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Accountability and Optimism: The Only Two Things You Need to Win | Tea with GaryVee episode 92 - The GaryVee Audio Experience | Wave AI Podcast Notes

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Accountability and Optimism: The Only Two Things You Need to Win | Tea with GaryVee episode 92

The GaryVee Audio Experience

Wed Nov 05 2025

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Podcast Summary: The GaryVee Audio Experience

Episode 92: Accountability and Optimism: The Only Two Things You Need To Win | Tea with GaryVee

Date: November 5, 2025
Host: Gary Vaynerchuk

Episode Overview

In this hard-hitting and high-energy episode of "Tea with GaryVee," Gary explores his core philosophy for success—accountability and optimism—and their fundamental role in both business and personal growth. He takes candid questions from live listeners, riffing on AI's disruption, content creation burnout, resilience in the face of rejection, and why taking extreme ownership of your life is non-negotiable. The episode is packed with signature GaryVee tough love, practical mindsets, and memorable moments that challenge listeners to stop playing the victim and start playing to win.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Reality and Opportunity of AI in Creativity

AI’s Impact: Gary addresses concerns about AI diminishing creativity and emotional resonance in content. He insists the fear is overblown and adaptation is essential.

“AI is fucking coming. It’s here. Like, we’re going to have to adjust to this… Stop trying to come up with excuses. Don’t go on some weird ideology and understand we’re fucking here and we’ll get through this and people will adjust.” — Gary (01:28)
Both/And World: Gary predicts that while AI-generated content will dominate, there will always be demand for genuine human expression. People will value both, just as we value unplugging after being on our phones all day.

“It’s like the world is now. We like the phone… we also like unplugging… It’s going to be both.” — Gary (02:34)

2. Radical Accountability: You Are In Control

Ownership Over Excuses: Gary rails against externalizing blame—whether it’s the labor market, employers, politicians, or even algorithmic fate.

“The number one thing that will change everyone’s life is understanding they’re in full control. Full control.” — Gary (07:01)
No One Owes You Anything:

“Nobody owes you shit. Figure it the fuck out.” — Gary (03:40)
Family & Content: Using his brother as an example, Gary reminds creators not to worry about oversharing online—people (even family) will self-select what they consume.

"If I post a lot, I’m worried that my family will get sick of me. Your family’s in control of what they consume.” — Gary (08:15)

3. Judge the Judger

Navigating the Job Market with Nontraditional Experience: Gary advises a young entrepreneur to focus on who is judging—traditional business may not see your value, but that’s not your problem.

“Judge the judger. That is the greatest piece of advice of all time… You don’t want the job that’s judging you for being contemporary.” — Gary (11:04)

4. The Power of Perseverance Over Rejection

Stop Making Lifetime Decisions on Minimal Data:

“People have made unlimited ironclad decisions based on two to three pieces of feedback… I need 67 trillion nos in a row before I’m like, maybe I’m not built for this.” — Gary (14:25)

5. Investing in Your Business Over Lifestyle

On Small Business Scaling:

“When you’re a real fucking gangster and you’re building shit, you’re putting it back into the business. The business is getting the money, not you.” — Gary (15:49)

6. Expect Nothing, Avoid Cynicism

Managing Disappointment in Career Setbacks: Gary consoles a listener who feels stuck after being let down at work.

“You want something big, get the fuck out of the expectation business… The reason that Dermot got caught is he had expectations.” — Gary (17:47)
Optimism vs. Cynicism:

“Do not become a cynical, negative, dark bitch… We’re going to make a bad guy in VeeFriends called the cynical, negative dark bitch.” — Gary (18:45)

7. How to Win in 2026 and Beyond

The Only Three Skills You Need:

“AI, AI, and AI. 1, 2, and 3.” — Gary (22:11)

8. Insecurity, Self-Esteem & The People Around You

Why People Stagnate:

“Because you’re insecure, Karen… It’s because you’re insecure and that’s okay. I think therapy is a good idea… the thing I’m most proud of about this show… is it gets people’s day in the right mindset: accountability and optimism.” — Gary (22:19)
Influence of Your Circle: Hanging with negative people shapes you negatively—choose your influences with care.

9. The Core Message: You Can Help You

Beware of Politicians & Gurus:

“I can’t help you. You can help yourself, period. End of story. Cut the bullshit.” — Gary (25:44)
On the Power Within:

“You are in control. No matter what you cry about right now. You’re in control. Please start listening to more positive and optimistic things. Please lean into accountability and optimism, Ayo. And your life will be better.” — Gary (35:16)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On AI & Excuses:

“AI girls on OnlyFans are making trillions. Let me ask you a question. What the fuck do you think AI girls are doing? They’re evoking emotion and erections. You can’t get an erection without emotion.” — Gary (05:26)
On Disillusionment with Rejection:

“People out here like, get one strike and they’re like, they go back to the bench and sit down and fucking pout, let alone three.” — Gary (14:43)
On Self-Talk and Victimhood:

“As if there weren’t enough hate around gender and race, we decided to do age brackets. That’s my favorite new shit the last 10, 15 years. As if we didn’t find enough things to not like about each other…” — Gary (34:10)
On Opportunities:

“There’s never been more opportunity for people. Literally, you’ve got Gen Z fully believing they’re fucked because of one post on Instagram… There are more millionaire 19 year olds created this week than when I was 19.” — Gary (33:44)
On the Episode’s Theme:

“Honestly, that might be it. I’m retiring. It was a good run… I just feel like that’s it. That’s the actual answer, man.” — Gary (28:45)

Important Timestamps

AI & Creativity/Job Market Reality – 01:07–05:26
Content Burnout / Family & Consumption – 06:20–08:18
Nontraditional Resumes, Judging the Judger – 10:19–14:43
Scaling Business, Investing in Growth – 15:02–17:13
Handling Betrayal & Breakdown, The Expectation Trap – 17:11–19:54
Live Streams & Scaling Digital Products – 19:54–20:54
Blending Accountability with Optimism (“AO” mantra) – 22:14–25:44
Societal Negativity & The Power of Choice – 28:44–35:16

Conclusion & Final Takeaways

Accountability and Optimism (“AO”): Gary distills his worldview into two actionable principles: own your outcomes and nurture hopefulness, regardless of adversity.
Cut the Victim Mentality: No one else—not bosses, politicians, nor content creators—can change your life. Realizing this is the lever that unlocks progress.
Adaptation is Survival: Whether facing AI disruption, career pivots, or market skepticism, adjusting early and often is critical.
Invest in Yourself and Your Business: Reinvest gains for future growth before indulging in personal gains.
Seek Meaningful Advice: Evaluate the source—a judger stuck in the past isn't worth your energy.

Gary closes this episode with characteristic bravado, humor, and a raw, urgent call: Only you can change your life. Accountability and optimism are the keys, and the rest is up to you.

For more, follow GaryVee and his projects, including VeeFriends, on social and via GaryVee.com.

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Transcript

A (0:00)

Honestly, that might be it. I'm retiring, It's a wrap and I'm upset. I'm not sure if I should ever make another piece of content in my life. It's sad, man. This is it. If I retired right now, just like disappeared off the face of the earth, just built my little V friends in the back like an executive, you know, like I did with Wine Library for all those years. Like, wasn't. Gary wasn't out front. I'm a businessman. I think it's over. Like, all of it. Sorry. Bye, Instagram. I'm done. No, no, I'm done. I'm retired. I'm out. I'm retired. I do not do content anymore. This is the GaryVee audio experience team with GaryVee in my office. I'm pretty excited about this. Welcome to episode 92. Big shout out to everybody who's watching on social. All the YouTube people. I see you, Michael G. I see you. Matt King. See you all. Kaylee, Jolly great to see you. Welcome, welcome, welcome. Good morning. And obviously everybody on Instagram, I've got you on the side here, but please go to GaryVee.com whatnot download the app, learn social shopping, get on the AskGaryVee show. It is episode 92. It is gloomy as outside, raining heavily here in New York City. But we are not going to let that put us down. All right, everybody, let's get into it. Aaron, what do you got?

B (1:07)

Okay, this question is from Joseph. Joseph, my theory is that AI content that replaces creative work that is supposed to evoke emotion or inspiration is going to fall flat and really connecting with audiences. There's part of me that believes consumers are going to say things like, I just don't connect with that brand anymore because there's no human on the other side of the content to connect with. In terms of the content creator, your thoughts?

A (1:28)

I think you're fucking fooling yourself because you're worried about it. Aaron. They're not going to be able to tell if it's a real person or not. The AI is fucking coming. The AI is fucking coming. I don't know what else to tell you. It's here. Like, it's. We're going to have to adjust to this. Like, this is like somebody saying, like, oh, this new tractor trailer. Excuse me, the new tractor for farms. This is 1850. The tractor is invented. And everyone's like. Like, everybody works on a farm. And they're like, all the farmers are like, no, no, we're not going to like the tractor. Like, like, the machine is gonna, like, fuck up the soil, bro. It's here, it's here. And by the way, I do think it will be both. I need everyone to understand and it's. And you know what I mean, it's. And people will absolutely value the AI stuff, because they won't know. But I also think that it's going to be a place where the human part will also have value and we will, like, both. And it's like the world is now. We like the phone and being in the phone all day. And we also like de plugging from the phone and going to take a hike or hang out with our friends. Like, it's going to be. And. But AI is here. And if you think, like, people are like, oh, that's an AI person. I'm not connecting with that because it's a person. Motherfuckers. Connecting with only fan girls that are AI right now. Please do not live in delusion where people are just like, oh, you know, like, I just don't understand what people are thinking. Like, it's here. Stop trying to come up with excuses. Don't go on some weird ideology and understand we're fucking here and we'll get through this and people will adjust. And will people lose their jobs? People are losing their jobs right now. Is anyone paying attention? Ups, massive layoffs. Target massive layoffs. Amazon, massive layoffs. And by the way, white collar. That's why this one's gonna hurt. Nobody was crying when it's like, oh, like the entry level, you know, when we were like, robots are gonna, you know, service at McDonald's. I didn't see all the white. Coll. Are people crying for the $18 an hour, $9 an hour, $15 an hour employee. They're like, oh, no problem. All of a sudden AIs come in for that 300k fucking manager, and all of a sudden it's a problem. Oh, oh, oh, now. Now it's a problem, motherfucker. It's war out here. The fuck do you think this is? It's called business, this fucking war. The fuck do you think these fucking bags under my eye are from? You think it's because I'm chilling and drinking pina coladas in Jamaica? It's fucking war out here. It's business. Nobody owes you shit. Figure it the fuck out. Fucking. I'm up late at night. Last night at 11:30 thinking about the things Vaynermedia has to do to compete with AI that makes content for nothing in a world where I make most of my Money making content. This shit's coming. The fuck are we doing? You know it's coming. Adjust. If you're a designer at an agency or a company and you don't have ideas, you're entry level. You're not an ideas person. You're a mason, not an architect. Some. Aaron's my boss. She comes to me, she's like, make a bluebird. Shitting from a mountain, pooping and saying, that felt good. Make that. If that's what I do for a living, I'm like, yes, ma'. Am. And I start making that for two hours in Photoshop, I'm in trouble because Aaron's going to fucking prompt that one more time. Read what he said.

A (10:56)

Who gives a fuck, Chandler? How many fucking jobs have you applied to Vaynermedia? I don't even know if Vaynermedia looks at resumes. I sure don't. I hire like SVPs and VPs. I did two interviews yesterday, by the way, at the airport. Literally. These are three to seven hundred thousand dollars a year jobs. I have no clue which where any candidate worked or what college they went to. Rips and I are the two smartest people at veefriends. He skipped college. I went to Mount Ida, bro. How many fucking people did you interview with? Like, here's the thing. Let me give you the greatest advice in life. Judge the judger. Judge the judger. That is the greatest piece of advice of all time. Think about what this kid's saying. He's 26, he's modern, he's like a grinder. All the good stuff. And now he's sad because traditional businesses aren't taking him or don't think it's a good enough resume. Motherfucker. Chandler, you don't let me Ross you right now. You don't want that job, bro. You don't want the job that's judging you for being contemporary. You don't want the girl that doesn't want you because you don't have enough money. You don't want the guy who's just looking at the aesthetics. You don't want. You don't want. You don't want the people that are judging the wrong shit. Judge the judger. And then if that judger is great, take their feedback heavily. And you know, when I'm giving feedback that it's valuable. I value my mom's feedback. I value people that have done certain things that I admire in a way that is admirable. The fuck is Chandler worried about a fucking conservative job that's built from yesterday not taking him? And you know what the funniest part is, Aaron? I don't think Chandler applied to that many jobs. That's the other thing that's got me all fucked up. People have made. Here's another fucking gem. I'm on fire. You know what? The office might be the right place. I feel like I'm cozy here. Like, this is my. This is my place. Here's another one. People have made uncle limited ironclad decisions based on two to three pieces of feedback. This dude got three no's. Maybe 50. By the way. By the way, I know it's not 50, and 50 is nothing. He got 50 no's and just decides. People decide like, oh, three people didn't buy my comic book. And they're like, well, I shouldn't sell comic books. Three girls didn't want to go on a date with me. Oh, I'm not, like, good. Like, you know, I did a whatnot show and only sold $6 like, twice. Oh, like, it's not for me. Oh, here's my favorite one. I've posted 16 times on Instagram and I haven't gone viral. The algorithm's fucked. Or I suck. People fucking take no data and make definitive, forever, lifetime decision.

A (24:25)

Ate some raw chicken or something. He said the other day he can't keep up yet. There he is. Train. You can literally feel yourself getting tough. Like right, the grind is making you tougher. Exactly. It's fucking war out here. Karen needs to surround herself with positive people. Rips. Have you learned things from me, Aaron? Sid and I've learned things from you guys. We rub off on each other. It's called being a human. So let me ask you a question, Sid. Have you been around negative people in your life? And as you grew up older, especially because we spent so much time together, you started to understand what that meant. And you understood that that shit actually was either putting deposits in you or you realize what you did not want to do. My father taught me what I didn't want to do. I love my dad. Everybody knows that. But fuck, man, that motherfucker taught me a ton of shit I didn't want to do. He taught me things I wanted to do. Be an honorable man. Taught me the fuck out of that. But that motherfucker taught me not how to treat fucking employees. Taught me how I did not want to do business with people. Taught me how I did not want to see the world. I did not want to be cynical or negative or everything's a fucking conspiracy. You want to be less fucking negative and cynical? Stop watching CNN and fox. Stop consuming political people on the Internet that are trying to control you through scaring you and Telling you they can help you. Oh, they're gonna help you. I'm telling you all right now, I can't help you. You got people out there posing as. They're not even telling you that they can help you, but they're tricking you into thinking that you can't. And they can help you, but they're not saying it. I'm out here kind of saying I am helping you. Like Q and A. Let me help you. And I'm telling you I can't help you. Uh, oh. Oh, we're getting into real shit right now. Oh, we're getting into. Well, hold on. We're getting. Now we're. I'm kind of breaking the vortex right now. You got motherfuckers out here disguising themselves as politicians, and they're secretly telling you, I'm gonna scare the fuck out of you. Left and right, blue and red. I'm gonna scare you so that you think I can help you out here. Spitting fucking truth Warmth. Good. And I'm telling you I can't help you. You can help you. You can help you. You can help you. Ayo, this is. You know what? I think I found something. Ayo. Accountability and optimism. Ao. Remember hacksaw Jim Duggan? Oh, he had the big two by four. I'm gonna be the ao. I'm trying to help you every fucking day, and I can't help you. Motherfuckers out here are trying to trick you and scare you into thinking they can help you. They're all the fucking same. I'm gonna scare the fuck out of you by based on whatever, how you see the world. It might be this, it might be that, right? Might be corporations, it might be immigrants. I'm gonna scare you and you're gonna think, I can help you. Bullshit. I'm out here telling you real truth of, like, fucking mental health and business, black and white advice. And I'm telling you I can't help you. Hey, yo, I can't help you. I can't help you. You can help yourself, period. And the story. Cut the bullshit. Honestly, I'm not sure if I should ever make another piece of content in my life. Honestly, that might be it. I'm retiring. It was a good run.

A (28:45)

So I don't know what else. That's it. I mean, I don't know. I don't know if I can ever say anything better. That's it. It's a wrap. I think I ended. That'd be some shit. Maybe I shouldn't. You Know, in fact, one could argue this is it, because if I retired right now and that was it, and it's like, Gary, be retired. And I actually did just like disappeared off the face of the earth. Just built my little V friends in the back like an executive, you know, like I did with wine library for all those years. Like, wasn't Gary wasn't out front. I'm a businessman. I'm a fucking businessman. I'm not content creator, though. I love being a content creator. I'm fucking businessman. I'm fucking business man. You know, like GG's. I said it. I said it all right there. They're all out there trying to fucking trick you and tell you to be fucking scared. And guess who can help you? Them for their power, for them. And I'm out here trying to do the good work, man. Playing on the macro and the micro, the mental health and the fucking self esteem and then the fucking black and white, like, live shopping. Like, here it is. Here's the money. Here's the money. And I'm telling you, I can't help you. The last flight was. No, I think. I think it's. I think it's over. Like, all of it. You're out of a job. AI replaced you. We did it. We did it. We got to the punchline. Like, took us, you know, 20 years. We got there. Wow. Weird. Sorry. Bye, Instagram. All right, I'm done. That's it. Yeah. I think that we're gonna make another piece of content. I just don't know what. I think I said it. So they're not doing Gary live in an hour. I don't know, man. I just think it's over. Like, we did it. You wanted to start a show called Anne. That's the new show. I don't even know, like. Like, that's it. Like, I just feel like that's it. That's the actual answer, man. I don't know what people. They don't get it, man. Like, every one of these politicians is doing the same thing. It's just so obvious. Like, everyone's walking around with fear. It's literally, literally. My most liberal and my most conservative friends are literally the same exact human being. They've just scared us. It's sad, man. I'm upset. People are just scared for no reason. There's nothing different. Everything's different and nothing's different. And there's been more scary times, you know, and there's. People are so capable, but they have given up their will to men and women that have Very bad intent on both sides of the aisle. It's so funny. Connor said, gary's lost it. I found it. It's the reverse con man. I found it. There's so much opportunity, you know, like, we literally live in a world that is so opportunistic right now. There's never been more opportunity for people. Literally, you've got Gen Z fully believing that they're fucked because of one post on Instagram that says Gen Z's fucked. And they use math that they want to paint a certain picture. There are more millionaire 19 year olds created this week than there were when I was 19 than there were train. There are more millionaire 19 year olds, you know, like we work with them at vaynermedia. I know influencers that my company has paid, you know, 800,000 to this year, 600,000 to just us, little or less. There's never been more opportunity. And people out here like, oh, it's over. The biggest thing I believe in, in life is you find what you're looking for. I believe it's literally the primary belief of my life. My complete North Star. If you are looking for negativity, I have great news. There's unlimited negativity and it's everywhere. We decide which one we're going to pay attention to at this moment. This issue, that issue. There's 9, 700 issues. There's concentration camps in China for people of a certain religion. Where's the talk? There's genocide all over Africa. Where's the talk? Like, like there's, there's everywhere everything. There's always things. But complaining about it and posting on social. How about contributing to it? Somebody said, gary, do your part. Join the Senate. Sen. I can't do in the Senate. Couldn't do what I'm doing right now if I was a senator. You talking about this is the greatest era to be born ever into being a grownup. AI all of it, all the, like, like, there's like, did everybody get an F in history? Was I the only one that got an A in history or. There's so much opportunity. What we're also in is in the greatest era of finger pointing. That's the part that we're not discussing. Mommy's fault, daddy's fault, mayor's fault, governor's fault, president's fault, country's fault. As if we weren't enough hate around gender and race. We decided to do age brackets. That's my favorite new shit the last 10, 15 years. Rips as if we didn't find enough things to not like about each other. Cuz we're so lost. Look at this room. There's only five of us. Gender, race, religions, love. Why would I. How could I possibly not like you? Cuz you believe in something different, where you look different or you like. What are we talking about? Oh, wait. We don't have enough things to be mad at each other about. Let's bracket people into their age and be mad at each other. Let's get the Gen Zers to hate the boomers and the boomers to hate the Gen Z ers. That'll be fun. They're weaponizing hate, y'.

A (35:16)

And I promise you, when you're all 80, you'll realize there are things to the left and the right that were right and wrong. It's just life. You're in control. You're in control. You're in control. You're in control. You're in control. You're in control. No matter what you cry about right now. You're in control. Please start listening to more positive and optimistic things. Please lean into accountability and optimism, Ayo. And your life will be better. Look at that tonight. No, no. I'm done. I'm retired. I'm out, bro. I'm fucking retired. I do not do content anymore. You can be on the. You'll be selling the Funkos tonight, right? Everybody. If you want to watch our Funko. Well, not our. If you want to watch Rips Funko show tonight. There's a logo at the top left. Veefriends follow us. Click it. You can bookmark our shows. But Rips, I'll be behind the scenes. Rips, I built wine library behind the scenes. I'm gonna build veefriends behind the scenes. You're now the face. Okay. All right. I'm just super interested to see if you're actually gonna go tonight. I have no idea. I don't know. I retired. I do know actually. What am I talking about? I'm retired. I got to the punchline. All the negative people in the world aren't saying it overtly, but they're tricking you into believing that you should be scared. But I can help you relinquish your self will and power and belief. Give it to me. Because I can help you. I'm selling hope and optimism tactics financially and emotionally. And I'm telling you I can't help you. Huh, that's some shit. But you can help you. I'm really proud of that. I needed to get to that point. Yeah, that's a good point, Walter. I Wonder if I can write a book called I can't help you. AO3407 says. Jesus. Did Gary Vee end up on drugs? Nope. I've been on a consistent drug called gratitude. And the other thing that I love to shoot in my chest, accountability. Everything in my life is my fault, thus rendering me very happy. I'm good. Goodbye. See you soon. Big announcement. As you probably heard at this point, because I had John from Stan on the show, I am an investor advisor to an incredible startup called Stan. Stan Store. I'm sending you right now to GaryVee.com GaryVee.com Stan, go check this out. We've done a Gary D. Stan Store challenge, which actually has a weekly call with me. This is built for everyone who's been affected honestly by my overall content. The tech stack, all these features, and the minimal costs per month that Stan Store has built is really the tool that was needed for this world that I envisioned when I wrote Crush It. When I wrote Crushing It. And this overall thing I'm thinking a lot about lately, which is the individual empire, this creator, entrepreneur, entrepreneur, creator economy that I think is gonna eat up the oxygen. Very honestly, the thing that so many of you want in your life and the reason so many of you are not there yet, is you've got the strategy for me. You've got the ambition within yourself, but you don't have the tools for you to fully maximize it. And I believe you can find that at Stan Store. Stan Store. But specifically, I want you to sign up for it through my challenge because I want to get access with you. And plus, there's a bunch of cool things. So if you want to go see those cool things, go to garyvee.com Stan S T A N.