How to MAKE MONEY Being You!

If you're a person who is committed to the pursuit of your passion, your craft, and haven't seen the financial rewards, in this episode, I'm talk about the one thing that you need to be doing that you're probably not doing. Full spoiler alert, trigger warning, it's not what you want to hear. Chris, I had a Q&A on my story on Instagram about a week ago, and right now I've been talking a lot about how to express yourself more authentically, how to kind of formulate a message that feels uh true to who you are in your content, in your brand. And someone said, "How do you stay positive when it feels like you grind so hard with nothing to show for it?" >> Yeah. >> I'm going to give you I'm going to give you my answer just so you can anchor it in. And then someone responded to my answer with what I really want you to talk about. Okay. >> All right. So I said this was a constant struggle for me that I've come to reframe. And by the way, a lot of my reframe was through the help of Chris. My definition of success has changed lately. I'm learning to focus on my inputs and not the outputs. What's required of me to do I'm doing that refining as I go. It's a privilege to get to be able to put in an input. That is the reward. then the reward itself whenever it comes can become a bonus. But I do not qualify the success of my effort based strictly on the result. So in short, taking myself out of the result, not really caring about the outcome right now as I'm kind of re-emerging. So someone hit me in my story and was like in this case what's your position or advice to someone who is in a financial bind and needs the cash right now? How can they detach from the outputs and eventual reward? I want you to speak on these people and individuals that are out here creating content. And they want to be authentic. They want to be, you know, they want to show up in a way that's consistent, etc. But that's the response. Well, I I got I can't take myself out of the result. I got I got I need money, Mo, or I need money. I want you to speak to that cuz I think there's a lot of creatives feeling that tension, that tug and pull between maybe ambition and lining their pockets, etc. Let's just start there. Let's do it. What I would ask each person to do, and if you if you're in this boat and you feel the words that Mo was saying or at least reading the comments about how one person's feeling that you can't focus on content cuz you got to pay bills. I understand that. So, here's what we do. Make a list and take a piece of paper and fold it in half vertically. So you have two columns. Things I do for money and things I do for love. So presumably your 9 to5 8 hours of your day spent doing things for money. And you may not enjoy it right now. It may not be the exact thing. You might not be getting paid a lot of money. But you have to do this to stay alive. But what might shock you is there's a lot of things you do just for love. And there are things that you don't do for love or for money and things you have to take account of. M >> so let's take now the things that you do for money off the table cuz we can't touch that time. We need that time. We got to do this thing. And then you look at the one that's easy. It's like I don't love this nor am I doing this for money. >> Okay. Try to get rid of those things because you don't need them. Things that you do for love could be like you like to play chess. It could be that you like to read books or other things. Now ask yourself this other question. Is making content one of the things that I love to do? If it's not, we have to ask ourselves why, why not? And why do you want to make content? So, let's just take for example, I know a lot of people like this, especially guys. They love to play basketball. Oh my god, they love basketball so much. And they'll do this until they can't until their ACL's all torn and they have nothing left. Their killles popped. Everything's gone >> and they'll still do it. And they'll watch basketball on TV and they'll they'll check the scores on their phone. They're getting push notifications from ESPN and they're very much interested in the trade and the offseason, all kinds of stuff. They sure love that. Not once, I'm imagining do they ask for themselves, well, what if I need to make money? You found time, didn't you? You found the interest. You found the motivation. So, the the hard choice in life is what am I willing to give up that I love >> so I can get what I want, which I don't currently love today. And to fool yourself. Mike Tyson said this. He said that discipline is doing the things that you hate as if you love them. That's the difference between you and the person you aspire to become. So, we've just really quickly realized something. There's a whole bunch of stuff you're doing that you don't know why. There's a bunch of stuff that you're doing because you love it, maybe out of habit or routine that is stealing away from the work that you need to be doing because there's only so many hours in the day. I'm not going to sit here and tell you work harder. You've worked hard enough. It's just where do you want to apply your skill, time, energy, and effort, especially where it's not returning anything on you. That's what you need to focus in on. So, you still got to pay the bills, Mo. I'm not going to tell you get rid of that. See, I love to make content. It's not a burden for me. I chose this because for a long time, I worked really hard on the things that pay so that I would have the freedom to do the things that I love. So, today, if I don't love it, I'm not going to be doing it for very long. The way I understood your answer is once you kind of filter through all the things that are potentially in your love column and you realize some things are just siphoning away your time, you kind of narrow in on the concept that you're wasting a lot of your own time. You're wasting time around the things that are not getting you to the place you want to be compared to where you're at. My question then becomes, what if the thing that is paying the bills, so to speak, right, is the thing you love and you want this to be the main source of income. Is it a matter of humility and you have to be like, okay, it's not paying me the bills now. Let me go get a regular job. Or is it like, am I not doing the right activities to make this thing make me money? You're the guy who says, do what you make money doing what you love. >> Yeah. >> Right. the person asking this question doing what they love, they're just not making money from. >> Okay. >> Well, first I want to clarify something and because it's such violent language. I'm not so sure you're wasting your time. You're just using an unintentional way. >> So, the first thing is just to be aware of that and say like, would I like to make a different choice? What would be better and more in alignment with what I want to do with my life? And if you feel like watching basketball, playing basketball is what it is, then continue to do that. Not here to judge you. I don't I have no stock in this, you could do whatever you want. If it gives you joy, just keep doing more of it. Okay. Now, let's just say the thing that you're doing in your 9 to5 is the thing that you love, but you're not making enough money. There's a couple of reasons why that might be the case. Number one, this is a hard one to hear. Maybe you're just not that good at it. Just because you want to do something doesn't mean you're good at it. I'd like to be a world-class dancer mo in hip-hop. It's probably not going to happen. >> Just wanting something is not enough. >> It requires some talent and it might require physical attributes that you don't have. Some sports require longer legs and longer arms or longer neck or shorter neck, whatever it is. Uh some things require certain physical things that outside of surgery you can't affect. Okay, so that's one. There's physical limitations. Number two, there's a talent gap. And talent is the stuff that you were born with. Skills are stuff you acquire over time and practice. Some things need talent. Some people can take as many singing lessons as possible. They just don't have that thing. They might be tonedeaf. They like me. They could be pitch deaf. I don't know. I'm making up terms now. But let's just say that's what it is. You can't keep time. And that's very important in anything that's rhythmic. So because you want something doesn't mean you get to have it. Now, what we owe to ourselves is to put in as much time acquiring the skills so that we know if there's a talent gap or not or if it's a skill gap. A lot of people mix these two things up. Like, I'm not good at that. I don't have talent for it. But what they really mean is I haven't put enough time into learning the skill. >> Therefore, I'm going to assume it's I just don't have the talent. And what that is is a self-preservation mechanism. You're defending yourself against the idea that it's going to take a lot of work. >> M. Okay. So, let's go back there. Okay. You don't have the talent. Uh you're limited by the physical skill set. So, this is where I think you need to figure out the intersection between what you're really good at, what the world needs, and what you really love and pursue that. Cuz there's a good chance that what you think you're supposed to be doing is not what you're supposed to be doing at all in this life. You haven't harnessed the full you. Maybe you saw other people like you do things like this and you're like, "That must be for me." And you do it and they're just so much better at it. It just comes so much easier and faster for them. And you're sitting here like grinding and struggling. This ain't your thing. It's because there's a lot of us that have like a follower mindset. We see people do something, it feels safe. We should do that same thing and we pursue that. >> And it's when you go outside of that, you actually have a real breakthrough. Take for example Virgil Ablo, the late Virgil Ablo. He studied architecture. I've never seen any of his architectural designs, but had he stayed in architecture, I don't know if he'd gone as far as he did in his short life. >> But because he used that discipline of architecture and applied into a space that hadn't seen that before in the world of fashion and design, he brought a visual language and a training and a discipline to it that people in that space did not understand. And it was this fresh point of view that got him as much hype as he did. And so perhaps if he stayed in that lane, it wouldn't have worked out well for him. I'm not certain and the world will never know. But he made the choices he made and it all worked out. So I imagine that many of you are not in that lane, in that zone of genius, in your flow state. You're just not there because this was not for you. And it can be hard to accept that because you've built up your identity around being that kind of person. >> But if you allow yourself the space to really really listen to your heart and pursue that other thing, as scary as it is for you today, one day you look back and reflect back on this moment and said, "I heard the call. I answered the call. I became something else. And I'm so much happier because of that." Send me a note when that happens. Let me pause you right here because I wrote a question down around this. When is the point and are there qualifiers where someone can identify maybe this is no longer for me to where it's not giving up? >> Yeah, it's pretty clear when you start doubting and questioning your motivation. You already know you're prolonging the inevitable, right? I make content mo all day long. Some of it hits, some of it doesn't. When it doesn't hit, I don't sit there, it's not for me. I should be like tap dancing now. >> I don't think those thoughts. I just think it didn't hit. I'm gonna keep doing this. I enjoy the pursuit so much. I'm just going to keep doing it. It doesn't matter to me what the results are. That's why they say often times the people who love the pursuit more than the destination often beat the people who love the destination and don't love the pursuit. In Simon Synynic's talk start with why the golden circle he talks about these two people who were on the race to discover airplanes and the ability to fly. The Wright brothers being one of them and I forget the other one who was well financed had lots of money but his pursuit was just I want to be the first person to invent an airplane where the Wright brothers like we just love the idea of flying and we love working on these things. So they're underfunded don't have a lot going for them but they do wind up inventing the first airplane. the Wright brothers do. In Simon Synynic's retelling of the story, he said the other people could have continued the pursuit to make the second airplane or the third airplane. They just wanted to be the first. It was just their goal. >> As we now know, there are many airplane manufacturers and it could have been one of the other ones, but they didn't because they didn't love it that much. So, when you start to question your motivation, if you feel like you're just lacking energy to do something, it's probably not meant for you. I feel like this is a rabbit hole, but I'm going to I I want to take I want to take you there. Take it. This concept that you said, we wrap our identity in what it is that we do and we kind of can't let go. I don't think the person who's in it can identify with as much clarity as you just put it. Oh well, my motivation is slipping. Sometimes by brute force, they just want to make it happen or they think like this has to work or if I if I don't if I don't do this and I have to go back to working for somebody. What do you what do you tell that person that's kind of not jing with oh well my my motivation is my motivation like I I want to do it for this reason. like they're they're like dead set on accomplishing this. >> Yeah. >> Well, then they have no questions about their motivation and this is what they're supposed to be doing. So, how do we handle this now then? >> Yeah. How would Okay, great. Yeah, you just you just clar clarify. Let's say their motivation is there. Let's say this is what they want to do. They still are not making no money off of it. Like what what is the problem then? >> Okay, we have to remove a few things off the table too. Like you do have the necessary talent, maybe not the skill. >> Yes. >> Because talent I cannot teach you, but skill I can. >> So then the question is, what have you done thus far to give yourself the best chance of success? It may mean a couple different things. Watch how this goes. Let's just say there was the number one rated university or college to teach you what it is, but it all came with a high price tag. and for whatever number of reasons, circumstances surround it, you decided to go with a different school because they'd offer you a better uh scholarship and the tuition was a little bit lower, so you went to that school. That was already decision one that you didn't give yourself the best chance to succeed. And that's totally okay. We all have constraints for working within. And then you go do that. And then you graduate and then you get three job offers. One of them requires you to move to another state. A a a state and a city you've never been in scares you. So you choose one of the other two options that allows you to stay close to home. And so you see you continue to make decisions consistent with someone who's artificially handicapping themselves and you never get gave yourself the best shot to succeed for a lot of different reasons mostly with comfort. Comfort with financial stress, comfort with familiar familiar backgrounds or family ties. So you see like when I decided I wanted to become a designer, I asked around like what's the best school to go to? They said go to art center. So I went to art center despite it being prohibitively expensive. I didn't even consider schools two, three or four. It was not within the realm of possibility. I only applied to one school is either get into school or don't. And once I got in, it was very challenging. And then I finished school, I get out of school and I get a job. Now, my uncles would be like, "Hey, come back to San Jose." I'm like, "Well, the heart of advertising is in LA or New York. Those are my two choices." None of them sound like San Jose. I have to be here. And I was here and I stayed here throughout the rest of my career despite it being uncomfortable for my family. So much so that at some point my dad and mom sell their house and move in with us for a period of time and now they live in LA because they don't have any more commitments to anybody and they'd rather be around their children and live here closer to us so we can spend more time together. And so we have to break away. Now I look at all my cousins. I've got lots of cousins, many of which will hear this episode. And they constantly talk about how great it is to have their other cousins come over and babysit for them because they live in the same freaking neighborhood like down the street quite literally. And this is why you see this happen all over the country which is little Ethiopia, Japan town, uh little Korea or Korea town because we go for comfort and safety because our people, our culture, the shops that we want to shop at, the foods and our uncles and aunties and our parents feel safe. That safety comes at a cost. It's a safety net. The net catches catches when you fall. It's awesome. But it catches you when you try to fly, too. The net is a double-sided net. You don't know that. >> So, let's just go back to skill. If you're really passionate, if you have a talent, ask yourself, what do I need to do to acquire the skills I need to get? It might mean a temporary setback. It might mean that you have to move to another city to work for a firm that's really good with people you really admire, that you can learn a lot from, and you'll probably have to take a pay cut. There's a reason why you are where you are and it's because it's really comfortable but it's not helping you to work on the projects that you want to. I'll give you a different example right now. There's a buddy of mine, his name is Ash Thorp and if the people in the industry who know know this name and he is very well known and respected. He designed the car for for for the Batman. >> Oh wow. >> Okay. Now he is he lives in uh like near San Diego. I'm forgetting where he to Tacoma. No, he lives near San Diego. And when he was just going to college, he found out about this guy. His name is Kyle Cooper. If you know, you know. He's the world's most famous motion uh main title designer. And he told himself, "I want to work with that guy." Now, working with Kyle's not easy. He doesn't accept everybody. He expects so much from you to work weekends, Saturdays, and Sundays. It's pretty normal. Really late hours. He expects you to give all of yourself. And so, you know what Ash does? He takes the train in from San Diego to LA. >> Uh, I think he went to Grand Central and then he takes a Uber or taxi over to Malibu where Kyle's compound is. And he works there day and night. Sometimes he sleeps at the office and then he would take the uh the reverse back back home. And here's here's the thing that's really cool. His girl was waiting for him at midnight at the train station when he came home. He did this not for a little bit but for as long as he needed to to acquire the skills that he needed to to work on the kinds of projects he needed to. And he did this for long enough such that his portfolio was good enough for him to go off and do what he wanted to do. So he started working on feature films doing the user interface. It's called fake UI FUI and things like Enders games which he worked on. You know the people doing all this kind of stuff with their hands. Some human probably Ash Thorp and friends work on those kinds of things. to give the movie a sense of space and place. >> And he has now built up a clothing company. He he does a limited edition art drops. He's got his own uh short films that he makes because he's so passionate. He works on cars. He designs cars, building interfaces and graphics for everything. And he's done really well. Now, he's the kind of guy for whatever reason didn't go to big university, but went to the best one that he could. But when when the opportunity was there, he made all kinds of sacrifices so that he gave himself the best shot. He put in his time. And that's what they they mean when they say pay your dues. >> So some people did not pay their dues. They didn't get into the club because they weren't willing to pay through sacrifice, through effort and energy. That's why they're stuck. Okay, you've listened to all of this and now your your confidence might have been a six and now it's a two. I don't want to leave you here, friends. I don't want to leave you here. Here's what I'm going to suggest that you do. I want you to sell all your junk. I want you to live like a monk. Get rid of all the stuff that you think you need but really don't need. Reduce your lifestyle down to nothing to the bare essentials. Eat ramen. Do what you got to do. And then find somebody like me, not me, who's willing to teach you, to work with you, that you look up to, that you admire, and give them your best. Find them. They exist. And there's not just one of them. There's many of them. Finding them, getting their attention is not going to be easy. But you want this bad. And you have the skill set. Because what I've learned is when you go to school, and I did, I went to four years to learn design. Within the first couple of months, working with the right people, my portfolio looked like trash. A portfolio that I thought was really good now looks like garbage because of how much I learned. So at school we're learn we're used to working at a specific pace and the expectations is mostly from you. But when you work with someone who's brilliant, they may not be the easiest person to work for. They'll have seemingly unrealistic expectations and standards that you cannot even understand at this point. But that's the beauty of it is when they show you what's possible, the bars at which it's raised to and you expand to fill that gap, you too will look back on your life and your work and say, "That was pretty garbage. I now know what the standard is." And I've elevated myself from division three to like the pro leagues to the all star. And that's where you have to be if you want to make it in this world. and the person that you wind up working with and for just by mentioning their name that you used to work there or with them is going to be a door opener for you. You need to find those people in your life and they exist in every industry. There's always a top 10 in the industry that are doing exactly what you hope to do one day. Find a way to get there and get there. [Music]