Gary Vaynerchuk is one of those guys who’s really easy to hate the first time you listen to him.
His brash, no-nonsense brand of motivation is instantly off-putting. He’s full of spit, vinegar, a couple other random pantry items, and, most importantly, himself.
The only thing in that previous paragraph I think he’d disagree with is the use of motivation.
Despite saying many motivational things, Gary Vee is not a motivational speaker.
So then what is he?
He’s something else. One part human behavior expert, and another part entrepreneurial guru.
Now, up to this point, based on how I’ve described Gary, you might think I hate the guy.
You’d be wrong.
Well, not entirely. There was a time I found him incredibly annoying.
Too high energy. Too self-indulgent. Too over-the-top.
But that’s part of Gary’s unique charm, and if you stick around long enough, he has a way of growing on ya.
That high energy has a way of becoming your high energy.
That self-indulgence has a way of becoming your increased self-belief.
That over-the-top attitude has a way of becoming your rewired view of what the world could be if you just… listened.
And that’s Gary Vee’s real magic. It’s his ability to dispense advice in a way that feels genuinely authentic and, despite all his ego-stroking, born from a place of genuine caring.
In a world where everybody wants something from you, it’s remarkably refreshing to have somebody whose only desire is for you to give him your attention so that he can say something that will ultimately benefit you.
That’s Gary’s entire schtick… he craves the spotlight, and he knows the best way to get that light is by drowning you in good, solid advice.
There’s a reason Gary Vee’s the most followed writer on Medium. There’s a reason he’s dominating Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and everything between.
It’s because he’s got some things that’re worth hearing.
Here are 3 of the most valuable.
Hustle is Everything
This is a recurring theme you’ll hear from practically every successful person in the world. There are few things in this world that are entirely under your control.
Talent, skill, opportunity… they are all by-products of hustle.
To be clear, when we say hustle, what we’re really saying is work.
Success isn’t complicated, but it is hard.
So stop thinking that everything should be easier than it is.
It doesn’t matter that you’ve been writing for 10 years and have yet to find a publisher for your debut novel.
It doesn’t matter that you’ve been working 80 hour weeks for the past year trying to get your business off the ground.
Keep working.
Keep showing up every single day and do the work. Even when you can’t see your way through the forest.
Keep going.
The only way to get everything you want out of life is to never stop working for it.
Which leads into the second lesson.
Failure Is Not Only Necessary, It’s Good
It’s okay to try and fail.
It’s okay to try and fail a hundred times.
You only ever truly become a failure when you give up and stop trying.
Quick, think of the most successful person you know. Maybe you’ve got a mental image of Elon Musk, or Steve Jobs, or Barry the Milkman.
It doesn’t matter who you conjured, they didn’t get to where they are without failing hundreds, if not thousands of times. (What, you think just anybody can become a milkman? Seriously, look around…how many milkmen are still out there? That’s right, it’s an elite field.)
The number one reason people fail to achieve their life’s wildly ambitious goals is this:
They stopped.
It was taking too long. It was too hard. It cost too much.
People can conjure as many excuses as there are stars in the sky for why they failed to win, but at the end of the day there’s only one excuse that matters.
They got tired of failing and they quit…
And while we’re talking about excuses…let’s talk about the third thing I’ve learned from Gary Vaynerchuk.
Everything Is Your Fault
Actually I didn’t so much learn this from Gary Vee as I did from Stoic philosophers like Marcus Aurelius, but it’s such an important lesson that I feel it can’t be overstated.
I wrote a lengthy article on this topic, so click below if you want to check it out.
Quotes From A Legend To Help You Dominate Life
If you want the condensed cliff-notes version, then listen…
You can only control one thing in this world, and that’s yourself.
It doesn’t matter what other people think… you can’t control it.
It doesn’t matter what other people do… you can’t control it.
It doesn’t matter what life, the market, the world does… you can’t control it.
The important takeaway here is: Don’t waste your time, energy, and resources on things outside of your control.
This is what the vast majority of people do. They focus their attention elsewhere. They complain and displace blame and point their finger and they never take responsibility.
But you’re not like them.
You’re different. Because you recognize that by claiming ultimate responsibility for all of life’s successes and failures, you are in control.
And that is an incredibly powerful place to operate from, because it means there is absolutely nothing the outside world can do to throw you off your trajectory.
Sure, you may stumble and get knocked down, but you own that failure, dust yourself off, and get back up.
You can only be stopped if you choose to stop.
And that right there might be the single most valuable thing I’ve learned from Gary Vaynerchuk.
