The #1 Thing Stopping You from Success

14 Jan 2026 · 1 h · 30 chapters

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In short

The #1 Thing Stopping You from Success - Episode Summary

Podcast Overview Podcast Title: The GaryVee Audio Experience Host: Gary Vaynerchuk Description: A blend of interviews, keynote speeches, and discussions about marketing and entrepreneurship.

Episode Details Episode Title: The #1 Thing Stopping You from Success Guest: Dr. Amanda (host of Midlife Muse) Topics Discussed:

  • Building momentum in business through gratitude and self-awareness
  • Overcoming the fear of visibility
  • The implications of "6th place trophies"
  • The importance of mentorship from older generations

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Key Concepts and Discussions

  1. Definition of Failure
  2. Ultimate Failure: Defined as having only a few people attending one’s funeral, indicating a life spent stepping on others to succeed.
  1. Regret and Fear
  2. Regret as Poison: Regret is viewed as wasted energy that prevents individuals from living authentically.
  3. Fear of Judgment: Many people are hindered by the opinions of others, especially those embodying the “misery loves company” mentality.
  1. Influence of the Elderly
  2. Learning from the Elderly: Gary suggests spending time with individuals over 70 to glean wisdom about life and regret.
  3. Era of the 70-Year-Old: Anticipation that society will soon value wisdom over youth, reversing trends of youth culture dominance.
  1. Parental Influence
  2. Absorbing Parental Fears: Many individuals internalize the fears of their parents, which affects their ambition and willingness to pursue new ideas.
  1. The Value of Losing
  2. Learning from Loss: Emphasizing that losing can be beneficial, as it fosters resilience and understanding of real-life stakes.
  3. Critique of Participation Trophies: The trend of offering trophies for all participants (like "6th place trophies") is criticized as detrimental to embracing the realities of winning and losing.

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Key Takeaways

  • Authenticity Matters: True success stems from self-awareness and being genuine rather than adhering to societal expectations or roles.
  • Fear of Being Seen: The fear of visibility can hold individuals back from achieving their full potential and pursuing their passions.
  • Value of Experience: Engaging with older generations can provide invaluable insights and lessons that can help in mitigating regrets later in life.
  • Perspective on Parenting: Encouragement should focus on character-building rather than just academic or superficial achievements.

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Final Thoughts Gary Vaynerchuk and Dr. Amanda offer powerful insights into overcoming personal and societal barriers to success. By fostering self-awareness, embracing failure, valuing wisdom from elders, and encouraging authenticity—listeners are provided with a framework for personal and professional growth.

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This episode serves as a reminder that success is not just about accolades but about the relationships built and the authenticity maintained throughout one's journey.

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Chapters

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The Warm Welcome

0:45 to 3:56

A heartfelt discussion about Gary's character and interactions with the host's family.

“about really and truly the character of who everyone sees online.”

Fame and Authenticity

3:56 to 5:39

Gary discusses how fame amplifies one's true character and his experiences with it.

“There's plenty of people listening right now like, ugh.”

Speaking Your Truth

5:39 to 8:19

The importance of authenticity in communication and dealing with public perception.

“No, one of the reasons people struggle with me is I'm poking their zit.”

Humanity in Business

8:19 to 9:58

Gary emphasizes a human-centered approach to business and content creation.

“I'm gonna do this upfront for the selfless thing that might create the selfish thing that I might want.”

Building from the Ground Up

9:58 to 12:16

Gary shares his early work experiences and the journey of building his father's business.

“Every weekend, every vacation, every break, all of them.”

Reflections on Regret

12:16 to 14:00

A deep reflection on ambition, success, and the balance of life choices throughout Gary's career.

“All I did was child labor and manual labor from 14 to 34 and real stuff.”

The Weight of Regret

14:00 to 15:00

Exploring the impact of regret and the importance of experiences over accolades.

“How did that come back to represent itself later in life?”

The Nature of Success

15:00 to 16:00

Discussing the dual paths to success and the sustainability of achievements.

“It was about all day at the beach building the castle.”

Definitions of True Success

16:00 to 18:00

Questioning the true meaning of success and the cost of achieving it.

“so it leads into, so getting there, getting to the tippy top of the mountain, and you've arrived, there are two different ways to get there, but one, it will be hard to hold.”

Empowering Women Entrepreneurs

18:00 to 19:00

Encouragement for women feeling late to entrepreneurship and overcoming self-doubt.

“But it takes so much to get the women to a place of belief that it is not too late.”
Show all 30 chapters

Overcoming Insecurity

19:00 to 21:20

Discussing societal pressures on women and the essence of self-esteem in success.

“There's this misconception like, ah, and I, I mean, I'm part of a bunch of women groups.”

Wisdom of the Elderly

21:20 to 23:40

Valuing the insights and wisdom from older generations and their life experiences.

“or the misery loves company people in their life, often their mother, often their father, often their sibling, often their spouse.”

Reflections on Youth and Aging

23:40 to 28:00

Contemplating the changing perceptions of aging and the value of life experiences.

“See if your local retirement home will call, literally Google, ChatGPT, retirement homes around me.”

Historical Perspectives on Opportunities for Women

28:00 to 29:00

Explore how women's professional opportunities have evolved over generations.

“And then for a lot of women of that generation, it's the thing that so many women of your generation and definitely the younger generation, you have had more professional opportunities.”

Fear as a Weapon in Society

29:00 to 30:10

Discuss how fear is weaponized by various figures in society and its impact.

“And I think that one of the things that keeps me happy, like AI.”

Overcoming Fear to Pursue Passion

30:10 to 32:00

Learn about the importance of battling fear and pursuing one's passions.

“I am not gonna base my life and my decisions in this wild heart on some freak who's sitting in his basement.”

Entitlement and Generational Differences

32:00 to 33:50

Examine the notion of entitlement and expectations from different generations.

“All I, you know, I don't know if you noticed when I walked in, when I hung up on the phone, I said, I love you.”

The Value of Life and Parenting

33:50 to 35:20

Reflect on the value of life and the impact of parenting on personal development.

“It's 400, current science has it at 400 trillion to one.”

Candor and Personal Growth

35:20 to 39:40

Discuss the challenges and importance of being candid in personal and professional relationships.

“I don't think I've ever I don't recall ever saying I think watching my dad's transformation over those 25 years is actually why I have so much fuel to do what I do publicly.”

The Reality of Success and Hard Work

39:40 to 42:00

Challenge misconceptions about overnight success and highlight the importance of hard work.

“But if in fact it is not remedied then yes, exactly.”

The Hard Truth About Success

42:00 to 43:55

Explore the misconceptions around success and the importance of hard work.

“If your beauty standards are someone who has spent 3.7 million dollars on plastic surgery the fuck are you talking about?”

The Consequences of Parental Influence

43:55 to 45:58

Discuss the long-term effects of parenting styles on children's resilience and self-worth.

“But if you're collecting debt, you're out of your goddamn mind.”

Lessons from My Mother

45:58 to 47:48

Gary shares impactful lessons from his mother and her influence on his life.

“You also understand that you don't have full control.”

The Importance of Accountability

47:48 to 50:08

How to balance self-love and accountability in parenting.

“You know, I will be forever known because of my gift of gab, Wordsman Smith, my sheer ability to speak from my heart.”

The Dangers of Overindulgence

50:08 to 55:47

Evaluating modern parenting and its impact on children's development.

“she was the emotional foundation of every single human being in her life.”

Modeling Through Action

55:47 to 56:00

The significance of leading by example rather than just words.

“Gary, having you here has been so enjoyable.”

Reflecting on Key Topics

56:00 to 56:19

Exploring what was missed in the discussion and insights from personal experiences.

“because I've been so excited, this has been so fun.”

The Impact of Parental Role Models

56:20 to 57:19

Understanding how parental behavior shapes character and values in children.

“I'm sorry, before you do that, I just remembered one thing.”

Identity vs. Strategy in Success

57:20 to 59:20

Debating whether identity or strategy is more crucial for achieving success.

“So if you were to pick, and I know you're going to say, well it depends sometimes.”

Challenges of Entrepreneurship

59:21 to 1:00:14

Discussing the struggles of entrepreneurship and the analogy of firefighting.

“to quote Diddy, but like in the words of Diddy and Biggie, more money, more problems.”
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Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

0:00This is the GaryVee Audio Experience. Okay, Gary Vee, I am so excited that you said yes. It was really a shot in the dark when my team reached out to you. And so thank you for being so willing to sit down with me today. I'm beyond happy to. Oh, thank you. So what many of you would not know is prior to sitting down, he was so kind and generous to take a couple of moments with two of my adult children and a soon-to-be son-in-law out in the other room before we started filming. And you were just, the minute you walked in, you are so receptive. You were just willing to answer their questions. They're so hungry to learn from you and have been watching you for years.

0:41And in that instant, when you walked in, the way you responded to them said everything I needed to know about really and truly the character of who everyone sees online. Your goodness is so palpable from the moment you walked in. And that, as a mother, I just want to say thank you. I really appreciate you taking the time. Well, it's fun to say that as a mother, that is what my mom gave me. You know, it's like the best. Like I could not, last night I went to an event, very bougie, 18 very bougie guests. And so I was in this private area of a restaurant hotel that came up and the guy was a fan. And again, I show up, like my consistency is something I'm incredibly proud of.

1:25It's also the thing I do that's easiest. Just being yourself. Correct. This is the thing I push everyone on is you will not trick the world eventually. So like it's so, I couldn't comprehend spending my energy trying to put in the acting skills, the memorization. And the gentleman was very gracious to me and he's like, you know, it's nice to see that you are what you are. Already a couple people that have come in tonight are not. And I was explaining to him that, you know, that's a compliment to my parenting the way I was parent that's not a compliment to me what you just said is not a compliment to me I think the fact you held on to it you didn't let all the fame and success affect you well you know what's funny I don't think fame and success changes you I really do think it exposes you I think it accelerates who you actually are so it's an amplifier of the core of you I don't know if there's anything that's more obvious to me I don't know if there's anything more obvious to me then that money, success, notoriety and fame is a 100 % amplifier and exposer of your truth.

2:31I'm fortunate now that I've lived the life I've lived and especially the last 15 years where I've literally discovered so many kids before they became uber famous, knew them from day one because of the world I've lived in the last 15 years, social media, Logan Paul, Jake Paul, Charlie D 'Amelio. So fame is money, it's just, and then even taking, just as I'm talking, I'm thinking like Mark Zuckerberg and like Travis from Uber, like money's just an exposure. Fame's an exposure. I always believe money is an amplifier, but it's this conversation that's connecting it for me. So would fame be, right?

3:10Oh, for sure. It's really exposing my mind. Power, power. A true. And what do you do with that power, right? Correct. yeah and so for what just happened with the kids is like you know what's amazing and we were talking right before we went online I talked about what ends up happening when humility joins the orchestra you know do you want to hear the real answer I still can't believe that those three kids look at me that way I really can't it's just very true I will never I just you'll never get over it I don't think I will at this point I'm like okay I think so I think so. And that's why I think everybody of all ages and walks of life love you so much.

3:50Well, not everyone does. I actually think what's unique about me is I have a, you know, I'm a funny communicator, right? There's plenty of people listening right now like, ugh. Look, I'm being serious. There's plenty of people listening right now that are like, ugh, why'd she bring him on? Because in the world we now live in, in this fragmented world, me cursing about something aggressive might have triggered when people were like, oh, males that are, you know? I'm very empathetic to the misunderstanding of me. anyone who's consumed me for enough feels that way. I agree. Anybody who's gotten a flash of me, oh, there's some ways to misunderstand me.

4:24Absolutely. And I think that the reason, probably why I was also compelled to have you come on and have this conversation is because I can sense, as a psychologist, I can sense that you are saying it how it is. You are not filtering yourself. You are very authentic in who you present yourself to be and what you think is important and the message you want to convey. And I find the relatability in that because as a midlife woman in a space where coming out of private practice going online only five years ago and having this like hyper growth and hyper success and other women in the space like where did you come from?

4:59and almost like this, who are you? And being picked apart in many ways from my ideology, my philosophy. I say things that are often very uncomfortable that are my truth and my lived experience with all the clients I've worked with and just my philosophy and belief system about women, humanity, relationships. And it can be controversial at times, but I'll tell you what, whether the camera is rolling or off, similar to you, I am the same through and through and through. And I think that authenticity is what either repels people or attracts them. It's like the definer of, my producer always says, she's like, you're the ultimate equalizer if someone is going - An exposure.

5:38Yes. You can't really hide. No, one of the reasons people struggle with me is I'm poking their zit. Like when I say, hey, hey, at what age is it appropriate to stop blaming your parents? When I ask that question. Yeah, but it's a great question. You know, if you're a 42 year old who just got done shitting on your mom and dad and saying that's why it's all not working out, that doesn't feel good when I show up in your feed with that. Right, right. And what makes you think I would want to hire you as well? Like that you haven't worked through that. Yeah. You haven't worked through that shit and now I'm going to come to you if you are somebody who is trying to sell a service or a good, I'm like, ooh.

6:17And you'll appreciate this. It's really funny. It's almost like we're switching places. I actually don't even think of it through a commerce or capitalistic or business. most of the way I see the world is not through the lens of my great love affair with business. It's actually through pure humanity. I'm not even thinking when I make a piece of content, when I'm poking at that issue of like, what could this mean for business? I'm just thinking, man, I really hope that when I post this video, three people, this is literally my mindset, three of the four billion people that are about to watch this are finally ready to tip.

6:59They've heard me say, maybe me this before, you in one-on-one, anyone, but today's the day. In my way. They're gonna receive it. And I love this philosophy, how many views did this get, that naturally happens, but the mindset going in is, I hope three people are changed. I hope three people hear this and today is their day that they take their leap for themselves. It's the same idea when I started my 365 Days of Facebook Live, which I think you'd appreciate for consistency. Gary, I had no following. I had 200 people. And I told you, my kids were telling you, they helped me set up all my social media.

7:33I got a light, a shitty ring light. I put it up. I put my thing in a cradle and I was like, hi. And I just started talking to the camera and I stayed on for 365 days straight. And in the beginning, sometimes there was one person in the waiting room. And while I'm talking, they were gone. And then I kept saying, okay, Amanda, if one person shows up, this is the equivalent. if they came and knocked on your front door? Would you slam the door and say, oh, let me know when there's about 20 more of you out there, then I'll actually let you in? You wouldn't. Speak to the one person, and guess what? Maybe one person will watch it tomorrow.

8:05Speak to the person you know who needs to hear this. And what happened next? Well, that's why it happened. And I didn't quit showing up, even when there was a low audience. Let's break down what you just said. I'm not gonna do this for the selfish things that I might get out of this. I'm gonna do this upfront for the selfless thing that might create the selfish thing that I might want. Got it? Right? That's why, by the way, I never worried, nor to this day worry about my, ah, in fact, fancy friends that have lots of followers like me always ask me why I don't archive low performing posts. Because I have no interest in the perception.

8:49I'm not even there for the reality. Meaning everything I want to happen will happen if I continue to provide value. The end. And so yes, that's why it worked for you. I love that so much. Tell me this, what would you say now is the difference between when you first got started and what you believed about ambition and success and maybe it was very little that you even understood or knew back then and where you are now. Is there something that has really changed that you say, gosh, if I could go back and talk to that younger version of me, I would tell him this. No. No. I'd love to appease the conversation.

9:30Yeah. I'd love to show the humility or the journey or the scars of a life. Is there anything about ambition and success that is different? I'm sure something subtle. Yeah. Maybe I can sit here for a few minutes and think. The real answer is absolutely not. predominantly because, so a lot of people really don't actually genuinely know my story. From 14 years old to 22, I worked at my father's liquor store for two to five dollars an hour. Every weekend, every vacation, every break, all of them. So your friends are going out doing fun things and you're working, working. Starting in early high school.

10:08We're talking early high school. I'm not talking about after college. I'm talking 14 years old. Saturday, Sunday, liquor store. Easter break, liquor store. First day of summer vacation to Labor Day, Sunday, liquor store. And I, at first hated it, and then by year two when I realized people collected wine, because I loved collecting, I made it my own, and at 15 or 16, dad please don't get mad, this is just, I wanna be very honest, at 15 or 16 I was like oh I'm a much better businessman than my dad which was very weird at 15 and 16 14 you know and I'm not saying and again if you knew me real well I wasn't saying it like it was just with I didn't even say it out loud I was just saying it to myself which very quickly got into I'm gonna help my parents because I was already there this goes back to the point of the foundation of my childhood and like I can help them I already was aware that by being so I'm a Soviet immigrant everyone, I was born in the Soviet Union.

11:13I was already in a place where I was so grateful for what my parents had done by just getting us to America. And then I had this mother that was so uncomfortably great that I'm just cooking with gas, I'm like, I need to give back. So, you know, I work in this liquor store, then when I'm 22 I'm getting paid 35, 40, 50 ,000 a year. I build my dad's business from a four million into a$60 million business and never made$100 ,000 a year. I started my career at 34 years old. And by the way, just for everyone to really hear it, from 22 to 34, and I worked 100 hours a week. We were in retail. So it was Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m.

11:59to 10 p.m., no lunch break. And then occasional Sundays, 12 to 5, but I had to watch the Jets in the fall and winter. and then the holidays call it the week before Thanksgiving until New Year's Day you're talking 15 times 120 I mean like real labor it was funny I was on TikTok live the other day everybody the people that know me now they're like I was talking about something like yeah Gary but have you ever done manual labor and I like almost burst out of laughter I'm like I've done only manual I mean I have a massively substantial QL issue on my back. All I did was child labor and manual labor from 14 to 34 and real stuff.

12:44I'm talking, you know, pallets and hand trucks and carrying boxes that weighed as much as me. Anyway, I, from 22 to 34, I was conscious that I was building my dad's business for him. A lot of people want to try to rag on me. They're like, he's not like us. His dad gave him a liquor store. I'm like, no, he didn't. My father owns the family business right now. Uh-huh. In fact, if I was lucky enough to not have a father that had a liquor store and just randomly worked in a liquor store and took that liquor store from three to 60 million in revenue, I would have made a million dollars a year as an executive.

13:22So I think for immigrants, they get it. The family business dynamic is wild. And sometimes when you're the kid and you're the real driver of the business, you're super fucked. Tell me, were the dynamics there? Yeah, in the early 30s. After I got married, my first marriage, I was like, wait a minute, I have to worry. From 22 to 29, I was just doing it for my dad. I didn't give a shit about anything but build Wine Library. I didn't give a shit about anything. I gave up my entire 20s, which was a massive vulnerability. Back to balance, not having any leisure or any fun in your whole childhood is bad.

13:59No question, as I got into my 40s and you know. How did that come back to represent itself later in life?

14:08The only version of regret that I have. You know, I think regret is a poison. And I'm like... It's like a wasted energy. And honestly, I'm like so lucky. Like, it's so minor. But I can taste it. You know, like, you know, I'll use alcohol. I'm not an alcoholic, but I have a glass of wine every Thursday night. But even that glass of wine is maybe not productive. and so in my late 30s, early 40s, I'm like, I blew it. You know, and that's not in my framework.

14:42Yeah, I'm trying to really break it down. So anyway, back to your original question. Success and ambition has only been one thing for me. I'm gonna build the largest sandcastle at the beach and at the end of the day when my parents call me to eat, I'm gonna break it down because it's not about the castle. It was about all day at the beach building the castle. The experience. That's it. I could care less about every trophy I have. All of them. Could give a shit about Gary Vee, 50 million followers, my bank account, my notoriety. Could give a shit. No, what about the person who's like, well, it's easy for you to say, Gary, because you have it.

15:22Very easy. I have it because I didn't give a shit. Oh, so you think that's part of the equation. No, no, I think it's the equation. Oh my God, even better, it's the equation. It's the, okay, it is, now there's, now, for me, let me, to everyone's credit, on the counter, there are two ways to get to the tippy top. Extreme confidence and simplicity, and extreme insecurity. Ah, yes. There's a difference though. Right. Once you get there, sustaining it, when you got there through darkness, you become Darth Vader and you lose. That is so important for people to hear. This is one of the questions I wanted to ask you so it leads into, so getting there, getting to the tippy top of the mountain, and you've arrived, there are two different ways to get there, but one, it will be hard to hold.

16:11So you've acquired, acquired, acquired, but how do you actually hold and continue? And how we define hold. Hold could be, one could say, Gary, you're wrong. I can point to examples of people who, I always say there's two ways to build the biggest building in town. One, is to just have the talent to build the biggest building. Two is to tear down everybody else's building. And one could say, Gary, you're wrong. I'm gonna point to 10 examples right now, they're thinking it, of people that got there through extreme narcissism and insecurity and stay there. I ask them and challenge them, what is the definition of maintaining it?

16:46I would argue eight people showing up to that funeral is the ultimate loss. Oh, that is such a telltale, isn't it? I think so. And when it's all said and done, how many people are really there for you? Because if you had to cut so many people and step on so many people to get there, is that actually a success? And for some people, they would be like, absolutely, I just want to be there by myself. And great news. They're allowed. By the way, you want to hear something more extreme? Even though I'm passionately in disagreement, I have no judgment. Mazel tov, knock yourself out. Just not for me. Right.

17:23Not the way you're going to build it. No. So let me ask you this. A lot of my listeners are the women, you know, I wouldn't even say I have women in their 20s. Of course. Who are following me, who've hired me, who come up to me on the streets in New York. It's all the way from the 20s into their 80s. Yes. But I would say a good mass majority is 35 to 55. Love. Who follows me and is probably watching me. I love those ladies. These are the women who primarily hire me and come to me and they're like, I feel like I missed the boat. Of course. I feel like I missed it. I have all this entrepreneurial energy and spirit.

17:53I've got all these ideas. I have helped some of these women take the most unbelievable ideas and believe in themselves enough to turn it into a physical product, a service of good, whatever it is. But it takes so much to get the women to a place of belief that it is not too late. What do you say in your own language to those women who are like, ah shit, I'm 45, I'm 48. I mean, I didn't start Gary Online until I was just turning 48. Yeah, I get it. A couple fun things. First, this is going to be the most fun thing to say. good news all the guys are like that too I just want to start with that I have so many women friends good friends startup founders I back you know this anybody in our society today that is not a white male will have energy towards yeah but I'm not a white male so I so many of the women that are my homies I love to remind them because I'm a white male and I skew 70 % male audience and I love to start with step one, what do I say to all of them?

18:57Good news, all the guys are the same too. There's this misconception like, ah, and I, I mean, I'm part of a bunch of women groups. And this goes a lot to my mom being my hero. I have a lot of interesting points of view on this issue. Anyway, nonetheless, I love to like, they're like, but guys, you know, cliche me hanging out with 10 women over dinner, ready? This is real life in my life. Or on Zoom or what have you. But the guys, they like, guys will never be scared. Like these, you know, the girl talk is the funnest for me because I'm half girl. They're like, you know, these idiot guys who don't know anything are quick to be like, stand up and we're holding back and we know the stuff.

19:41I'm like, it's not true. They're like, what do you mean? I'm like, I have 13 guys around me in my biggest companies right now who are scared to speak up and they know the answers. It's not a girl-boy thing. It's a self-esteem thing. It's a delusion thing sometimes. Sometimes the guy or the girl, by the way, I know, I have women in my company right now posturing that don't know what the fuck they're talking about. They're in delusion. Other women in my company, very senior, six, seven figure, we're talking real people, that are posturing and are coming from confidence. So again, it's back to the thing we just talked about.

20:16It's either, just so you know, who's jumping? The confident and the delusional. Yes, yes. And the sex, the race, the gender, the age, that's not the correlation. It's how they grew up, family dynamics, childhood, nature, nurture, and many other variables. So what do I say to them? Say a couple things. One, ladies, when are you ready to not live in high school? oh Gary yes yes almost every woman right now 35 to 55 but also anyone who's listening that's 35 and under and 55 and older and any dude that's listening all have the same thing going on in this issue which is they are not interested in living their most true happy life they are not interested in mitigating regret later because they're worried about the opinion of either literally the general public that they don't even know, Johnny Pants 49's comment,

21:26or the misery loves company people in their life, often their mother, often their father, often their sibling, often their spouse. Let's talk about the ladies. There's so many women right now that are not willing to jump because they're worried about the impact on their insecure husband. Oh, I know that, I deal with this. I'm sure. I deal with this all the time. All the time. I'm sure you do. It's usually the husband, he's gonna be threatened by me doing something, taking up space that's not paying attention to him. Or being more financially successful than him. Oh, that's a big one. Massive. I know, my husband's like, it's the greatest thing in the world, like this is a dream come up.

22:04I'm more successful and he's like, wow. The other one is, I spoke in Amsterdam at a Mindvalley event a couple of months ago and I had so many women come up to me the next evening. There was like an after party and they said, I went back to my hotel room and because of you, I turned my camera on and I finally spoke. It's all real. Because they are so terrified that nobody cares about a woman 50 and over speaking in a camera. Which is, I mean, that's insane to me. In fact, I have some good news to everybody who's over 70 listening or watching. I actually think we're getting close to the, I think the world is pendulum swings.

22:36Always. I do too. I think we've just lived through the rise of youth culture. Everybody, right? Technology, plastic surgery. Biohacking. 70 year olds who look 25. I take it. I actually think we're dangerously close and I cannot wait. And in fact, I think this is like life smiling down on me. I predict in 20 years when I turn 70, it's going to be the era of the 70 year old. I think wisdom, I think one of the great missteps in society is that only 40, 50 years ago, we put grandparents on a pedestal for their wisdom, and now we make fun of them for their lack of technical understanding. I think this is a grave misstep.

23:16I could not agree with you more. In fact, let me give you a left field one, everyone. I could not recommend you spending time with someone over 70 who is not your family member. Go get some time. You want to do something for your soul, everyone? You want to do something selfish that will look selfless? Go donate five hours to a retirement home. Go donate five hours of your time. See if your local retirement home will call, literally Google, ChatGPT, retirement homes around me. Call, say, will you allow me to come and give 10 hours of public service, help, wash dishes, talk? If you are lucky enough for them to say yes, because I don't know how it would work with some of them.

24:00when you go when you're lucky enough to get 15 minutes to sit down to somebody who's 90 news alert they will all be thrilled because there's a lot of loneliness what they will give you forget about what you are giving to them which will be a lot by the way what they will give you has the deep potential to change the course of your life hey everybody I hope you're enjoying the podcast right now make sure you follow the podcast that's why I'm interrupting let's keep going on this show but follow the podcast it'll make my mom super happy Gary, I am covered in chills. Do you know in college I worked in a retirement community.

24:34That was my job. I worked in a nursing home. It is fundamentally, I could cry right now, it's fundamentally why I am aging naturally because there's so much wisdom and so much beauty in people that age and change and I don't know why the rest of the world is not seeing it. I agree. It's just some of the most beautiful years of my life were spent. I would argue without knowing much about you that it might be the most significant thing that ever happened to you. I really would say it was one of the stamps on my heart that fundamentally changed the woman I am. Yep. And it was talking to people in their 70s, 80s, 90s and I was on the Alzheimer's wing and so I was often with the loved one who would come to see them, the husband who would come after dinner, the wife who would come.

25:21Tough stuff. Oh my gosh. And the stories they would tell. Can I tell you a story? Yes, please. When I immigrated to America, we were poor. We had$300 to the family. We lived in a studio apartment in the size, roughly, actually, it's, usually I always say bigger than, it's really interesting. Roughly around the size, eight deep. Eight family members. My great, great grandparents, my great, my great grandparents, my grandmother, my parents, myself, and occasionally, because, you know, immigrant life, like a cousin would come through for a few minutes, you know? my mom was pregnant, which was a bad thing, because the first thing the American side of the family said when we got here, distant relatives were like, do not have another child.

26:06My sister comes immediately, so my mom is with her. I am spending most of my fourth and fifth years on earth with my great grandfather. My great grandfather grabs me in the morning and we go outside and I go and sit and hang out all day with 80 year old men. First name basis, speaking Russian, talking to them and pretty much in hindsight, I've been hanging out with old men and women since. I would argue that I, myself, have been 80 since I was six and that's why I think it's working. Because when you're 80, and you all know this who are listening, The coolest part about becoming 80 and 90 is you don't give a fuck.

26:58Oh, I don't give a fuck at 53. Me neither. I am so uncensored, it's liberating for you. I have been giving a fuck for a very long time and I definitely don't give a fuck, I just turned 50. But you really don't give a fuck at 83. You know what I mean? We will give less fucks at 83. We're pretty much don't give a fuck, but there's even more to go.

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27:19I think this theme we're talking about is very important. So what would I tell the 35 to 55 year old? That if you hung out with an 85 year old, that's not your grandmother, no baggage, no dynamic. What you would learn is you want to mitigate against regret. Because when you talk to an 85 year old, they will talk about, you know what is great about 85 year old women? I do this a lot, by the way. You know what my favorite, favorite thing that an 85 year old woman will touch on? What she regrets? The boy she didn't marry. Big one for that crib. Because they're part of the, I don't believe this gen will have that.

27:55They're part of an old school era where like, their parents made them, the first boy that liked them, the war, there's some crazy shit. You know what I mean? That's right. And then for a lot of women of that generation, it's the thing that so many women of your generation and definitely the younger generation, you have had more professional opportunities. We have. You know, they really, you talk to those women, this is what I always remind people, they're like, it's so bad now. I'm like, it's better than it's ever been. I'm the privilege of that, of what my grandmothers could never do. They both had to stay in very less than ideal marriages because they had no skill set.

28:34They couldn't make their own money. How about the law? I know. What do we forget about? She couldn't even get a checking account. Neither one of them. Correct. Until the year I was born. These psycho grandfathers of ours fucking held our grandmothers. I don't think people, you know what's funny? I was a very poor student. Very poor, D's and F's. Which is wild for an immigrant. D's and F's. People, when I say it out loud, they think C's and B's. No, no, D's and F's. But I was good at history. And I think that one of the things that keeps me happy, like AI. I'm not worried about AI because I know the history of electricity.

29:10Electricity was demonized and was gonna ruin the world. I literally was just talking about this yesterday. I can't believe, I use electricity as the example. So I'm not depressed because I know it's better. Of course it's not better in every situation. It's just how we use things. It's just we spend all our time dwelling and being scared. And then people have figured out that fear is a weapon. So you have politicians, parents, bosses, weaponizing fear. And then there's a few of us out here trying to sell hope and love. Practical optimism. I'll tell you what's worse than being scared is being entitled.

29:45Oh, and I want to talk about that about the next generation. But before we do that, I want to talk about the fear. What I see a lot of people doing is they're absorbing the fear of either. The reason that a lot of women don't go do the thing is they're either absorbing the fear of a mother, a father. My mom, when I started going online, she's like, this is dangerous. What are you doing? Why are you talking to the camera? Like, strangers are going to. Yeah. And now she's like, you don't have your address list to do. And I mean, of course, there's some common sense things that she's being a mom about.

30:12but she my mom has operated I love her so much but she's operated so much from place of fear of course she has to the end and think I live now as the 102 year old version of me I think about her I keep her in my mind's eye when I get there I'm taking my final breaths and the door of my life is closing I don't want to have a damn regret not to tell all the people how much I love them all of the time not to do the thing or say the thing because Billy John 2 3 6 7 who's in his mom's basement telling me, go away grandma, nobody cares about what you're saying. I could give a shit about that. I am not gonna base my life and my decisions in this wild heart on some freak who's sitting in his basement.

30:53You have to hear this. And sometimes it's not a freak in a basement. No, but some of the things they say to me that I think a freak in a basement. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, I think you're right. I actually want people to be a little more thoughtful on this. I say freak in a basement all the time too. I'm not picking on that. It's almost never a freak in a basement. It's just an unhappy person that's trying to tear someone else down to get a little solace for a second. And often it's a guy sitting in a corporate boardroom or on a plane right now. Or a lady, like, by the way, I literally did a live today on TikTok and somebody was like, man, you have an age well, you're like really ragging me.

31:28And I literally picked up the phone and I went to the light and I said, do I look better? And everyone's like, holy crap, because I looked way better. And I was like, I don't even care enough to get my lighting right. I know, I know. The message means more than the lighting. I remember that, I know. Now my producer's on my ass all the time about my life. Yeah, yeah, yeah, listen, listen. There's, you know, like, it's not a bad thing to do. But, again, yeah, I mean, listen, I think that had a lot to do with what you did early on. I think you've been thinking about your 100th second birthday the same way I think about it.

32:00All I, you know, I don't know if you noticed when I walked in, when I hung up on the phone, I said, I love you. that was to my best friend Brandon who runs the wine store. I say I love you to everyone. Like why not? Because I do. Because why wouldn't I? And everyone who just responded in their heads to like, what do you mean? Friends, I love everyone for real by the way. Because ultimately I love myself. That's it. That's it. Like no shit you don't say I love you to others. You don't love yourself. You can't extend what you don't already have. Of course. Instead of being mad at your dad who never said I love you and using that as a 48 year excuse, how about showing compassion to your dad in realizing he didn't love himself?

32:43Yes! Oh my gosh. Gary, I feel like we are, you're the male version of you and I'm the female version of you. This is literally what I tell my clients who, I use the analogy of going to Home Depot, right? You keep going Home Depot every day and you're asking where's the milk and they're like, oh, we don't sell milk here but this store down the street does. You come back every day. Ma 'am, I'm so sorry. We've never sold male care, but we have paintbrushes and ladders, right? You're asking for something they can't sell you. They don't have it. So it wasn't against you. They don't even have it for themselves.

33:10They've never carried it. How would you think they would offer it to you? Because people lack the humility. People lack the detachment. People don't realize they're completely self-infatuated. That's a big one. I think so. It's the bane of my existence sometimes with some of these people. Right? What do you mean your dad? What about your dad? What did you do for your dad? How about that? That's a good one. That's one that I haven't even really pushed enough on. Where are we at here, everyone? This is like a co-creative relationship. Yeah, this whole concept of the entitlement of childhood is fascinating.

33:47Alright, let's go with that because I. Someone birthed, hold on, now I'm getting hyped. Someone fucking birthed you. Yeah. And then you're like, do more. They did enough. Yeah, they gave you life. 400 trillion, do you know this? It's 400, current science has it at 400 trillion to one. The likelihood of becoming a human. Yeah, so let me get this straight. So someone that contributed, we're using dad here, the person that contributed the sperm that you became to create a 400 trillion to one lotto ticket, you want something else? Right, isn't that enough? That's the, yeah, this is, we need to change, right?

34:25How about, by the way, I think this comes natural to me because I talked about it early in the podcast. I thought about what I'm gonna do for them. At 14, 15, I'm like, I'm better. Instead of what normal kids do, and I say normal, ooh, I'm gonna go out and do my own thing, right? And by the way, my dad didn't make it fun either. I love my dad, but like, my dad's not my mom. Not only did I build it, I, by the way, you know why I'm good at therapy? I was my dad's therapist from 15 to fucking 40. to today to yesterday I moonlighted people give me a lot of credit for the business I built for my dad I'm like if I didn't have to spend three hours a day being his therapist while I was building the business I would have built a hundred million dollar business for him I believe it I have a lot of practice in therapy it's called having my dad I love this I want to talk about but by the way I'm sorry I apologize because I've never said this actually something just popped in my head I don't think I've ever I don't recall ever saying I think watching my dad's transformation over those 25 years is actually why I have so much fuel to do what I do publicly.

35:34I mean, I am so happy. One of the great things that happened in my life is watching my father evolve. My father told me that the employees were our enemy the day I started for him. He told me to keep an eye on them because they're going to try to steal. They're the enemy. and I taught my dad that they're the family. Wow. How beautiful is that? And so beautiful that he was able to receive that leadership. Well, 20 fucking five years later, with all due respect, and 700 trillion hours of fighting. Yeah, yeah. You know, but... He definitely got there. Ish. Ish. Because you know this. It's just a Band-Aid-ish.

36:17Yes. Everybody has a ceiling. Yes. Let me talk about a vulnerable... Instead of being like, I'm so... Yeah, let me give you my vulnerability. I, this is gonna blow you away because as a public figure, it's my strength, but in private, it was my weakness. I will only ever in my lifetime get to so great at candor. Why is that? Because it really doesn't come natural to me. My mother struggles with it, and that was my North Star. I got her DNA. I got parented by her. I acted on it for the majority of my life, and for most of my life I thought it was my strength until I realized it was my kryptonite.

36:58Every bad thing that has ever happened in my life in my life is 100 % attributable to my inability to be candorous with the people I like the most. Wow. Wow. Is it still plaguing you? I would say that the fact that I can say this out loud and the fact of who I am I would say not plaguing me. Now it's annoying me. Oh, okay. Do you think it's something you're going to be able to work through? Of course. I mean, I've gone from in a world where I was really gifted with the DNA, the circumstance and the mother, the architect that allowed me to be an 8, 9, 10 out of most emotional things. Yeah. I was a fucking 2 in candor.

37:48Maybe a 0. And then And I started, for example, there was a Facebook group that was started of former employees at Vayner where 12 of them were just ragging on me. And people I gave a lot of heart to. But they weren't wrong. They were upset on how they got fired. You just told them you sucked? No, I wish I did. I told them on Friday that they are the best and on Monday I told them they were fired. Got it? I wasn't able to give them the critical feedback. and the way I thought I was rewarding them was letting them be able to work there for another two or three years. So I thought I was giving them like, you know, I would blame them back then in my 20s and 30s.

38:31I'm like, how do you not, Johnny, how do you not see it? You stink, I'm a fucking, I'm the best. I'm like still paying you and you stink. But I didn't say that to Johnny, I said to myself. And then finally I would tip over and Friday I'm like, Johnny, good job on that thing. I'll see you, you know, Monday. No, no, no, no, Monday. Friday and be like, Johnny, have the best weekend. Good job on this. And Monday, be like, hey, Johnny, you got two minutes? I'm like, hey, so you probably know Johnny. Like, we got to let you go. And Johnny's like, what the fuck are you talking about? I had to eat that.

39:00I have to own that publicly. And that sucks because you know what really sucks? Saying you're sorry to Johnny sucks because Johnny sucked. I did pay him for three years and he did nothing. You know, right? But I also did the wrong thing because I lacked the critical feedback and I rebranded it. I branded it kind candor to myself and I scale it in my companies. We're about kind candor. We're going to tell you but we're going to do it in a very humane, very 360, very thoughtful way and the intent is that this candor allows us to fix it. So you can stay. Not set it up to fire you. Right. But if in fact it is not remedied then yes, exactly.

39:47So that's it. That's that little rant on my little, enough of razzing my dad for his shortcomings. My shortcoming is, which really blew people away when I started talking about it because Gary Vee is a candor king. Because right now I'm talking to the world. It's very different. Than talking to people that, the way I feel about training compared to six months, I feel close. Yes. It gets harder. Yes. And then forget about training. Sid, 10 years or, or Kaelin or Marcus, they're fucking family to me. Yeah. And that's when it gets hard. It does, it really, really does. I agree with you to be able to get it.

40:27So that's something I continue to put out publicly to suffocate myself to get better at it. But it will be a forever work in progress, hence, yes, my father is much better at seeing an employee as family than the enemy. Enemy, yeah. But deep down, my dad's probably walking through the liquor store right now, saw some employee get on a quick phone call and want to fire the shit out of them. He's still got it in him. It's work. I think you're doing me wrong. You don't really care about this business. Which I keep reminding him of, Dad, nobody should care about your business. You want them to care as much as you?

41:02Give them half the business. There you go. It's so true. It's so true. Let me ask you this. So to the listeners or to the youth who are in there, I'm either fresh out of high school, fresh out of college, and every friend I know is becoming an overnight millionaire. Everybody is successful. They did two TikTok videos. They went viral. So there's this sense, I gather, that they believe everyone's an overnight success and that it's easy to come by. Fame and fortune are easy to come by. What do you say to those, there's like this sense of it's easy and if I try three videos and they don't go viral, I quit.

41:39First, that they're fucking delusional. we have become infatuated at looking at 150 people and forgetting that for example there are 8.3 billion people on earth. My husband says this all the time. He's like the fact you even know their name tells me that's how few there are considering the large population of the world. Your husband's very right on this. Why do you keep focusing on it is hard work. If your beauty standards are someone who has spent 3.7 million dollars on plastic surgery the fuck are you talking about? It's so true. If you're financial, Gary, but what about Elon and Zucks? I'm like, what about 830 million people on earth do not have access to clean water?

42:19That's right. How about 800, let me say it slow, if I may. Yes. As a proud board member of Charity Water. 830 million, almost 3x the US population, does not have the ability to get to clean water within four hours. Within four hours, 830 million people cannot get to this. What are you crying about? Oh, no shit. No shit. Look, I think the kids are using that as an excuse. I agree. To say to their parents so that their parents give them money to do dumb shit. I love that. That's what I actually think is happening. Yeah, yeah. I think they're wah, wah, wah to their parents because we are living in a generation where parents demonized losing too much.

43:15So one of the reasons we talked about my POV on college 15 years ago, the nuance within there which is, and I'll say it again for some mom or dad that's listening, I do believe it is crazy for a child in 2025, 2026 to go to college if they are highly creative or entrepreneurial, not if they're trying to get a legal career. Not if they're, right. And they are collecting massive debt. If you're creative and entrepreneurial and mommy and daddy are gonna pay for your college, go have a four-year vacation. I did. I didn't do shit. I played Madden, Spades, CeeLo, hooked up, like go. But if you're collecting debt, you're out of your goddamn mind.

44:04Same to this one. If you're a parent that tells your kid, if you have a six-year-old right now and your six-year-old just played a game of basketball and he or she came off the court and they're crying and you said, honey, stop crying, it's just a game, you're a fucking asshole. And let me tell you why you're a fucking asshole. You got lucky that you have a child who was gifted with the DNA to care. And you are starting the process of teaching them indifference. Oh. And if you know what indifference leads to, you're going to get very serious with me here, friends. Sixth place trophies has destroyed our society.

44:45I've heard you say this before. I'm obsessed with this. I'm so happy that you say this. Listen to me, everybody. It drives me nuts. Winning and losing is real. It's called life. It is. But here's the secret. Losing is good. Yes. If you have a kid that falls in love with losing, very good things will happen. I fell in love with losing which is why I'm not scared of anything. That's right. So we demonized losing. We told our kids it doesn't matter. We told our kids you're going to get a trophy too. We told them it doesn't matter. It made them scared of losing. So what the fuck do you think happens when they become 22 and go out to the real actual world?

45:20No shit they're saying to you. Hey mom, you don't get it. Everyone's getting famous on TikTok secretly saying mom give me a thousand bucks. Yes. Yes. Yes, exactly. And I'm so terrified to go out and try something and look foolish. Like look foolish for who? I don't even understand what we're talking about. And now let's get deep. Mom and dad give them a thousand bucks because mom and dad are also scared of the judgment of their friends to see if Johnny sucks or not. That's right. And it's so important. I've never become overly attached to my kids' outcomes. Who they become in the world is who they become.

45:52They're their own unique individual. Oh, you're so brilliant. Good news. I don't need them to be successful for my ego or so I can show them all. You also understand that you don't have full control. This ego of parents as if, like I do not judge people based on their kids. Ever. There's something called DNA. That's right. I mean, we had a tragic event happen in pop culture just now. Oh, I was just saying that when you said it. Right? Like, is that how we judge those parents? I sure don't. Right. There's so many variables. That's right. I can tell you right now, my parents have three children.

46:19They're all different. I have two children. They're going to be different. I have five nieces and nephews. They're all going to be, everyone's different. Yeah. and there's so much nuance that's out of our control and what our children choose DNA is real like you have a distant cousin that was a loser and the DNA got in there it's not you in fact the grandparents are a big factor if you really look at it it's a lot easier to understand someone on their four grandparents than their two parents a lot of times you can really see it clearer I've got a little more data there now I can see it because you look at the parents you're like where the fuck did that come from ah granddad was a fucking lunatic was a silly character.

46:58You look at parents, you're like, where did that sense of humor come from? Grandma was a fucking gag. So I don't understand how we're confused by this. And I don't know. Man, we are just way too detached to the outside. And we gotta get really insular real fast. This is about you with you, about you, and you. Always, always. As we round this out, Gary, and the fact that this is called Things Your Mother Never Told You, and you speak so highly and so regularly about your mom. I would love to, I would just love to know, what was it about your mom that makes her so, for mothers, because there's a lot of mothers who are listening to this, what do you think the impact that was so special that she had on your life, what was that?

47:43Oof, I'm gonna really fight it here, man. God.

47:53I'm a really good communicator. I was really gifted. You know, I will be forever known because of my gift of gab, Wordsman Smith, my sheer ability to speak from my heart. I will never in my life be able to give you the answer to this question. It's so much bigger than the capacity of my communication.

48:19First of all, let me start with something that I think everyone should hear. It had very little to do with what she said. It had everything to do with what she did. I watched my mom, my dad worked his fucking face off. We are immigrant immigrants. I didn't fucking see my father until I was 14 and started working there, because he worked so much that he would wake up before I woke up and he would come home after I went to sleep. My father and I slept in the same roof every fucking day of my childhood, except for six days when my mom and sister and I went to the Holiday Inn in Orlando and ran out of money, by the way, three days into the trip on our only vacation that I took as a child.

49:04People really do not know where I come from. I watched her raise three children with a husband that was never around, with not a single babysitter in my life, without a single human that cleaned that house outside of her with three children that didn't do shit and she did it all. I've never done laundry in my life. I had to find girlfriends in college to help.

49:41She had a mother-in-law, my father's mother, who would come to our house my entire childhood on May 3rd, her birthday, and leave on September 10th, my dad's birthday, and spend every minute in that home shitting on my mom, bringing negativity, shitting on my dad, shitting on her. And you know what's so funny? I don't even have a problem with my grandmother because I knew my great-grandmother, and that's what she did. Yeah, and you saw she inherited that. she was the emotional foundation of every single human being in her life. My mother lost her mother at five. She grew up in the Soviet Union.

50:27Her bathroom was outside. Her father then went to jail when she was nine for 10 years because he was Jewish in the Soviet Union. Oh my gosh. all with a smile and positivity every single day of her whole life she told me that I was the greatest and fucking grounded the living shit out of me at every turn when I wasn't my greatest pure accountability yet zero dent in my self worth pure do you understand you are a mother to walk a tightrope to create a child who has 100 % self love and confidence while equally being 100 % accountable and self aware that is a fucking tightrope I speak from experience because you know this because if you want to make your kid you know you grew up in the parenting generation I'm in the parent generation where you're like you instill confidence, you can be anything.

51:42No you can't. Parents, no one can be everything. If you tell your kid you can be everything let me tell you how it plays out. This might help everybody to know where I stand. The reason I have my opinions is because they're not my opinions. I am in the receiving end for now over 15 years over 10 years. I'm now on the receiving end for over 10 years of over 50 ,000 direct messages a week. Predominantly from 15 to 35 year olds. Let me give you the news alert of the outcome of telling your kids over and over that they can be anything. They think you're full of shit. Your kids think you're full of shit when you tell them they can be anything.

52:28When you look the other way, when they suck, when you go yell at a teacher to give them an A. How about this one? When they're 25 and you pay for their shit, they think that you think they're a loser even though they're asking for it at every turn. This is real shit we got to talk about. That's right. This is real shit. Yes. People love to blame social media for all the problems. This is not social media. this is misguided empire first world problems of modern parenting that over corrected to the parenting we were parented with daddy gave me no love so I'm going to give disproportionate love when the answer was the middle you want the middle but you went over here and that's why we have kids that are zoo animals we create monsters and by the way I have no judgment on the kids.

53:28I'm empathetic. Now, at some point when the kid is now 30 and I'm like, yo, when are we doing this? Is it 30? Is it 37? Is it 42? Is it 18? When are you allowed to become a grown-up is my big debate to everyone. I love this. By the way, my grandmother was shitting on my great-grandmother in her 60s. I'm like, grandma, when are you gonna be grown? When are you gonna stop dwelling? My dad lost his dad at 15. my grandmother said she was a widow eight times a day every day of her life. As if she was the only widow on earth. And I deeply love my grandmother. I love my grandmother Esther. My sister's so pissed at me right now listening to this.

54:09Because she loves Grandma Esther more than I love Grandma Esther. Because she sees herself in Grandma Esther. Oh yes.

54:19These are real things. These are real things. And this is the, for everybody who's listening, these are the conversations. Because all of us are looking at the thing and not the root cause. I agree with you over and over again. And they say there's no real business problems in business. There's only people problems. There's only people problems. And this is real stuff. And you know what's crazy? Here's why I'm so motivated. If one person got pushed into the corner by the last 15 minutes of my rant, and was like. It's so worth it. No, no, no. if one person's like, ugh, fuck him, he's right. If this is the moment they're like, fuck it, I'm going thumbs in instead of fingers out.

54:56Yeah. Well, this was a good use of my time. That's right. That's what I mean. It was so worth it. It was so worth the time spent if somebody decides I'm going in on it. I mean, I'm sure this is what was intoxicated. I know for a fact that if I didn't have an entrepreneurial DNA bone in my body, that I would have been a guidance counselor, a therapist. Like, this is so rewarding when you were, this is why my mom does it too like why she was the person in her world the rewards of helping someone get happier is the most intoxicating reward there's no zeros in your bank account that is better than I agree I mean I have people come up to me whispering in my ear at events that I took them from the brinks of suicide what check do you think exists that's gonna make me feel better?

55:41that's right for what? to buy another vase? I know for what? another car like how many questions are there? We've become so materialistic. It's so bad. We've become so, ugh. And it's so empty in the end. It's so empty. Gary, having you here has been so enjoyable. Don't leave yet. I have a question. Oh, I'm not going in there. Yes, because I have another minute or two. Okay, good. Real quick, because I'm so curious, because I've been so excited, this has been so fun. What didn't we touch on that you did want to touch on before we got here? Because we went into a bunch, I know how I can get. Well, I have to look down.

56:09I have to look down. Yeah, look, look. What didn't we touch on? What didn't we touch on was, well, I think that you've touched on this because of your personality, so I didn't even get to it. But let me ask you this. One thing that I have here is when it comes down to it. I'm sorry, before you do that, I just remembered one thing. Sorry, everybody. This is how my brain works. I love it. No, we're good. My mother didn't tell me how to live. She showed me how to live. Yeah. Yeah. That's it. The role model who doesn't have to say it in the words. It's just by the way they live. Always. She also, I'll give you mom's one tactic.

56:43she hyper glorified things I did that were kind. Opening a door for an old lady at eight, I talk about a lot. The way I manned up for my sister. Like she would go crazy. And like, you know. On the character quality pieces. Uh huh. And you know this, we're all, I can see everybody behind the cameras. We react to what our parents are cheering for. Yes. Too many parents cheer for straight A's in school, bad. That's right. my mom cheered for when I was kind to an elderly woman. Good. Quality of the character is what I've cheered for. Grades, that doesn't speak too much for me. No. Alright, so what you were about to say?

57:22So if you were to pick, and I know you're going to say, well it depends sometimes. I think I know what your answer is to this, but I'm curious. Let's see. If it was only one or the other, would you say it is strategy or identity? That. Of the person, the entrepreneur, the person, like me, you, what do you think really makes the person really successful, strategy or their identity? I would say, definitely not strategy. Let me, you know, I'm thinking through identity. But I don't think it's that either. I'll say more. I, in my observation of success, and maybe this is how you define identity, I would say that I have the most direct correlation to financial, but more importantly, emotional success towards self-awareness and self-acceptance.

58:19And that might be identity. It's definitely not strategy. Strategy is school. Like, oh, I'm gonna do this. That's nice. Because by the way, do you know why most people, oh, this is good. I'm glad we got this. Do you know why most people listening have not been able to execute on their strategy? Why? Because they're not good. they're not good. Always about in here. Because you don't have enough energy to get through your strategy if you're not good. That's right. You'll die along the road. That's right. So I don't know if identity is the way I'm talking about self-awareness and self, you know, acceptance.

58:54No, it is. It is. That's what I was looking for. Then I would say, then it's definitely, in the way you're framing it, then I would say it's identity. How do you put yourself in a position to have the least friction day to day to be in your most true self to be able to be adaptable and emotionally strong enough to deal with the unlimited shit one must deal with to actually get to the top. Well, this is it. And the higher you go, the more shit you deal with. I think... Oh my God. I know it's not politically correct to quote Diddy, but like in the words of Diddy and Biggie, more money, more problems.

59:29Like the way you go... I mean, I... Do you know what I write out for occupation? Literally. When I have to fill out a form, occupation. Do you know what I write? Firefighter. Fire, oh my God. Just putting out fires all day long. My whole life is shit on shit on shit on shit on shit on shit with the occasional smile. This is refreshing to hear as an entrepreneur. Good. The bigger things get, the more fires I feel like I'm putting out. And there are moments where I question, are we doing something wrong that I'm putting out more fires or is this a result of the growth we're having? By the way, you know who most understands this?

1:00:02Who? All the moms that are listening. The fuck is being a mom? Honestly. Shit on shit on shit on shit on shit with the occasional smile. It's so true. But that smile's worth everything. It is, it is. Gary, thank you so much. This moment was worth everything. Thank you so much for being here. Everybody, if you enjoyed this podcast, please go back and look at the prior episodes. They're loaded. I appreciate your attention and thanks for being part of this journey. See you later.

From the publisher

In this episode of the GaryVee Audio Experience, I sit down with Dr. Amanda on her podcast Midlife Muse to talk about how to build momentum in business and life through gratitude and self awareness, why the fear of “being seen” is holding you back, and the impact of 6th place trophies. Dr. Amanda and I also discuss why losing is good, the impact my mother has had on me and why hanging out with 70-80 year olds will change your life for the better. 


You’ll hear about: 

  1. Definition of Failure: The ultimate failure or “loss in life” is defined as only "eight people showing up to that funeral" due to cutting and stepping on others to succeed.

  2. Regret and Fear: Regret is viewed as "poison" and "wasted energy". People do not live life as their true selves or mitigate regret because they are worried about the opinions of others or people in their life who embody "misery loves company".

  3. The Value of the Elderly: Recommending spending time with a non-family member over 70 to gain wisdom and learn about regret.

  4. The Era of the 70-Year-Old: The prediction that society is nearing the "era of the 70-year-old" where wisdom will be valued over youth.

  5. Parental Influence and Fear: Many people absorb the fear of their parents (often a mother or father), which prevents them from pursuing their ideas.

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