Self-Awareness Part 2: The Key to Success

- Everybody in here right now in a second, can think of something that they're not good at, that isn't noble, that they're a bad person in. In a second that they know they haven't addressed yet with themselves. That's intriguing. That's the beginning of the process. (booming music) (gentle music) One thing I think I do well is I make everybody feel safe. And so that's really important to me because when you make people feel safe, they start telling you the truth. I really, really believe the thing that's holding people back, is the romantic version of who they think they want to be, or are, versus who they actually are. Just 'cause it's cool to be a start up founder now, doesn't mean that's what you need to become. Mark put on a hoody and a movie came out and, you know Instagram made a billion dollars after 500 days, and everybody decided they were an entrepreneur. I fully, fully one hundred thousand per cent with no hedge, do not believe that you can teach entrepreneurship. I'm a humongous believer that ideas are shit, and that execution's the game, right? We've all got ideas. Everybody's got ideas. Do you know how many fucking ideas we all have here? We could probably sit here for the next two hours, draw them all out, record 'em, and predict the next 78 great start ups over the next nine years. And? You also have to think about, what are you good at? I built a very unsexy business in the height of where I was and the game. Because I was self-aware that was going to be an engine for me over 10, 20, 30 years. When it could have been a lot sexier to raise 50 million dollars and play with the 14 ideas I have. But I know who I am. You can't just say it. You know how many people in here that I know intimately say they're hustlers, and that I watch 'cause I'm curious and they're just not. So you can't just say you want to go up there, because if you're gonna go there, you're gonna have to look a lot of shit in the face that you're not gonna like. If you do not have self-awareness, which is what I do think I have and I think a lot of people don't have it, the only way you can gain it is by getting other people to give you the data points. But most people won't tell you the truth. So it's on you to create an environment, a very safe environment, for somebody to tell you the truth. This is the most important question I will ever ask you in my life. You need to tell me the truth. My intuition is, you're not gonna want to tell me the truth. But you have to understand that I'm okay with it. I'm in the right mind space for this, I need the truth. And then you ask them, what do they think you're good at and bad at. Of what they truly think you're good and bad at, and then gather that data. A lot of people don't want to recognize what they're good at. Or don't want to accept that they're bad at something. And so, I don't think people are honest with themselves. There's a lot of things I wish I was. But, but I just don't lie to myself. And I think lying to yourself has held back the far majority of this room from bigger upside. (booming music)