STOP Trusting “Motivational” Speakers
Success is overrated. I knew all these motivational guys, the gurus, they’re gonna be salty. They say “Go! Go! Go! Hustle hard skip sleep, make money. That’s cool! It has its place but all of that takes second priority to enjoying your life, to loving the people around you ’cause let me tell you this. The death of all these celebrities, the death of the people around me, really got me thinking about how short life is and if you listen to these guys who say “Go, go, go”, you’re going to miss what’s important.
You’re gonna find yourself climbing up a ladder, and if you get to the top, that’s if you get to the top, you’re gonna realize dang… it was really against the wrong wall. I promise you there are a lot of successful people in the graveyard right now that would happily, I guarantee you, happily give anything to be Above-ground one more day so that they can tell their family, to tell their friends, that they love them. Just one more time. Because that’s what’s important as the old saying goes: There has never been a deathbed regret. That went “Boy, I wish I’d spent more time in the office.” Or “Boy, I wish I spent more time hustling.” Or “Boy, I wish I spent more time making more money.” It was Jack Kornfield who said “In the end,
ONLY THREE THINGS REALLY MATTER:
- How well we lived
- How well we lived
- How well we loved
- How well we learned
LET GO.” He didn’t say how well we built our bank accounts. He didn’t say how well we built our mansions. He didn’t say how well we built our social media followings. You better wake up before it’s too late. I believe it was Shakespeare who said, “I’ve seen many unhappy kings but many happy shoemakers.” Zig Ziglar said,
“Everybody knows that money won’t make them happy, but everybody wants to find out for themselves.”
So pay attention, brother I’m not saying that you shouldn’t succeed. There’s nothing wrong with financial success. But say I’m an entrepreneur myself. I like money. Actually, I will reveal a secret to you. I don’t think you can get too much money but if money gets you, that’s too much. If money becomes your god, if you make a million dollars, but lose your friends, and your family in the process, is that success? If you make a billion dollars, but lose your health in the process, is that success? These guys talk about “Don’t sleep.” What do you mean “Don’t sleep?” Sleep is more important in your diet and exercise program combined. You can’t think clearly if you don’t sleep. They’re talking about “I sleep when I’m dead.” No, you’ll be dead if you don’t sleep.
The Dalai Lama himself, he said “Man sacrifices his health to build up his money, and then man sacrifices his money to rebuild his health.” You ever felt bad for enjoying yourself? Like, “Oh, I should be doing this, I should be doing that.” But you should be doing exactly what you’re doing now, fully. Whether that’s watching a movie, whether that’s enjoying a night out with friends, you should be doing that fully. Don’t let these guys, these gurus, guilt trip you out of enjoying your life, or taking care of you. Keep your ambition from becoming your prison. Imagine you grind hard every day for years and you finally get the dream car you always wanted, but you don’t have anybody in that passenger seat to ride with you.
You’re driving so fast, you don’t even appreciate the breeze blowing through your hair. Your hand… you better slow down. Slow down and enjoy this thing called life. Enjoy the moments. You only have a limited number of them. Stop always grinding. See, when you’re grinding, you’re going to get something. You need to flow with life. Flow. Stop and smell the flowers and give other people the flowers while they still smell them. Because in the end… only three things truly matter: How well we lived, how well we loved, and how well we learned to let go.
