Well known for his skill in building businesses, Gary Vaynerchuk is an entrepreneur, motivational speaker and Internet personality. When he graduated from college, Gary converted his family's wine business from a $3 million into a $60 million enterprise in only 5 years. Today, Gary runs his own digital media agency known as VaynerMedia. Alongside this, Gary is an angel investor and renown venture capitalist. He has holdings in successful tech companies such as Tumblr, Uber, Facebook and Twitter. Moreover, he has founded an investment fund worth $25 million that is known as VaynerRSE. He is an acute businessman who is full of wise counsel. Here are 10 lessons we learned from Gary Vaynerchuk on entrepreneurship and hustle.
Work very hard
There is no shortcut to success. you have to work very hard to achieve success in anything. If you want to make it in life, you have to go beyond your 9 to 5 job. You must go that extra mile so as to enjoy the life you have always dreamed of. To make the process of working hard more rewarding, it is best to do some work that you actually enjoy. Find something that you are passionate about and then do it. Come up with a schedule to achieve everything that you want on a daily basis. After that, work to ensure that you complete every item in your schedule. Sacrifice short term gains for long term benefit. Practice the mentality of delayed gratification and you will become just as successful as Gary Vaynerchuk.
Focus on what you want to do
You cannot become successful by emulating the actions of your competition. You may thrive but you will not bloom as a unique individual. Learning from those who have already achieved success is great. However, strive to chart your own path of success. Pick what is right for you and then do it as often as you can. Fail if you must and fail quick. After that, learn your lesson and move on swiftly. Successful people are not the ones who fail less times but those who move between failures quicker than their competition.
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Become self-aware
All successful people have one quality in common, they are self-aware. This means that they are aware of their strengths and their weaknesses. They understand their emotions and fully comprehend how specific situations affect their feelings. Moreover, they know what they think and do as a result of these feelings. An important question to ask yourself is whether your emotions rule over you or do you rule over them? It is important to perform self-awareness as often as you can. This is because it leads to self-confidence and certainty in our actions. Gary advises that we should do this so as to become fully aware of what we can and can't do. As a result of performing this activity, you can easily focus all your energy on the activities that are your natural strengths and delegate those that are your weaknesses. Successful people know that they should work with their strengths and around their weaknesses.
Focus on your hustle
Many people spend countless hours debating the source of success. It is actually quite simple. All that you have to do is focus on your own hustle as much as you possibly can. Your way of making money may not be as interesting or flashy as that of the next person. However, it is what you are capable of doing. It is your unique asset and you should work on it as much as you can. Every minute that you are not hustling, you are losing out. It is good to have talent but focusing on your hustle can make you outshine everyone else.
Have self-confidence and advertise yourself
The first rule of success is to have self-confidence. If you don't believe in yourself, who will? The only thing that you should fear in life is being mediocre. We all have only one shot of making it in life. Thus, we should take it every day we get up and still have breath in our lungs. Gary is well known for working long hours without rest. This is because he understands that every second that he is working gets him farther and farther ahead of his competition. Moreover, you should be confident enough to tell other people about what you do. This is an effective form of word of mouth marketing and can land you clients or even investors. You can borrow from this lesson and shine according to your own capability.
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Have passion for what you do
In life, you can choose to be either positive or negative. If you want to be successful, the best option is to be positive. People love to hang around those who have positive energy. It really does not matter what you are talking about when you pitch an idea. As long as you are positive about it, your audience will love it and support you. Gary indicates that being passionate is a quality that is respected by everyone. Therefore, make sure that you adopt it as early in your career as you can.
Take your own advice and follow your heart
When all is said and done, the one person who cares about you more than everyone else is you. It is very important to ensure that you are happy about the decisions which you make about your life. Yes, you will make many mistakes. However, even if you make them, it will be on your personal terms and not anyone else's. This means that you will be able to live life not trying to impress anyone else. Gary Vaynerchuk follows his heart. In this way, he stays truly happy in life and therefore excels more than everyone else.
Be proud to be an entrepreneur
Long ago, entrepreneurs were seen as the people who scored low grades in school and did not have jobs. So they resorted to doing business to sustain themselves. Today, the mindset has changed. Entrepreneurs are the ones shaping tomorrow today. They are observed as having ideas worth billions and are a far cry from the studious students with nothing but formulae and facts in their minds. Gary indicates that being an entrepreneur is a gift and a mindset that not everybody has. Therefore, if you are one, be proud of your uniqueness and embrace it.
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Become so competitive that you believe you are the only one who can deliver real value to your clients
Gary says that if you want to be wildly successful, you must become so competitive that you cannot imagine anyone else giving more value to your clients than you. Convince yourself that you are number 1 in your sector and becoming number 2 or 3 is the same as utter failure. Pile this passionate pressure upon yourself until you present nothing but your best work. This is the one way of guaranteeing 100% performance in your day to day business every time.
Operate in a fluid manner
One of the lessons that we learn from Gary Vaynerchuk is that you have to be able to adapt in real time. This is especially important if you are providing a good or service to the market. The business sector of today is a rapidly changing environment that requires constant attention and the ability to change your mind on the fly. Therefore, learn how to adapt quickly. By doing this, you should be fully comfortable in complete chaos.
The Important Take Away
Gary Vaynerchuk is a person who has achieved quite a lot in his life. He is a bonafide millionaire who thoroughly enjoys social media. He hosts a podcast known as the AskGaryVee Show and it is broadcasted over iTunes, SoundCloud and Stitcher. Moreover, he is a well known public speaker and has been named as one of the ones to watch in the Fortune 40 under 40 list. Gary has been covered in major newspapers such as the New York Times and is definitely a successful man. His lessons are indicated above and can help you to accomplish anything that you want in life. Learn from them and practice them often so as to achieve greatness.