The 3 Emotional Skills That Make You Successful In Life

Summary

The School of Greatness: Episode Summary
Title: The 3 Emotional Skills That Make You Successful In Life
Host: Lewis Howes
Guest: Gary Vaynerchuk
Release Date: June 27, 2025

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Introduction: Welcoming a Legend

In this compelling episode of The School of Greatness, Lewis Howes engages in an in-depth conversation with Gary Vaynerchuk, a renowned entrepreneur, investor, and digital mogul. Reflecting on their 15-year friendship, Howes sets the stage for a heartfelt discussion on the emotional skills that underpin true success in life.

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1. Emotional Intelligence and Self-Awareness

Gary Vaynerchuk emphasizes the foundational role of self-awareness in achieving lasting success. He explains that understanding oneself is the gateway to self-love, which in turn fosters resilience and the ability to navigate life's challenges.

"Self-awareness has become the gateway drug to self-love once you can see it in yourself." — Gary Vaynerchuk [67:35]

Gary shares personal anecdotes from his high school days in New Jersey, illustrating how his strong relationship with himself protected him from succumbing to peer pressure. This internal stability allowed him to build successful ventures like VaynerMedia and expand his entrepreneurial footprint without losing his sense of identity.

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2. Gratitude: Shifting Perspective from Negativity

Moving the conversation forward, Gary delves into the importance of gratitude. He contrasts it with the prevalent culture of envy and complaints, advocating for a mindset that focuses on appreciation rather than dwelling on what’s lacking.

"Gratitude comes from simplicity. Like, instead of waking up in the morning feeling all upset, decide to be glad you woke up and didn’t die last night." — Gary Vaynerchuk [72:24]

Gary recounts a transformative dinner where he challenged a friend to list who they feel they have it better than, redirecting their focus from personal grievances to a broader perspective on life’s blessings. He underscores that gratitude enhances one’s overall happiness and fosters a positive outlook, essential for both personal and professional growth.

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3. Accountability: Owning Your Actions

The third emotional skill discussed is accountability. Gary candidly shares his struggles with candor in the workplace, highlighting how over-empathizing with employees can lead to retention of underperformers and reputational damage.

"Every single thing at VaynerX and VeeFriends and VaynerSports and every one of my companies that is a problem is 100% my fault." — Gary Vaynerchuk [71:31]

He advocates for a culture of honest communication, where employees feel safe to provide truthful feedback. Gary emphasizes that true accountability involves recognizing one’s role in both successes and failures, thereby fostering a more resilient and effective business environment.

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4. Dealing with Criticism and Negativity

Gary addresses the pervasive issue of external negativity and criticism, particularly in the age of social media. He advises listeners to develop thick skin and understand that most criticism stems from others’ insecurities rather than any real shortcomings.

"People don’t understand that success doesn’t change you. It exposes you." — Gary Vaynerchuk [00:17]

He differentiates between constructive criticism and malicious trolling, encouraging individuals to focus on meaningful feedback and disregard baseless negativity. This approach not only preserves mental well-being but also allows for continuous personal and professional development.

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5. Advice for Gen Z and Future Generations

Gary provides insightful advice tailored for Gen Z and young entrepreneurs. He urges them to create their own struggles to build resilience and not rely solely on external validations or comforts.

"If you were fully taken care of your whole life, you were allowed to say, mom, dad, no. But the problem is too many people like to talk out of both sides of their mouth." — Gary Vaynerchuk [42:03]

He emphasizes the importance of hard work, accountability, and developing emotional intelligence as key drivers of sustainable success. By fostering these traits early on, young individuals can better navigate the volatile landscapes of modern entrepreneurship and social media.

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6. Defining Greatness: Giving More Than You Take

In the concluding segment, Gary articulates his definition of greatness as the ability to give more than one takes. He reflects on his mother's unparalleled support and generosity, using her as a benchmark for what true greatness entails.

"Greatness comes in what you give more than you take." — Gary Vaynerchuk [85:33]

Gary underscores that true greatness is measured not by personal achievements or accolades but by the positive impact one has on others. This altruistic perspective aligns with his broader mission of fostering emotional intelligence and accountability in both personal and professional spheres.

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Conclusion: Embracing Emotional Skills for Success

This episode of The School of Greatness offers a profound exploration of the emotional skills essential for success. Through his candid conversation with Gary Vaynerchuk, Lewis Howes highlights the importance of self-awareness, gratitude, and accountability in building a fulfilling and impactful life. Listeners are left with actionable insights and inspired to cultivate these emotional competencies to unlock their inner greatness.

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Notable Quotes:

• Gary Vaynerchuk: "Self-awareness has become the gateway drug to self-love once you can see it in yourself." [67:35]
• Gary Vaynerchuk: "Gratitude comes from simplicity. Like, instead of waking up in the morning feeling all upset, decide to be glad you woke up and didn’t die last night." [72:24]
• Gary Vaynerchuk: "Every single thing at VaynerX and VeeFriends and VaynerSports and every one of my companies that is a problem is 100% my fault." [71:31]
• Gary Vaynerchuk: "People don’t understand that success doesn’t change you. It exposes you." [00:17]
• Gary Vaynerchuk: "Greatness comes in what you give more than you take." [85:33]

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This comprehensive summary captures the essence of the episode, providing valuable takeaways for listeners seeking to enhance their emotional intelligence and achieve sustained success.

Transcript

[A]

The quality of me as a human matters to me, not as me as a businessman. I'm aware that I love it. I love being an entrepreneur, but it is not how I think about myself.

[B]

Right.

[A]

It's my favorite game. It is my passion. It's not who I am. Entrepreneur, investor, a New York Times best selling author, co founder of VaynerMedia digital.

[B]

Media mogul Gary Vaynerchuk.

[A]

Please welcome Gary Vaynerchuk. Gary Vaynerchuk. I remember when I was first popping off in that 20078 Twitter world, a lot of people were like, the wine guy's gonna be around just for a year. This is too much. It's all sizzle, no steak. And fame and success doesn't change you. It exposes you. I just have a very simple question for people. Explain to me any justification to on another human being. If you're not happy, if you're anxious, if you're feeling a lot of pressure, the answer is, ironically, you have to start doing the opposite of everything you naturally want to do. That's the other thing that I don't understand. What these people are doing. As if anyone on earth is perfect is perfect. You want to have a real moment in this podcast, everybody. I'm looking at all the cameras right now. I'm sorry about that, but I was going for a fact.

[B]

You said you want to live to 105.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You get to do one final live stream.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And all you get to leave behind is three truths.

[A]

I promise you, this is the most truth I've learned in 105 years.

[B]

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[A]

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[B]

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[A]

Yes.

[B]

You have continued to be a leader in the creator economy, entrepreneurship, emotional intelligence, and so many other things. So I want to acknowledge you first, Gary, for your continued evolution, innovation and leadership as a human being and also your friendship. You have thousands of connections that you probably text with on a monthly basis and you have a lot of people in your inner circle, but then outer circle, right?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I would say I'm someone like in the inner, outer circle. You know, we don't see each other a lot, but when we connect, we connect and we, we have a lot of memories together. And I'll always appreciate that when there's something happens in my life, you reach out. So I want to acknowledge you for just being on top of things, reaching out when things really matter.

[A]

Even though I love for you.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, I appreciate it. And one of the things I want to talk about first in today is you've got a lot that's always happening. But one of the things is this book called Day trading Attention.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

It seemed, and we were just talking about this right before we started. You were asking me, you know, what's new for you? And I said feeling emotionally peaceful and abundant and loved is new for me because in a world of online marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, business, competition, I was driven to grow, grow, grow. And I was always accomplishing and getting results. But in the last year, there's been changes, ups, downs. For the first time, I feel peaceful about me and love myself, even if I'm not growing at the rate that I always have financially.

[A]

Even if you're ranked 113 instead of 7.

[B]

Exactly, exactly. My question for you to start is it seems like people are more stressed and overwhelmed and trapped than ever, trying to keep up with the algorithms, likes, views, Changes in platforms, one platform being hot, then potentially TikTok going away in a few months, who knows? And people are on this hamster wheel of needing to grow and create, create, create in order to be relevant.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Is that sustainable? And how can people stay healthy and love themselves when they're hot and when they're not? And how do they not chase the hamster wheel of success with social and stay more sustainable?

[A]

Great question. Is it sustainable? Yes. If you're in the place that I think you're emerging into, where you enjoy it and it doesn't define you and you can love yourself and you're good, whether you're making a million dollars a year or 40,000 a year, whether you've got a million followers or 40,000 or the thing that you're going through, that I go through, and many others, when you have momentum and you're hot, hot, and then you're not as hot and you go up and down. So I think it's remarkably sustainable. I also believe that 99%, 97%, 90%, I don't know what the number is, are not in that place yet. They're not in a place where they don't live for outside validation. They're not in a place where they've hit that maximum place of self love. You know, I talk a lot about my mom. It's very clear to me that whatever she gave me in DNA and how she parented me and in the circumstances of the environment. I grew UP in Edison, New Jersey, in the 80s, created a perfect storm where my relationship with me was so good, even in high school. I think about it now a lot. I didn't realize it when I was first coming up and getting notoriety. I didn't realize, like, how insane in hindsight. And Dustin, who's filming me right now, like, he also grew up in Jersey and he, like, really understands what I'm about to say. Even though I'm older, he really knows what I'm saying. Like 90s, late 90s, early 2000s, like, you know, high school in Jersey in 1990-94, when I was there, like, that was like, real, kind of like hardcore, you know, Meaning it now blows me away in hindsight that I did not. Not only did I not succumb to peer pressure, that it didn't even begin to gain momentum with me, really. And I had a lot of.

[B]

Are you, like, the only one in high school that this didn't happen to?

[A]

No, I think there's others, but I. And this is why I'm trying To tap into it. So for me, what you're entering, I believe, is what I got. Lucky and I'm using. I hate to. You know, I hate luck because people love to weaponize it against people they envy. And it's a real lazy trait. But there's a million variables that are luck or serendipity or whatever you want to call it.

[B]

But your parents instilled that in you and gave you that skill.

[A]

You know, my dad instilled other things in me. And honestly, I was with my mom predominantly from 14, and then, ironically, at the time I'm talking about now is when I started to really get to know my dad because I had to work in the liquor store a lot of hours. I just liked myself and didn't think. You're a perfect example. You were like, I was 4 foot 11 the day I walked into high school.

[B]

Yeah, I was 6 3. Right now I'm 6 4.

[A]

So, like, I'm using you because you're a perfect cop. Like, even if the most handsome, like, big dude who was in my grade made fun of me. And I remember, within the first couple weeks, big shout out if anybody can find Paige Parlo. Paige Parlo is two years older than us, or maybe one. All my high school friends are about to laugh. She was such a pretty girl. I think she was a junior. We were freshmen, right? And she had like, cliche. This is literally September 1990. Her boyfriend is like a smoker dude. Like, literally, like a John Travolta type leather jacket. Literally out of central casting. I somehow get lost. This is literally like week one or two get lost of which class I'm going to. So I'm like two, three minutes after the bell rang, and I'm like walking the hall trying to figure, like, literally like a movie. And they're outside. I already know who those two people are. And we're only a week or two in. They're like the legends of high school already.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And literally they're outside one of either her or his locker making out as I'm walking by. And everything in my life is just walk by and have nothing happened, Right? Sure enough, I get by. I'm like. And it's literally a movie. It's literally a coming of age movie. He goes, hey. I turn back, he goes, the nursery school's right over there. But you have to understand why this is extra funny. Our high school was a vocational high school. And I don't know if you know what this is, but vocational high schools, because we were in rural New Jersey. I moved from Edison to Hunterdon County. We had a auto body shop, we had a salon, and we had a daycare in our high school. And some of the juniors and seniors were taking classes to become teachers. So I was literally, ironically, I didn't know where it was at the time. I'm telling you this, the first two, three weeks of high school, he goes, hey, kid. And they laugh. And I'm like, literally. But here's what's so funny about it. This is the most meta moment. I literally said to myself in that moment, not I'm a piece of or I'll never be cool or I suck or I can't wait to grow or whatever. The. I said to myself, what's happening right this second? I'm like, that's going to be a really funny story one day. Wow. I literally actually, at 14 years old, said that. And here I am, 34 years later, delivering on the promise I made to myself about that moment. So the answer is, is it sustainable? Of course it is. But the only thing that is sustainable is when your relationship with yourself is so good. You can deal with the death of a parent, a partner, even the worst extreme, a child. You can deal with getting laid off, you can deal with breakups. How about athlete life that you grew up with? Who are the kids that are bound to be professional athletes? Jay Williams was supposed to be the best basketball player, got into a motorcycle accident, obviously has a great career, he's a great entrepreneur, he's on tv, he's a good dude. But that's maybe not what he thought his whole life was gonna be for the first 20 years of his life. Or the ones that don't make it, or the ones that come from a wealthy family and then the mother or father die of a heart attack, it spins out the whole. Or they get raided by the FBI. Like people have things. My mom lost her mom at 5, my dad lost his dad at 15. Those are game changing moments. How does one deal that they're in a good place? Last night I had dinner. One of the people at dinner was talking about their sibling, their younger sister passing away. This woman was in her 60s, she was talking about her 58 year old sister and she was talking about the children and. And she's talking about the children and in their 30s, just on full tilt, entitlement. Like she literally said, quote unquote, one of them is waiting for the father to pass so they can inherit the money.

[B]

Oh, man.

[A]

And you know, I think about those things and I'm like, What. What does that. And that's the extreme in the other direction. So there's the. I love myself. You know, listen, you know this about me and you. You brought it up in the intro. I love being nice, but I'm in. Of course I'm nice. Cause I'm good with me. Of course, most people that aren't nice aren't nice because they're not good with themselves. So for me, you know, this is why entrepreneurship has been so easy. I'm not scared to lose. And it is the direct correlation, your capacity with losing has an incredible correlation to what you're gonna achieve as an entrepreneur sustainably. Because when you're deeply insecure and it's not good, you equally might create massive success because you're using it as the makeup. If I put up the points on the board, everyone will think I'm good, even though I secretly don't think I'm good.

[B]

And what happens when you succeed but you're not good with yourself?

[A]

Exactly. What. You know what happens. You and I now have. I have way more than you. But you're starting to get this song. I saw it the last time I saw you in New York for a second. I'm like, so fun to see here. Yeah, we're maturing. And, you know, this many of our contemporaries or guys and gals we looked up to, we've watched get to high levels and collapse.

[B]

Yeah, Crash.

[A]

Crash. Some of it the public knows because it's very famous. Others we know where, like, someone that was in our circle speaking or writing books, like, made a lot of money, but, like, gone through really bad stuff and drug problems and worse and like, like, we know. And that's what happens, you know, money and fame and success and followers. It doesn't change you. It exposes you. Right? And so, you know, I think, you know, for me, it was the serendipity of being in that good place. And it's probably why I. If you look at my journey, it's funny. Day Trading Attention is a funny book. For me, it's a little bit back to 2009. Gary. It's very tactical. Social's changed a lot. And I just wanted to give people, like, here it is, like, go run for the next 24 months. But my last book, 12 and a half. And you know this again because we've been together through this journey. Somewhere along the line, six, seven years into giving tactical black and white marketing and business advice that will work, I got to a place where I'm like, wait a minute. Oh, people aren't doing this not because they don't know what to do. It's because they're not in a good place from a perspective, from a mentality, from a internal place. And that's when my content started to evolve into security, kindness, like emotional intelligence. I mean, I didn't even know what the term tactics. Yeah. Because I thought when I came out 9, 2009, 10, 11, 12, that I just built from 96 to 2000. That was. The other thing was a little bit different about me in that era. I was also. Someone had already really done a lot.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And so I was talking about. I did not. That might happen. And I think that's what made me explode pretty quickly. Besides ability to communicate and that kind of level of communication, charisma. It was. There was meat there. I remember. You may remember this. This is actually an interesting question to you. I remember when I was first popping off in that 20078 Twitter world. I'm so animated. I'm so over the top. What I always used to laugh about, similar to getting made fun of that day in high school, was a lot of people were like, oh, this guy's going to. The wine guy's going to be around just for a year. This is too much.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

It's all sizzle. No ste. And I would read those tweets because I'd go and give a talk at the affiliate summit and I would read the comments and someone's like, this guy won't even be around in a year. And it was very similar to getting made fun of in freshman year high school. I'm like, I can't wait to recall this, because I know who I am. I'm an incredibly patient operator, and I build slow and quietly. VaynerMedia. Vayner X has 2,000 employees.

[B]

That's incredible, man. I thought it was only a thousand.

[A]

It's 2,000 employees. You were there.

[B]

I was there when you had four.

[A]

Correct.

[B]

I remember there were like. You guys were in, I can't remember, Soho or something.

[A]

Sunshine Suites down on Dubrosis Street.

[B]

I remember you had a ping pong table and like four people around the table.

[A]

That's right. Yeah, that's right.

[B]

Like three, four clients, like, trying to figure it out.

[A]

And now that's a $350 million a year business. It's a real business.

[B]

Amazing.

[A]

And that was built from me and AJ In Mike Lazaro's Buddy Media conference center office six months before you saw us down in Dubrosis. And that rent for the first year Was free because I traded marketing services for the space. Because the story that most people don't understand about me and I know, you know this is I didn't have any money. I was built. I built my dad's business, right. And he didn't pay me much.

[B]

And I'm debt. Yeah, yeah.

[A]

But like 60 and 70,000 a year.

[B]

Not much in New York City.

[A]

Now I was in Jersey, living in a shitty apartment in Springfield, New Jersey. But it didn't matter. And I was able to save money because I worked 8am to 10pm Monday through Saturday. I didn't have time to spend money and the Internet didn't work the way it did back then. So it wasn't like I could gamble or buy like, like, like it was just like a very. I had a. I'm starting to realize in my late 40s. I'm like, man, my life was weird. Weird. Like it was weird. I was like in a very weird emotional place, which is amazing. Like off the charts lucky. Just like being an athlete or any or, you know, Beyonce's born with her voice.

[B]

She put in the work, she developed it, but she had.

[A]

LeBron was born with what he is put in the work. And that's how I feel about myself. I was given a lot of talent emotionally and a lot of entrepreneurial talent. And I've put in an obnoxious amount of work and here comes the outcomes. But like, also, just like anybody else, I've gone through my journey along the way. My last book, 12 and a half. I talk a lot about candor being my weakness, my kryptonite.

[B]

Candor. What do you mean by that?

[A]

Well, Gary Vee's candorous next hour here, I'll fucking shoot. I'll be like you, you know, And I do that well as Gary V. But as Gary Vaynerchuk, when I have an employee that stinks, I. For my whole career to this day, it's a problem. To this day I'm a 5 out of 10.

[B]

Me a 4.7 at being honest or being, being.

[A]

See that Even like honestly that like made me crumble. I hate that candor is.

[B]

Well, I mean.

[A]

No, no, no, no, you're right. No, no, you're right. Candor is a synonym or whatever the it's called of honesty. My ability to be honest with an employee that has been around my company for a period of time and now I like them. Who's underperforming has been the disproportionate kryptonite of my career, which surprises People, Because Gary Vee on stage or on podcast, that's my strength. But I'm talking to the world when.

[B]

It'S one on one and you care about someone.

[A]

And I know everything about them. I know that their dad this and their mom this, and I know they're having struggles at home or I know they came in and had $50,000 in college debt. And I'm like, oh. Like. And so I've realized one of my great weaknesses of my career is that I bleed too much charity into my work.

[B]

Oh, man.

[A]

And one of our biggest connection point in our friendship is, you know, pencils of promise. Right. And I've done a good job in doing charity work, but I haven't been able to take off. Like, I really envy the people who, like, don't bleed in charity. Charity has been an element of my investing. I've invested in companies that if my life depended on it, I would never have invested in. I 100% knew it wouldn't work, but I wanted to write a 20 to $50,000 check because I liked the person.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

I have kept many employees within my companies for a long time. And here's the worst part. I've taken the brunt of that because it's lost profit. Right. It's reputational damage. People are like, why is Gary keeping around Sally? And then what ends up happening is eventually there is a moment where that person goes. But it's always been sloppy because of the lack of a year or two.

[B]

After they should have.

[A]

And then I'm the bad guy. And it's all because. And so candor has been something I've developed a lot more. A lot more.

[B]

It's still so challenging.

[A]

Back to we were joking about. I just read the audiobook. Like, there are a couple things on earth that come incredibly hard to me. One is candor to nice people when I have to let them go in a business. And two is reading my audiobook.

[B]

I know, man.

[A]

Which is a grind.

[B]

Although you mentioned you're in your late 40s now.

[A]

Is that right?

[B]

I just turned 41 and I'm 48 a couple weeks ago. 40. 48. If you could go back to 40, okay. And think about all the things that you struggled with in the last, I guess, eight years.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You've had, you know, people see your wins and successes nonstop. Like all the exits and investments and the growth of Vaynermedia and the books and your time best nft, all these different things that people see that. But for you, what do you think are the two or three things that have been beyond candor, your biggest struggles, or the hardest things you've had to overcome. I'm Dexter Morgan. I've been through hell, but now I'm.

[A]

Back for my curtain call. And what better place to hide than New York City?

[B]

There may be a new area code.

[A]

But my curse code never changes.

[B]

In a city full of monsters, my.

[A]

Dark urges will feel right at home. Dexter Resurrection Starring Michael C. Hall, Uma Thurman and Peter Dinklage. New series streaming July 11th on the.

[B]

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[A]

Is very real right now, which is. I am atrocious at smelling the roses, because the whole game for me is smelling the roses. However, I'm sensing, like. But would I have enjoyed the memories of the more extreme version of smelling the roses? Let me explain. Yeah. So when I have wins, I don't celebrate them. Like, there's no, like, in my world. We just landed a $20 million client.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

It's a lot. It's a big client. And a bunch of the people at Vayner, they've worked at other places. They're like, so when's the. So when are we doing, like, the celebration thing? And I'm like, what do you. I don't. Like, my brain's like, I don't understand what you're saying. Right. And not that, like, I'm like some tyrant. It's almost like just my energy goes to, like, problems. I'm a fo. You know, As I continue to go through my own journey, it'll be very clear that I was blessed with many things as a child, but I was also burdened with some. Like, I was the oldest from the old country. I mean, when I tell you, since the time I was five years old, I remember being ingrained, like, responsibility, responsibility, take care of sister, take care like my mom. And I admire that from my mom. Do I also understand, like, anything, if anything's too extreme, one or the other between that and then, don't forget, at 14, I come into my dad's business. By the time I'm like 15 and a half, when you still used to even use a half, it became clear, like, I was a talent. Back to the great Kobe Bryant that you got to do a podcast.

[B]

We're up 20, 30%, you know, this year because you're in there. Fricking razzle dazzle.

[A]

So guess what happens now? I'm 17 and 18 and 19, and I'm feeling the financial burden. Right. And now that was. I want to be very careful here. It's not like my father came to me and said, you need to. Absolutely not. I did that to myself. But it was hardwired in early, and my environment's, like, my responsibility. You know, I think a lot of first generation oldest immigrants that were born in the old country and their siblings were born here, actually. That's really cool. Anybody who's watching, email me at garynerx if you're this exact person. You're an immigrant yourself. You immigrated to America or any first world country, London, anywhere else. And you're the only sibling that was born in the old country. But you have siblings that were born in the new world. I think there's something there. Of course there's something there. I felt half parent my whole life. Wow. A.J. who? You know. Well, I mean, minimumly, I feel 50% dad. 50%. Wow. Really? Of course, he's 11 years younger than me.

[B]

That's true.

[A]

You know, so you're 18 and he's 7. And forget about the 11 years. Like I just told you earlier, I felt that way towards my sister, who's only three and a half years younger. There was just something like, you're the. And again, I think back, this is where I'll say something very important right now, I believe. I think we judge our parents too much.

[B]

Yeah, of course.

[A]

Like, I don't sit here and say mom. Like, you know, I think people really dwell too much. I understand. My mom lost her mom at 5, and then her dad went to jail for 10 years in the Soviet Union. Cause every entrepreneur did.

[B]

And so when you're.

[A]

Her and her brother were the world. So she made. I mean, bratin sistra Sheena Galava was like propaganda into my head of, like, my relationship with my sister.

[B]

But it's hard when you're 8 to think that way, to not think your parents should be trying to protect you and educate you and, you know, elevate you.

[A]

But there is no should.

[B]

I get it.

[A]

You know, you want to have a real moment in this podcast. Everybody, I'm looking at all the cameras right now. There is no should. That's the biggest thing. Right. Because then we could say your parents should do this. And then I'll tell you the biggest pandemic in the world right now, which is 22 to 30 year olds who are really struggling with standing on their own two feet because their parents went too far to what you just said. Right.

[B]

Took care of them too much.

[A]

Too much. So this purple, by the way, look at these two books.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

This is purple for a specific reason. I'm not a Lakers fan.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

And meet me in the middle. What I can tell you has become very clear to me is I believe that the world desperately needs to figure out how to fall in love with purple. Not red or blue, because they both have major valid points and they both have major flaws. And the middle, especially parenting. One of the reasons I started Be Friends is I knew what was happening with Gary Vee. You know this. We run in enough similar circles. I've been very blessed that because of where I was, I was then able to be what my mom and my circumstance in a lot of ways did for me. I've been able to do for a lot of people. Right. It feels nice.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

You get it too. It feels nice for people to say, hey, you've really helped me for me. Children, you get in that early. It's one thing if I meet you in 2009 in St. Louis and can be a positive deposit. You've been built though there's a lot of there. You had to do a lot of your work. I had. I couldn't do. I can't do that as an outside. Outside motivation or inspiration or perspective.

[B]

Right.

[A]

But when you get in early. So for example, in Vee Friends, there's a character called Accountable Ant. I'm obsessed with this character. I believe that if I can make that character cool, like Pikachu or Spider man, right? That if you're a kid that falls in love with the cartoons I'm gonna put out or the kids books or the video games, and you're like I with Accountable Ant. That's my guy, right?

[B]

I am accountable for everything in my life.

[A]

Think about what happens if you love Spider man or you love Wolverine or you love Pikachu, like you're subconsciously getting in virtues of that, like. Or you envy it because you don't have it. If all of a sudden accountable and is your dying or wearing hoodies with kind of gets hard if you're like I with accountable aunt and you're not accountable, or at least strive to it, or at least even know the existence. There's many people watching, listening, that don't even realize that they live in a full dwelling, complaining, blaming framework. I've had many friends, relatives and relationships, acquaintances and business partners because my parents too far went with no complaining, which meant keeping things in. Right? But as you can imagine, if you're visceral to complaining, you smell it from a mile away.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And then if you're really visceral to it and you smell from a mile away, well, you're aware that someone's constantly dwelling, dwelling and blaming. And so to me, like, what was most fascinating in my 30s and 40s, as I've gone through this journey, is they don't see it. Which led me to the great breakthrough of candor. Louis. I didn't know when we met that that was my kryptonite. I thought it was my strength. How about that?

[B]

Because you're being honest online and you're being honest on stage. You mean or.

[A]

Nope, because I. Because in. I didn't even realize the dichotomy of that. I just thought I was being nice. I was like, look what I'm doing for Sally. Two more years of payroll when she sucks. Look what I'm doing for Ricky.

[B]

Right?

[A]

This guy blows. He'll never be okay out there. There was probably a mix of little ego, like, jump on my shoulders, I'll be Superman, which is why I'm using the kryptonite example. But there was also. I thought it was being good. Life's hard lessons. I had to wake up in my mid-40s and go, why is anyone that's ever worked for me not like me? Because, you know, you'd read a tweet and be like, Gary. Like, I'd be like, fuck. How's that possible? I was so nice to Johnny, I had to really do that work.

[B]

Why do you think they. People maybe don't like you?

[A]

Well, people in the outside world who don't know me don't like me. The reason they wouldn't like it is because either my communication style isn't their jam, which I understand. Like, when you're aggressive and confident and competitive and jersey and like, my shtick in their mind, like, it doesn't work for now. I understand that. Yeah, Some people are more chill. Like, you know, like, the reason people don't like, I love to live in New York City. Some people come to get me the out of here on that. Right. It's too much that I respect.

[B]

Number two, the people that know you or work for you or.

[A]

Yeah, let me finish this, because I think this will help people. Because what I'm really trying to do in this is not say it about me. I'm hoping that people can start having a better relationship with people not liking them that don't know them.

[B]

That's good.

[A]

So number two, it's their own. They want to be a successful entrepreneur. And I'm triggering affirmation of they're not there yet and they're like this guy. Right. Three, they've overly put me on a pedestal, and then I do something that they don't agree with and it f. Cks them up, which is very flattering but very understanding. But it's all wrapped up in who they are with themselves on the version of people that do know me. The only thing, the black and white thing was the inability. It's only the people closest that didn't get the candor that I actually ironically liked the most. Now, what's been nice, you know, what got me away with it for a long time, was people's like, own accountability. Why I was getting away with it in my own mind, to my own self, was people would hit me up three, four years later with emails like, I'm sorry. Cause they had gone through. Look, if you're. If you're like, if you're a C player, you're good with me. Because I think you need all kinds. It was D and F. So you could imagine, and that was a subjective opinion, whether I'm right or wrong. But as you can imagine, it's not like I'm bad at it. I've been doing it my whole life. So a lot of those people really were dnfing it. And they, through their own work on themselves, actually were able to go back and actually see a lot of the. They were able to see so many of the nice things I was doing, even though I was sloppy on the candor and on the firing.

[B]

It's kind of like when you get older and you look back at your parents, you blame your parents as a kid, oh, they didn't give me this. They didn't do this. But then.

[A]

Then you understand.

[B]

I know they were just doing the best they could or they really tried hard here, and they were giving me so much here.

[A]

They sacrificed sacrifice, especially if you become a parent yourself.

[B]

Of course, then you're like, oh, I get it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course I get it.

[A]

It's. It's. It's almost like the way I think about athletes. Like, boo, you suck. I'm like, you go.

[B]

You go. Try that. Yeah, yeah. I mean, speaking about this topic, I mean, just start with, you know, still kind of with this first question. Is this sustainable? What you just said right here, I think is one of the biggest things that holds people back, Whether that's creating content online, starting a business, or putting themselves out there in any endeavor is people care so much what other people think about them.

[A]

The end.

[B]

How do people overcome the opinions and judgments of others with their craft, business.

[A]

Or art therapy, Positive consumption, new friends, exercise, psychedelics. True. In work, that is starting with. Do you understand that that's what is actually happening? I believe that that is a blind spot to everyone. They don't realize why they wear designer clothes. For so many people, it's attracting the opposite sex because they're looking for that closing of the gap of love, right? So of course Alpha guy's like, I got to get a. You know, think about all the trends we see, right? Like, these girls won't like me if I'm not rich, right? Like, but it's all, like, deeper than that. That's the surface level, like, pizzazz. It's like they're looking for love, and love is important as. And so because they're looking for that, they believe they need the proxies to get it without realizing that's often going to attract. Not the clean version of love you're actually looking for. It's a whole up. It's almost. You know, it's funny, I said something to Nick, one of my key executives at VaynerMedia. He came from Saatchi and Saatchi, a very classic, you know, Mad Men era, right? And about six months in, I could see he had it and all this. And then. And then he was, like, doing a bunch of stuff, and I kind of recognized what was happening. And I sat him down and I said, nick, I want you for the next year in this company, if you want to grow, do the opposite of everything you intuitively think you want to do.

[B]

What was he doing he would do?

[A]

Like, for example, at vayner, what I try to teach people, I talk about the irony about what I'm saying. So it's.

[B]

Be candid. Be candid.

[A]

Give me your hand. This is so crazy. I launched, as you know, Dustin, we just launched something called elephant meetings. Let's get the elephant out of the room.

[B]

Oh, that's good.

[A]

It's saving our company, bro.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

And when I say saving, our retention is gonna explode. Cause of this.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

So what? He and every advertising person. I'm laughing right now. Cause I know every single ad agency, marketing agency, social media agency person's about to smile. Whether they consciously or subconsciously do it. Everything is based on save the customer, which means you're just eating. Like, you're just yesing them to death, even though they're wrong. Like, I'll give you an example in social media, Louis, I want you to post on MySpace. That's where we need to be. And you're like, yes, sir, Gary, we will. And you know, that's not what you should do today. And so just like, classic stuff, or like putting a television commercial on a pedestal versus a social media post, which is my whole thesis. So there was just a lot of stuff. It was coming with a lot of baggage.

[B]

Yeah. Yes.

[A]

Anyway, I know he's gonna smile right now because I know it's been a big factor in his life. And it's kind of what I want to say to everyone right now. It's almost like, if you're not happy as you're listening right now, if you're anxious. If you're feeling a lot of pressure, the answer is ironically, you have to start doing the opposite of everything you naturally want to do. So. Right. So you naturally want to be at night dealing with this and you're all stressed. So what you want to naturally do is go grab another bottle of vodka. What you're supposed to do is not do that and wake up tomorrow morning and go to the gym. I do think the other thing is, let's talk about people like to say the toxic people around you. I'm going to give you a different one. What about the enablers?

[B]

Right.

[A]

What about the people like your mom or dad or brother and sister or best friends who are letting you get away with your bad behavior? Because they have my flaw. They don't have candor. So what people understand is like they're.

[B]

Not going to give you tough love or tough communication or just challenging communication.

[A]

It's really crazy, right? Like, like it's like in, in, in my real life, in the GaryVee part of it all the admiration comes from like you're the one that told me like shut up. Right. But in real life.

[B]

Right, right.

[A]

But in real life I'm very fortunate. I'm a pretty stable, epic family situation where it's like we don't have any like off the reservation family members where like, but like friends and stuff like that. Like I, I was, I was taught and it's ingrained in me to be the superhero I want to fix. But that's what gets parents in a bad place of paying for their kids and all that. So these are complicated things. But I would say to people, pay attention to your circle because it's everything. You know, it's a cliche. It's not like I'm inventing a saying the five people you're around, you know all that. It's real. Yeah, it's real. I really watch that and I'm like, that's real life stuff.

[B]

How worried are you for Gen Z?

[A]

Not at all.

[B]

You're not worried?

[A]

No. I'll explain why. Because there's unlimited entitled lazy boomers now do I think that stereotypes have merit in them? Of course. That's how they happen. So like do I think that the circumstances of parents over coddling as a generational truth, 8th place trophies as a generational truth and then Covid where the government paid you more money to stay home, do I think it's created entitlement and some vulnerabilities? I do and I get it. Like if you've been over Coddled. You're scared to lose. We were laughing a little bit before about our famous thumb wrestling match where you destroyed me on Summit at Sea. I viewed that as, like, fun. Like, literally every time I see you, my chemicals go in a good way of like, that dude, I gotta get him. You know, that's a good thing. Not like, I'm a loser. He's better than me.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

You know?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I just, you know, I think I'm not worried about it because I know too many. Like, I think about my company. We have a lot, right. We have both full extremes. There are people walking around currently in my company who are out of their mind, expectation wise. Like, literally, like, if they could say it, they. They want me to like, come to their house, pick them up, walk them to like, like, you know what I mean?

[B]

Like, what they want.

[A]

Yeah. There's just like a lot of expectations. We've demonized companies. You know, the problem for companies is they're not governments or schools or your parents. Governments, schools, or your parents don't have merit with you. Meaning a company, if it runs out of money, it closes, it can't pay you, it's over. And you know your parents, like, they'll constantly run up their own credit card for you if they're those kind of parents. The government is full of print money in perpetuity. Just print more money. And by the way, if I could print money, I'd give like.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And schools, that's fake O land.

[B]

Right, Right.

[A]

You're talking about somebody who. This is real now. In that famous four years of high school, never opened a book once, never did one piece of homework, never. Never spent one minute studying for a test.

[B]

How'd you pass?

[A]

I figured out somewhere around freshman year that school was going for blue ribbon status and they needed everyone to pass.

[B]

Wow. They were just enabling people to get through. Wow.

[A]

I was like, good, this works for me. And I'm. I'm an entrepreneur.

[B]

Yeah. One day I'm going to be on the weekend.

[A]

I also knew that I was going to be like such a workaholic that I was like, let me take these last couple of years of enjoyment and get some. Bank up some rest, you know? And so this goes back to being weird. Like, I had a lot of weird dynamics now that I realized, like, the world, like, go. Because before it, I lived in my own life, in my own family, in my own neighborhood, with no Internet. I didn't know that my life was weird.

[B]

Right.

[A]

You know, and so anyway. And then I've got gen zers who are 20 year olds. You and me, fire coming out of their work.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like, you know, and not because they eat spicy food. Because they're just like, I'm gonna like, look me dead in the face and saying, I'm gonna run this whole company one day. And I'm like, let's go, Sally. Let's.

[B]

So what would you say to someone in their 20s who maybe wants to accomplish a lot and maybe didn't have it that hard growing up. And they feel like it's going to come easily to them.

[A]

Force the hard, create the struggle.

[B]

Why is that?

[A]

I said it to a friend. You know, it's crazy. My friends I grew up with, like in our era, their kids now are 18. Like, right? If you had a kid, it's crazy. So I'm now having the craziest talks, like, ever. I'm like, I knew this kid when he was 2 and I'm talking to him now, like my audience. And I tell a lot of these kids and a lot of them, especially the ones I was close with and we did a lot of business. Some of these parents really made money, you know, like those early Facebook and Twitter. And like, you know, like, then you're like, so these kids are bougie, right?

[B]

They're wearing bad clothes than you.

[A]

I told hell yes. Yeah though this Gap hoodie, that's pretty money, Richard. Good. I tell them like, yo, bro, I had a very, very real conversation two weeks ago. I said, bro, I said, you got two choices here. You take mommy and daddy's money and create some sort of fake picture. And all the real ones know. So you're not tricking winners and you're tricking 98% of the losing players. And you can live that life. And many do.

[B]

That's the easy way.

[A]

Or if you're telling me cause the kid had good words coming out of his mouth, I'm like, if you mean it well, then you need to go work at a company and work your ass off and learn. Yeah. And you need to eat and you need to get three roommates instead of your own place. And you need to. If you do not take their money, then you can do it. So if you were fully taken care of your whole life, you were allowed to say, mom, dad, no, you're allowed. The problem is too many people like to talk out of both sides of their mouth. They want to on mom and dad, but they want the unlimited credit card. They like that. They bought them an apartment.

[B]

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[A]

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[B]

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[A]

And I'm doing it right now. My kids can watch this. They're going to watch it, right? Think about this. No kid listens to their parents. So like me and my friends who like think about thoughtful. We all laugh. They're like, can you talk to my kids? I'm like, yeah, but can you talk to them? If your kids want. My kids are like you, Gary V. They really don't. I'm very fortunate. But. But no, no in the way that I'm saying it, they're not fully saying it. They're like, dad, it's dad. Yeah, of course they're not about. They didn't find me on the for you page and be like who's this cool guy? They're like no way bro. I'm not listening to you. And I'm smart enough. I don't know if smart's the right. I'm aware enough to know like I'm not gonna be listen I'm dad and every dad and mom has have obnoxious impact on their kid but I'm gonna be dad to them which means an outside voice. Like I'm able to be a contributor to so many. I can't be that for my kids cause I'm the main thing that's interesting. So other people have to be contributors. But it's cool because I understand it. I'm pretty fortunate. I know a lot of people that I think are really positive contributors to the conversation and I can't wait. Just like my friends now are like. Like the last four years have been phenomenal. Especially five years because of TikTok. Cause it even started a little bit earlier. There isn't a week that doesn't go by that a business acquaintance all the way. You know, that's over here to you to the inner circle, right? That my social graph that I won't get a text and be like. And like it's so funny because it's happening. So common. It's always the same thing. You'll never believe this. And at first I didn't know what it was and then, and then a couple years in I was like, what? But I knew and I would smile. But now I reply immediately. I'm like, your kids follow me on TikTok and they think I'm cool. They're like, how'd you know? I'm like, you know, I'm like, that's how day trading attention works. But you know, it's really, really cool. I can't wait for my son who's 11 in like 4 years, 6 years text me like dad, do you know who Lewis Howes is? Or dad, how do you know Lewis Howes or dad, you've known him since. Look, taking a picture of us at world cost plus market or whatever, right? That's going to be interesting. But I'm aware that I'm dad so I'm trying to give them all the I believe in but I know it's a different version than what Gary Vee is because they're going to have supplement compliment voices to their world and it'll be interesting to see what they gravitate towards. They may be like many kids, they may gravitate away from mine message, they may reject it. They'd be like purple, I want to be extreme blue or extreme red.

[B]

They may wow.

[A]

And I think, notice how I'm saying that I'm not scared of that. When you love, when you try, when you have intent, when you're ready for it, it's like a game. It's like business. I'm ready for the trials and tribulation of fatherhood. I'm ready for the trials and tribulation of a human being. I anticipate heartbreak. I anticipate my parents passing away because it will happen. It would be very good for my parents to pass away before I pass away. Mainly because I wouldn't want that for them. Right. So like, I mean like, you know, but those things don't cripple me. Those things, I actually are the enhancer of me enjoying a day like this. Today's a good day.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Everybody I love is good.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know what I mean?

[B]

What does cripple you?

[A]

Not much, brother. I think the thing that cripples me is I haven't had the extreme heartbreak of losing a family member that's within my inner six or seven.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, that scares the out of me.

[B]

Yeah. It's tough.

[A]

I couldn't comprehend losing a sibling, a parent, a niece, a nephew, a child that just, it's. I'm not ready for that game. I really, My heart cries deeply for every human that has ever had to taste the sorrow of losing a child.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And then for the people that are lucky like me, who are deeply grateful in love with their parents. That's also a crusher. Right again. Now I'm 48. I have so many 60, 70 year old friends. Like, it's really fascinating. You can see it. I mean I have friends who, I can see it on their face. They genuinely. Not that they want their mom or dad to die, but that relationship is so not good that there's a part of them that's a cleansing and like.

[B]

They kind of like a freeing of.

[A]

Yeah, they kind of like, you know, they definitely don't think about it the way I do, which is like, please God, don't let it happen for another 40 years.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know what I mean?

[B]

Yeah, of course.

[A]

So, you know, that's, that's important to me. But I keep life very basic. I keep it very binary. It's.

[B]

I mean, you say that, but from the outside people see that you have, you know, 2, 000 employees. You've got, I don't know, 100 bazillion social media followers. You got a thousand pieces of content.

[A]

Going out of your inner sports and vfriends. All these things the pickleball community and all this stuff.

[B]

You've got all these different. You invest in, I don't know, a million different companies. You've got thousands of relationships that are constantly texting you.

[A]

That's because people don't understand the root cause of why that's happening. The root causes. Because it's simple, really. Sure.

[B]

But how do you.

[A]

How do you explain.

[B]

How do you navigate all of these businesses? Relationships, content.

[A]

How much do you. How much. How much do you bench?

[B]

I mean, I can. Well, I recently did 225. 11 times.

[A]

Okay. I cannot do that.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

How did you do that? Two things. You were physically gifted in your birth, and then you put in work.

[B]

I trained.

[A]

And I have a funny feeling. Am I wrong? You. You've benched more at certain parts in your life, right?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. How much did you do at the most?

[B]

15 times, maybe 225.

[A]

Great.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So why 15 that time and 11 this time?

[B]

I'm building it back up.

[A]

Right. This is where I'm going.

[B]

Training.

[A]

You had put in more work. How am I able to do this? I was gifted in being a purebred entrepreneur, which means I want to do a lot of different things. Purebred. There are not a lot of people who never opened up a book. Even the worst of the worst. I'm telling you because I was selling Facebook. Come home, start pricing my baseball cards for the card show. And then the next year, there was my dad's world. Come home and read the. Wasn't that I wasn't working. What did I do on Wednesday, October 9, 1991, when I got home, I went into my room, put on SportsCenter and got the latest issue of the Wine Spectator and read it.

[B]

Or Beckett or whatever was back then.

[A]

Beckett was 90, and then it started in 91. And then it started being Wine Spectator. It wasn't complicated. I was going deep. And so, you know, how do I do it?

[B]

It's because you navigate and manage all.

[A]

Of it by not being scared to drop it. That's the key. Because I have 43 balls up. I'm going to have 17 fall. I think we live in a world back to insecurity and confidence where people have one ball and they're petrified for it to fall. I have 43 and 17 fall. And I don't care if somebody. Let's pick a business. Vayner speakers. Our speaking bureau. If there's a press release that says Vayner X is shutting down Vayner speakers. I like a logical human, like Anybody else would be like, oh, they couldn't pull it off, it didn't work. Gary couldn't do it. It didn't go good.

[B]

Right?

[A]

That's a loss. That's right. I just don't know how to be concerned with Lewis and Dustin and everybody right now reading that and saying Gary's. What are you going to say? Gary's not as good as he thinks, I don't think.

[B]

Have you never been concerned about what people think about you with a loss or a challenging time?

[A]

Not. Not a loss or a challenging time. Really the reason I've spent so much time trying to figure out candor is I really care. Let's use Max Bass, great former employee. I love him. I just want to give him a shout out. Plus I'm looking at this purple and yellow, he's a big Lakers fan and he's in la, so it's probably why it came to mind. I care if Max Bass thinks I'm a good dude. Spent too much time with him. The quality of me as a human matters to me. Not as me as a businessman. I'm aware that I love it. I love being an entrepreneur. I'm famously an entrepreneur. I was one of the entrepreneurs that happened to be in place when it became the thing. But it is not how I fucking think about myself. It's what I do. It's my favorite game, it is my passion. It's not who I am. So it's made it very easy. Plus I'm very, you know, I'm, I'm very like happy, go lucky. But I'm competitive. Meaning, you know, like, meaning like let's say a coconut hit your head and you became a totally different kind of guy and that, let's keep playing that scenario. Vayner speaker shuts down and you text me hahaha bro, you thought you could do everything. I'd be like bro, you've lost too right? Like that's the other gear I have. First I'm empathetic, which is like you must not be in a good place if you want to kick me when I'm down. And then second, I'm like you. That's the other thing that I don't understand what these people are doing. As if any human on earth today hasn't up multiple parts of their life. Maybe they're not a good dad, maybe they're not a good mom, maybe they're not a good employee, maybe they're a bad sister, maybe they're not good to their mother, maybe they're bad at Driving. Maybe they don't know how to cook. Maybe they. Maybe they're 400 pounds overweight because they don't have a good relationship with. Like, as if anyone on earth is perfect is perfect. I mean, this is insane to me.

[B]

When you see people getting attacked.

[A]

Things Michael Jordan is not good at, you know, things Tom Brady is not good at. You can be the greatest at something and suck. That's something else. I can write six New York Times bestselling books. But I'm aware, based on the last three days that I'm not in the top 4 million people that should be reading an audiobook now. Everybody will love it. And this is why I do it, because I get the feedback, because they want it to be me. And I go off script and I add stuff, but the skill of reading, I blow. That's why I was a bad student. In hindsight, I didn't know the was going on.

[B]

I was like, yes.

[A]

And that's why I was good at history. The only reason the only class I did well at was history is because I listened during class. My audio was tough. Oh, Shanghai Shek.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know what I mean? Oh, that's what Germany did. Oh, that's who the president was. Oh, Walter Mondale lost every state but one to Reagan. Like, that's why I know that, because I listened to. Wow.

[B]

When people criticize you for being too busy or doing too many entrepreneurial things and they have no clue about your personal life, but they'll criticize you. Oh, he's probably not showing up for his kids or he's not there for his relationships or whatever it might be. How do you navigate that conversation? When people say, he's just a business guy, but he's really not good at family, intimate relationships, personal life.

[A]

I mean, if my mom said that, then I'd be like, let's have this conversation. If Johnny pants 49 in the comments section says it, I'm like, johnny Pants. I don't know you. Usually it's a direct reflection of their own anxiety. Lewis, think about this. Could you imagine taking time to going to somebody else's account, criticizing them to try to make them feel bad? No, no, I don't. Like, you know this. I'm trying to change some words in society. Let's take criticizing out. It sounds like classic. No, no, no. You are going to. I want to go back to first.

[B]

Grade talk to try to pull them down.

[A]

You're trying to make someone feel bad.

[B]

Yeah. Shame them.

[A]

You're trying to make someone feel bad. I don't know, man. Like, I just don't have that gear.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And. And I don't judge those people either. My lack of judgment against haters, trolls, negative people is, is a very big power.

[B]

How do you not take that personally when so many people did?

[A]

They don't, they don't know me.

[B]

Yeah, it's.

[A]

Honestly, brother, it's logical. It's actually very logical. I would have to think you care more about what I think about you than someone you've never met. Because we've interacted 31 times. It would just be logical.

[B]

Yeah. I had to learn this probably the hard way for many years.

[A]

Really.

[B]

Until the last five years when it started to be like, okay, when people are saying nasty things about me online or leaving a nasty comment or whatever it is, I could literally take it as a neutral information and not take it personally anymore. But it took me a decade of being in this world, brother.

[A]

I'm not a robot.

[B]

Right, Right.

[A]

It's not like, you know, especially like, I'll give you a big one. The proudest thing I have in my life professionally is that I sacrificed the first 12 full years of my career to build a business for my mom and dad. It is the single thing I'm proudest of. It has also been the thing historically that people weaponize against me. Really don't listen to him because they don't know my story. You know, on TikTok he inherited a winery.

[B]

Right, right, right.

[A]

First of all, it was a liquor store in New Jersey I didn't inherit. I'm one of the few people on earth that was the direct correlation for massive growth for their family and extracted mass. No financial value.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I'm the opposite of what you think you're weaponizing against me, but you're weaponizing that against me. It's all just logic. You're saying that because what I'm saying in this video is hard. I'm saying you stop blaming the government, the school system, your parents and get. What about you? You're a grown ass kid now. You're 26. The are you crying about you don't like it? Put in the work. You've got unlimited people look up to. You're talking about over five years putting in the work. I'm sitting here saying, man, I'm still working on. I'm not even. I'm not even like 4.7 is what I scored me. And think about it, I'm grading my own homework, which means it's really a 3.2. Why are you not capable of Being accountable or we all. You eventually have to man and woman up. No matter how toxic. Like there are. When people say to me, well, but my dad, I'm like, bro, there are people who had their uncles abduct them. There are people who watched their parents drive out of the driveway and get hit by a truck and get killed. There are so much extreme like, as if your circumstance is the single worst one. We both are very active in a charity that is trying to help 800 million people. I'm sorry about that. And I was going for a fact, brother. 800 million people on earth did not have access to what I just dumped water. You and I spend real time on that. 800 million people can't get clean water within a day right now on earth.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And you're telling me your mom hurt your feelings. I get it. That's real. But you're not capable of being accountable and saying, you know what? This. I'm gonna be the one that fixes it. How many. I met a man, by the way I'm recalling now, had drinks the other day. Gentleman who said, I was the one that broke the pattern of alcoholism in my family. My great grandfather, my grandfather, my father. And I said, no. And everything was there for me to do it. I was on the streets at 13. I started to go down it and I was like, no. So why him? He's not special. I'm not special. You're not special. We have talents.

[B]

The thing I love about what you're doing with Meet me in the middle is you're teaching. I mean, adults. Anyone? Kids, but adults as well. Emotional accountability. You're teaching emotional intelligence. You're teaching skills that can be applied towards day trading.

[A]

Correct.

[B]

And content and business. And just navigating the business world.

[A]

High, low, Right?

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

If I can get you right here, like, if you read this as a kid, then like the amount of people. That is easy then, bro. The amount of. When I tell you know me pretty well.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

I know that this book is gonna slay because I'm straight up feeding you. Like, here's the medicine. Like, I was bored reading my book. Right. Dustin. Like the first half because it's so detailed.

[B]

It's like step by step. Do this and then add this and then do this.

[A]

Jab, jab, jab. Right hook. Did really well. And I was like, okay. Cause they get so much top level from me every day on social. Let me in book form. Give them something that they can like, right?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I know this will crush. Here's the problem to where you're about to go. If they don't have their together, they're gonna start. It's double screwed. It's gonna start working a little bit, and then they're gonna get Johnny pants saying you. And they're gonna be like, so it doesn't even matter.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

That's why I need yin and yang.

[B]

Yeah. That's why I had all the drive. For most of my life, I was like, I need to be successful. I'm gonna get better in sports. I was willing to put in the work and do whatever it to win. Right. And that helped me become accomplished. But it left me feeling insecure, alone, and still not enough inside. No matter how much I had no how many accomplishments or success or accolades or whatever it might be or people telling me followers, it didn't make me feel loved, didn't bring me peace. That's what I was telling you before. You were like, what's different in your life right now? And I said, I feel peace, I feel abundant, I feel grateful, I feel blessed, and I feel loved. And it wasn't because I've accomplished more. It's because I went inside and I started really connecting with my heart, my emotions, childhood stuff, and just allowing myself the time and space to heal and that. And it's. That's been the hardest work. That has been harder than building business and doing the podcast for 11 years every week and all these different things. But actually looking at the. The insecurities in front of me from as far back as I could go, looking at my younger self in front of me and developing a new relationship with self, brothers, everything, and it's given me peace with the ups and downs. You know, it's just giving me a different perspective of gratitude. I've always been grateful, but this has given me more gratitude towards everything. And I want to share the skill that I think has really helped me. The thing that I've had to learn that I didn't have for most of my life, that has really given me this perspective in a moment. But I want to ask you with Meet Me in the middle.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

If you could only give people three talents that they should work on, focus on, develop, that is going to help them in this. It's going to help them with relationships, health, everything. You've got a lot of different things with Meet Me in the Middle and a lot of different characters and archetypes and identities that people can build into three emotional skills that people can master in their 20s, 30s, and beyond. What would those three things be? You've probably heard me say this before, but taking care of your health should be your number one priority. What you put in your body directly impacts how you think, how you feel, and how you show up in the world. And whether you're training for a marathon, you're running a business, or just trying to get through a busy day with energy and clarity. Nutrition is fundamental and when I fuel my body right, I perform better. Period. And that's why I'm a big fan of RX Bar. RX Bar is all about simple ingredients and honest nutrition. They lead with transparency. Just look at their packaging says no bs. Just real ingredients like egg whites for protein, dates to bind and nuts for texture. Whether you're on the go or in between meetings, they've got something that fits the original 12 gram protein bar, the nut butter and oat bar, soft, crispy and packed with 10 grams of protein or the mini just 100 calories with 6 grams of protein. RXBar is the proud sponsor of no BS and they want you to say NO to what's holding you back and yes to what fuels your greatness. Use code greatness on RXBar.com for 25% off. RXBar proud sponsor of no BS subject to full terms and conditions and to change. Valid until September 30, 2025 and may not be combined with other offers. See rxbar.com for full details and limitations.

[A]

Should it stay or should it go? What if I mess it up? What if I have to pay taxes now?

[B]

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[A]

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[A]

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[A]

I'll tell them in be friends form so for people that don't know there's 250 plus I think it's 283 be friends and they're named as alliterations of things I believe in. So this book is Patient Pig and Eager Eagle so you can imagine how they can meet in the middle right? To answer your question directly, I will start first with self aware Hair. Self awareness and self awareness has becomes the gateway drug to self love once you can see it in yourself like I didn't see the lack of candor and I'm my superpower is self awareness. This is why I Was so good. I was like, I'm this, but I'm not this. And I'm this and I'm not this. And I didn't envy or have jealousy towards that. I wasn't 6:3. I wish I was.

[B]

Right. Right.

[A]

I wanted to play for the jets instead of own them one day.

[B]

Right, Right.

[A]

But. But it didn't happen.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And I wish I was like, could sing because. And I want to be a Backstreet Boy, but that seemed fun. But. But I didn't have that. And there was never, like, I got really. So self awareness was really, really strong. And I think it would help a lot of people.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

It's okay to be what you are. But do you even know what you are?

[B]

How do you know what you are developing?

[A]

That you're tenacious. Do you know that you're competitive? Do you. And I think you need to double down on those things, not smooth them out or what a lot of people do over obsess of what you're not. You need to tweak things.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Anyway, so self awareness.

[B]

Yes. How do you develop more self awareness?

[A]

I'll go into that in a minute because I've thought about that a lot. I actually think it's about communication around your inner circle to let them feel safe, to tell you the truth.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

It's a wild one.

[B]

Like, tell me what.

[A]

Tell me if you're listening right now.

[B]

What my strengths are, what my weaknesses are.

[A]

I'm giving it to you right now because I just can feel the listener on the other side. Hey, everyone, real talk. If you're like, ooh, this is hitting me. I've got a big one for you. Cause I said this in my last book, and I've gotten a lot of reach out on this. Just pick the two or three people. Probably your sister, your brother, probably your mom or dad. Definitely your best friend. Definitely your best friend. And maybe like an epic person you work with, like your favorite boss ever or current. And literally invite them to a dinner. Literally. I'm not joking. And say, this is gonna be a weird, fun dinner. I'll surprise you when we get there. Because you don't want them to overthink. When you get there. You're gonna say, you'll never believe this. I was listening to Louis podcast. GaryVee was on. I'm really not joking. This is a very important part of this little narrative thing that I'm telling you. You're gonna say to them. It's unlikely you'll be able to deliver on what I'm about to ask right this second, but if you're wondering why my best friend's here and my boss that none of you have ever met, and my sister and my aunt are here, let me tell you why I'll.

[B]

Bring them all together in one.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Because what you want to do is suffocate. It's kind of like posting your weight on the Internet and like you want to suffocate yourself. Correct. You're saying, I want to be more self aware. I need all of you to tell me the full truth. All of you are the people I deem that I think love me the most. Which means it's going to be hard for you to say, but I'm bringing you all together to say, what I need is this. And you don't have to do it now because, boss, you might feel weird saying it in front of my mom the first time you've ever met her. But I need it asap. Tomorrow's fine. One on one and every family things will open up.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Every circle's gonna be different. Every circle's gonna be different.

[B]

This sounds like almost creating a self intervention.

[A]

Correct.

[B]

Most people aren't willing to do that.

[A]

Correct. This is if this Again, I think three to 11 people listening right now, and I know a lot of people are gonna listen between both of our platforms, I think only three to 11 people are gonna do this and they.

[B]

Should send us a message after they do.

[A]

It's gonna be amazing. And so that would be how you find self awareness. Because someone's gonna like, if I had done that, either. My mom, who struggles with it as well, my dad, who recognizes it. Brandon Warnicke, my best friend who runs wine Library and WineText, also struggles with it. So he might have not even been able to say it. My brother might've been able to come through. My sister now would have been able to see it more than 10 years. But if I had done it, somebody in that circle might have been like, you're too full of. You're too nice.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Somebody might have. If I did the. If I did what I'm saying here, which is like, say it. It's okay. I know you don't believe me and you're even. And I was very. I was a challenge for people always because I was always providing so much emotional and financial value. I'm a real piece of work for most people because it is very common for me to be either and often both the emotional and financial value in the relationship, they don't want to.

[B]

They don't want to ruin the relationship. Of course. Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Like, it's, you know, it's a vulnerability for me. It's my coping mechanism. I always have the leverage.

[B]

You take care of people.

[A]

Yeah, I just always have the leverage. I mean, there's. Those are the two things on Earth, emotional. And that's the game.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I'm good at both and generous with both.

[B]

Wow. Okay, so that's number one, self awareness.

[A]

Number two, gratitude, gorilla. I think if you can learn and this is just killing people on Earth, you would be flabbergasted what would happen. And I've seen it with people around me recently, where you just decide right now on this podcast that instead of waking up in the morning, which so many people do, being all upset and having all of their perspective and energy towards what's not good, I should be making more money. I don't like my job. This person I just woke up next to is. I don't like them anymore. Like, all the tough stuff. Instead deciding to be like, I'm glad I woke up and didn't die last night. Simplicity.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Gratitude comes from simplicity. Like, it's like, you know, back to your point. Like, everyone's like, gary, social media's up. Everybody. They think they need this stuff. I'm like, do you understand that I grew up watching Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, right? Like, have you heard of MTV Cribs? Everybody saw that.

[B]

Everyone's showing the Pimp My Ride.

[A]

Like, if you had a $400 used car that felt, yes, this is not a new phenomenon. Like, as if, what, you didn't go to school and one of the kids was the richest kid in school. You didn't have envy that they had a brand new BMW and you had to walk to school. Get the out of here. With envy and jealousy. It's as old as time. So, gratitude, what do you have again? I said something to somebody who was complaining in my inner circle about three, four years ago, and they were just like, but you to me. And then to other stuff, right? And I finally said. I said, X person, let's flip up this dinner. Cause this is not, like, fun. Instead of telling me, like, why I have it better, why? And this is somebody I really know why this person has it better, why your older brother has it better. This is the real example. I'm like, for the next 20 minutes while we eat this chicken, can you please tell me, Hand it to us perfectly. You'll like this. I said, tell me who you have it better than. And it Was a really interesting moment. And I know that person's smiling right now and I'll probably get a text. I think it really had an impact on them because I suffocated it. They're like, oh. I was like, no, no, just appease me. We're like, we're here. Who do you have a better than? And then he went into like all our common people, which he definitely had a better than 99% of people. And then I went into my. And I'm like, okay. And what about everybody who is in Africa right now in concentration and the people in China? What about real. What about somebody who during this dinner got diagnosed with terminal cancer and during this dinner looked down at their phone real quick and got into a car accident that took their life? And what about the two 14 year old twin daughters that lost their mom in that picture I just painted? Since we've been sitting here, I just don't understand how people don't understand what the going on since you and I have been sitting, recording this podcast. Of the 8 billion people on Earth, thousands have died. Have not only died. Correct. But have gotten devastating news.

[B]

I saw this stat maybe five years ago that has given me a completely different perspective on gratitude, that roughly 150,000 people a day die. We woke up today, we're not one of them. And if we can just have that one perspective, 150,000 people live on a day.

[A]

I live on that, Louis. And honestly, death is less scary than something. Notice where I went with it. You said die and I jumped in with devastating news.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Right. I ask this to myself and I ask it to everyone. Is it better for you to die or is it better for the person you love the most on earth and can't live without dying? I think most people are going to choose themselves in that scenario. So there's just a lot going on. So I just think gratitude number three, and we already talked about it, but I'm. I can't get away from it. If you can learn that pointing a thumb will lead to ultimate happiness and pointing a finger will compound your unhappiness, you will realize that accountability is the I. I almost have delusional, not even healthy accountability. That's how much I like it. Like, I really do believe what I'm about to say. Every single thing at vaynerx and Veefriends and vaynersports and every one of my companies that is a problem is 100% my fault. I'm at the top. So if Sally screwed up, well, I hired the person that hired the person that hired the person that hired Sally. I did. So I think that accountability is the anecdote. It's the formula, it's the solution. It's the medicine. And I believe the reason everyone's talking about a lot of rough stuff right now is we are in the greatest era of blame in a very long time.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

It is everyone's fault but yourself.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And that's because politicians are up everything. So it's very easy to be like this. Either this side. Parenting has definitely gone awry where it goes too far, one or another. In general, there's tons of great parents. I just think, you know, we're in a little bit of a pickle. People lack civility. We're just not nice to each other. People are just talking. So negative. People being excited about people's downfalls. Right. I mean, I had a real moment on all this stuff very recently with what happened with Kate Middleton. Right.

[B]

What happened?

[A]

You know, I don't know. I always. I hate talking about things I don't know. So I'm gonna go very headline reading. I. I guess, you know, recently, like, there was some photo and there was like a cropped photo, and everyone had jokes, and everyone had jokes, and she made a video and said, I have cancer.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

And everyone's like, I'm like, and I'm sorry. What do you mean, I'm sorry or I'm embarrassed? What about not doing it in the first place? Are you thing on people for. I just have a very simple question for people. Explain to me any justification on another human being.

[B]

Yeah. I guess the only thing I could think they might be thinking is, well, to hold people accountable if they're doing harm to others.

[A]

Are you?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I have no. I love when people like. Like I have humility would have been the neck. As if I'm supposed to. Who the are you that you're holding? You're supposed to hold Kate Middleton accountable, right? Who the fuck do you think you are? I don't think I'm supposed to hold anybody accountable at some level, including. Including employees, children. You're part of it. That's ego. That's delusion. I'm gonna hold you accountable. For what? That you married into the royal fit with the. What does the matter with you? And sometimes when people play this chess game with me, they go, but what if somebody came up at you and punched you in the face? My brain goes into that. Person's in a really up place.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Before I, like, you know, like, I just. I don't think people have a good relationship with understanding where anger, negativity, and darkness comes from.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

It always comes from a place of weakness.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I struggle to be mad at someone when my first default thought is to have compassion for them.

[B]

Yeah. That's a superpower.

[A]

It's a blessing. I see it in my mom. I know she gave me that DNA and then she obviously fostered it, but it is how I see the world. And I really wish the rest of the world saw it that way, too, because I will tell you what happens with that. You don't have the capacity to hate someone for being different than you.

[B]

Right? Right. When that happens, doesn't mean you have to allow it to continue to happen.

[A]

No. Well, this create boundaries.

[B]

You know what I mean?

[A]

Yeah. This is where I love you for that. I just feel super in charge. Well, Gary, what if I'm like. Well, then I can stop talking to them.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

Well, what if it's your mom? You can stop talking to your mom.

[B]

Right.

[A]

I don't recommend it. I'd rather you go through therapy. Push. Like, I'd rather something. They're being cooked. But you are fully in charge, Gary. Everything's man. I had this dinner the other night. God, a lot of dinners, as you can hear.

[B]

But I want to be respectful of your time.

[A]

No worries. But I'm getting hyped right now. This guy's a. Everything's up in America. I finally looked at him. I said, move.

[B]

Mm. Quit blaming.

[A]

Move.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You like Canada, right? Epic. Mexico, Epic. Wait, I don't know. Sweden sounds nice. Like, Spain's lovely this time of year. I don't shut the up. And I'm not saying that negatively. I'm saying that encouragingly. Dwelling and complaining and envy and jealousy are massive weaknesses. I go on Twitter and I look at all of this, and I'm like, insecure, insecure, insecure, insecure, insecure, insecure. And left, right, left, right. Insecure, insecure, insecure, insecure. Bad place, bad place, bad place. Bad. And not with judgment, with deep hope that I and many others that are in a good place can figure out the single word to say. Do the single podcast, write the single book, post the single quote that might help. One of those people say, fuck it. Because for me, what has definitely made me successful and was a kissing cousin to my inability to be canderous is I care about positivity. I don't do well in negativity. And so I have this yearning to do it for the world. Cause I'm already full it's like back to the cup. Okay, my cup is full. Well, when you're lucky and I think you're going through this journey right now, so this is going to be really understandable to you. I'm good.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So what do you do next?

[B]

Help others.

[A]

It's just you don't know what to do with like there's. It's the only thing that makes you feel good because you don't need any more water. Yeah, your water's full. You don't have room. I'm good. Now. I'm going to end with this. Multiple times a day. I have micro moments of like. But they don't have sustainability. Yeah, yeah, got it.

[B]

You catch it and you move on.

[A]

We lost a big. Two big clients yesterday. One in Asia, one in Europe. There's a lot of work to be done. But like I'm not like I'm dead, you know, like. Or like, you know, like, like there's always something.

[B]

Two books you got going on. Meet Me in the Middle. I think everyone should be getting this, especially parents. Get this so you can have this for your kids.

[A]

Well, the cool thing was Meet Me in the Middle. And the cartoons I'm doing this summer that are going to be launching on YouTube kids is I'm making them both for the parents and the kids. So what I'm most excited about is when the parents read this. I'm poking at them too, of course. And that, that is going to be if I pull anything off. If I pull off the dream I have over the next 40 years, 50 years of be friends. Hopefully one of my 48, 98. I want 105. So over the next 57 years is that I got to them both like I'm. I dream so hard right now that a parent is laying in bed with their five year old reading it and they're like, and how. Yeah. And they're like, oh.

[B]

Yeah. So you guys can get up a copy, go on Amazon or anywhere books are sold. Meet me in the middle. Make sure you get this again. I don't think day trading attention is as valuable unless you get Meet Me in the Middle first. Because then you can appreciate what you're creating in your freelance business. Solo entrepreneur, you know, of your career, whatever it might be, day trading attention.

[A]

That said though, I think about you a lot. Cause I met you when you were the LinkedIn guy in 2009, right. And then you were a pioneer in podcasting. What is exciting about what tricked me for so long was the advice. That's tactical of the moment. Like this. It works for everyone. It's not sustainable work if you don't do the thing you're talking about.

[B]

Absolutely right.

[A]

So 2011, you would have read this and tripled.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

And you would have texted me like, bro, I love you. To your point, you would have still had the same problem with me. You still had to get to that place.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

And then that place becomes where you become the ultimate version.

[B]

Exactly. So get both, obviously, but day trading attention is about how to actually build brand and sales in the new social media world. Again, this is required reading from anyone in online marketing, social media, content creation business. Make sure you get a couple copy of this. It's step by step. It's 20 years of experience with Gary on social media and obsessive with data and results and putting into one book. So this is required reading of the moment.

[A]

Right of the moment. So this book was called Jab, Jab, jab, Left hook until the last moment. It's like, I need to write this book every. I should be writing it every year like the dummies.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

But right Now I'm every 10 years and hopefully I'll close the gap. But what I'm excited about is it is pattern recognition expertise. But it is of this second.

[B]

Yes, absolutely. So get that book. Two final questions before I ask them. I want to acknowledge you again, Gary, for just being a real human being, for being a real friend, for showing up consistently for so many people again personally in your life. But for the world that follows your content, I just appreciate how you continue to evolve. Show up. And the thing that I think I love the most about you is how you took your health to a whole nother level seven, eight years ago. I think you went all in 10, 10 years ago. And I think that is, for me, the most inspiring thing because people can see the business success and like, I want that and then miss out on the health.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So the fact that you keep.

[A]

Thank you.

[B]

Going all in on that and you look better now than you did 10 years ago is something I really appreciate and respect because I think that's what the world's going to need more of is focusing on their own health. I asked you about your three truths before. I'm going to skip this question. I'm going to go to the final question, which is what is your definition of greatness.

[A]

That you gave more than you took. I really, I really love this talk. I'm excited about this podcast. I think the extra time, usually I do 45 or, you know, I Think the extra time slowed me down. I think one of the reasons I'm not good at being a podcast host is that they're very. No, really, they're very tight times. I always have a meeting after and people get frustrated with me because I talk over my guests, because I'm not relaxed, because I know I don't have a lot of time and I want to get to a bunch of punchlines for them. But then it becomes awkward and I'm over talking over them and I'm interrupting. Like, Gary, he just wants to talk. And the audience is not wrong that gets frustrated by that version. Some people love it because they have brains like mine. But nonetheless, I really do think we touched on the thing that is greatness, which is like, look, one of the things I've done well in my life is I was attracted to older people my whole life. When I was 7, 10, 13, I'd always go and talk to 80, 90 year olds at the bench at the park. It was big. And I used to think it was because I didn't have grandparents, because I lost three of my four grandparents. I had my grandma Esther, thank God, but. And I was like, oh, especially grandfathers I would go to a lot. So more specifically, I didn't have grandfathers. I've come to realize that's not true. It's that I'm addicted to wisdom and, like, the actual game. And I think, you know, greatness comes in. Like, you know, I think about, like, there's been a lot of great athletes. And again, I'm bringing up Kobe again because I'm so glad you got to do that podcast. It's so devastating that he's not on this earth. But Kobe was different because he was more like us in the way that, like, it wasn't that he was just a great athlete. He gave a. About, like, higher thinking and like, competition as a healthy. Like, it was just more thoughtful.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And, you know, I think that. I think the reason he's revered is he gave to us.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Right. And I think greatness comes in, like, what? Like, I think my mom is the greatest parent of all time. And when I think about why I believe that is she can only. The reason I believe that is there's others that tie her, but they could only tie her. Because my definition of a parent is there's many things to it, but my personal, subjective definition is, how much did you give to those kids?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And I just think my mom gave it all. Like, all of it. And I just know that that means for Every other mom and dad that has done that, they can only tie my mom for the greatest. But it is a giving game.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And so I do a lot of things of gaining, building my companies and dollars and followers and attention. I understand that. But I'm outpacing it with my giving, and I think I will continue to do that. And that is where the veefriend strategy came from. I was like, oh, I can take this. This is what Disney. And actually, now I realize this is why Sesame street and Jim Henson is a legend. And I'm gonna do that, too. I'm gonna create characters that people are gonna fall in love with, but I'm gonna do it around collectability, like Pokemon. Because what I know about Pokemon and Marvel is that OGs still like it, whereas Big Bird and Cookie Monster, we're done with. But if I take what's epic about the Pokemon doesn't bring the value that Sesame street does. But if I take the best of Sesame street and the best of Pokemon and I smash that together and I put my marketing capabilities and my collectible and business strategies and I build something, man, I can really leave a positive impact.

[B]

The one question I wanted to ask you is so many of them. But one that's on my mind right now is you've always told me and a lot of your followers ahead of time, this is what's coming.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

You know, you are early Twitter. Be on Twitter. This is what's happening. This is what's happening now. Early Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn. You were like always pushing TikTok. You were like the first one on TikTok. Snapchat. I remember you looking me in the eye saying, be on Snapchat. That was the only thing that, like, didn't work for me, but everything else has worked for me. Who knows what's going to happen with TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, all these different platforms when we're thinking of attention in the future.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

AI and the fricking mobile devices and the.

[A]

Here are the things that have a chance. As you know, what I'm great at is not predicting, but moving so goddamn fast when it happens and then going all in. Yeah. That I have that advantage.

[B]

What is what is coming.

[A]

Here's. Here's things that have. Are coming. One for people like you and I. All of our content in every language at scale.

[B]

We've got a million subscribers on Spanish, on YouTube, in our voice. Oh, yeah. That's the key. That's what we're working on now.

[A]

So I. And you've seen it already. Dustin. Like we're pretty close. We're almost done. I'll be speaking every language in my voice, in my little high pitches in me. That's gonna be huge for every through AI. That's right.

[B]

Is there a tool specifically you're looking at that you're.

[A]

We're using Re speecher. There's a bu. There's. I mean it's moving.

[B]

So 50 of them.

[A]

Notice how I hesitate. Even though I'm a big fan of Re Speech.

[B]

It may be gone.

[A]

That game is A.I. eating itself up is just like crazy. Yeah.

[B]

So A.I.

[A]

Virtual influencers.

[B]

Oh yeah, that's coming. I've seen the people are blowing up already with. You mean just like made up influencers?

[A]

That's right.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

AKA very attractive people on Instagram that you're like. And that will go. That will go. Not just right now. The early movers like always are like models and like all that. But it will be full pledge. Ricky Thompson, 47 year old marketing expert who's gonna have 14 million followers. And it's Joanna Thompson in Australia that actually owns him and is running. Oh, it's gonna be huge.

[B]

So virtual influencers, are you getting into some of that too?

[A]

Yeah, I'm really starting to go deep on that live streaming as a more scaled everyday thing. Let me explain what I mean by that. Me saying live streaming is important enough. Kai Sinet and like Aiden Ross and like Ninja Clicks. Like plenty of people are crushing on Twitch and other things. No, I mean what I'm up to now, which is I have a camera in my office on mute for 13 hours a day and I'm just sitting there and it's entrepreneurial asmr.

[B]

It's mute.

[A]

Mute because I'm having real meetings.

[B]

So people are watching you.

[A]

Watching me. That's right. And I try to unmute. And Dustin did a good thing for me. He created an unmute counter and I'm like looking at him like, oh, I have an unmuted yet. Hey, everyone.

[B]

Like literally, wow, 13 hours a day.

[A]

That's right. People making pizza. People. I predict in five years someone who loves to lower their mind, mow their lawn. Dyslexia. Mow their lawn. Will go from like that's that classic dad who does it to the modern dad, the 28 year old who's destined to be a 48 year old dad who loves to mow their lawn. Like loves it is destined right now as we're speaking to one time in seven years as he's on that journey, streaming it for Some weird reason today, every 42 year old, 61 year old man or woman that loves to mow their lawn for an hour and a half, a big lawn does not think, let me set up a laptop and stream live on Twitch. Does it cross their mind? I believe it will become known. I believe one of them will do it. I believe for whatever reason, it will crush. And I believe that person will a year later retire from being a principal in a high school to making a million dollars a year mowing lawns. Mowing their lawn.

[B]

Live streaming it.

[A]

Live streaming it. So think about how different that is than what I predicted would crush it. Remember what I predicted would crush it, which was insane. Which is influencers are going to make money. I didn't call it influencers. We didn't have the term yet. People will make money on the Internet being themselves. That was like right now somebody's like, wait a minute. I will literally make a full time living by streaming, making breakfast for my family every morning. Dude, let me just say that, you know, insane.

[B]

That is crazy, man.

[A]

Like literally a mom or dad, let's say a stay at home dad or mom is literally gonna start streaming her 6am to 7:30 of prepping breakfast for everybody. And it's gonna capture a fever and.

[B]

They'Re gonna get millions of viewers every.

[A]

Morning and they're gonna get subscribers for two bucks. Then I gotta get merch deals, cookbook deals.

[B]

Yeah. I'm seeing there's a guy on TikTok who goes live. It must be all day. He's live. He's. He owns a little fruit stand. He's just cutting up fruit. That's right. And he's got a massive line every day that just wants to like be in the stream for a second.

[A]

That's right.

[B]

Live streaming, cutting fruit. It's crazy.

[A]

The extreme version of what I saw happening with Crush it is about to happen with live streaming because it takes it to passive instead of progressive. I had to sit down and do the wine show. Now it becomes passive. I will stream while I'm running my wine store.

[B]

But will people watch?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Hours.

[A]

Let's talk about that.

[B]

When. When you need to be 5 seconds of videos that people are like losing attention.

[A]

No, because people are watching long form content at scale right now. You know this.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You just don't want to be in the middle. You want to either be great at short form or you want to be great at long form. You just don't want to be the middle or you don't want to be bad at Long form or bad at short form? You could make people watch a people binge watch an entire season of something on Netflix. Or sit. I have people that sit with me. You know, this sit with me the whole day.

[B]

That's crazy.

[A]

They sit there the whole day and talk to each other.

[B]

That's crazy.

[A]

Well, that's community.

[B]

I mean, it's amazing. It's crazy.

[A]

It's funny. It reminded me, you might remember this when I was coming up the game on Twitter and Viddler and YouTube.

[B]

What was a periscope?

[A]

Well, that was later. And meerkat.

[B]

Meerkat.

[A]

But what about daily Booth ustream?

[B]

You stream, man.

[A]

And that was big for me.

[B]

Wow. I remember that.

[A]

I would have been a huge streamer, but now I'm too busy.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So my like a couple hundred people. I have nothing because I'm not. There's nothing right now. To Dustin and team's credit. Now they're playing my recent videos in the top right corner during the live stream. So, Right. So I'm on mute. But on the top right corner, a smaller box is gonna be this. Literally this. And like, so like, you know, like we're figuring it out. And like. And again, I think there's gonna be way more compelling asmr. I can tell you right now, it would have been much more compelling to follow me tasting wine all day. What I'm doing right now is really boring. I'm sitting in an office for like 12 hours a day just doing meetings. I'm not even in the old drock dailyvee world where I was moving around a lot. I'm sitting there because I'm in full operations mode on Vayner X and Operands right now. I'm in one of those modes. You know, I'm not in Gary V. Land as much.

[B]

Yeah. One final question then. Be respectful of your time. Three truths. I think you answered this probably five years ago last time. You're on. You said you want to live to 105.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Imagine you get to create everything from this moment until then, okay? Your vision, your relationship, all of it happens. But you have to take everything with you. So once you leave, no one has access to veefriends. Vaynermedia. It's all gone. All the content you've created, gone. Erased from time.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Hypothetical scenario.

[A]

No, I like. I like. You got me intrigued. Go ahead.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

So I die at 105 and everything disappears.

[B]

All the content you've made, gone.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Everyone lives.

[A]

What about the relationships I've made?

[B]

Those are there. Okay. Got it.

[A]

Got it.

[B]

Business. Yeah.

[A]

Everything's gone.

[B]

But on your final day.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You get to do one final live stream.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And all you get to leave behind is three truths.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

Three things you know to be true. If you could go 60 years in.

[A]

The future, I could do right now, I would talk. I'd say, first of all, thank you for this journey. I'm gonna miss every one of you deeply. This sucks. I really wish I could go to 110. I don't know why I said it'll die, right.

[B]

But three things you can leave behind.

[A]

I would say to them that, like, you're one, you've in life. I would say to everybody, I would hope that I would have the entire 8 billion people on Earth watching me on this last day if we all knew it was going down. The first thing I would say to them is, I promise you, this is the most truth I've learned in 105 years. In life, you find what you're looking for. If you are looking for negativity and pain, you will find it. And if you are looking for joy and happiness, you will find it. And I would expand on that in my three truths, because that's the game. You find what you're looking for. If you're in a good place, you're going to find good. You can't imagine I'm just breaking out of this question for a second, bro. I consume positive content all day while everyone's telling me the world's never been worse, the world's never been better. Like, I read some the other day of, like, pig liver or whatever. Something's about to go in our body now. Like, we're going to cure that one, too. Like, we're fixing, like, the world was worse. Like, they're like, it's never been worse. I'm like, have you heard about the Holocaust?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

The Black Plague.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like, Covid was fucked up. The Black Plague wiped out, like, the majority of us. Like, World War I was nasty.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like, I just don't understand people's lack of perspective. So I really am hot on that.

[B]

Okay. Number one.

[A]

Number two, that love is worth fighting for. That you must destroy yourself for it. Meaning not destroy yourself. Meaning, like, up what you think you value if you don't have it. A current relationship that might be comfortable, which is very hard. I appreciate your reaction to that. That's probably the hardest advice I just gave, which is, you know, that you're in a relationship, but it is not the right one. But it's your children. It's comfortable, real stuff, you know, you like them, like you like them. That love is worth fighting for. Wow.

[B]

Okay. You know, and the third one.

[A]

Man, it's so funny how simple my brain goes. Those two really, really like choosing happiness and love are so obvious to me. You know what? I'm going to go with a funny one because I have a funny feeling that I would go out funny, I would go out with a good curse. I think I would say this because I feel it very heavily right now. Until you realize that competition is one of the great traits in life, that it is good, that like anything out of balance, it's bad. But the, but the elimination of merit, the demonization of Alpha skills has really it up. Telling a six year old that it's just a game who was born with the gift of being an Alpha and on fire and competitive is the worst thing you could do as a parent.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

I despise it and I don't like that word, despise. Watching parents that are wildly well intended systematically suck out the magic of a kid who was born a magician is devastating and one of the real issues. And I hope in the next 50 years it gets figured out. But right now, so I'll use it as an opportunity to make this point. Competition is one of the best things on earth and we have gotten really bad on the left side of things in understanding it. And it's people up. Because if you're successful in sucking out competition of an Alpha 6 year old, if you're successful in those 12 years that you have them in your roof, you've put indifference on a pedestal. And so what you've done is you've taken someone who was destined to do some really good and you've actually put a kid into a place of thinking things don't matter. And when you don't think anything matters and you don't think anything's worth anything, you go down a very dangerous road. And I'm going to go very, very cautious here because what I'm alluding to is almost inappropriate, which is I worry that a lot of the things that we most worried about, I'll say it, suicide and other things are not a product of social media. They're a product of us not recognizing things out of whack. Competition is one of the great traits in society and we must at all costs stop demonizing it.

[B]

Gary, Vee. Love you, brother. Thanks for being here, man.

[A]

Love you, bro.

[B]

Amazing. Wow. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and it inspired you on your journey towards greatness make sure to check out the show notes in the description for a full rundown of today's episode with all the important links. And if you want weekly exclusive bonus episodes or with me personally as well as ad free listening, then make sure to subscribe to our greatness+channel exclusively on Apple Podcasts. Share this with a friend on social media and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts as well. Let me know what you enjoyed about this episode in that review. I really love hearing feedback from you and it helps us figure out how we can support and serve you moving forward. And I want to remind you if no one has told you lately that you are loved, you are worthy and you matter and now it's time to go out there and do something great. Going Up Prices keep going up these.

[A]

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