Never choose money, it's always wrong. Obviously you have to put a roof over your head and provide virtual, I get it. But I do not understand why people put other people, often strangers, on pedestals and don't put themselves on a pedestal. A lot of times when someone gives you some feedback and you know it's true, you fight against it because you don't want it to be true.
And the second you say it is true, well then you're on to the other side. This is the Gary Vee Audio Experience. Hey Gary, welcome to Liftoff. Thanks so much for being on the show.
Thanks for having me. I am so excited to have you on the show because we've had such incredible guests this season, but you are an inspiration to us all. I've got three quick questions for you because I know you are always busy and always creating something amazing. The first one is about self-awareness.
You often emphasize self-awareness as a cornerstone of success. Tell everybody that's listening what practical steps someone can take to develop a deeper understanding of their strengths and weaknesses because you've done such a great job of leveraging this in your daily life. Yeah, this is a great question. So thanks for starting off with a fire one.
I actually think there's an amazing relationship with humility and self-awareness, right? So I thought a lot about this because one of the most challenging questions in my career, because you're right, I've talked a lot about it, is like, okay, Gary, how do I get more self-awareness? And I'm like, man, that's tough. You know, like, how do I crack that?
And one of the ways that's brought value to people is really going to the people you spend the most time with and being hyper aggressive with your words that you're asking for feedback and that even if you've had a 30 year track record of being horrible at taking feedback and overreacted and been negative that there is never a bad time to start being different and being better And so to answer your question Jacob I think it goes to going to the people closest to you and saying hey listen what do you think I good at What do you think I bad at And having a relationship with your self that allows you to lead into humility and to hear the feedback. Because a lot of times, you know this as a human, because I know it, and all of us know this. A lot of times when someone gives you some feedback and you know it's true, you fight against it because you don't want it to be true. And the second you say it is true, well, then you're on to the other side.
And most of my childhood, I had a good enough self-esteem that I was able to say, that is true there was definitely things that you know candor with people i loved was one that i struggled with and when people would poke at it i would cloak it i would avoid it and finally in my early mid-40s i finally got to a place where i'm like i need to own this and i started talking more publicly about struggling with candor with people i love gary v in this interview is the best at candor but as a as a human it was hard for me and you know these are the journeys we all go through i love that you talk about staying authentic and you talk about going through journeys throughout your entire life because that's a lot of what liftoff is focused on so in this crazy world and it's getting crazier every minute, how are you balancing your personal growth with your professional ambition? By not overjudging myself. My relationship with myself is extraordinary. I'm a human being.
I think I have extraordinary amounts of shortcomings, but I also have a plethora of great attributes about me. I think too many people shit on themselves. I don't know how else to say it. I do not understand why people put other people, often strangers on pedestals and don put themselves on a pedestal I think that the way I navigating it is very comfortably which is I don want to become delusional and I never want ego to seep in but my relationship with me is good because I know what my intent is I have good intent and I'm trying to get better every day and that's all we can ask.
And really, that's all we should be looking at and asking too. And there's this activity that I do when I'm working with teams where I have everybody else write down what you think that person's top three strengths are. And it's always mind-blowing to the person when they see how they're perceived and all of the strengths that other people feel they have that they would not even think that they have for themselves so that's fabulous so you know to wrap this up you've built an incredible brand by staying authentic to yourself what are a couple pieces of advice you would give to an emerging leader especially in today's world struggling to align their personal values with their professional goals that might be navigating challenges and setbacks what would you say to them never choose money it's always wrong obviously you have to put a roof over your head provide virtual i get it but most people regret money decisions always you know start leaning more and more into your intuition choose peace of mind and lightness over anything that is fancy again money, things like I'm just fascinated that people continue to believe a nicer car or a nicer handbag or a nicer watch or a nicer home is some unlock to this peace of mind I think we're starting to get to the early stages of people realizing it's the wrong game I love ambition, I love building I'm trying to build the biggest stuff of all time but I not looking to have money close the gaps of my emotional shortcomings and I think that that you know for people that are navigating this like I think people compromise I think they compromise their values and I think they compromise their peace of mind for the perception that something tangible or financial is some greater journey and I think it's very clear that it's not and I hope that even one person was inspired by someone who's outwardly very financially and professionally successful. You know, I think you'd be blown away by how detached I am from my professional success, from my notoriety.
I do not get my validation from my monies or my followers or my fame or my accolades publicly or privately or digitally or physically. I get them from knowing who I am, how people talk about me behind my back that actually know me. And that level of like 1950 simplicity has made me financially successful, not the other way around. And I hope that people rewind these last two minutes out of my mouth because they are the golden nuggets that I was taught by my elders and society at its best.
And it is the message I want people to absorb. Well, I hope they do. And there you have it. Authenticity, inspiration, and relatable conversations with Gary V.
Thank you so much for being on the show. thanks for having me that was awesome it was action packed there you go easy peasy yeah action packed yep I'm good you're good take care bye bye that was good that little rant yeah that whole thing was good it was quick yeah it was yo hey 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