How To EMBRACE Your DREAM and DO What You Love | Will.I.Am's Advice in 16 Minutes

I'm a fucking believer, bro. Yeah, one time my mom said, uh, you need to get a job. I said, I already have a job. I'm just not getting paid yet. I want to plan for the next 20 years of my life. Like, what am I going to be doing when I'm 50? There's a spark in every single person that's going to change the world. They have this spark in them.

Hello, Believe Nation. I'm Evan Carmichael. My one word is believe, and I believe that entrepreneurs are going to solve all of the world's major problems. So to help you on your journey today, we're going to learn from rapper and successful entrepreneur Will.i.am and my take on his top 10 rules for success. And as always, as you're listening, if something really resonates with you, if there's a message that really holds true to you, please leave it down in the comments below and put it in quotes so that other people can be inspired. And when you write it down, it's much more likely to stick with yourself as well. Enjoy!

I'm a fucking believer, bro. I like, I see things and I want to make them real. No matter how hard it takes, no matter what obstacles, no matter how many embarrassing meetings I have to imagine is happening when I leave. Doesn't matter. I'm a doer and a freaking make-it-happener. Yeah, one time my mom said, you need to get a job. I said, "I already have a job. I'm just not getting paid yet. Actually, I have a career." That's a huge punchline. Real stuff, man. I'm working on my dream. That's my job. If I'm gonna pay attention to my nightmare, I should be able to work on my dream. Well, one of them's gonna take my energy. I would rather give my energy to my dream than my nightmare. Creativity feels like The world slows down and fast-forwards at the same time. It's like you're fast-forwarding in slow motion. The only thing that matters is what you're creating. And then you go to sleep and you wake up and a week's passed, but it all felt like 24 hours. But the stuff that you were able to do was mind-boggling. And for those It sounds like puzzle, like, "What are you talking about? I don't get it." That's because you're not creative. Creative folks would know exactly what I'm talking about. Time just seems to just fly by. Time doesn't exist when you're creating. It's like, "Oh my gosh, what happened? What time is it, 4 o'clock?" No, it's 5 o'clock in the morning. "Well, the sun was just out." Well, the sun is out, but the sun went down and came back up again. Oh man, are you crazy? I haven't eaten all day. But you weren't hungry. You get hit with— now you're lethargic and you're freaking parched. Your lips are all trapped and dry. Your breath smells because you ain't been talking. You just been thinking. And the little talking you were doing was to figure out these problems. That is the most enjoyable experience Ever. If you had to think of one word that's most important to you or that sums you up or that would be kind of like a little beacon? Will. Not in an egotistical way either, just the will. And not the thing you write before you die.

The will.

To have will. Determination. To have strength. Courage. Will. Apple and I, we always used to think big, but we didn't think as big as we made it. Our whole thing was, how do we stay traveling? When you're in a ghetto or a province, you yearn to travel, to see, like, one day I want to go to London. One day I want to go to Cambodia, see the ruins. Well, what's— what do I have to do to be able to travel? Well, my craft now is writing songs and performing. So you master your craft to do something that you wanted to do. Like, how do I move my mom out the projects? How do I move my entire family out the projects? My uncles, cousins, nephew, nieces. So you master your craft to be able to do that. I'm just a tech enthusiast. I want to plan for the next 20 years of my life. Like, what am I going to be doing when I'm 50? And I remember when I was 17, I dreamt of doing music. And now those dreams came true. And I indulged in music. I surrounded myself with beats and people that wrote rhymes, went to poetry lounges. I made an effort to be doing what I'm doing now. I disciplined myself and sacrificed a whole bunch of stuff to keep me on track. And now I'm in my 30s. What am I gonna be doing when I'm 50? I hope I'm making shit. I wanna be creating tools, dope gadgets. So I'm starting now. Maybe some shit is gonna be whack, just like the first songs I wrote were whack. I wrote a whack song yesterday. But that doesn't mean that you stop That means you just keep going, keep going, and improving, improving, sharpening up your tool, you know, keeping your mind fast, keeping your eyes open, your mind open to, you know, to be in the creative community. And tomorrow the creative community is gadgets, technology, software, and I want to be a part of it. Can you achieve this kind of thing without the driving force of a mother or a father, somebody who's with you to be able to provide a chance to do it? Well, it depends on the people around you. Sometimes your friends, good friends, replace that. Of course you're gonna, you know what I mean, I can't speak for those people. I'm speaking for me being raised by a single mom and uncles and friends that pitched in. And, uh, but yes, there's, there's always ways out of it. Sometimes it takes difficult decisions to do things, to leap. You just gotta leap, especially if you know it's better than just sitting there and bickering and fighting and waiting for people to make it happen for you. If someone confronts me with an idea for a new business, the thing that I look for to see if they're gonna succeed First off, on a personal level, is how they vibrate. Are they excited about it? And if they have more facts than dreams. Because anybody could have a whole bunch of dreams and no concrete way to turn that dream into reality, like facts. Because you could be hypnotized and dizzy by your own dreaming. So I look for that, but the tenacity, that, that energy— there's a, there's a spark in every single person that's going to change the world. They have this spark in them, and they, they, they are able to make you believe, you know. They don't necessarily have to be the most energetic person, it's just magnetic and how they're delivering you that concept. They are converters. And then business-wise, if they don't have the business skills, they're open-minded and are converters to bring along the best business folk. Like Walt Disney wasn't the best business person, but his brother was. So, but he was able to, he was able to, you know, dream and convert, right? Not convert in a way that's, you know, forceful, but inspire is a better word. They're able to dream and inspire to and become magnetic to bring all the right components to the table for that thing to grow successfully. That is, that's hard to do though, and those people don't come around very often. And it's the reason why those same people have their hands in a whole bunch of disruptive businesses. Right? It took an Elon Musk to do all three of those because not many people have the ability to do that. There's these bars that other people that are in your field have accomplished, and that becomes the measurement of what people define as success. Winning a Grammy, that's it, that's the summit. So everyone tries to win a Grammy. Some people don't even dare to think because they don't want to not succeed. And then they find themselves winning a Grammy. Okay, after you want it, then what? You know, then what for you? So for me, it's creating new things, coming up with concepts like I want to send kids to college. So how do I send kids to college via my Art, right? So if I just— by me being creative, I send kids to school. That's a bar. You've now lifted, you know, 20,000 pounds. So once you did that, okay, what can I do now? I want to rescue families from losing their home, and via me being creative. So that's now a new bar.

Yo, can you like— let's rap Words of Love right quick. There's too much fire in there. What's wrong with The world, mama. People who like they ain't got no mamas. I think war is a nigga to the drama. Only attracted to things that bring the trauma. Overseas, and we trying to stop terrorism, but we still got terrorists living in the USA. The CIA, the Bloods and the Crips and the KKK. But if you only got love for your own race, then you only leave space to discriminate. And to discriminate only generates hate. And when you hate, then you're about to get irate. Yeah, man, this is what you demonstrate. Man, this is what you demonstrate. Take a, take a choke of your love and just, just, just choke your love.

Go, come on.

Where is the love? Where is the love? There's a lot of shit going on in the world right now, y'all. With all the things that's happening in the world, it's important that we respect one another. No matter if you're Black, if you're white, all lives matter. But right now, Black Lives Matter. Because of the things that are happening to us right now, we need white people to stand beside us, and we stand beside y'all. Y'all, we are Americans at the end of the day. Let's pray for our country. Let's pray for the families that are— that have been put in harm's way because of ignorance and hatred. Where's the love is important right now. And I'm just really, really, really, really hurt by the things that are happening in the world right now. So if we could just say a prayer for us. There's awesome police officers out there. Let's say prayer for the wicked ones so they don't strike that wickedness upon us. It's very, very important that we align. So thank you for singing these songs. I just randomly was driving down the street and saw you. I was like, oh shit, she's playing one of my joints. And I just wanted to come out here and just rock with you on the corner like this. So thanks, thanks for keeping the love alive. Thank you guys. Woo!

Thank you guys so much for watching. I made this video because Michael Rezka asked me to. If there's someone you'd like me to profile in the next top 10, check out the link in the description and go and cast your vote. I'd also love to know what was your favorite message from this video? What did you learn from this video that you're going to immediately apply somehow in your life or in your business, please leave it down in the comments below. I'm really curious to find out. I also want to give a quick shout out to Dilip Gelo. Thank you so much for picking up a copy of my book, Your One Word, and taking that picture on Instagram. I really, really, really appreciate it, man, and I hope you're enjoying the read. 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. I supported Obama way before it was cool and put myself in jeopardy to the youth to look at me like an adult, like, "Oh, that's that political dude." I put my career at risk the way I stepped out and, you know, was on Bill Maher and Larry King and whatnot. That— when you're a group like the Black Eyed Peas You know, you got like 15-year-olds to like 40-year-olds. 40-year-old here, you see, she's just— hi, how you doing? You know, like 40-year-olds think it's cool, but a 15-year-old be like, damn, that dude's like old. Yeah, so, you know, I put my, my career at risk doing that, and, uh, because I believed in it. I'm a believer, and I believe in putting teams together. Whether it's for songs, whether it's for political campaigns, and the likes of Obama campaign and Hillary campaign and Intel and Beats and now Apple, they value, you know, dot connectors and problem solvers, people that are trying to solve riddles. So I wanted to believe in my ability to create my own team. So I went out and invested in myself. I have a song called "It Was All a Dream." Really? Yeah, I swear to God. Um, "It Was All a Dream." I used to read Word Up magazines, Salt-N-Pepa and Heavy D in limousine.

It was all a dream. I used to read Word Up magazine. Salt-N-Pepa and Heavy D up in the limousine. Hanging pictures on my walls.

Yeah.

Every Saturday, rap attack.

Hanging pictures on my wall. Every Saturday, rap attack. Mr. Magic, Molly Maul.

For me, it was all a dream. I used to search Google. I used to buy an iPhone. And now I want to make my own shit. Why not? Yeah. Why not dream that big?