Elevate Your Work Ethic in 16 Minutes | Fix Your Mindset Now

Hard work.

Working a little bit harder.

Work ethic.

Very hard working.

Go hard.

Work ethic.

Work ethic.

Hello, Believe Nation. My name is Evan Carmichael. My one word is believe, and I believe that entrepreneurs are going to solve all the major problems of the world. So to help you on your journey today, we're going to learn how you can develop an insane work ethic. And as always, guys, if you hear something that really resonates with you, Please leave it down in the comments below, put quotes around it so other people can be inspired as well, and when you write it down, it's much more likely to stick for yourself too. Enjoy.

Yes, I get up at crazy hours, whether it's 3 o'clock in the morning, by the way, when we were talking in London, I was getting up at 3 'cause I had to be on set by 4. I'm sorry, by 7. So whatever time my call time is, and I tell this to studios and directors and our producers, whatever time my call time is, so my call time is at 7, then you back your clock up 4 hours and then that's when I get up and I train twice, I'll get my cardio in and breakfast and then I'll go hit the weights. Clangin' and bangin', we call it. Jackin' iron.

But like, what time do you go to bed? I mean, you might shoot really late at night.

I'm averaging, on a movie I'll average probably about 5 hours of sleep.

You know, hard work pays. I put in a hell of a lot of work all throughout this buildup in the fight. I pumped out more content than anybody, more content than Fox, more content than ESPN, more content than BT Sport, more content than everybody on the MagLife, on my own channels. You know what I mean? I'm a workhorse from all angles, not just in the gym, but I'm building this media empire now myself. And we pumped out the content. I'm very proud of how it went. We consistently— daily movies I was releasing, you know, from, from like a month ago, every single day, you know what I mean? Nobody's doing that. So I'm very proud of it and I'm very like, the work pays, hard work pays. And we put— I put in the frickin' work and that's, that's why I'm, I'm sitting at the top. I put it all on the line. I show up, I perform, and I get the results from that.

I knew I was wired to be excited about business.

How or why, I don't know.

But, you know, and there's certain guys that have the genetics to jump out of the gym, right? There's certain guys, you know, that, you know, when they golf, they have the muscle memory and the discipline. Dirk Nowitzki may not be the most talented guy in the NBA, but his discipline and his focus to do what's necessary to be successful, he's willing to do, and combine it with being 7 feet tall and being skilled, you know, makes him an amazing basketball player. So, it's understanding what your skill set is, finding the right place to use those skills, and then going for it. You know, will that make you $250 grand? It depends if you pick the right industry. But whatever industry you pick, if you outwork everybody, if you try to be a little smarter than everybody, if you try to be a better salesperson than everybody, if you try to be better prepared than everybody, you've got your best chance. Because if you don't do it and somebody else does, you know, I have the same work, like someone's trying to take it all away from you. You know, work, I actually work like someone's spending 24 hours working, 24 hours to take it all away from you. And that's kind of the way I look at it. I remember asking my dad to, um, I wanted new basketball shoes because I was a basketball junkie back then. He's like, well, your shoes work. If you want a new pair of tennis shoes, you have to go out there and get a job. And I'm like, Dad, I'm 12 years old. And it just so happens he was playing poker with his buddies, and one of his buddies was like, well, I got a job for you. I've got these garbage bags that we distribute. You can sell them door-to-door. I'm like, okay. And It was when I was selling them and realizing that I like to sell and that I could sell and that I recognized that selling was about providing a service and creating value for people that I knew that I would literally, back then, I knew that I could always succeed. I mean, I remember I was 16, I think, when I started a stamp company and started going to stamp shows and trade shows. Just working a little bit harder than other people and trading up from one stamp to the next. I remember one time I started with a quarter and bought a stamp and left with $50, thinking, hey, if I could do this, I could do anything. And it's not that everything worked. I failed a lot, but I never ever felt like I wouldn't be able to work hard enough to succeed.

And so the one thing my father gave me which was really key was that work ethic, that ability to get myself up in the morning no matter how tired I was to push myself through those pain barriers. And again, the combination of the loss of a mother at 6 and then being sent out to work at 10— I mean, starting work at 5 o'clock in the morning to do the milk round, being dropped off at 8:45 at school in the milk van, you know, that work ethic. So that combination of those two— work ethic and great insecurity— was what got me to to what I went to.

You tend to be incredibly modest in terms of describing your talents, and you always seem to belittle your abilities to a certain extent, when clearly there's a reason why everything you do has been working out.

I was reading about how you said that to a certain extent that comes from your punk rock roots.

Yep, there was no other choice. In those days, there was no idea of this makes money. There's no idea of like, this is my future. It was like a week at a time. We have 5 shows, we're gonna get to Sunday, whew. And even those days were like fraught with turbulence. And so I never really saw a future. None of us did. And some of us, you know, didn't make it. Some of them are dead and some of them are just kind of trying to recreate their past. And so I realized that I have to be very hardworking 'cause I don't have kind of the ease of talent. And I come from that, and I think in a lot of ways it's served me very well in that I am as kind of hardworking as I've ever been, completely without confidence. I have none. I don't want any, 'cause I think you turn your back on the thing and that's when you get gored, is when you think, "I got this." I never think, "I got this." I think, "Oh, man, don't screw this up." And I go at everything, like, including you and I sitting here right now. I'm trying to be fully engaged. And that intensity, I think, has served me quite well. But it comes from punk rock, absolutely. And the last boss I ever had was my boss at Häagen-Dazs, my ice cream job. And to this day, he still comes to my shows. And whenever I see Steve, who got me my first apartment, who believed— I was living in my car. He believed in me. Whenever I see him, I get all weepy. I always tell him, it's good to see you, sir. Henry, you can call me Steve. I can't do that, sir. 'Cause he trusted me with his money. And I said, let me run your store. I know how to do this. I can do this. He's like, well, if you screw up, you're out of here. I said, I won't screw up. And I ended up being, I ran his store. And so, but it was anger that said, I'll be here all damn week. I'll get this whole thing right. I fired his staff and rehired a bunch of people who can really work. And it was out of anger. Like, I'll be back in 4 hours to run this $3.75 an hour job into the ground. And then I joined Black Flag. And I thought I was a hardworking person. Then you meet the guys in Black Flag who are so driven. You'd see Greg Ginn work 23-hour days. Like, Greg, you're still on the phone.

I know.

Greg, when did you eat?

I don't know.

Greg, when was the last time you showered? Do we have a shower? Like the guy was— we were not going to be stopped. And I kind of go at that intensity, kind of anything I do. Like, you're a very calm, good-looking young man. Look at me. I'm a spaz sitting next to you. Like, I'm doing an interview with you. I can't help it. Stay focused. I'm sweating, man. And so— but I'm like this going to the airport, like— 10 miles out.

And so—

It's— but it's anger that has informed kind of my life, and unflatteringly, a sense of vengeance. Every damn person who said I wouldn't be anything, I'm crushing them every day. Everybody I had to endure in any band I was in, every day, into a powder. Yeah. Thank you. And I wish them no ill. I just wish to shine brighter. And if it burns my body to a crisp, I'm happy to go right now.

Go hard. And then when you think you're going hard, go harder. Like, that's really it. Just hustle. You know what I mean? There's nothing in life that you can't put enough work in every single day and not get better at. You know what I mean? Like, if you want to be good at something, you know what I mean? Like, you can't just like not like do it every day and not get better. It's the same shit with music. It's the same shit with learning how to play an instrument or something. If you spend your time practicing your craft, like, You know, that's really it. It's just, you know, because nowadays, like, with the internet, everything is so accessible. And, you know, everybody in the world is a rapper, you know what I mean? Everybody's putting music out. So it's like, how do you stand out? Quality is always going to matter, but also being different. You can't try to be different, you know what I mean? But you just got to be yourself.

How is it different today and doing your show late night than it was 10 years ago? Are you more instinctive?

Are you more—

do you think less about it and just do it?

It's muscle memory. It is used to it. You crunch down, you're— and you're constantly trying to learn. You're, you're constantly— you're still thinking, but your ratio of thinking to acting is very different. You know, you're— at the beginning, I was thinking about it this much, you know, uh, in my cognitive brain. And then there was this much, just whatever thin reed of talent you have is there, and then you're thinking about the rest. And then over the years, I think, you know, they always say the reptile brain, the reptile portion of your brain is where you, you know, respiration, heartbeat, right? That's the stuff that even if you're knocked unconscious, it's still working. I really believe a lot of my talk show or comedy instincts are now in my reptile brain, that you could knock me out and my heart would still beat. I'd still breathe and I'd still be asking Lindsay Lohan, you know, some stupid question.

You have become some way as you— part of your DNA. It's become part of your DNA.

Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of it is you have to have some ability, but then it's just how much will. I really do think there's just a thing people underestimate. It doesn't sound sexy, it doesn't sound cool.

How much do you want it?

Work ethic, you know, and just how badly do you want it? And there have been you know, many times in the, you know, throughout the years of doing my show where I've thought you could shoot me in the chest before I walk out there and I'll still walk out there and do that show, and then I'll come backstage and die. But we're doing that show.

The interesting thing for me to talk to you, and what makes you so fascinating, is just the talent that you see on the screen. But, but at the same time, there is a certain innocence and yet a certain power, and it seems to me it's both artist and also business.

Oh, thank you.

But do you believe that?

Am I right?

Yes, I've worked very hard to make that true, so thank you.

That it's both that.

Thank you, because without gaining some sort of control over the business, I lose some control over the creative. Which is most important.

So the more you control the business, the more you can give flower to the creative.

Exactly.

Or give wings to the creative.

Yeah. So I used to stay out of it. I don't care. I don't want to. I ain't an artist. I don't need it, you know. And but this is my business now, and it's my, you know, it is important. If my agent— that my agent always says I'm his only client that ever calls him back as soon as he— because it's my business, and I respect my business.

Your agent says you're the only client that calls him back Immediately.

If I have a missed call, I call. I'm probably the only— I return emails, I return phone calls because—

Because you want to know what the options there are.

Yes, I've worked really hard to build this and I want to continue building it and it's my business, my personal business. So I don't understand how people do slack.

I have a disease. I'm a workaholic and it's like being an alcoholic. I just can't give it up. I've been unwell for 2 weeks and I feel unwell, you know, so I can't go to work. Because I can't go to work, I get worse. If I sit in one place, I'm stressed. The reason I'm not fidgeting too much is because I'm unwell. Otherwise, I hate sitting in one place. Some work has to be given to me. You know, my wife and my children keep telling me, you know, you work 20 years round the clock, why are you doing this? I don't think I need the money. I don't think I'm greedy for more fame. I'm doing okay. I can do one film in two years and be happy with it. But I'm just not happy. I tell everyone, if I'm not working, I'm depressed. So I don't know if it's a curse or a blessing. Maybe at the end of it all, when we die, God will say, "Did you work?" I say, "Yes, a lot." "Oh, damn. You go to hell because I didn't want anyone to work." Or it would be, "Oh, you worked? That's really nice because I wanted everyone to work." So I don't know. One of them is going to be right. But I just keep working. I think I have this fear that you have very few days in life and you need to cram it up with a lot of things. You need to fit it with so many things in it that you don't have space for life. It should be like that. When I'm not working, I get lonely, I get depressed, I get sad. I don't drink, I'm not a philosopher, I'm not a poet that I like loneliness. I hate being alone. And I hate being with people at times. I'm unsocial. I'm very odd with people. So what happens is I have replaced people with work in my life. Because when I'm working, I'm with a lot of people. And they are people I can interact with because somewhere there is a wall that I'm not interacting with them socially. I'm interacting with them through this common, you know, goal that is the work. So I can discuss with her or discuss with him and we are friends for that moment. Many of my filmmaking colleagues complain that after the film is over, you don't talk to us. I can't explain to them, I don't have anything else to say. I love you, I miss you, but I miss you through the work. I don't— I mean, I'm very fond of a lot of people, a lot of people I love like family, and I can't pick up the phone and talk with them, I can't socialize with them, I can't sit and chat with them. But when we are working, I I can just be with them. So I don't know, work is sort of— I have replaced loneliness, depression, and people with work.

When you come from the working-class background that I come from, I feel guilty at 10 to 5 if I'm not in the office. I know that might sound strange to you, but that's the It's a work ethic that I have to be half dead not to not go to work. It's a kind of a work ethic that's built into me, yeah. But nevertheless, having said all that, the weekends, that was it, it's over. Switch off, luck-a-luck. Friday night, as you got back from the office or from the work or from the factory, whatever, it doesn't matter what was buzzing around in my head, it was off like a light switch. And that's it. Don't let it interfere— very rarely let it interfere with the weekend. And then Monday morning, bang, back on it again, as if you flick the switch on again. So I think that was a bit of discipline in that respect. Yeah.

Thank you guys so much for watching. I hope you enjoyed. I'd love to know what was your biggest takeaway from from this video? What are you going to immediately apply somehow to your life or to your business? Leave it down in the comments below. I'm super curious to find out. So thank you guys again for watching. I believe in you. I hope you continue to believe in yourself and whatever your one word is.

Much love.

I'll see you soon.