Hustle, Relationships, and Legacy: A Blueprint for Long-Term Success | Rich Paul EP 541

0:00Hi, my name is Lewis Howes, and welcome to The Daily Motivation Show.

0:11You said earlier in this conversation that you didn't see yourself as this big agent that you are today at that time. What was the vision then in your early to mid-20s as LeBron is rising in his success and fame in Cleveland and you guys are there? What was the vision if it wasn't to be, you know, one of the world's most powerful sports agents? What was the vision? I was in the mix. I'm doing everything I need to do, right? I played every role. I played every role. I was a stylist. I was a jeweler. Publicist. I acted in commercials. I got paid really in a lot of commercials. I was in this first ever commercial.

0:47I was in the Sprite spot. I was in several different. I was in the State Farm spot. And again, when you talk about that ability to hustle, I had a promotions company where I was throwing parties. Yes. Right. I played that role. I was the guy you had to go through to throw the party for LeBron. Right. When he was able to throw parties. So you're saying I'm there to do anything necessary. Yeah, I did. All means necessary, I'm here. I did anything necessary. But throughout that, I always were able to make relationships with all the stars. Man, I don't know if I ever seen what landed in Cleveland.

1:17I'm the first person he's calling. Wow. If you talk to AI right now and today, when he landed in Cleveland, Rich, meet me at the Ritz. I'll be there at 6 o 'clock. So they're coming from Philly, depending on where they're coming from. Whether it was Chauncey and T. Lou, that's why me and T. Lou are so tight now. I had that relationship spirit or connectivity to all athletes I thought I was going to be a professional athlete and my dad told me at a very early age that's not going to happen but that didn't take away from me allowing myself to still want to be a part of the team and when I was a part of the team I got to see the other side which helps me in my position today I understand what it's like to be a practice player I understand what it's like to not play for three games and then the coach call you and you still have to sprint to the scorer's table to get in.

2:09And I had these conversations today with clients saying, listen, man, you are a professional athlete. You're getting paid to play the game that you love to play. Entitlement shouldn't come with that. you have to manage your career to understand when you need to start to transition to then reposition yourself to still have value now your value as a starter is no longer there but that doesn't mean you don't have value but if you allow your ego to smother that and get in the way of that and your entitlement then what's going to happen is you're not going to be in position and then if If you're not in position, then you have no value.

2:51And that's the difference between a guy being on a roster and not on a roster. If you stay ready, you don't have to get ready. You know, it's like you've got to put your practice reps in. You're going to be on the bench for a little bit. But if someone goes down, you've got to be ready. But think about it. It's observer's paradise. It is. Right? And many guys can't handle that. They're like, I should be in there right now. I should be playing. I should be getting this. But you know what the bet minimum is for guys? That's probably, you know, eight years of service or more. In basketball? It's 3.1 million.

3:183.1? Yes. You don't play if you're just practicing. You get a couple minutes a game, maybe. Yeah. 3.1. After eight years. Wow. Again, it's consistency and longevity. Can you show up, stay healthy, do good things? But think about it. I can milk that for four years. Forget about the 3.1. Think about the 12.4. That's my thing. Think about the 12.4. Yeah. If I can add another 12.4 million onto my career earnings, And if I did what I supposed to do along the journey and not just invested in everybody telling me how great I am, but if I actually position myself to where I was able to work the ecosystem of sport, that 12.1 might as well be 30.

4:04Right. What would you say was the biggest lesson you learned in your 20s? In my 20s, the biggest lesson was the same way it was in my teens. It's a business. It's always a business. There were people around us. They didn't really give a shit about us, per se. They cared about the business. That's never going to change. And how you go about your business matters. And I try to explain to all my guys, like, you know, just having the respect for other people enough to where you show up early, not on time. but early. Sometimes you're in a meeting and the kid's falling asleep in the meeting. You know why that kid's falling asleep in the meeting?

4:47Because in his mind, two things. Obviously, they probably are extremely tired, but outside of that, I don't have to listen to this. Everyone's coming after me, so why do I have to listen to any of this? Like, I'm a, you know, and that mentality just doesn't work. That's not to say you're not going to be successful because you can be successful for the moment. But how do you be successful forever? And that's the difference. Yes. I never set a benchmark for myself. I never said, oh, when I make my first million, that's it. I'm going to be done. I'm going to go do this. I never said anything like that.

5:24I just continued to evolve. It's just that consistency. I was in position. I evolved. I managed to transition. I repositioned. I evolved. I was in position. I managed to transition. I repositioned. I evolved. That's why today I'm on the board of Live Nation. I'm on the board of UTA. I'm co-head of UTA. I'm CEO of Clutch Sports Group. Started the apparel side of my business that's totally separate from the representation side. Wow. I partnered with New Balance. We're in 100 stores, right? Another 100 next year. That's amazing. And continuing to build out that ecosystem because the way I see it is, although I would love to go home and I want to go home and pass out turkeys and school supplies and Christmas toys, I want to start adding that component for myself.

6:12I always do it with my clients, but I want to start doing it for myself. But that's not the best way for me to pay it forward. The best way for me to pay it forward is to continuing to develop businesses that provide opportunity. That's what my goal is. That's the true success. It's not money. I've made more money than I ever could imagine making. But I want to be able to develop businesses that provide opportunities that can then change the mindset of the youth for them to know that, yeah, it may not look so bright today. It wasn't bright for me. I had plenty of dark nights. I couldn't even watch certain TV shows because if I was to see something transpiring, especially involving a woman, I instantly went to my mom.

7:05And, you know, for many nights, I didn't see my mother. So I had to just imagine that she was okay. I didn't know. One of my biggest fears was watching the news in the morning at my grandmother's house and finding my mother dead. Wow. on the news. And I'm going to school with this, but I'm not using that as an excuse. I'm not saying abacadabra on my tests. I'm not doing that. And so when I think about my business today, Clutch Sports Group or anything that I do in business, the DNA is this book. So when I'm talking to parents, when I'm talking to players, I may not have the sexy conversation. I have the substance conversation.

7:58Thank you so much for listening to today's episode of the daily motivation. And I hope you have an amazing rest of your day. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to click the link in the description that will take you to the full episode of our main podcast on the school of greatness. And if you are loving the daily motivation, please follow us over on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and leave us a review over on Apple Podcasts right now. And if you want more exclusive content and ad-free listening experience, make sure to subscribe to our Greatness Plus channel on Apple Podcasts right now. And if you want to get even more inspiration from our world-class guests and learn how to improve your life and take it to the next level, then make sure to sign up for the Greatness newsletter and get it delivered right to your inbox over at greatness.com slash newsletter.

8:48Again, have an amazing day, and I'll see you tomorrow with another episode of the Daily Motivation Show.