“This Will Make You INSANELY Rich!” The Next 365 Days Will Make MILLIONAIRES From Nothing | Gary Vee
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Gary Vaynerchuk opens his discussion with a candid reflection on resilience and personal history, noting that many people quit just before their breakthroughs occur because they cannot endure the discomfort of uncertainty. He attributes his own high energy levels not merely to adrenaline or caffeine but to a deep-seated practice of gratitude and optimism, which he cultivated after witnessing both parents die in childhood; this early loss became a gift by instilling an intense appreciation for life that fuels productivity. Vaynerchuk challenges the conventional notion of sacrifice regarding work-life balance, arguing that true success requires finding one's "selfish place" rather than constantly giving up time with loved ones. He defines financial success subjectively, acknowledging his current earnings are on a treadmill and rejecting rigid definitions like $250k or $10 million as universal goals, emphasizing instead the importance of defining balance based on individual circumstances rather than societal expectations. A significant portion of the conversation focuses on Vaynerchuk's journey toward self-awareness and candor, which he identifies as his greatest weakness for years due to a fear-based upbringing between a charismatic mother and conflict-seeking father. He admits that until recently, he used leverage in relationships—whether with employees or partners—to avoid vulnerability, often creating anxiety rather than honesty. This realization led him to actively practice being open without inducing fear, even though it is difficult work. He also addresses the concept of "burnout," reframing it not as a medical condition but as sustained unhappiness over roughly 100 days; he views his past periods of exhaustion simply as signals that projects were complete and ready for new endeavors. Furthermore, he tackles the phenomenon of "quiet quitting" at scale within his company, VaynerX, attributing such issues to corporate environments lacking humanity rather than blaming individual employees who are often just reacting to systemic indifference. The dialogue shifts to broader societal trends regarding content creation, social media saturation, and artificial intelligence. While some argue that posting less increases engagement per video, Vaynerchuk notes his own net awareness has dipped but maintains that creators have the freedom to operate like Marlon Brando or Kevin Hart—either consistently present or appearing only for special occasions. He also speculates on the future impact of AI and robotics, suggesting they could potentially save marriages by acting as non-exclusive emotional partners or offsetting sexual needs, though he worries this might lead to population collapse if humans become too isolated with their digital avatars. Despite these technological advancements, he passionately argues that humanity remains an underestimated brand and entity, urging listeners not to cede control to machines or algorithms but to recognize the unique potential of human connection and creativity. Vaynerchuk concludes by diagnosing a major societal ailment: the utter lack of accountability caused by thirty years of over-coddling parents who shielded children from consequences. He observes that people have become adept at pointing fingers at external factors—politics, generations, or bad luck—to avoid taking responsibility for their own lives. His core message is one of radical personal agency; he urges listeners to stop blaming "mommy and daddy" or the government and instead focus on what they can do about immediate problems, such as fixing a broken windshield by selling items online rather than complaining. He emphasizes that while life involves pain and struggle, individuals have infinite capacity to adapt and dominate later stages of their lives if they choose accountability over victimhood. Finally, in rapid-fire questions, he reveals his guilty pleasure for eating large quantities of candy like Snickers bars, his dream conversation with Walt Disney, and a touching story about wanting to own the New York Jets solely because his mother knitted him a jersey when he was too poor to buy one as a child.
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The amount of people that quit a week
before it was all going to turn is
actually quite
high. My answer to this question is, do
you like it? And how long can you hold
your
breath? At 34, I made $67,000 for the
year. Yeah. At 35, I made 240. People
that are good, that are awesome, that
come from the heart, are going to win.
Everybody has become remarkable at
pointing fingers. It has become a global
pandemic. When somebody's upset today,
where is I suck? I don't feel sorry for
you people cuz you [ __ ] deserve it
cuz it's a decision you made. My belief
is that 99% of people are uncomfortably
trickable. What do you mean? I think
most people are so insecure, so
short-term that if you just feed them
what they need that you can basically
manipulate them into anything you want
to do. And this is extremely dangerous
to our democracy. I hate that. I think
what people need to do is find their
selfish place.
First of all, Cole, how do you have so
much energy? Is it pure adrenaline or is
it caffeine? Do you get like 12 hours of
sleep every night? You must not cuz you
work so much. You know, it's funny. Uh,
so to answer your question, I think it's
a combination of two things. I think
it's natural adrenaline energy. Like I
think there's a DNA part going on for
sure. hyper schmiper, but I do believe
that I have extra energy on top of that
because of my emotional mental
perspective. I think I'm incredibly
driven by gratitude. It is not lost on
me. That a day that I wake up where no
one that I care about has died or became
terminally ill is a good day. I'm very
half glass full. I really thrive on
optimism and gratitude. So, I'm in a
good mood. And when you're in a good
mood, you get more done. Like if you're
dwelling, you're not as productive.
You're not as excited. If you're not
happy, like when I'm concerned or
challenged, my energy is not as high.
I'm not as light. So, you think if more
people practice that, they would have
more energy throughout the day to get
more done. 100%. And not even like from
a business, you know, I love my business
life, but I'm just talking about like
life, like more done as in like and just
like it's better. How do you consciously
and actively practice gratitude? Is it
like a journal or is it every morning?
You It's a conversation with myself.
Pretty consistent. It's I think I'm so
deep on this. Like I don't need a
journal. I don't need an app. I don't
need a a guru. I don't need a podcast to
listen to to get me there. I think I've
been on it for so long. In fact, it's a
little weird. You catch me at a good
time. I've become very introspective.
I'm going to go pretty deep with you on
this one. Both my parents lost a parent
very, very early on. My mom lost her mom
at five. My dad lost his dad at 15.
Recently, I've realized how big of a
currency and a backdrop that was to my
own childhood. I was pretty petrified to
lose one of my
parents. Like for real, like you guys
are young enough that like you probably
can remember your childhood pretty
solidly. Like I do not believe you or
Mike that who's my dude here in the
background. I don't think the three of
you or the millions that are listening
over the next decade, I don't think most
people thought about their parents dying
suddenly multiple times a week in their
youth. I did. So, I think kind of my
curse of that became my gift. By the
time I got to 18, I was so grateful that
it didn't happen. It's almost like I've
been playing with house money since this
has been a really new revelation for me
that I've been thinking through. So, I
think that I think as I got older and
even as a kid, I just knew that I had
talent. As a kid, I knew I was talented.
I knew I could make people like me. I
knew people naturally like me, so I
didn't even have to try to make them
like me, even if I did. I knew that I
cared about people. I knew I was good at
stuff like hand eye coordination. I I
always focused on positives. Like, I was
good at hand eye coordination, but I
wasn't big and strong, but I was like,
I'm great at hand eye coordination. Not
crying about not being big and strong,
but being like, I have better at hand
eye coordination. Like, I always focused
on the positive. It was ingrained in me.
I was parented that way. I think my mom
has a huge impact on who I am to the I
give her pretty much all the flowers.
It's why it's easy for me to talk about
myself. I don't think on the record I
don't think I every time you're like
Gary Vee, you're the best. I'm like
Tamara and Sasha are the best. They're
the best. They made me. I'm the product.
V friends when I build it. I'll take
those accolades. I built it, you know,
but
me it's it
so yeah, I think I it's so deep, bro. I
think like whatever the monks and the
Buddhists and like the deepest on
anything, you know, like athletes like
how do you move like that? They've been
doing it their whole I've been grateful
my whole life. It's interesting that
it's the gratitude. One thing that's
really admiraable admirable about you is
your ability to be so productive and
work so hard. I'm curious for those that
want to be successful, what's something
that they should be willing to sacrifice
that they don't? Sacrifice. Um, you
know, the cliche answers, people think
the answers go into like time with your
friends and family. It's real. But
that's not kind of like what naturally I
felt when you said that. I
think I'm going to say something
interesting. I think if you're in your
perfect pocket, you're not sacrificing.
I actually think you're being selfish.
I think what people need to do is find
their selfish place. What about for
people though who want a balance in
addition to let's say financial success?
It depends on what financial success is
and what balance is. This is like why
these are important combos
like real talk. Yeah. What's financial
success to you right this minute? What
do you personally believe financial
successes to the average man and woman?
How much do they make in a year? I would
say for the average person probably got
to be about 250 grand a year and that
would be enough to What do you think
yours is for you right now at this point
in your life at this point? Gosh, I
think it's an everlasting treadmill. I
don't of course it is. That's why I'm
notice I'm asking you the question for
you personally right this minute. What
is financial success in a year?
A dollar amount. Yes. Right now at this
point in your like right this second
doesn't want to say this cuz I feel like
he'll get screwed. By the way, by the
way, by the way, that's fair. And I want
I want everybody to hear this. Whatever
you say, it's not too big or too small.
This is where we need to give grace to
each other. All of us. It's just your
subjective feelings at this moment.
Sure.
There's nothing. If he says 14 million,
what's going to happen in the comments?
Like he's a piece of cuz like the
average
American that's not fair to him. That's
where he's at right now. By the way, let
me give you all the preview. He will go
up and down even though he has the
capacity to make more. Things change.
I'm just asking you in this moment.
Eventually, it'd be awesome. 10 million.
Great. So, to me, here's the question.
Yeah. Next. What do you think the work
life balances on for you balance on 10
million a year? It would probably be a
constant 24hour a day, 7 day a week
thought struggle for me to just focus on
one thing and do that non-stop. Do you
want to do that? No. Okay, that's it.
like this when you start breaking down
these questions like when you say 10 to
me the next question is like why not 15
it just seems like an even round number
I appreciate it I think that's right the
other question becomes like what is
balance like you're married yes are you
no right let's just go there that's
worked out super well for me shit's
different you remember not being married
easier to put more into work sure real
then child then parent sick then parent,
not sick, then burnt out after a while
of something and just like it's not as
fun as it was for 6 years. Like when I
did Wine Library TV every day for 5 days
a week, I loved it all the way until I
didn't like it at all.
You guys like this right now? I love it.
Love it. I'll tell you there's going to
be a day where you don't. For real.
That's okay. Sure. That's just
human. So, you know, to answer your
question, brother, like, you know, how
does one balance it? by being the judge
and
jury of
themselves. Like whose standard of work
life balance am I supposed to achieve to
or you or you? Whose definition of
financial success am I supposed to what
is it? Is it your 250k for the average
or is it the American average of 60 70
80k? 250k makes a lot of sense in San
Francisco and New York and LA. 250k in
rural middle of manure Tennessee. You're
drillionaire. What does your current
work life balance look like? My normal
Monday to Friday is 8:30 to 10
p.m. That's my normal. Now, there's
times when my son has basketball
practice and 7:30 I'll go into that
world or Knicks are in the playoffs
right now. I'll go to a Knicks game. But
my normal right now is probably nine to
nine somewhere in the range of 12 hours
a day. And when was the last time you
felt burnt out? And how did you overcome
that? I define subjectively burnt out as
sustained unhappiness doing the thing.
And my definition of sustained is
probably a 100 days in a row. I've not
had that. The here here are my moments
of change. In my late 20s, early 30s, I
had spent working 150 hours a week
building a huge business for my father
and was getting paid nothing. In my late
from 22 to 28, 6 years straight, 365
days a year. In my late 20s, I started
to feel anxiety that I was in a bad spot
because I had no money and I was built a
huge business and I had nothing to show
for it. I was getting married at the
time and I was like, "Oh my god, I'm
poor.
I was making $50,000 a year.
So, and not that 50,000 is poor, but
50,000 when you actually work 150 hours
a week is real bad. You know, it's
different if you're working 40 hours,
unless you're getting the bowling team
and the weekends and your kids, right?
Wage your hour exactly. So, I was in a
real tough
spot. Um, that went from like 28 to like
30 to a really interesting time for me
and my dad. We had a lot of friction. I
was reconciling my feelings. cuz he was
reckless selling his and it finally hit
an inflection point where I was like I
got to leave this business and start my
own thing and my brother was graduating
college. I started this Spanner Media.
So, uh I would say the last time I
really felt burnt out macro was the last
years of wine library because I felt
like the trade wasn't fair and I don't
blame my dad actually. It's immigrant
business. He's like you're going to
inherit it. It's going to be yours. So,
it was like all those immigrant you
know. The other time I felt burnt out
was with Wine Library TV. The last 50
episodes I was like, I'm done with this.
I've done this. It's five days a week,
five years. I'm done. Um, Daily V put me
on the map in a lot of ways for a lot of
people. That's what I remember. You
know, even now when the guys want to
film me, I'm like so used to not being
filmed, it feels weird. Whereas for the
first year after Daily V, it felt weird
to not be filmed. There's that. Um, so
projects feel like burnt out, but
they're I don't feel burnt out. I don't
feel like soulless or sad. It sounds
like though you feel burnt out when you
when you've accomplished everything that
you've set out for. And I'll be honest
with you, I really don't view it as
burnt out. I view it as like ready to
move on. Okay. I think words have gotten
weird. Like I think a lot of people use
the like weaponize the word anxiety when
they're inconvenienced.
I think we've created words like
imposttor syndrome to make the word
insecure or ick.
So I really genuinely do not associate
with burnout. I think there's been
moments where I was done. Sure. To your
point. Yeah. And I but I don't like
burnout to me seems like an em I define
burnout as emotionally struggling. Yeah.
I like how you break down what a word
actually means. reminds me of like
Jordan Peterson or it reminds me of like
Alex Horoszi if you know who that is.
You had him on the podcast recently. He
said that he doesn't like to use words
like burnout because he prefers to use
words in observable reality. And that's
what you did. You broke down burnout to
be like I consider it as sustained, you
know, displeasure with something for a
100 days. I think words I think that's
interesting insight. I think words have
been weaponized. Words have been it's
too ambiguous. It's subjective. But if
you break it down into something that's
observable, then it actually is related.
Speaking of words, uh a popular one
lately is quiet quitting. Yeah. Do you
feel like this is a a way for people to
support a healthy boundary or is it
something that people use as an excuse
for just both? Not working hard. Yeah,
both. Or just like cheating the system.
Like people will cheat the system
if they can if they don't respect or
like the system. Like I don't worry
about people Vayner that way because I
think we like them too much and do the
right things and I know people do but
it's not a sustained issue for us but I
think another company that doesn't give
a about their employees have it at scale
because what you put in is what you get
out. So do you think it's a problem with
the employer in those situations? Not
the employee. I do. I'm going to say it
again. We have 2,000 plus employees here
at Vayner X. There are definitely dozens
and dozens that are doing all sorts of
that I would not be happy about because
we no longer work in a fiveday like you
can like right but I'm not crippled by
it because it's inconceivable that it's
at scale cuz we're too productive as an
organization and I just know what we do
for our employees which is we're not
Mother Teresa but we like we have we
have humanity. I think I think if
corporations had more humanity they
would win. What's a way that you would
recommend they incentivize their
employees to work harder by reverse
engineering them individually?
Some employees want more money. Sure.
Some people want a new title. Some
people want more work life balance. Some
people want to work in a different
department. We're in constant I. And I
don't like saying I, but I'm going to
say because I dictate this from the top.
I more than even my direct reports and
their direct reports. And now, as I keep
putting more pressure on this, we do a
pretty darn good job of being open for
business for the other person because
the more we make it awesome, the more
they'll stay. The more retention I have,
the faster I think we can go. I think
business is like sports, I think speed
matters. And how do you do that at scale
with so many employees? Effort, effort.
Like, it's just something I give a [ __ ]
about. And for people, you know, like
like, you know, you'll find this so
interesting. It's it's an interest. The
reason I'm double clicking is I want to
bring value to the audience and I felt I
left it kind of high. But but I'll tell
you why I left it high and why I'm going
to go low now.
If you care about something, you will do
it. The end like the actual answer to
your question is effort. Sure.
Underneath that allocating time in my
schedule for one-on- ons. Uh using the
people that have been here for a decade
and deploying them on places I can't get
to that I know needs humans. You know
what I mean? Mhm. Like it takes up my
mind time. Uh this may actually this is
really cool. You'll find this
interesting because of what you guys do
and I I have a sense of how you're
paying attention. Both of you know I've
been less Gary beat out the last 12 to
18 months in the personal brand game.
There's other people that have po like
I've been operating. Mhm. This is
actually me now deciding I'm going back
into effort of Gary Vee. So I guarantee
people will feel me around more and know
more of me and feel like Gary Ve's
everywhere more in 26 than in 24 and 25
because in 24 and 25 I operated Vayner
XMV friends
effort. Yeah. What do you think about
potential overexposure? Does that ever
bother you in terms it's not achievable.
You don't think it's possible. Who's
overexposed? I think it depends. I think
if if you have a story and you go on 30
podcasts, generally speaking, each
performance of, you know, each unique
podcast will start to dwindle because
the story gets redundant. People have
heard it enough times. You're you're
looking at it from the wrong angle.
You're in the game of knowing what the
going on right
now. To you, it'll become redundant,
right? But to the the guest on the show,
it's still new eyeballs. Not the
overlaps are there. And by the way,
here's how it's going to play out. Okay.
By the way, back to me. I'm going to be
out and about. Okay, Gary Vee showing up
on all the same. Let me hear I haven't
heard. Ironically, some people like I
haven't heard it's probably talk about
the same, but let me say, oh, some new
then they go and listen to the sec that
week later I'm on something else.
They're like, let me listen again. Uh,
pretty similar to what he just did with
coffee, you know, like. And then the
third time I show up in the results of
like the new podcast, they're like, I'm
not going to listen. They're not I'm not
getting overexposed. They've gotten
their fulfillment.
But every one of these shows has
different
audiences. Not to mention, and this will
resonate for you guys because you had a
journey of consuming my content, we also
like the greatest hits from our favorite
artists. Like Elton John and the Rolling
Stones and Billy Joel are still playing
the same. But there is something to be
said about people or bands or brands who
only make an appearance every now and
then and it's such a big special
occasion like My Chemical Romance taking
20 years off and then coming back once
and that's like a big hit event. Why are
we so addicted to
or what about and you're right
and people don't get overexposed that
have consistent awareness and build
brand. I listen, I've been one of the
most prolific public figures in social
media, which is the medium of dominance
today. An ungodly amount of people know
me. I'm stunned every time I'm outside.
A much bigger group does not. It's
interesting from our perspective because
I've started posting less, but the less
I post now, the more views each video
gets. Of course, because it's sitting
there longer. Correct. But it's also a
bit more special when it's like once a
week or once every other week. You're
choosing ideology. I I actually disagree
with that. I think your net awareness is
down. You've increased your your barrier
to post a video. Like it needs to be a
more pressing event. It needs to be a
bigger deal. And so for that, it
probably raises the average. But by the
way, you're allowed. And by the way, you
may want less people to know but be
impacted deeper. But by Sure, but people
are like, Gary, I get more views. I'm
like, no. Like, but what about your
gross views for the month?
Sure. So, by the way, everyone's
allowed. You're allowed to be Marlon
Brando and you're allowed to be Arnold
Schwarzenegger. Like you, you know, like
or whoever is that was the 80s of like
being in every movie or like I don't
you're Kevin Hart. Yeah. You're allowed
to be Kevin Hart and you're allowed to
be a you know a once in a blue moon.
They're both they both work. My answer
is and and but I want everyone to hear
this right now. They're like, "Oh yeah,
I'm more that. I'm more like you. Not
like Gary." But then but what about
you're allowed to be both versions. By
the way, I'm just living through me
being less content out there. Even
though my less is like quite a bit. By
the way, I may wake up in a year and get
into the concept of one post a month and
do that for a year and then be like that
was awesome and be like that I'm back to
volume at scale. I the this the
restrictions we put on ourselves is
fascinating to me. So like for me when I
hear that I'm like that's awesome. Like
enjoy this chapter and you'll make
decisions if like this works for you or
it doesn't and you're also allowed to
change your strategy. Now, for people
who are on that entrepreneurial journey,
how do you know or how do you dictate
when to push through something versus
when to quit and try something
different? Now, one of the things that
Gary Vaynerchuk really reinforced in
this episode is that sometimes you just
have to go for it. You have to stop
overthinking things. And when it comes
to starting a business, the first thing
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Bizzy for sponsoring this episode. How
do you know or how do you dictate when
to push through something versus when to
quit and try something
different? Only God knows. The amount of
people that quit a week before it was
all going to turn is actually quite high
in the scheme of the last 100 years. The
amount of people that right now continue
to do something that is based in nothing
but delusion is even
higher. My answer to this question is,
do you like it? Sure. And how long can
you hold your breath? Those were my two
questions to you. If if this if we were
three brothers and we were just jamming
on this for real, not on a podcast, I'd
be like, do you like it? How long can
you hold your breath? Sure. That's it.
That's the answer to that question. It's
interesting. So, for this podcast,
obviously for any guest we have on the
show, we do copious amounts of research.
And so, I feel like I've listened to you
for I don't even know how many tens of
hours in the past, you know, couple
weeks easily. But I'm curious because
you seem different now than in the
previous things I've seen you on. Like
you seem way more introspective, way
more like subjective like you've been
more meta. Like do you know why? Why?
Cuz your guys energy is that I'm
Chameleon. I feel like you've been on
some pretty relaxed podcast though. Like
you did one recently with a with a
veteran that I saw that I felt was
pretty laidback. Yeah. I mean, you know,
I would say that what I'm feeling right
now while I'm doing this is I really
respect your audience and I'm pushing
myself to bring as much value as I can,
which is what I do in every setting.
Intuitively, in a relaxed podcast,
sometimes I think energy is the highest
value. I'm going on my intuition on what
I think could bring the most value. And
I think and I also to your point, I
think life is like dayto-day as well.
Like I'm also fresh. I don't know what
podcast you're talking about and like
when they came out, when they were
filmed, but because I haven't been
putting on so many podcasts so often for
so long lately, I do feel a little
fresh. And when I'm fresh, it takes me
down new paths, too. That's interesting.
I think when it comes to social media
too, I think people really value
authenticity. Yeah. Do you feel like now
authenticity is almost becoming like a
strategy where people are really like
overemphasizing authenticity? I have
good news. Like you can go back to
interviews I did in 2007 on YouTube and
that was the buzzword of 2007 social. I
think authenticity's always worked. I
think people try to force it all the
time which is the complete opposite of
it. And I think there's the way to
really judge authenticity is
longevity. I think the people that try
to fake authenticity do not have very
long plays.
How much is there out there that you
choose publicly not to talk about?
Because you're pretty open about quite a
few things. And how do you dictate what
you are public about versus what you're
not? My private life is something I
don't talk about. I always thought that
I was too important because I kind of
had a sense early on that I was going to
it was going to work. Mhm. I just knew,
you know, when you know Yeah. I just
knew. So I was like, let me be
thoughtful about this. It's like if I
get like actually this is like 2006. I'm
like if I get actually famous like what
what is the worry about that? It's like
oh privacy is valuable. Plus actually by
actually you know what that might even
be that might not even be fully
authentic. I am inherently
private which is wild right but like
yeah I mean I think talking about your
passions or ideas or business that feels
like public domain but like my children
or my relationships or I don't know like
you know. Yeah. So, I talk about my
parents a lot because it's a framework
to like stuff, but it's not like I'm
telling you like what's going on in
their lives or like where like I'm not
in reality TV mode. So, that was
conscious. Things like politics or
religion or things that are a little
spicier, I don't talk about them because
it's because I don't I don't I don't
love to contribute from a place of
opinion. I like to come from a place of
observation. So if I talk about
politics, my observation is that the
opposite sides of every issue weaponize
fear to get people into a frenzy and
that's it. That's my observation. It's
like uncomfortably boring. Do you
recommend other influencers keep certain
parts of their lives private as well? I
think people have to reverse engineer
their truth, you know, like I don't I
don't have real hunger for fame. If
someone has intrinsic deep value and
hunger for fame, giving the world your
personal life is one of the clear paths.
I don't really want to deploy my
judgment on someone else's journey.
Sure. So, no, I don't I recommend people
being self-aware.
What are some of the I recommend I
recommend people being self-aware and I
recommend I just said this earlier and I
saw you picking up on this. I also
recommend people having the ability to
change their mind.
Like right now, if you're listening
right now, I'll be like, "Yeah, man. I
am whoring out my children too much."
And I'm starting to see the negatives of
that. Like my four-year-old daughter was
like stopped in a park by somebody the
other day because I'm doing that. Well,
you're allowed to
change. People struggle with
change like that. Like this a lot of the
genre of this combo right now. I want
people to have the strength to change
their
mind cuz that really is liberating to
allow you to do a lot of What do you
think holds people back from change? Is
it fear? Of course. Of judgment from
other human beings. Insecurity is the
poison that navigates our world. What
are you insecure about? In my youth, I
was insecure about girls rejecting me.
Like, did you get rejected or something?
No, because back to not doing like I
didn't ask out a lot of girls in high
school and college that I wanted to cuz
I was fearful of the rejection in a
world where like I was like pretty
charismatic and had my game together in
a way like like you know as you get
older especially because I became a
public figure the amount of like when
that first started happening the amount
of girls that reach out to me like why
didn't you ask me out and like and like
I could be grounded in the fact that I
don't think they were saying that now
because this was even happening like not
the Gary Vee you know now like even when
the wine thing happened which meant
nothing to nobody it was just like
reconnect ing like so that was a part of
my life that I um that was very clear in
fear. I feared most basic adolescence
things. I feared to ride a bike. I
didn't want to skin my knee. I feared
swimming. I didn't want to drown. I
feared those two things very heavily.
But by compar like I was a late bloomer
in a lot of ways that way. But but what
are you insecure about now? Not
much. Um what am I insecure about now?
deep like like and this will probably go
into territory of things I don't want to
share but like let me say it this way. I
I'll say it in a way that I feel
comfortable because I want to answer it
and not not answer it. The number one
thing I probably fear now is I want to
be as good of a father as I possibly
can.
And so that's very top of my list like
am I achieving that? And I'm scared
about things that I haven't been able to
get to the place where I wanted to. What
do you think could hold you back from
that? um
uh being able the thing that I've always
struggled with historically. It it's a
wild one. My greatest weakness, my
kryptonite in a world where I was luck
of the draw gifted with a ton of
circumstances and a lot of other things
and then put in a lot of work and feel
very comfortable in that was I'm not
canderous with people I love. Like my
lack of cander, it blows people away.
Like how that doesn't make sense. I'll
explain. I don't give a what you two
think of me. I do not care what anyone
who's listening cares. I care very
deeply. I care more of what Mike thinks
about me than you guys and anybody
listening. And he's an young employee in
my life. And I care more about what
Kalin, who's worked here for 13 years,
feels than Mike. But you start getting
into my children and my parents. The
more I love you, the more I care about
how you feel. And I was
raised by a mother who was not
canderous, who had such gift of gab and
charisma and personality too that she
could just get to the result without
making conflict. Got it. I also was
raised by a father who was ridiculous
with conflict and looked for conflict at
every point. So I had two very opposite
parents and I was formed in a way where
I viewed cander as creating fear for
someone because I've always had leverage
for most of my life. I have been the
financial and
emotional leader of my life meaning me
and everybody around me. So when you
have leverage and you're deploying
cander there's a lot that comes with
that. When you're telling an employee
that, bro, you're not good at your job,
my brain goes into Mike walks out of
here and starts to go to LinkedIn,
starts to cry, starts to go do drugs,
and I'm going to lose my job. I just
created fear. I had to have a very tough
chapter in my life about 5 to seven
years ago when I realized this was my
kryptonite. And what I was actually
doing was creating fear because people
would have to get fired when you're
running a company. I would have to break
up with girls if I didn't like them
anymore. And what people started to
understand was they didn't know where
they stood with me. And that became the
ultimate fear. Very humbling moment in
my mid-40s. And how did you navigate
that? And how do you break into just
being open and honest with people
without creating fear? All of our
vulnerabilities are things we can't see.
I'm really fortunate with self-awareness
and paying attention, but I couldn't see
the cander thing. Once it became obvious
to me both with my employees and some of
my personal relationships, I was like,
"Oh," and I'm talking like looking
myself in the mirror, brushing my teeth,
and looking at my eyes and being like,
"Dude, my inner dialogue is really
cool." Like me and me are good, you
know? I really just went there. I was
like,
"Dude, you suck at this, man. Like, and
this is going to ruin your life." Was
there a specific moment that was like a
combination, you know, not to go too
far, but it was a combination of things
going on at work, which I'm comfortable
with, which was I love my employees
super heavy. There was just enough
employees and I knew why they were mad
at me that were running around the world
being like all I care about is anyone
who knows me to think I'm a decent man.
Having employees that were running
around the world being like Gary Vee was
like, "This is wrong." The only ones
that were saying Gary be were people
that were consistently underperforming,
but I didn't have the ability to
overcommunicate it and then would pull
the rug from underneath them. It was
black and white. Yeah. On my subjective
opinion. Maybe they were performing and
I was wrong, but that's, you know,
that's the judge in the jury when you
own a business, right? Yeah. I was like,
that sucks. I got to fix that. And then
things in my personal life which I'm
less comfortable sharing. But
ultimately, I was like, look, I've got
to fix this. And it's hard, bro. Like,
you're in pretty good shape. I don't
know if you've always been or not. I'm
in better shape than I've been
historically. Like, like it's work.
Yeah. Like I was in Toronto for a board
meeting last night. I landed last night
at midnight. I was in the gym at 6:00
a.m. this morning. In the gym. I landed
at midnight in the gym not working out
having one-on-one basketball coach
practice because my son's gotten so good
at basketball. I think he's about to
beat me one-on-one. And I'm and I'm so
scared of that that I literally had
one-on-one basketball practice this
morning. and you have to put in the work
to be able to be better. And so I had to
and I continue to practice cander right
now and I'm still a five out of 10, but
that jump from 1 to five has closed a
lot of wounds and vulnerabilities. Who
do you go to for advice? The truth is no
one, which is a great gift and a great
weakness. What I do when I'm in a place
of thought is go into more of a cocoon.
I'm actually talking and advising and
jamming like if we were like if we hung
out if we like knew each other we'd have
dinner we'd have these kind of dinners
different because we're a podcast but it
would be this I'm always thinking and
philosophy and strategizing and
vulnerable and like I'm living and I'm
taking it like it's almost like advice
is happening all the time but when it's
in the moment that you're asking where
I'm like really thinking through
something I weirdly do the reverse. I
think most people don't advice every day
and then when they have a problem go for
advice. I'm the reverse. I'm like
constantly like
advising but then when something's
really important I go into cocoon and
I'm in my own and I think it through.
How do people improve self-awareness? It
seems like like you were saying the
ability to be dynamic and change your
opinion, change your mind, change your
beliefs is one of the best ways that you
can improve your overall life. I think
self is self-awareness is required for
that. I think therapy is good. I think
going to therapy and having another
human being who's professionally trained
try to throw some things at you really
is good. I think what I've done
is I think hum I think there's a very
big relationship between humility and
self-awareness. So I have a very big
thesis that humans are not
trickable and then I have another thesis
that humans are the most trickable. So
let me break it down. My belief is that
99% of people are uncomfortably
trickable and that's how the world
works. What do you mean? I think most
people are so insecure, so short-term,
so selfish that if you just feed them
what they need that you can basically
manipulate them into anything you want
to do. It's what politics does. It's
what businesses do. It's like what life
is. I hate that. What I like is trying
to win with the 1% that are the reverse.
And those people are completely the
reverse. They're completely not
trickable. And I think when you
understand that what I just said or if
you believe it and whether my
percentages are right, maybe it's 8020,
but like the concept that the masses
are in this one place and and then
there's a different group of people that
you actually want to be friends
with that you actually want to
know that it's the actual thing. Mhm.
that if you think that you'll constantly
be in a place of humility and self, you
know, analyzation and you're humble,
you're listening, and I think there's
something there in a real way to what
you're asking. I think surrounding
yourself with the right type of people
has the potential to create a lot of
self-awareness. And what would be the
main qualities of someone who is
trickable versus non-tickable? Like, is
it an intelligence thing? I believe it's
a security thing.
I think it's confidence versus
insecurity. I I have come to I turned 50
in November. Fun number, you know, like
how old are you guys? 26. I'm 35. Yeah.
Like even at you know, you're a straight
baby, but even at 35, right? At 35, you
know, back to like my life, you think
about 10 mill like I I think this will
be very exciting for you and I hope it's
very exciting more importantly to the
audience. At 34, I made $67,000 for the
year. Yeah. That's why I believe it.
That's why you hear so much Gary B about
be patient. What did you make at 35? 35
was when I started doing this and I just
signed a book deal. So I got 100K for
Crush It. I made like probably 240. Do
you think that you needed to have the
actual accolades to play off of that
confidence or did the confidence exist
from the beginning to the end? Beginning
to the end. DNA, parenting,
circumstance. You never questioned your
aptitude. You never questioned business.
No, like I said earlier, what's what's a
child's childhood? Does the opposite sex
like you? That was a third of my whole
life. So, I had plenty of insecurity
there. Uh sports, right? I was good
early on cuz I had crazy hand eye
coordination. I got worse as we got into
middle school cuz speed, height, power,
strength mattered. So, that was off.
School, big one, right? Kids self-esteem
in school, right? Good grades, smart,
bad grades, dumb. Especially if you're
almost 50. You grew up in a different
world. I'm 25 years ahead of you that
way. 24 three years ahead of you. Like,
teachers told me I was an idiot. That I
was going to be a loser. Like, these are
grown-ups telling you to your face,
you're going to be a loser. So, I had
plenty of things that could be
insecurities. I just had the most
important things, right? One, I had a
mother who parented me in a way that
made me believe in myself. But she
didn't do what modern parents are doing,
which is create a delusion. She said,
"You're a good dude. You're good at
you're you've got strengths." But when I
had shortcomings, I had ramifications. I
had consequences. How do you try to
instill those same qualities in your
children? By doing that, by telling them
the truth, by by cheering for things
that are good, like are they nice
people? Are they not entitled? But I
can't do one of the most important
parts, environment.
I did grow up in lower middle class
neighborhoods in Jersey. They are
growing up very wealthy. How do you
think that's going to change their
perspective or the fear that they can't
live up to what you've accomplished?
That part I feel good about because I
create almost no they may have their own
version but I one of the great mistakes
a parent that is successful makes is ask
their child to live up to their I do not
have the problem is there's too many
people that are successful that are
actually insecure. So then they ask
their children to do things because they
care what other people think about their
children's accomplishments. On the
record on this podcast, I do not give a
about what people think about what my
children do for a living. So my children
will have the luxury of not having a
father that wants them to do what? Live
up to my legacy. Me. I'm their
dad. I just want them to be happy the
way I'm happy. And whether they're
entrepreneurs like me and what makes
them happy is to build masleto. If they
if what makes them happy is to give away
all the money I made because that
somehow makes them feel better for being
rich kids and that's what they see the
world as. As long as they're happy, not
that that's some sort of poisonous up
thing. Like I just am very focused on do
they enjoy their life? Are they
productive? But like environment can't
be fake. How close is happiness linked
to being productive? Because we had
Grant Cardone on about a year ago and
with his daughter in the room, he said
he doesn't want her to be happy. He
wants her to be productive and if she's
productive by default she's going to be
happy. Yeah. I look I think every parent
is allowed to see the world how they
want. I'm also a buyer of productivity
but productive is defined by different
metrics. What is productive? Is
productive making a million dollars a
year? 10 100? Is
productivity knowing that you were born
into luxury and thus you give your
life's work to give back to humanity?
and everything in between. I don't know.
But yes, I do not think waking up in the
morning and having nothing to do leads
to anything but bad. Right. But what one
defines as productive I think is
different for every human. Yeah. For
example, I
have a lot of ways to maximize for a lot
more wealth than I have. That's just not
where I'm at. I feel like I'm being more
productive by leaving good deposits, by
spending a lot of time on Gary Vee. Mhm.
And now V friends, my Pokémon Sesame
Street thing, feels like I'm going to be
able to do both. I can be selfish and
selfless. I can build one of the biggest
intellectual properties of all time,
which is very, very valuable. But I also
can get these characters so popular that
I can start getting to kids younger and
instilling good virtues into them.
What's what's more productive? Yeah. My
my my income statement this year or the
impact I made on alpha dudes not being
complete dick faces? What's more
productive?
uh how much money I made or the fact
that I've gained muscle mass and that
injury I got in my dad's liquor store
with my left glute now that I've been
able to actually get my mind muscle
right and I'm fixing it and I have
better life quality which who decides
productivity. Yeah. If you make $43
million a year, but your human behaviors
of alcohol and of eating and gluttony
and all this stuff leads to you dying
two years later, were you productive in
the 43rd year where you made all that
money or or because you're not
productive at 45 because you're dead. So
I think the definition of but I agree
with the macro thesis. I do believe in
productivity. I think who gets to define
productivity? My answer is you get to
define it and then you get to change
your mind. Y if you want to go from 20
to 30 and eat Doritos all day and build
an empire, good. And then 30 to 40 is
pure love and enjoying those. Knock
yourself out. But don't do it for
someone else. And don't do it for the
cheering. Because if you're doing it for
the cheering, when they're booing,
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Thank you so much to Shopify for
sponsoring this episode. One of the
things I've really admired about you is
that you've been able to almost see and
predict the future of what's going to be
happening when it comes to social media.
And I remember you saying in like 2019
or 2018 about Tik Tok. Yes. And I
remember uh starting to post on Tik Tok
because of what you were saying back in
like 2018 or 2019. I think my first Tik
Tok. What are you seeing now as the
future landscape for business or for
marketing or for getting yourself out
there? I know you mentioned Tik Tok
shop, live shop. Yeah, live shop. I'm
obsessed with live shopping. If you're
listening right now and you sell stuff,
you need to go to whatnot and Tik Tok
shop and start selling ASAP. The QVC
evocation of social media is here in the
west. It's been going on in China for 10
years. Do it. Do
it. The
acceleration of
organic is also on my mind.
you I I could not speak more to my
belief of
non-overexposure volume creative for
relevance for different consumers. For
example, you have Gary Vee on now. Your
clip with me and you on your social. If
the next post is you with a female
entrepreneur in her 80s, that's going to
hit different audiences.
Different subjects we're going to talk
about in this podcast. So, relevance at
scale across all seven platforms.
Facebook proper. I'm obsess. If you want
to go very nerdy face, are you guys
posting a lot on Facebook regular? We've
done it in the past. So, that was the
perfect answer. You guys are about to be
happy with Gary Vee again. You're going
to walk the out of here. Look me in the
face and really understand this. This
podcast will explode if you get serious
about posting multiple times a day on
Facebook.
Organic.
Facebook organic. Are you talking clips
like 4 to 12 minute clips? Are you
talking full length podcast? You talking
about shorts? Yep. Vertical. So does
everything. I'll be honest with you.
What happened to our Facebook was that
it got completely demonetized and it's
been shut down basically for a year and
a half because they deemed it as reused
content even though it was our original
content and reaching anybody at Facebook
is impossible. Start another page. Oh,
we had 200 something 300,000 followers
on it. Who gives a Okay, that would be
like saying I had $200,000. I went to
Atlantic City. I lost all the money, so
I'm not going to make more money. We did
that. Hold on. I want our page, but they
shut that one the new one down too for
reused content. It was some It was
something on our page. We've we've I
don't want to go too much into it. Yeah,
we don't have to waste. This is actually
going to be valuable to a lot of people.
Start a brand new one with a separate
email cuz maybe it was some
technicality. If that gets shut down,
then it may be something bigger.
But just cuz you had 200 thou first of
all, followers don't matter anymore. You
know that, right? Yeah. Do you? Yeah.
Like literally, I think they matter a
little bit. They do. You're right. But
not as much as they did back in the day.
It was true, by the way. And it is way
on its way to being to a place where
it's completely not going to matter. We
are fully no longer in social media. We
are fully in interest media. We're fully
in interest
media. Social media, the word social,
who you hang out with, who you follow.
Like, we don't see that. Now, I actually
think all the social networks should
create two feeds. 100% guaranteed view
rates from who you care about. Maybe
limiting that. There was a great app
that I was an investor in called Path
years ago that was made by Dave Morren,
a great entrepreneur who was an early
Facebook employee. His app was called
Path. He basically made an Instagram, he
made Instagram before Instagram where
they came out the same time. I don't
recall, but you could only have 140 or
120 or 150, I don't remember. It was
based on a law of like how many
relationships can a human have. I don't
remember the name, but you could only
have 150 followers. It was awesome,
right? Cuz you would only follow who you
really want to follow. Mhm. I think if
Facebook
implemented on Instagram and Facebook
and if Tik Tok implemented one feed that
is 100 people max but you see every post
from them and the other one fully
interest fully interest that that's the
killer app. That's what I would build
right now. H another thing that virtual
influencers to answer your question I
think the rise of virtual influencers is
going to be one of the biggest things
over the next 5 years. I think you guys
should create humans that promote your
[ __ ] and I I don't think that's
possible with two male. No, I understand
that part. The old way. I think Graham
and you should hire a company and
actually make your third host a female
who's not a real person who's involved
in your content, promoting your show,
selling your product. I think I think
every human is going to be in the IP
business. In 20067, I predicted that
everybody would be in social media and I
got really laughed at cuz it was like
nobody was on it and everybody thought
it was stupid. Like, who cares if you're
walking the dog? Like Twitter used to
get on. Like why would you tweet like
you're eating pizza who gives a you
understand you're young and you were too
young for this. Like the concept of
sharing your thoughts was like not
acceptable. That was relegated for
people on
TV. In certain programs
this is a new phenomenon. The the fact
that everybody thinks like I'm out
there.
I believe every person's in the
intellectual property business. I
believe that within a decade many
people, millions of people will own
virtual people and monetize them the way
that Disney monetizes
Mickey Mouse. So I've seen some of these
with like fake Only Fans. Correct. Where
they've just created that avatar. That's
right. And if you look at Only Fans and
you know the sex industry always porn
only they they're always and obviously
Only Fans is now broading out but like
they're always ahead. Yes.
you, if you've seen that, you probably
also know that a year ago those girls
predominantly looked really fake. I'm
going to say something to you right now.
You have consumed a piece of content on
Instagram that is an AI person and your
eyes and brain 100%. Already now you're
still consuming a lot in there that is
clearly fake, a lot better than it
looked a year ago. And in 3 years, not
one human's going to know the
difference. I believe it. I saw on
Twitter there's a whole thread about
this guy making $10,000 a month in
profit from an AI character that he made
that he's posting on Instagram and doing
brand deals. That's right. With his
whole character. That's right. That's
already and hasn't even started. On the
topic of AI, what are your top three
most insane AI predictions? That your
grandkids will marry an AI human.
What's your conviction level on that?
100%. that they're going to marry an AI.
Your
grandchild is going to marry an AI
human. So, this is what we've been
talking about. I think people are going
to have relationships fully AI
boyfriend, girlfriends. I I think it's
going to be indistinguishable. You mean
Fox, right? The thing like from that
movie you saw that the Netflix like the
AI robot. I talk about she or her or not
that one. There was a Megan Fox one that
just came out. Nonetheless, they're all
the same. I believe a robot that is
fully AI will marry a human and vice
versa for real in your lifetime at
scale. And and when you say an AI, does
that mean like a physical body of a
robot? So you're saying that the bodies
will get so good that it will look like
you and like I could I don't know if you
know this, but people have sex with sex
dolls.
Jack does it. That that explains what
that thing is in your closet.
And obviously like that is like super
taboo and it's
2025 and I I'm not educated on it though
I don't like I don't judge anyone who
does but my
intuition is that in 20 years because
the AI can power the robot and because
of where we're going and what's going on
that that's fully see I've said the same
thing because certain AIs people are
getting really attached to them just
like typing back and forth. What the?
But what do you think online dating is?
That's the same. You know that, right?
But I'm like, no. No. People fall in
love on text. Like people on Tinder or
Rya after 3 hours of texting back and
forth fall in love. Then the physical
part happens. So what is this going to
do to society if we're all just society
looks like right now to a caveman?
If we dug up a caveman. But do you think
this is a just population collapse that
people are not going to reproduce?
Maybe, but probably not fully because
everyone thinks in or just cuz I'm a
robot doesn't mean I'm not willing to a
human. So you
think but if it's in non-exclusive
relationships what you think it will be
non-exclusive relationships. Actually,
you know what's funny? I've thought
about this. I actually think AI robots
may save marriages.
Like I've been thinking about that a
lot, which is like does a couple
introduce just like real couples
introduce swinging and another partner.
Now, is it even better to introduce an
AI robot that may help whatever sexual
or emotional things are going on in that
relationship to become an offsetting
contributor to a mar? One could argue,
this was going to be my second one, that
AI will be the reason
marriage increases longevity and
decreases divorce. I would almost argue
that it would be the reason why people
just wouldn't get married because you
would have but it might be both.
Both can exist in that scenario. I feel
like the word of the day is and and not
over. Sure.
the I would tell you that you know as
people continue to dissect everybody I
have a feeling people will like I'm
starting to learn I figured out and I'm
sure people that will are for whatever
weird reason interested in dissecting me
yes and versus or is foundationally to
why I'm happy and successful
foundational I actually can't see the
word I can't see the world in any other
way it's always and everything to me is
maybe yes and no are both
vulnerabilities You know that, right? I
mean, things are going to be absolutes.
Yes and no are vulnerabilities. So, if
you start with something with an
immediate yes or an immediate no,
there's vulnerabilities. I hate no cuz
it's defense and cynicism. I kind of
weirdly love yes cuz it's optimism, but
a lot of times it's
delusional. Maybe is a great place to
start everything. I just think this is
going to lead to complete population
collapse. That people are going to be
more isolated than ever because they'll
have an AI person that they could
constantly be around that's going to be
perfect for them. What if what if what
if we're the most isolated now and AI
actually starts the decrease of
isolation because you fully feel
emotionally all the way there? Sure, but
I think in terms of population collapse.
Yeah. I think the government's going to
have to come in and really incentivize
people. You say that because it's
already happened. Well, I I think they
have to offer I think they have to offer
bonuses for people to have children.
You're too smart. You already know
that's true. That's already happened.
That's what Korea is offering right now.
But to an extreme here in the United
States, what are we protected from
everything else? Of course, that's
what's going to happen. Governments are
going to be fighting for
people. Do you understand what's about
to happen? Governments are going to be
paying. I'm going to get offered ungodly
amounts of money to live somewhere else.
You know that, right? Governments are
fighting with each other for talent.
So, good will a human be though when we
have AI that's better. Uh, well, I don't
know if I don't know if it'll be better.
It'll be different. It's an again an and
state. Like I don't know if it's going
to be better, but like like a human will
like our brains are pretty intense, bro.
You know that, right? Like our brains
are legit. Like we're going to do other
like when the tractor was invented,
everyone's like, "What are people going
to do? We all work on farms. We figured
it out." You don't think this would be
demotivating for people who could just
plug into something, zone out, or be
with an AI avatar or whatever, and just
be perfectly content sitting in the room
all day? I think most people are doing
that now in a different not to an
extreme but even more people like if
someone's having an average life going
to a 9 to5 but they could stay home and
just be with this avatar plug into this
system that keeps them perfect way is
that bad I'm like like I'm I'm not I
haven't thought it through. I'm actually
just like framing up the the banter. I
would say that a large portion of
society would be isolated in that regard
and you'll have a few select people who
don't want to go in that direction.
Yeah, I I think I think you're looking
at it way too surface level. Let's bring
it up. Fair. Isolated. If you're not
feeling isolated, this was the argument
of online dating. You're basically just
doing a more mature argument of online
dating of why online dating was creepy
and weird and not going to work. Yeah.
The counter to that though is that you
do have such a high uh percentage of
people now under like 30 not leaving
their parents, not meeting people, not
doing anything. Sure. Hey, what the bro?
my argument. You're actually you're
actually countering your argument. You
know that, right? How so? AI is not here
that we're talking about. Yeah, but
we're going in that direction when it's
now like Sure. I'm arguing that this
might solve the problem we're in right
now. Graham, I think, is trying to say
that it might exacerbate it. He might be
right.
Yeah. I don't think it's to solve a
problem. I think it's just going to make
it worse. I think you're a pessimist.
Okay.
and and maybe practical and maybe and
maybe cautious and maybe not delusional.
Let me say this though.
Humans are the most underestimated,
underrated brand and entity in the
world. Let me give you an example. Yeah.
Let's say this interesting conversation
was in 1950 and we were talking about
the atomic
bomb just invented, just dropped and now
we know Russia has one too.
I have a funny feeling if I sat here and
said it will not be used for the next 70
years that you would have taken the
counter. Humans are underestimated,
bro. That's what everyone who's
listening, I'm telling you right now,
humans are underestimated. This AI is
big. This last 10 minutes was super fun
and like fun banter. We're all trying to
think it through. I would say
underestimating the human is a mistake.
And I would say that for all the people
like, "What are you talking about, Gary
Vee? It's now I would say that you don't
understand history. It is not now. You
believe it's now because all of you have
gotten sucked into listening to dumb.
What do you think are the main things
that are holding people back right now?
And if they could make these
adaptations, they'd be able to unlock
their full potential. You seem like a
very Oh, I have a very good thought on
this. Sure. Number 1, 2, 3, four, and
five is the utter lack of
accountability.
What's going on right now, brother, has
nothing to do with anything other than
we've been over coddled for 30 years.
The
end. You can do anything once you decide
it's your fault. If you think it's your
mommy and daddy's fault, that's what
takes up the oxygen. You just spend all
your time telling everybody about your
mommy and daddy. If you think it's Trump
or Biden or Putin or
China, that's what you spend your time
talking about.
Everybody has become remarkable at
pointing fingers. It has become a global
pandemic. Why is that? Over
overcoddling, lack of accountability.
Where do you think that started?
Overcorrection to a lot of parents that
got underlod and overcorrected too far
and we lost our way. So, you think the
pendulum is swinging back to
accountability? No, that is my great
hope. Okay. I No, I do not feel like
we're there right now, unfortunately. I
feel like we're still in the very heavy
mist of I mean we have find so many
things to blame on. Do you know that
nobody Do you know that I didn't even
know I was in Gen X my whole life? We
didn't talk about generations. Like do
you have many
hours? Gen Z talks about boomers.
It's become a meme now though. It's
we're just so Is that creating just
cages for ourselves thinking that we
have to subscribe to a certain thing? Of
course. But most of all, the ultimate
cage is when you think somebody else is
in control of your life, you're dead.
But you know what? But people get
rewarded for that online. And I feel
like that's a a slippery slope because
when people post about themselves being
a victim, they get so much support and
so much sympathy online. It feels good
to post something. You've you've Yes. is
you've lived through these last three
years. The pendulum's swinging. They
also get a ton of hate. I feel like it's
it's not balanced though in terms of
hate to love. I feel like it's getting
balanced. I feel like you're right 3 4
years ago, but I think changing I think
it depends on the person in their
audience like mostly like if you have
like a girl that's crying like a on a
camera and her audience is like 95%
women like all of the comments, but if
it's a guy that's like opening up about
something, I get it. But let's talk
about this. That goes back to the point
of how we got here. That girl didn't
wake up at 23 looking for unlimited
sympathy. She's yearning for how she was
parented. She wants to be coddled. That
guy wants to be coddled. We want to
blame his fault, your fault, that fault,
this fault, that generation's fault,
that politician's fault, that
government's fault. [ __ ] California, New
York, Trump, Biden, Florida, Texas, her.
Like everybody like, where's this real
quick? Where is this? When somebody's
upset
today, where
is I
suck? And that's not the same as I suck.
Let's go into depression. I'm talking
about I'm accountable and capable. I
don't like America. I can move to Costa
Rica. I don't like my boss. I can quit.
Oh, but Gary, I have a mortgage. Get out
of it. Like, we you can do you know
that, right? But that's also purposely
and consciously subscribing to mild
delusion because there are certain
things that happen to certain people
that is not that is not their fault. Is
it important by the way people somebody
just died of a stroke. It's not his
fault that No. So it's it's important to
delineate what I'm trying to get at
between fault and responsibility. No.
No. I don't care about the semantics to
your point. Fair. But let's go to where
I'm trying to go which is okay.
something happened to you. Uh you don't
have a lot of money saved up. A rock
bounced on the highway and smattered
your uh windshield and now you have to
fix it. That what what you know I guess
you could say I should have left my
house earlier or later and the rock
wouldn't be there. It's not the that's
not not the ridiculousness I'm looking
forward to it. I'm asking like what do
you do about it now? Like you everything
is about what you do about it. Could
that person go on Craigslist and pick up
on the free listings and sell it at the
flea market this Saturday and make 320
bucks? They could. They could. They
don't have to. Could that person ring
the doorbell of his neighbor and say,
"Hey, you're you've always talked about
my garden being awesome. Your garden I'd
like to do your garden for the next four
months, but I want 300 bucks for it
because my windshield just broke. Would
you like to do that deal?" They they
could like
like happens all the time. how you react
to sh all that life is. All life is is
happening all the time. There is nothing
else. The only thing that happens in
life is happening all the time. What I'm
interested in is what do you do about
it? Is your life perfect? I think I have
a pretty good life. Guess what? Bad
news. Something's going to happen.
That's life. You're not going to be the
one that goes through life without pain
or struggle or micro
issues. When you answer like that,
here's where I go. That's awesome. That
made my heart smile. Now, what I want to
say to you if you were my younger
brother is, bro, do not complain one day
if that's your truth. Not one complaint
out of your mouth. Cuz in the macro, so
good. You're one of the few people on
earth that gets to say that. Two, be
mentally prepared. And let's start
thinking about that for when it doesn't.
Because a lot of people that are only
accustomed to it being good or get
addicted to being good when they get
caught with bad don't have the backbone
to take the punch in the face and that's
when the starts to get bad. Right? Th
those are the things I like to start
thinking about. So if you could say one
thing that would make the biggest
splash, the people listening right now
that think that they don't have control
over their own life or that they have
found themselves disagreeing or
subconsciously they're disagreeing, they
just don't consciously know it. What
could you say to make the biggest
splash, the biggest impact to wake them
up? There's so many different places I
go. One, a part of me goes into a really
deep tough love place of like, cool you.
I don't give
a like what do you want from me? Like,
I'm desperately trying to tell you in
life, you find what you're looking for.
And if you're looking for good, it's
good. And if you're looking for bad,
it's bad. And what what do you want?
What do you want from me? I'm human
sitting over here. Like, I don't need to
convince you. You want to have a life.
you have a life. There's that part. Then
there's the compassionate part which is
like, bro, please like you have one
life. The math around having a life is
400 trillion to one. You won already.
You actually won. No matter how
alcoholic, abusive father, sexual abuse,
like like where do you want to go? Third
world country. Like where do you want to
go? You still can actually like you
still have a shot. You you could have
not been born. Like you have a shot.
Like you have a shot.
you know, the sports fan. How many times
do you want to watch a game? Look at
what the Pacers did to the Bucks the
other game was over, but it wasn't.
Like, you could suck in life. You could
be 53 right now and be a loser and
dominate from 60 to 80. Enjoy it. You
could like, it's never
over. Like, I don't know. There's a lot
of versions to your question. I don't
know which one's going to work for
someone. That's why I use them all. I've
got nothing but compassion to hard.
Like, I'm trying. I'm throwing out Why
do you think I make so much content? I'm
desperate out here to make everybody
understand. Please, for the love of God,
cuz deep down, what do you want from all
of us? I don't judge you, but I can't
change you
either. Yeah, that was that felt good.
I've never said that. That's me. I don't
judge you. I really don't cuz I know
people have different circumstances.
Luck draw, all that stuff. But I can't
change you. You have to change you.
You're way more impressive than I And
I'm not just saying that to like I'm not
just saying that. And I don't say that
usually like almost ever on the podcast,
but I had high expectations. And first
of all, this entire unit or whatever you
call this floor is incredible. But also,
you're way like sharper and just maybe
it's because you took that break, but I
don't know. I don't think so. I think I
think we talk about this a lot. Like I
sandbag it a little bit publicly in in
hindsight. Like I what am I going to
say? I'm smart. I'm sharp. Like that I'm
obsessed with value for the audience.
But to your point, like this is nothing.
you should like you live here for a
month, you like holy like I'm I'm Don't
forget I did it and then talked about it
and continue to do it. So, thank you for
that. That means a lot to me. Um and
again, the reason I like dealing with my
compliments is again that just my mom's
70th birthday is this weekend. Like I
can't wait to tell her what you just
said cuz it's going to make her happy
cuz I'm her product. Well, shout out
Gary's mom. Yeah, tomorrow. Okay, so we
got some rapid fire questions. What's
something you hate that everyone else
seems to love? This could be anything.
Complaining.
Okay, that's a dialed answer. If you
could have a 30-minute conversation with
any entrepreneur from history, who would
you pick? That's a great question. Um,
who would I pick? I would pick Walt
Disney. You get 10 million taxree today,
but you can't invest it or use it for
business. You just have to spend it on
fund. What do you buy?
Um, that's a great No, no, it's cool. I
love that question. Uh, 10 million for
fun or do I would probably
courtside NBA like real like sports is
going to be way up there. I do like
restaurants, so I'd probably like and
wine. So, I'd probably go super hardcore
on it's less about going to like travel.
It would be travel for purpose around
food. So I would say very ridiculous
meals fun. I mean I would give away I
would love the feeling of giving away
loads of cash at scale in like fun
environments. Not like the stuff we see
like the influencers do. More like I
would go to like Peru and give somebody
really like $30,000 where that's like 4
trillion. So some of that stuff would be
really enjoyable with the cash. Okay.
What's one guilty pleasure you have that
would surprise people? that would s most
of my silly stuff I've shared a lot.
Guilty pleasure. That's most people's
surprise. What? I'm not a very big
guilty pleasure person. Like I have a
incred like it's funny. My fianceé Mona
is such a clean eater, but I think
people know that I'm like willing to
like eat 13 Snickers bars if I have to.
Are what? I'm obsessed with what? Uh, I
got one, but it's not a surprise, which
is why I'm probably say, but I'm
obsessed with cereal,
but weird ones. Like, I'm huge on
Captain Crunch. Captain Crunch is the
best. Mr. Beast should have a cereal.
Captain Crunch is the best. But the
other favorite cereal I have is Grape
Nuts, which is completely different.
Never heard of that. Yeah, look, check
it out. Would you rather own the New
York Jets, but never see them win a
Super Bowl or see them win a Super Bowl,
but never own them? Two and not even
close, by the way. Chasing the Jets is
my great love. actually owning them. I'm
neutral about winning a Super Bowl is
everything to me. Winning and not
owning. Why do you do this? Because my
mom knitted me a jersey, a Jets jersey
when we were really poor with the number
five on it when all my friends in the
neighborhood had a jersey and I asked
for one, but we she we couldn't buy one
cuz we didn't have that kind of money.
25 bucks on a jersey was not in the
cards. So, at night while we were
sleeping, my mom knitted me a jersey.
Um, it's the pinned Instagram that I
have. Um, that, uh, if you go to my
Instagram, it's pinned to the top. Why I
want to actually buy the Jets. Has a lot
to do with why I want to buy them. And
every time I take a photo, I just want
to pay an homage to my mom. Cool. Thank
you so much for coming on the podcast.
This was incredible. Thank you to
everyone listening. Hopefully, this
makes a change. And if you don't need
it, congratulations. We all need it. Me
included.