You know, like sometimes people come to be like you Gary I've been doing it for 7 years and I have 1,800 followers and get two likes. I'm like it's not that social doesn't work cuz there's billions of examples of it working. It's that you haven't found it. like what you're doing isn't resonating with the world and that's on you to either not care because you like doing it and it you got your 1,700 followers and you're living.

Or if you want something else, you've got to change it. You got to change the creative format the way you present. Maybe you shouldn't be in the content you should be behind? SC There could be a million reasons this is going to be the easiest interview in my life because I Love this guy deep in my soul. Gary You've inspired the world through just real life hard work and you showcased it on a day-to-day basis on how they can actually do it.

Where most people talk factiously, you say this is how you guys actually do it. make pieces of content, go do the work you never try to make it fake, walk us through why you show your content like that, and why this should actually followed through with those steps, you know I think especially with the energy of this room and what an incredible lineup and obviously the energy of this crowd is off the charts when you to that point. I think for the Ogs In This Crowd Call it 42 and above years old, a lot of us In This Crowd that are of that age realized that entrepreneurship wasn't in the zist of popular culture. When I was growing up, there weren't entrepreneurs to look up to.

It wasn't a thing it was all about go to the best college you can get into and go into the corporate game. And so as things evolved with the internet and social media, there was a point where I realized oh, entrepreneurship is now cool and that was neat and I thought that was amazing and I was like in it and I was like okay, let's understand what this means and then over the next 3 to four years it became obvious to me that a lot of people talked about it because it became cool. The way they would talk about sports or being a rapper like kids in high school are like I'm going to make the league I'm going to be in the NBA or I'm going to be a famous rapper. That wasn't the way that people talked about being an entrepreneur, but that had started to happen because entrepreneurship became popular culture.

It was then that I was like you know what? there's so much confusion of what it is required to pull this off and I think for everyone in this you know conference the more you go through it I don't know where everyone is on their Journey but the more we go through it the more you realize like you can fake it for a while. but it's just not sustainable. And for me, I got lucky because this all didn't happen when I was 17. This all happened when I was in my late 30s I was already on the back end of putting in the work.

The other thing that I desperately wish for everyone here more than how much money they are able to make is for them to be happy. And I mean that because everyone here knows unlimited people that have money that are having terrible lives, they're anxious, They're they're They've got real issues and there's nothing good about that. So it became important to me seven eight 10 years ago to really do what I could to show that the truth of the matter is is that the work is part of the equation that you aren't looking for. The quick way to do it, you're looking for the most sustainable way for you to do it and really be being self-aware and reverse engineering who the you are and then putting yourself in a position to do that is always going to lead to the thing that everybody wants.

and so you know I felt it, it was in my stomach and I wanted to put it out there and I did and and obviously it led to people seeing maybe a different version of it. I'm thrilled when people use me as a proxy of what they want to do or of what they don't want to do Plenty of people in these circles will come to me and be like Gary I don't believe in what you're saying I'm like that's amazing like do you like I don't think I'm right I think I'm right for me and and I and I think that means it's right for some of you and then it means that it's some parts of what I do is right for you and that's the game. Dan So when you walk through it so clean and simple of like this is what you do over and over and over for One years, two years, three years, four years and if you do this every day, you'll get there. What do you actually think when people don't follow through with those things like why don't people actually follow through with the simple game you give them Um, well there's a million variables that go into that.

Like you know, the biggest thing that is holding back all of us me included from whatever we want is not recognizing things, not seeing it right like I Didn't realize for 25 years as a manager that my lack of cander Gary VE for all of you is very canderous. It's a strength Gary Vaynerchuk the CEO of 2,000 people at Vayner X struggled with cander because if I like you, it's harder for me to say something. You know this is you know when you're posting, you're posting to the world. so you're not talking to anybody.

Specifically, when you're talking to a direct report that you're in the trenches with Every day they become your brother and sister. They they become family when you're really about it and it's sometimes hard to tell them they stink at something because for me the number one thing I hate in the world is fear I Hate fear and a lot of people weaponize fear to get people to do what they want Politicians, teachers, parents, fear is weaponized often I used to think that me telling you if you were working for me Dan like hey Dan you're really like you're awesome but like you're not great at this, this and this and like if you don't fix it like this is not going to work out I thought when you would walk out that you were scared and that you were like halfway out the door and self-esteem was up and I was and I didn't know how to find that balance I've been able to fix that in the last five years and it's changed a lot for my company and my world. I Didn't see my lack of cander as a Kryptonite The reason so many people here don't follow easy things is one. it's not easy for them.

I've started to get serious about my health about 10 years ago and I go to the gym pretty consistently but to this day I hate it. like like to waking up tomorrow and it's going to rain in New York and the jets are going to probably lose tomorrow and and so I'm already in a bad mood and waking up at like 8 and having to like put in a workout is like the least natural thing yet. if you told me Gary we need to work 98 hours straight on this to solve it I'd be like let's start right now. that's easy.

So for a lot of people it doesn't come natural. The reason Dan I think for a lot of people it doesn't come natural is they're chasing the financial part of it and so by chasing the financial part of it, they don't really like it. which is why they want it to happen faster which is why they don't follow the work ethic required I Understand that because that's how I lived my life in health and wellness and that's how I lived My Life as a student student I didn't like it which is why I sucked at it and there was no no thing I could do to fix those two areas. but in Business and Entrepreneurship I loved it.

it's my life I'm pure bred entrepreneur I like the game and so it comes easy. but I think what I'm hoping is that if people realize in this new internet world that is now mature that we all live in, they can instead of chasing the next. Trend If they chase a category of passion, something they like and built a business around that they're far more likely to pull it off because when they wake up, they actually want to do it cuz the thing is interesting, not the they get from the thing. So back in 2019, you led me to a passion project.

We were at a sports card convention called the National 100,000 People there I just happen to be in Chicago Gary's there, he's got his booth there and I come by the the card show and you've got at the time like 900 employees. Now you have 2,000 you had like 900 employees and I watched you buy a sports card for 60 bucks and spend an hour negotiating with someone else to sell it for 100 bucks. So you're going to make $40 while you have 900 employees back home and I it's burned into my mind. Why? Like what? What is so much about the game or what? $40 dollars in profits a come up but but I'll let you finish.

but I just want to go back like that story is real and it's completely the followup to what I just said. Me buying a sports card for 60 bucks from one booth, walking around for an hour and then selling it for A1 and making those $40 gets my juices going way more than when Vayner Media lands a $10 million account. And it's not even close. If you can find that in your actual day-to-day you will get much further than you can ever imagine.

CU You'll have the fuel to get it. So for people out there that are trying to figure out the thing that they like sports cards and Pokemon working for an accountant, a lawyer, real estate selling door too selling solar working with these companies like how do they find that thing that makes them excited you have to taste I Texted seven to 10 people to come by the national in Chicago In 19 you said yes you had no idea idea you just showed up and then it led to something. The amount of people here that start conversations with no breaks my soul. Most of the best that was ever destined to happen in your life.

You said no to we have to. especially this crew. One of the teners of business or entrepreneurial success is to be in the business of maybe instead of the business of no. If if you're in the business of maybe you spend a little time double clicking into.

if you're in the business of no, you already lost. There's so many people here Dan that say well Gary I Say no because I'm saving my time. My time is precious. When their time isn't worth as much as they think it's ego, your time's not as valuable as you think and understanding the power of maybe is humongous and so the way they all figure it out is by saying maybe.

Which leads them to doing 7 to 20 things or going to 7 to 20 things that they wouldn't have prior and in one of those seven to 20 things is the thing. So often times people have like a goal number like once I make 100 Grand a year or I make 250 a year or once I buy the house or once I make a million a year once I make 2 million but the goal post always moves. What are your thoughts about when people have these numbers or these goals in their mind for that? Financial game I Think this is self-awareness game I Think for some people here, those goals really work for me. I just made up something when I was 12 that was so big that it allowed me to play forever to buy the new yor.

buy the Jets right and so are you going to buy the Jets am I going to buy the New York Jets yeah I think I am. but you know when I clip this in 40 years when I don't buy them and have to explain what the happened? I won't be upset because I am focused on what I can control build the biggest and most sustainable and best and healthiest businesses I can to put me in a position that if the Serendipity of the world and the timing and the stars align that add a time when I can actually afford it which would not be tomorrow. if tomorrow they're for sale, it's unlikely I get them. I may get a tiny tiny piece cuz whoever got it is probably smart enough to realize me getting a little piece is probably a good Arbitrage but that will crush me in my competitive Spirit of trying it.

but if I don't get them, that'll be fine. Chasing them has been the great joy of my life and and that's what I want for everyone where the process is enjoyable. I Think a lot of people struggle with goals when they hit it, it's so empty they're like like getting to a million or 100,000 or whatever it is. what like they feel empty.

I'm sure many people here have achieved something that they can think back Now is like it wasn't as good as I thought because the ideology of the Thing was what they put on a pedestal, not the day-to-day game of trying to get to the thing. And so when I when I'm at a conference like this with all the other incredible speakers you've got lined up and I think about like, what could we touch on in this talk that might bring back that might not be touched on I Just don't think Dan people put enough energy on enjoying it. It's like winning at all costs is fine, but not at your cost. You know it's just not.

And at 47 years old and being around the game for a long time now and knowing how many people got to the top of the mountain on paper and lost their lives, their loved ones lost everything once they got there because of how they got there like all all the all the that comes along with it. I Don't want that for a single person at this conference. So we have 7,000 people in this audience and they're going to be surrounded by people that are not going to support them. And when they have the crazy idea I'm going to open a sports card store in the middle of a shutdown? I'm going to open up Asaio locations or I'm going to throw a humongous event.

They have these Ous ideas and they're finally excited to do it and their friends don't support them. What are your thoughts about the people? That's the best. The greatest thing in the world for an entrepreneur is sticking it to their friends. I Got nothing else to say about that like yeah, like like honestly I never get mad at anyone.

not my friends, not my competitors, not people that troll me, not I'm empathetic. People are going through their if your friends don't support you, it's because they can't see them doing it. Understood, it's because they're unhappy and they're starting to develop a little envy and jealousy of you. Not because they don't love you anymore or they're not your homie.

They're just not in a good place. I Think too many of us that are succeeding are not doing a good enough job bringing our friends along from a place of empathy, compassion and sympathy. Don't be mad at them. Have compassion for them.

You know what I mean I Think a lot of us know what we mean, right? We're like, no, Don he just he's jealous Don Your boy that you grew up with is just in a tough spot right now. Deep down he's super pumped for you. He's just not in a good place. You need to be double friend not cut them off.

So so someone's out there, they're listening to you. They've been listening for years and they're finally ready. They're going to post multiple times a day they're building their following. They hit 10,000 followers, they're excited, and then they start to see five trolls a day.

12 12 comments a day. You're ugly. You're rude, You're stupid. That's dumb.

How do you say to deal with trolls and haters? Yeah, I mean we just touched on it like just like honestly once and for all because I know a lot of you on your Journeys will have public you know lives like genuinely stick with me on this for two seconds. Imagine living a life where right now on this Saturday morning afternoon around this country you're laying at home and you're going through your Instagram or Tik Tok or YouTube and you're looking to hurt someone else's feelings like you're literally going through it to find you're looking to get triggered or upset to then leave a comment to then hurt that person. Think about how sad that life is. Honestly I mean it.

I'm not making fun of that person I'm deeply empathetic to that person. Think about how sad that life is that you're not in the business of building something, you're in the business of walking around the internet trying to tear something down. I I Really, really, really hope that this hits even one person here. that starting this moment from now on when someone says you're ugly or stupid or full of or suck that you don't start to feel bad for yourself, you start feeling sad for them.

Please get on this train cuz it will be good for you and it will make you a better person for them. Dan Literally I am always consuming because I want to know what's going on The only time I ever feel compelled to say something is not and I disagree or see the World differently than a lot of people posting I'm not compelled to Raz that person. the only time I'm doing anything is usually dming people in this room saying keep going right like I'm I'm trying to give love because I'm happy inside. What we do publicly is a complete reflection of what's going on inside.

The only time I feel compelled to do something is to tell one of y'all keep going. you're not far. so sitting right next to that person that did listen to you is the one that didn't and they say to you I don't need social media I don't need a personal brand? What would you say to them? Cool. There's unlimited people winning I Know unlimited people with monster businesses, super happy lives and they're not on social melto.

You know, good. On the flip side, there's a lot of people that leave opportunity on the table without realizing friends. Social Media is free distribution. Of course you can run paid I get it.

but it is the only platform in the world that you can reach millions of audience without paying for it. Do you know how insane that is? You can't run a newspaper ad for free. You can't run a television commercial for free You can't buy Google AdWords For free you can do SEO Which is true, which is why it was a monster. But the fact that's social, and especially with the ticktock ification of everything is free, it's insane it.

it's so insane that I'm just finishing up wrapping the followup to Jab Jab Jab right Hook. Um, thank you. Uh, originally it was called Jab Jab Jab Left Hook which I liked. but as I was writing it which is the thesis I have on where we are right now in the current state of the internet and attention I Re I I changed the title of the book and now it's going to be called Day Trading Attention.

And for everyone here, the number one thing that they're actually in need of doing is day Trading Attention. Social is an incredible place to do it. Influencers is an incredible way to do it. There's a lot of ways to do it, but it is the macro thesis.

Dan When you're opening up locations right for Asai or or sports cards or for donuts like J I'm met or anything that anyone's doing here at the end of the day before anyone's going to buy anything from you, they need to know about it. And for me, social media is disproportionate. On this day in 2023, the biggest opportunity for time and effort and money against outcome on the other side. So when people say I'm not going to do it or I don't need it I'm very empathetic to that.

There's many ways to win. This isn't the only way. it just happens to be the way. especially for someone starting at zero the most opportunistic way today.

the same way that if I was writing books when I was building. Wine Library for my dad I would have talked about search CU SEO in 2000 was bananas and so there's always an ARB and so I Don't think anyone should do anything other than be a kind person. But as far as entrepreneurship like I'm not hurt I didn't invent social media. Social media is not my brother I Don't give a I just think there's an opportunity.

Can you guys just clap If you have children for someone out there that has a 14-year-old or a 16-year-old daughter for example, and she's comparing herself to other girls on social media and whether it's celebrities or influencers or anything between, what would you say to those girls that are seeing so much photoshopped content? look I know how much the world is excited about blaming social media for everything and this scenario I'm 47 years old our social media was Kate Moss was being blamed for because of her photos in a magazine and what her weight was. we're always blaming something Marilyn Monroe was blamed Barbie was blamed Cindy Crawford was blamed K Moss was blamed like somebody's always to blame. Parents love to blame the outside. The only way to win the game that all us parents want which is we want our kids to not get caught up in.

some is for us to focus on building the kids self-esteem if it's true. Like like there are millions and millions and millions of young girls and boys right now going through social media and they're not devastated by someone else's money or good looks or happiness. There's millions of them. They're the ones who were fortunate enough with either DNA or great parenting from everyone who just clapped by instilling into that child that you are good enough and these are are the things you're good at.

Where we lose our way sometimes is we tell these little they're good at everything and that's delusion, which is why we have to get rid of eighth place trophies because they're us up. You do not build self-esteem by telling your child they're great at everything. You build self-esteem by pointing out the things your kids are good at and pointing out the things they could work on. But once you build that self-esteem they can deal with other people's happiness along the same lines.

Someone's just getting started on social media and they're only getting 12 likes and 16 likes and they feel like, well, Johnny or Rebecca sees that I only got 12 likes and they feel weird about that. What would you say when they're first like you used to get your first few views and now you got tens of millions views. Walk us through that first phase. you still suck.

I Love it. That's it. Next question. You know like sometimes people come to be like Gary I yo you Gary like I've been doing it for seven years and I have 1,800 followers and get two likes: I'm like bro, you suck and I don't say that to Raz him I'm like It's not that it's like not that social doesn't work because there's billions of examples of it working.

It's that you haven't found it. like what you're doing isn't resonating with the world and that's on you to either. not. and this is a real one.

Not care because you like doing it and it you got your 1,700 followers and you're living. Or if you want want something else, you've got to change it. You got to change the creative format. You've got to change the way you present.

You've got to change. Maybe you shouldn't be in the content. You should be behind the scenes. There could be a million reasons, but you shouldn't dwell on where you're at.

You know it again. Back to Health and Fitness. What I was doing in the gym 10 years ago is very different than what I'm doing Now that in the first month was disastrous. Like like eight atrocious push-ups.

you know what I mean I don't do that anymore more because I put in the work and I put in the time and so I think that a lot of people need to realize where they are on the journey and I do think people give up too soon because the first year didn't go well and they don't realize that they're just starting. It's about reps and you know I think again. This all goes into the mindset that I'm most fascinated about. Most of the that everyone here is not achieving isn't based on them not knowing the tactics.

The tactics are available for free. you can go Google on YouTube Everything They're free. The the mindset that stops one from doing it is the thing I'm most fascinated by, especially in entrepreneur land. Just to remind everybody what we all do for a living.

you're basically losing all the time. This journey of building is a game of micro losing all the time. and if you get really good at micro losing, you tend to macro win. And what that means is there's always a little step backs.

but if you take something from it and you tweak and you build and you tweak and then something else gets up. It's like the whole you know, the boat that keeps having holes in it. you know you're on the boat and this thing's up. You put your finger in it, you patch it up, that's fixed.

But two things popped up over here. Everyone here is Micro losing. I'm losing all the time. We lost a client this week.

We lost three good employees that I didn't want to lose. You're constantly losing. We need to fall in love with losing. This is where I get serious about the eighth place trophy.

The reason that that's dangerous is we're teaching kids that losing is bad when losing is actually the best. The best entrepreneurs in the world love to lose. Promise! So a moment ago and just notice Dan just notice how light the claps were on that. Yeah right.

Like like just notice what everyone just did. There was a couple people don't like to lose because they worry about what other people think. whoa Whoo is right People don't like to lose cuz they're actually worried I Don't give a what you think about my losses. not because I'm audacious or I'm mean because it's like an athlete.

Do you understand? Could you imagine an athlete stopping every time the home team the home on crowd booed I mean there wouldn't be a single Jets player on earth I'm booing with the first 8 Seconds of the game Like like you, all of you are on the field. Do you understand that all of you were on the field? so it doesn't matter what your mom or uncle or sister say, they're on the stands eating popcorn watching you play like honestly like I I talked to like friends and family. Proba: they're like Gary but my mom said look your mom in the face and say Mom if you don't think what I'm doing is right, go show me you do something and let me look at that I'm not I'm not worried about people's opinions that are not on the field. So here in Salt Lake we have a lot of people that are in the door to-door space.

Yes, obviously the great one of our sponsors. when when you start making money early, these guys are 22, 24, 26 years old, making 10 grand, 20 grand, 30 grand 40 Grand some of them 100 Grand in a month or 200 Grand in the summer. What do you say? The kids that are making money like that at 22 24, 26 so they don't go? Yeah, that scares the love out of me. Um, you know look I mean when you're making that kind of money at that age like you re I really get worried because I'm I'm wondering like what's going to happen? You know it's cliche.

Going back to what we just ranted about, so many people are living their lives to impress everybody that they're going to go take that money and buy dumb, right? It's going to burn a hole in their pocket. Many of them are thoughtful and will do smart. you know? look I Don't think I think there's a million things people could do in that scenario. and I don't think anything I'm about to say is the right way.

You've got to know your situation. For some of those people, they're going to do incredible things like payoff debt for family members and remarkable things for some of them. They are going to buy a toy and that's okay too. I know I talk a lot about you know people buying things and people get mad at me.

they're like no Gary I like this car and like if you really like it, you should be like I buy tons of dumb I buy custom jerseys of fourth string Jets players for $180 they may never play and I buy it strictly to go to the stadium and wear the Jersey to Peacock that I'm the biggest Jets fan in the stadium. that's not smart you know, so they'll buy toys. It's all fine. I think the biggest thing is at that young of an age there's so much good you could be doing with that.

But the biggest thing that I think about that when I hear that from you is finding your relationship with money, You know one thing I think we all agree that is completely no longer talked about is saving money. That leads to be like the only conversation in this 50s, 60s, '70s ' 80s, '90s like I like literally like look at Google Trends and look. search on social like nobody's talking about saving money right? And when you come into money quickly in your early 20s a lot of times you think it's always going to be there and so we see a lot of people. In that scenario it comes and then it's gone and they really and they've already tasted having money.

So now they're depressed because they're 26 and they have less at 26 than they had at 22. And so these are the things I worry about I Just think building an actual good relationship with money where there's a balance between savings investing, buying some things to make you and your family happy, just finding a balance. So thank you! An hour ago we had David Gogins here and I asked him about personal fitness when it's like Thursday morning and they don't really feel like it on the business fitness side when someone's been working on their business and they don't have the results yet. they've been working on their business for a year or two years.

Whatever it is and they just aren't having the results or things are hard. what would you say to them? So when they don't feel like it, there's two Extremes in this scenario. in my opinion, one sometimes it's just okay to punt the day and I know that like like it's like it's not necessarily what I do but that's goes back to the way I started this which is I love my so much that even when it's going bad, it's like it's good cuz I'm playing right? Actually, this is really important I I Don't say this often for everyone here. just think of the single thing.

the single game you like the best basketball Uno Poker Bro Uno is the Jam Poker. Whatever it is that single game that you're thinking about right now. tennis. That game that you love so much you like playing it even when you're losing.

As a matter of fact, for a lot of you like me, when you lose, it makes the next game even more fun, right? That's how business is and that's what I Want everybody to find for the people that have that on that Thursday Punt it. Go spend time with your family I Don't know. Like Zen out. It's actually okay to skip the day right? or to the The Other Extreme Push through super hard because when you get through that day you've shown yourself resilience and you get to the end of the day you feel accomplished.

Don't be in the Middle where you're just dwelling about the feeling all day. If it's really killing you, get the out go to movie I Don't care. Play video games. If it's not completely killing you, show yourself that you have resilience to get through that 10-hour day and get on the other side.

CU You will feel great, but let's say you decided to go through the resilience and you're an hour or two in and it's even getting worse then punt The day. We have to be nicer to ourselves. Dan We just have to be nicer to ourselves. Too many of you are beating yourself up for little dumb one day of not productive work at your job is not putting you the out of business.

So that being said, if that day becomes a week and that week becomes a month now, you got to look at it. You know what I mean Now you got to look at it. Now you're in the wrong game and you need to figure out how to get the out potentially in our last 30 seconds. What is the one thing you would say to this audience that's getting bombarded by the media and chaos and we're in inter session.

everything's going wild and there's so many things that are fear to us. What would you say to them to make them not feel like that? The truth which is all of you are 100% in charge. It doesn't matter what. I There have been people that have been happy and built monster businesses in recessions, during natural disasters with a bad mom with an alcoholic dad.

There are unlimited people in the world who have found massive of success and deep happiness in every scenario. There is nobody in control of you no matter what they pound down your throat to scare you I promise you you are 100 per in charge and the second you get that into your Dome is the second you don't even hear the dumb anymore. Ladies and gentlemen, get away. Yeah,.

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