In a world where instant gratification is normal, the long-term nature of entrepreneurial endeavors is often underestimated. This leads many dreamers and fantasizers to start their journey of "becoming a millionaire" or "changing the world" only to quit well short of success.
I may not have the credibility and experience to speak about the trials and tribulations of entrepreneurship just yet, but there are plenty of people who can. One of those people is entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuck.
Gary V, as he's known in the public arena, is a very successful entrepreneur whose financial success stems from a family owned wine business (Wine Library) that he grew from $3 Million to $60 Million per year, as well as Gary's social media & digital marketing companies VaynerMedia and VaynerX.
Some things to know about Gary V is that he tells it how it is when it comes to what it takes to succeed in business in the 21st century, as well as why people aren't succeeding. Furthermore, his whole life philosophy is predicated on kindness, gratitude, and making things happen to make them happen, not to put down others and their dreams.
Oh, and he likes to cuss - a lot. Safe to say, I love the man and what he stands for.
In the video below, Gary shares a story about how when he finally became noticed in the public arena, as in being on shows like Ellen or Conan, many of his old high school friends would call him and say "he's so lucky!" In reply, Gary would explain that he wasn't f*cking lucky and that he worked his ass off for years and years in order to get what others would deem "overnight success."
My favorite part about the video is that in the bottom left corner, throughout the video a running count of all the "Wine Library TV" episodes Gary created in the years prior to blowing up. Over 100s of videos that I'm guessing nobody really cared about, at least in compared to the millions of people that watch Gary's YouTube videos every day.
The Take Away Point Is This: Keep Going & Don't Stop
There is no set number of blog posts, youtube videos, or instagram posts that leads to "succeeding" in the ways that we all expect. Meaning, it's not like a job where you clock in and get paycheck every two weeks, or do well for a year and get a raise.
You can post a YouTube video every day for 5 years and STILL have less than 1k subscribers and no sustainable income. That's a legitimate possibility. And so, something other than view counts and dollars MUST be fueling the drive to pursue a dream. If not, a person is going to quit.
Similarly, we must commit to the LONG-HAUL. If what we really want is indeed what we really want, there is no expected timeline. All that matters is getting there, and if we're not there, well we're not stopping.
And when we do eventually get there, we still won't stop.
Dreams aren't a place we get to. Dreams are a thing we live, everyday. Sure, we reach milestones and achieve targets. But dreams...dreams are not a destination...they're an experience.
Much love to you all. We've only just fucking begun.
Peace,
GS
