Video summary
Gary Vaynerchuk addresses the inevitability of criticism and judgment in a world driven by headline reading and taking things out of context, arguing that caring about public opinion is unnecessary because one's energy level may simply not align with everyone else's preferences. He emphasizes that while he cares deeply about the judgments of his inner circle—family, friends, employees, and acquaintances who have become close—he does not let strangers like "Johnny 97" affect him. Vaynerchuk attributes this resilience to empathy for those seeking a different lifestyle or energy type, humility regarding his own identity, and the realization that social media fame is fleeting; he notes that even if people remember clips of him today, their great-grandchildren might one day view these interactions with curiosity rather than reverence, making it absurd to let transient opinions dictate one's emotional state. The speaker frames negative feedback as an inherent "cost of doing business" when sharing content online, comparing the fight against universal negativity to King Canute trying to stop the tide or getting punched in the face by nature itself. He recounts his difficult childhood as a Russian immigrant from Queens who struggled with language barriers and faced severe bullying, including being forced to drink urine-soaked Pepsi cups at age five and receiving harsh labels like "loser" and "dumb" from teachers in the 1980s without political correctness. Despite failing academically and playing sports where he lost more often than he won, Vaynerchuk learned early on that life is mostly difficult ("it's all [ __ ]") but found joy in rare moments of sunshine, a mindset he believes many people lack because they are too soft or do not love themselves enough to ignore the "ounce of poopy" and focus only on positive outcomes. Vaynerchuk explains that neediness arises specifically when an individual places someone else's subjective opinion above their own self-opinion, noting that if he does not prioritize his mother's views over his own despite her building him, there is no logical reason to value random strangers' opinions more highly. His drive stems from curiosity and a love for the "game" of entrepreneurship rather than revenge or a chip on his shoulder; he admits he could have been an NFL running back but chose business because it allowed him to build brands and connect with people who make him smile. He prioritizes interactions that bring joy, such as jam sessions in Austin at South by Southwest, over traditional leisure activities like golf, sailing, cooking, or watching movies, viewing work not as grinding hustle porn but as a hobby he would pursue indefinitely because it aligns with his genuine interests and brings happiness to the people around him. Looking toward the future, Vaynerchuk asserts that he intends to continue working well into his sixties and seventies because doing what he loves is essential for maintaining joy, contrasting this approach with those who retire early only to lose their zest for life shortly after death. He expresses a strong conviction that he will work forever unless one day he wakes up feeling differently about the trajectory of his career, at which point he would announce retirement immediately and without hesitation. This commitment extends beyond mere survival; he believes in living long enough to reach age 100 while continuing his passions, viewing every business meeting as preferable to passive entertainment because it offers intellectual stimulation and connection with clever, thoughtful people who can engage him in meaningful discourse about the future of their industries.
Read the full video transcript
talk to me about how you deal with
criticism and the inevitable ups and
downs of success you're someone that has
got
both by being empathetic to it being a
reality of life it's inconceivable that
you want attention and you're not going
to have
judgment in a world that is obsessed
with taking things out of context and
only headline
reading there's no common sense to that
I don't take it personal I care about
the Judgment of the most inner circles
that I have family and friends employees
inner circles acquaintances that became
friends like I can't be upset if Johnny
97 thinks I'm a [ __ ] because my
energy is too much I'm also empathetic I
know that my Alpha competitive high
energy Jersey like I know what this is
that's not for everybody some people
want to Zen out if you want to Zen the
out I'm not your
guy and so I'm just too empath pathetic
I also think it's humility at the end of
the day I'm like who the am I gives a if
I die tomorrow what's going to happen
I'll get 24 hours of Love on social
right people be like oh man this what
the like you know like and then a year
later do you remember Gary V 100% and
luckily we live in an era where we're
more like all of us are more like the
most famous people in the world like
we'll live forever like a clip from this
like do you know how cool it is that our
great do you know how fun it will be
this is insane your and my great great
great
grandchildren will somehow realize cuz
last names things will change but
somehow if they became great friends
would somehow family tree it and be like
holy [ __ ] and they're gonna hey hey
Jeremiah 794 like they will literally
watch this do you know how cool that is
but at the end of the day how do I
handle it humility and empathy talk to
me about just that immediate emotional
reaction I think that overcoming that is
something that a lot of people struggle
with well I think that's right you know
look I I I think you know it's nice in
the in the the the stark contrast with
with the nice perspective and I I don't
disagree um price it in is the cost of
doing business cost of doing business
you put things on the internet people
are going to say mean stuff to you and
fighting against that is like King canut
trying to stop the tide but that do you
know fighting yes okay you know some
people like like getting punched in the
face yes I'm friends with Tim Kennedy
yes I like getting punched in the face
that's my
answer I don't know what else to tell
you y it's your nature it's my nature I
was [ __ ] on my whole life I was a
Russian immigrant I came over here
Russia was the bad guys when I came here
so I got [ __ ] on in grade school I
didn't speak English when I mo i this is
a story I tell very rarely very rarely I
think I've done it once or twice I'm
going there I often talk about I lived
in people that really know me my story
is I went from Queens to Edison New
Jersey Edison New Jersey where I became
a Jets fan and entrepreneur but it's not
fully true Queens to Dover for a year
then Edison Dover doesn't make my story
I never understood why but I'm starting
to tap into it it was bad because I
didn't speak English and because I went
outside a lot I got picked on a lot and
it was a rough neighborhood I remember
one story that's the main story I
remember of that era where I saw the kid
pee in the Pepsi cup like by the tree
and they came over and the seven of them
bullied me to drink it I was five
five and I kind of like tried like if I
I don't it's very blurry I mean it's 43
years ago but like I didn't speak
English obviously when you're an animal
like a human at five you know what's
happening but like then I was a terrible
student I was D's and Fs and this was
the 80s there was no political
correctness my teachers literally would
look me in the face these are grown-ups
they're your teachers you look up to
them they're like you are a loser you're
dumb you're going to fail you're going
to be a garbage man then I also love
sports I played Sports all the time do
you know what happens when you play
sports you lose a lot you win sometimes
but you lose a lot video games this and
then I sold stuff I did lemonade stands
I would sit on tingly Lane in Edison New
Jersey as a nine-year-old and I would
watch Millions let me let take a step
back I would see hundreds of cars drop
by and not stop for my sign and
occasionally get
one I live life under the mindset of
it's all [ __ ] but it doesn't matter the
[ __ ] doesn't matter it's the sunshine
the occasional sunshines that is
everything and I think people live the
reverse a little ounce of poopy makes
them cry because they soft because
they're not hard enough because they're
not loving themselves I love myself too
much to give a about
you I don't know what else to tell you I
don't want to be delusional I don't want
to be living in my own EOS I
respect other opinions I
internalize for processing other
opinions but I have no interest in
putting your subjective opinion about me
above my opinion above me that's how I
deal with
it neediness occurs when you place
someone else's opinion of you above your
opinion of you period I don't put my
parents opinion above me I don't even if
I'm not gonna do that my parents who I
love the most who built me if I'm not
putting my mom's opinion about me above
me on me how the am I gonna do that
about Charlie or Rick or Susan or hassim
you I'm interested in what drives you
now I get when there's a point to prove
that when you're an immigrant that when
you've been picked on that when you've
been told Los fun you know what's funny
my my my spirit doesn't come from that
chip on the shoulder even though I just
spoke with passion about it
mine's about curiosity of I like the
game I'm
curious in a wild I would have loved to
been a professional athlete I'm so sad I
wasn't that would have really really
satisfied me because the data was there
if I was a running back in the NFL I
would have been it would have been over
and I would have ranked 97th in career
rushing yards 400th in career touchdowns
right uh 18th in receptions by running
back and I could have like I would have
enjoyed that I would have been like ah
good for Barry Sanders he was better
than me and like you uh Ricky Williams I
was better than
you that's what drives the [ __ ] out of
me in entrepreneurship I love this game
of brand building and business building
it you know as a I'm talking what drives
me as a as a professional as a human
what drives me is to be happy as often
as possible and and interact with the
people I like the most as often as
possible but so much of what I love and
what makes me smile is the friendships I
make through the process of business the
family I make through business it's so
fun for me and I'm curious I love where
I'm at right now I've done well but
there are unlimited people on stats that
have done better than me but I have a
sneaky feeling that I'm going to catch
up and so what drives me is I think I've
been built for the fourth quarter of my
whole life I alluded to it earlier
everything I've been building is for 60
to 70 so do you still want to be working
in grinding when you're 60 and 70 of
course cuz it's my
hobby I don't want to do anything that I
don't like I was a dnf student because I
didn't like it I was smart enough to get
B's and C's but I didn't even have that
gear in me if you said to me hey can hey
great interview do me a favor can you
help me H hang this picture real quick
I'd be dead i' I'd ra literally rather
give you like lots of money or like do
any like I would go on a conference call
to all of your employees for 14 hours
that I don't have sooner than help you
hang that
picture so of course I want to do that
because I don't think of it as grinding
I don't think of it as hustle porn I
think of it as doing the thing that
brings me the most Joy I would rather be
in a business meeting than on a golf
course I would rather be in a business
meeting than sailing I would rather be
in a business meeting than cooking i'
would rather be in a business meeting
than watching a movie I'd rather be
really watching the Jets having dinner
with my family love dinners with people
love Jam sessions it's so fun to be in
Austin this is where I learned to love
it South by South West on the ground in
hotel rooms give me 25 7 198 13 smart
people clever people thinking people
thoughtful people and just Jam about it
I'll take that over B working every day
the week but there's just not a lot of
garage sailing I know that's like a
funny like people like a lot of the kids
because my Tik Tok videos go a lot of
the kids think of me as the garage sale
guy because my Tik Tok videos do like
I just but even that's business
marketing buy sell trade you know I
really love it and so of course I want
to be doing like I I I mean I you know
there you hear these stories I'm sure
this has cross your Paths of the people
who retire at 81 and then die at
82 I know why they thought it was what
they were supposed to do and it took the
life out of them I I have two important
things to say about this one I'll do
this forever and I really hope to live
to at least 100 doing it two I'm
incredibly excited of making my last
social media post a split screen of this
where I just ranted here and now
71-year-old me is making video and
saying today's the day I'm retiring both
from running businesses and making
content this has been the great joy of
my life I love all of you I hope that
all the archives of everything I've put
out can bring value to all of you but
today was the day I woke up and I said I
don't like this anymore so you're open
to this trajectory not continuing in the
way that you see it right now in a way
that would make your head spin in equal
visceral high energy of like the day I
wake up and like this [ __ ] I'm out in
the in the same way that I have full
conviction as I sit here right now that
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