"Nobody GAVE Me THIS.. I EARNED IT!" - Eric Thomas (@Ericthomasbtc) - #Entspresso

Good morning, Believe Nation! My name is Evan Carmichael. My one word is believe, and I believe that entrepreneurs will solve all of the world's major problems. So to help you on your journey, today's message is you earn success. Over to you, Eric Thomas.

I did not become successful with two-family household with the income to $250,000. I was homeless. I was knocked out. I was kicked out of school. I was told never to return. I did this in the midst of trials, in the midst of tribulations. Nobody gave me this. I earned it. Life wasn't a crystal stair for me. Didn't nobody give me a network. I earned the network. I know Warren Buffett because I worked my way to Warren Buffett. I worked my way to Dan Gilbert. I worked my way to the NBA. I worked my way way to the NFL. Everybody say, "E, how did you crack the code?" I grinded my way through the code. That's how I cracked it. I got up every day at 3. At Monday, I grind. Tuesday, I grind. When— I don't care what the economy is doing. I don't care who the president is. I don't care who the governor is. I don't care who the mayor is. My mama ain't counting on the governor. My wife ain't counting on the President of the United States of America. My wife ain't counting on the mayor. My wife ain't counting on the commissioner. My wife counting on me. When I walk out that house, she's counting on me to bring home the bacon.

I've never been a big fan of things being handed to me. I've never enjoyed that. I've never liked, for whatever reason, probably comes from my parents, of things just being handed to me without me having to earn it. I always felt like I wanted to earn where I'm at. And so I come from a middle-class family. You know, my parents had connections that I could have really used when I was starting my business. But when I started my first company, I didn't use them at all. I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. I went to my banker and asked for advice and asked for help. It's like how little I knew about the business world. I walked into the bank and said, "Hey, I'm trying to build a business. I could use some help." And they asked me if I needed a loan. I said, "I don't think I need a loan.

I don't know.

Do I need a loan?" They said, "Well, that's what banks do." You know, that's how ignorant I was about the process, but I didn't want to use any of the connections my parents had. Had, you know, people that they knew that could have springboarded my business forward. If I look at now, I'm on a personal training plan. I've got a personal trainer that comes in once a couple times a week and trains me and Nina, and part of what he has us on is a strict, you know, diet regimen. And if we hit certain goals, then we get what he calls refeed days, where we get to almost double our calories for the day. And we're excited, you know, we've been eating lean, we've been preparing our food, and we want to earn our refeed days. And I tell Sean, don't just give it to me. Like, I need to earn it. As much as we want it, if I don't get it, if I didn't hit the milestone, whatever you're looking for in your criteria, don't do it because you want to make me happy. Don't do it because you like my YouTube channel. Don't do it for any other reason except for the fact that I did the work and I earned it. Because otherwise I don't want it. I will give up the weekend food day and continue to struggle until I get it. And it's just been my mindset. And I think it's really helpful as an entrepreneur to have that kind of mindset, that you want to go out and you want to earn your success. You know, there's a lot of people who look at successful people and they will complain that, oh, they had it handed to them, or somebody gave them a lucky break, or they got really lucky. And you know, you look at the children of rich people and say, well, look at this person, like they have it all made for them, it's so easy for them. I feel bad for them. I feel bad for the kids of really rich people. Show me the kid of a really rich person who went off and built an amazing company on their own. It's not how it happens. They don't. The struggle is part of what gives you the strength to go off and make amazing things. And so stop comparing yourself to other people and say they have it, they've had a hand to them, you know, they grew up with this and that. Doesn't matter. So I think when you adopt that mentality, that you take responsibility for where you are and that you should earn everything that you get, that things shouldn't be handed to you, they shouldn't be handed to anybody else. When you fully believe that, then you put in the work. Then you don't expect handouts. Then you want to grind and hustle and get up every day and make forward progress on your goal because nobody is coming to save you. 'Cause there's no white knight or no cavalry coming. It's on you to get it done. You need to earn your success. So the question of the day today is, I'm curious, what are you most proud of earning? You put in the work and you earned success for something. What are you most proud of? Leave that in the comments below. Really curious to find out. I also wanna give a quick shout out to William Chilton. William, thank you so much for picking up a copy of my book, Your One Word, and taking the picture and posting it to your Google+ page. Really appreciate it, man, and I'm so glad that you enjoyed the book. So thank you guys so much for watching. I believe in you. I hope you continue to believe in yourself and whatever your one word is. Much love, and I'll see you again tomorrow morning for another shot of espresso.

I wake up every morning, espresso keep me going.

So when I was invited here today and they said clever, I said to myself, hmm, I don't think my approach in the industry that I am in, the fitness industry, would be considered clever because in this day and age, in this time, It's a push or a trend toward easier is better. The easier way, the easier approach. 5-minute abs, 4-minute abs, 2-minute abs, 1-minute abs. Now you're gonna think I'm making this up, but I seen an ad the other day for a belt. You just put it around your waistline, and you can sit on your computer and watch Netflix, chat with your boyfriend or girlfriend, donkey or whatever it is you talk to, and it will work your abs for you.

Wow!

That's cool! I just sit there, and this machine will work my abs for me. I don't have to do one sit-up, one crunch. Cover the ears, cover the ears. Not one, not one. And here I come along, old crusty old man, 55 years old, and I look you in the eyeballs, point my finger in your face, and I say, fuck that. Get your punk ass up off the couch and get out to that goddamn gym and work for what you want. So I don't know if that would be considered clever or not. What do you think?

You know, my whole career has been in some way or another a struggle against my own doubts all along the way. As much as people say, gosh, you're so confident, you know, you're the high-performance guy and everything else. I'm like, yeah, but it doesn't mean I don't struggle. Matter of fact, I probably put myself in situations where I must be challenged and I must struggle more than any normal sane person, you know. I'm constantly pushing myself all the time because I evaluate struggle as something to be honored. You know, it used to be struggle was something that was truly honored by people. They thought that was something that built character. They thought that that was something that was good. And now we've got to be such a convenient-driven society that's into ease and so much just, I think, an unbelievable level of engage— I'm sorry, entitlement, where people don't think they have to earn it. And I'm always like, wait, you know, if you have a dream, never forget, if you knock on the door of opportunity, that it is work who answers. You know, it takes a lot of work to achieve your bigger dreams, to become the best you who you can be, to serve more, to create more, to contribute at that highest level. Man, it's a lot of work.

I didn't have an easy experience. I didn't have come in as a top-rated recruit. I didn't come in with the opportunity to play right away. I had to earn it. And you know what the greatest honor I've ever received as a player is? In my fourth year and my fifth year, I was named team captain. That, to this day, is the single greatest achievement I've ever had as a football player, because the men in this room chose me to lead their team. And these were my best friends. These were the guys that that knew that I like to work, that knew that I love football, that knew that I love to play, that knew that I wanted to be the quarterback for Michigan. And all the lessons that I learned here on State Street and in the Big House, that's still what I bring to practice today. And after 14 years, I love the game more than I've ever loved it. But where did I learn the love for the game? Where did I learn to practice? Where did I learn to compete? It was sitting in the same chairs that you guys are sitting in today.