happier and
wake up in the morning happy not oh my
god I gotta go to 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 whoo Oh pop bottles
let’s get the pop bottles cash em in
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 your life that once seemed
difficult or impossible and now it’s
part of your life who’s got something in
your life for 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
goes energy flows 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 here something you wouldn’t
have heard if you didn’t have that
outcome or goal that you wanted so badly
who’s 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 so
that means taking things using things in
your life that are scarce using those
moments as a weapon using those as using
basketball is kind of like a vehicle
through which to express yourself right
so it doesn’t so at that moment for us
to face the Celtics again it’s not about
the Celtics it’s not about your opponent
it’s about you it’s about you taking it
and it struggles and channeling that
through the game right as it as a way to
to unleash right so now I became a
matter of how do i express that to them
how do I get them to that point where
they figure this out for themselves cuz
I can’t say hey listen I need you to
play harder so when she – well I had to
share my story I had to open up to them
and let them know I’ve dealt with things
this is the things that I use this is
how I go about focus this is how I deal
with adversity this is how I deal with
you know arguing with my wife the day of
the game is showing up to the game and
still having that focus to be able to
play like I used those things to open up
with them and then in turn they were
able to
to take those stories and make them
their own I’ve been making music now
with you know like Tony Bennett for a
couple years and you know Elton John is
you know one of my closest friends and
his husband David and they just have
showed me that like I’m a baby and my
artistry you know and I just have to
keep making music and keep going and so
my focus really for this album is
showing that to to young girls and to
enter boys that want to make music that
you don’t have to get lucky on the
internet it’s not a social media game
you don’t have to find a you know the
the the the hot producer and get the hot
track you know to be a star you can just
learn how to play an instrument and sit
in your room and practice and write
songs and poetry and then you can go
around the corner to the bar and meet
other artists that do the same thing
that you do and you can hang out and
talk about music and write songs and
then you can play at the spot around the
corner and gain one fan and then do it
over and over and over again until
you’re discovered you need to know what
your unique strengths are and be willing
to delegate so I would say that the
question of whether you should take a
skill learn it yourself
delegated someone else or hire a new
team member are determined by having a
very accurate self assessment and
assessment of your team’s skills not
only what you can do but what you should
be doing that’s very important so if
you’re a start-up CEO or founder and you
have a team of say two to ten people
as soon as you have funds to hire you
should not be focused on the things that
you are bad at sounds very very
intuitive but it’s not because you might
have enough time to do those things but
the question is do you have the
attention to dedicate to those things so
they’re not an interruption
especially if you’re a venture-backed
startup and you’re competing against
other companies that also have a lot of
funding the game the game and the race
goes to the Swift so you have to have
you have to have a lot of velocity there
were the things that I probably should
have done not from my perspective I mean
from my point of view I did the right
things every every film that I’ve done
I’m happy that I that I made that choice
I don’t have any regrets whatsoever but
I mean in terms of sustaining box-office
you know bankability I should have done
a few other things that I didn’t do but
I’m glad I didn’t do them I mean because
it wouldn’t been you yeah well I would
it would have been for the wrong reasons
I did everything that I’ve been lucky
enough to do I did for the right reasons
it’s it’s very easy to be seduced by
doing things efficiently trying to do a
lot of things well I don’t believe
that’s the most important thing the most
important thing is picking the right
things to do in the first place and
that’s being effective versus just being
efficient so within a startup its
success I don’t think is measured by how
many things you can do at once it’s
measured by how effectively you’re able
to pick the one or two things into the
highest priority and there’s always
going to be a seduction to get
distracted and focus on 20 things at
once and the most effective
entrepreneurs I know are very good at
focusing on one or two things and either
eliminating the rest delegating to other
people or outsourcing it so it’s not
done within the team but it’s actually
two third parties
I knew I was wired to be excited about
business how or why I don’t know but you
know and there’s certain guys they have
the genetics to jump out of the gym
right certain guys you know that you
know when they golf they have the muscle
memory and and the discipline
dirk nowitzki may not be the most
talented guy in the NBA but his
discipline and his focus to do what’s
necessary to be successful he’s willing
to do and combine it with being seven
feet tall and being skilled you know it
makes him an amazing basketball player
so it’s it’s understanding what your
skill set is finding the right place to
use those skills and then going for it
you know will that make you 250 grand it
depends if you pick the right industry
but whatever industry you pick if you
outwork everybody if you try to be a
little smarter than everybody if you try
to be a better sales person and
everybody if you try to be better
prepared than everybody you’ve got your
best chance because if you don’t do it
and somebody else does you know I have
the same work like someone’s trying to
take it all away from you you know work
you actually work like someone’s
spending 24 hours working 24 hours to
take it all away from you and that’s
kind of the way I look at it and I
remember asking my dad – I want a new
basketball shoes because I was a
basketball junkie back then he’s like
well your shoes work if you wanted new
pair tennis shoes you have to go out
there and get a job and I’m like dad I’m
12 years old and it just so happens he
was playing poker with his buddies and
one of his buddies just like well I got
a job for you I’ve got these garbage
bags that we distribute you could sell
them door-to-door I’m like okay and it
was when I was selling them and realized
that I’d like to sell and that I could
sell and that I recognized that selling
was was about providing the service and
creating value for people that I knew
that I would literally back then I knew
that I could always succeed I mean I
remember I was 16 I think when I started
a stamp company and started going to
stamp shows and trade shows and just
working a little bit harder than other
people and and trading up from one stamp
to the next I remember one time I
started with a quarter and bought a
stamp and left with $50 thinking hey if
I could do this I could do anything and
and it’s not that everything worked I
failed a lot but I never ever felt like
I I wouldn’t be able to work hard enough to see
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