Just One Joey: grind

Who doesn’t want to get advice from Mark Cuban? This blog is designed to answer common questions with the spirit of Mark Cuban, using answers given to Chase Jarvis during his 30 Days Of Genius series. I went through the interview, pulled out the nuggets, and am serving them on a silver platter for you. Cutting out the stuff you don’t need (because it takes up time, and you will read the time is THE most valuable commodity), and I am handing you the gems.

Look for a blog for all 30 Days of Genius episodes as they are being released on iTunes.

Enjoy!

What should I do for a living?

Make sure it is something you love to do, and something you are actually good at. You can love basketball, but if you are short or can’t shoot, it’s time to find a new sport.

The best place to start looking is where you are already spending your time. What do you spend most of your time on? What “itch” do you need to scratch? What do you enjoy learning about? A very important thing to understand is that you need to LOVE learning. The worst situation to be in is when you are in a meeting and someone knows more about your industry and your company than you do. If that happens, you lose, or you will soon. Business is cutthroat. Everyone is out to kick your ass. If you don’t love learning about a particular industry, that is a sure fire way to know it is not the industry for you. Business is the ultimate sport. It is 24–7, 365, and extremely competitive. There is no off-season. You have to be driven in whatever you choose to do, or you will lose. A lack of drive in your particular industry is a red flag. Be self-aware enough to recognize that. Don’t fall in love with someone else’s story, write you own. You may not be Michael Jordan, but you could be Magic Johnson.

Please don’t try to be the next Mark Cuban, or the next Zucks, you need to be the next you. YOU are already spending time on things YOU enjoy. YOU know what you are good at. YOU know what you suck at. YOU know how you think, and YOU know how you work. Focus on what you are good at and then team up with people who compliment your strengths with their strengths. Again, be self-aware enough to recognize that.

Everyone talks about passion. Don’t follow your passion, follow your effort. Get out there and do things, work hard. There are things you may be great at that you don’t even know about because you haven’t tried yet. Get your hardhat on and start grinding. I didn’t love computers until I started coding, and that is the foundation of everything I have done. What if I hadn’t sat down to figure that out? What are you missing out on?

As you learn, and continue to learn, you will start to see combinations of things, new ways of doing things, and that’s when you know you have something good. You will combine everything you are learning and crunch it together with everything you already know to make something new or better. I am always looking for what I already do, and how I can combine that with businesses I bring in to create something bigger or better.

All of this learning and hard work is molding you and helping you discover what you are wired to do, and that’s the goal isn’t it? Putting yourself in the best position to win? That’s what I thought. After you figure out what you are wired to do, you can stop lying to yourself about whatever story you have been tell yourself, and that’s when you can really sell yourself. You will know what you are good at, and you will know what you can sell. You were wired to do A, B or C, and you can get paid to do it.

Being in this position will help you be successful because: you are already drawn to it, you are busting your ass, and those things are vital to success because you have to be able to work tired. You have to be able to go the extra mile in meetings, in learning, in preparing, and in delivering. Being wired for it means all of those things are just a little bit easier for you than the person who isn’t.

Necessary Traits

Remember this formula: Learning + Hustle/Grinding/Hardwork = Success.

Because you work hard, you will out work the competition. Because you are learning, you will out create the competition. That’s what it is all about. Either you want to win, or you don’t. If you’re napping, I am going to kick your ass. And everyone else out there is looking for a way to kick your ass. Always remember that. Always be working. Always be grinding. Because when you aren’t, someone else is.

With all the learning, and all the grinding, you will be more prepared, and preparation is what allows you to mitigate your risk. Being an entrepreneur (a successful one) is not about taking risks. It’s about going all in and working your ass off. It is about having goals, then putting things that help you reach those goals on the top of your list, and discarding the rest. Self-awareness, once again, is key. Time is the one thing you can never own. Make sure you are spending your time on things that matter: your family, your business, your knowledge, your health. All the other stuff is taking away time from your goals. You can never get back yesterday. You can’t re-do right now. Make the difference while you can right now.

Money and Small Businesses

Avoid raising money at all costs. I know it sounds crazy, but if you are taking money you are already failing because you aren’t able to do it on your own. Live like a student. Work lean. Stay Hungry, Stay Smart. You don’t need to be a $100 millionaire, you need to reach your goals.

You focus should be, in this order: sweat equity, customer equity, Kickstarter (some other fundraiser) equity, then venture capital money. People walk away from great businesses all the time with very little because of the fundraising. It is better to work lean, live lean, and build slow, then take on money, take on people you need to listen to, and lose your company.

Remember, venture capital money = failure.

I know what you are going to ask, how do I know when I am on the something? When I first started streaming, I got a call from the Aleutian Islands. When people are calling from a place you can’t even find on a map, that’s when you know you have something.

Fun Facts About Mark Cuban

Mark owns a lifetime pass on American Airlines at the cost of $250,000. You can’t buy them anymore.

He is a dad first.

His best friends are the same ones he had in college.

He is a bad piano player,

a bad singer,

and he is horrified of heights.

Quote

“Out work. Out last. Out hustle.”

Mark Cuban Links

Alyssa’s Healthy Cookies

Cyberdust

AXSTV

Dallas Mavericks

Chase Jarvis Links

Joey Links

Happy Birthday to you….

Happy Birthday TO YOU ……

Happy Biiiiiirthdaaaaaay you’re either a winner or loooooserrrrrr!!!

Happy birthday tooooooo yyyoooouuuuu!!!!

You are an adult now.

Congratulations.

Still feel like a kid? Of course you do, but you aren’t. And you don’t have to act like it.

Today is decision day.

Decision 2016, or 2017, or whenever you read this.

This is your Independence Day. The day you seize independence from…… yourself.

How much longer will you play the “kid” card?

What’s wrong? Adults aren’t fun?

You can still hang out.

You can still have friends.

You can still be fun.

If you are a lame adult, you were probably a lame kid too.

You can be anything you want to be, but if you want to excel you need to decide when to cut out all the bullshit. Trim the fat. Solidify your goals. Focus on the long game. Work with grit. Move with determination.

“Why do I have to grow up so fast?”

“What’s wrong with having fun?”

“You are only young once.”

Wwwwaaaaa, wwwaaaaaaaaa.

Are these things you say to yourself? You want to wait until you are 22 and done with college, or 23, or 24? Go ahead.

I am not here to tell you there is anything wrong with that. But if you want to dominate, if you want to crush it, be the top 10% of the top 10%, you need to act like an adult starting…..yesterday.

I am not telling you there is anything wrong with being “young,” or being just like everyone else. But if you want to win, you shouldn’t want to be like everyone else. You should want to be a superstar. You should want to stand out. It’s hard to be a superstar when you surround yourself with “everyone else.” Weekends start on Thursdays. Detoxing Sunday night. Groggy on Monday. Waiting for the weekend by Tuesday. Skipping class, skipping work, work is for work hours, etc. That’s not how you do it. It’s fun, but it’s not how you do it. That’s not how you become great.

You want to be great don’t you?

You think you can accomplish greatness, don’t you?

You have to think it before you can do it.

You can start doing both of those things now.

Take it from someone who didn’t get it. Who didn’t realize the power you have with the proper mindset.

The power you have with your age. The power of separating strong and early. You could be ahead of

EVERYONE if you started today. If you start separating on your 18th birthday, you will leave everyone behind. No one will be able to accomplish what you can accomplish. You will be 7-8 years ahead of every single one of your friends. What do you need to do? Cut the bullshit. Trim the fat. Be goal oriented. Live with focus, grit, and determination. Lose the dead weight and move on. Shed your skin, spread your wings. Pick the analogy and go.

From this day forward, it’s ALL up to you.

Not up to the college you go to.

Not up to the company that hires you.

Not up to your mommy and daddy, your boyfriend or girlfriend.

You, and only you.

To be honest, you don’t need to be 18 to cut the bullshit. The sooner the better. Your 18th birthday seems to be a good one because the government says you are now old enough to die. Pleasant, huh?

I know what you are thinking, “But I don’t want to miss anything.” You have to trust me when I tell you that you aren’t going to miss shit. When your parents tell you nothing good happens after midnight, they are right. It sounds crazy, but they are. Puking at 4am? Banging an ugly girl you would never be interested in in a million years? Banging a dude you wouldn’t be caught dead with? Morning after pills? Horrible hangovers? DUIs? Too many cigarettes? $2 tacos from JB? Coke (not a-cola)? How many of those scenarios come from things that happen BEFORE 12am? Exactly.

What else will you be missing out on? Beach instead of class? Beer pong instead of studying? Is the tail wagging the dog?

You should have one goal if you want to kill it in life. That goal is: Success. That’s it.

Go to college or don’t do to college. The important thing is to act like you didn’t go. That way, you won’t expect anything to happen if you do or don’t go. People get so caught up in earning their degree, and making something of themselves, they forget to actually make something of themselves. The stuff you learn in school will transfer to 1% of anything you do for a living, so the sooner you start learning and cranking on your own, the better. The truly educated NEVER stop learning. The problem is a lot of people start learning too late. Start now.

Awwww, you want to enjoy your youth?

What does that mean?

That sounds like you’re scared? Masked in “fun” and “youth” but really scared.

Why would you be scared?

Because the world is scary and you’re not ready.

Mommy and Daddy’s house, the dorms, the frats, the sorority houses, much easier to deal with. Why are

they easy? Because they put all the pressure on something else, not you. You are a son, a “brother” or a “sister.” You don’t have to be “Jack The Adult” or “Jill The Adult.” You put it off. “It’s not time yet.” “I have my whole life to work, I want to have fun.” But it’s really because you are overwhelmed with the notion of being responsible for your own life. Get over it, and get over it soon.

How do you start? Where do you trim the fat? Cutting the bullshit? You probably aren’t even sure what is or isn’t bullshit in your life. That’s how little thought you have put in to this. You are just on a path, obviously someone else’s, taking a stroll.

Start with a goal. Where do you want to be at 30?

Now look at all the shit you do during a given week. What is not helping you reach that goal? Now stop doing those things.

Distinguish yourself. Separate.

Which of your friends don’t have aspirations like you? Stop hanging out with them. You are the product of the 5 people you surround yourself with. If you hang out with losers…….

Do I even need to say it?

Be THE guy. Be THE girl.

Be Brady instead of Manziel.

Be Steph instead of Swaggy P.

Be Zucks.

Be Sheryl Sandberg.

Be Tim Ferriss, Ryan Holiday, Carol Dweck, Tony Robbins, or anyone else who cut the BS, started killing it, and grinding.

Be Gary Vaynerchuk instead Larry Shmandershuk.

Stand up for yourself. You are 18. You can be anything you want. ANYTHING. But you can’t sabotage yourself. You can’t sell yourself short. You can’t give up on yourself. Or worse, never start.

Give yourself every opportunity to be everything you want to be.

Be an adult. You are one now. Act like it.

Or don’t.

Life is all about choices. Tomorrow will be determined by the choices you make today, right now.

Write out everything you want to be doing when you are 30 or 40. Don’t plan for 2020, plan for 2050. Have some vision, some insight to see that far out TODAY. Attack now for later.

20 Strategies To Separate:

You can go out with your friends, but come home by 12am.
Have 2 drinks instead of 8, then use Uber to take you home.
Don’t do heroin, or crack, or crank, or molly. Do I really need to put this? Yes. You are 18.
Sleep 7-9 hours a night.
Eat right, eat clean. No fast food. Cut out all the sweets.
Be in class or at work on time. Be prepared. Be ready to grind.
Look at everything with your name on it as an individual representation of you. What’s online? What are you putting on social media? If you don’t care about you and what you represent, no one else will either. The internet is forever, whether you like or not. Whether you think it’s fair or not. Trust me.
Study hard. Work Hard. Learn when you don’t have to. Get better when no one is looking.
Don’t worry about failure. It’s all learning until you quit. Your mindset and approach will determine if you are a winner or a loser. Keep winning.
Be yourself. Have self-awareness. Have self-control. Have self-worth. Evaluate your outcomes, strategize accordingly.
Don’t blame anyone for any situation you are in. It’s your fault, and you are the only one who can change the circumstances. Grab your shovel and start digging.
Remove the things from your life that hinder your goals. It’s either a yes or a no. There is no maybe here. You know it. This includes people, environments, AND substances.
Surround yourself with people smarter than you.
Always be in a learning mode.
Always be in a growth mode.
Love yourself.
Appreciate what you have. There are people more grateful than you with much less.
Recognize that every day is a gift that allows you to try again, or try harder, and be better.
Always be moving forward.
Never give up.