Overcoming Entrepreneurial Challenges: Insights from Successful Leaders!

I just put business in perspective.

Put things in perspective.

Keep things in perspective.

Keep things in perspective.

Keep perspective.

Have a different perspective.

Hello, Believe Nation! Today we're going to talk about how you can keep things in perspective. And as always, guys, as you're watching, if you hear something that really inspires you, please leave it down in the comments below. Put quotes around it as well so other people can be inspired. And when you write it down, it's much more likely to sink in for yourself as well.

Enjoy! When you have a downtime, like if something didn't work the way you want, what do you do to get back on that positiveness?

I talk to the mountain. I have a mountain next to my home that is called Rocher de Naye. It goes up to 2— it's very low— goes up to 2,400 or 2,500 meters. Or I talk to the Dent du Midi, which is 4,000 meters, which is a little bit further away from my house, which I see every morning. I see those two mountains, and I say to these two mountains, "Mountains, I have a problem. But when I look at you, you are 37 million old, and I'm a little guy here with a little problem. Can you help me?" They will say, "Come on." Look what we have already seen in so many years. Your problem is a nano problem. Come on, get up, just get up, do it. That's it.

And my question is, I'm an entrepreneur, it's very great, but not all days are great in a company.

So what are your tips and tricks for, you know, tough days?

I think there's massive confusion around entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship sucks. I mean, it's lonely. It's high risk. I mean, I can't live without it, but it's like a bad boyfriend, right, or girlfriend, right? Like, there's a ton of bad days being an entrepreneur, not to mention 98% of entrepreneurial ventures are gonna fail, so there's gonna be a really bad fucking day in your future. You know, hopefully not for you. Or any of you. You know, for me, I don't, you know, I think this is a very personal question. I think it's how you're wired. I'm so all-in entrepreneur, I prefer the pain. I think one of the reasons I love the Jets so much is 'cause they bring me so much pain. You know, I, I love the climb. To me, the setback is exciting. I love when something goes wrong. It's where I shine the most. But that's not for everybody, right? I mean, it could be very difficult, and when you start affecting your life and your loved ones and all the other things, it can get real nasty. To me, The way I handle things, even the few rare days when I really struggle, I take a real step back and make pretend that somebody called me and told me that my mother or daughter were killed. And I know that's very dark, and I apologize, but it's really what I do. I literally am able to, at my deepest, most struggling moment within business, take a step back and remind myself that I could make a trillion dollars tomorrow on Bitcoin and if something bad happened to the people I love the most, that it would mean nothing, and it very consistently rewires me very quickly. I just put business in perspective. At the end of the day, you know, it's money. For me, it's not really money, it's my legacy, so I get hurt by it a little bit more, but yeah, I mean, it's, you know, I put it in perspective. It's money, and you know what? Up until I had a daughter, even while I was married, up until when I had Misha, 4 years ago, I secretly wanted to lose all my money. I had this weird, twisted, dark fantasy of losing everything just to rise again like a phoenix and remind you motherfuckers.

Do you feel underrated as a rapper?

Not as of lately, which is crazy. For a long time, man, for years, I was pissed. So a song on the album called Buried Alive is about that exact thing. You know, it's about me kind of going, "How come he gets the so-and-so co-sign?" Or, "How come he gets that?" Or, "How come they get that?" I can tour the world, I can sell out shows, I got fans, I got this. What the fuck, man? Like, being angry. You know, I had a friend tell me, she basically said, "Those same people who have the co-signs and have the this and have the looks are the same people who are going, 'How come I ain't got fans like this then? How come I can't tour on my own? How come I can't this?'" Like, what the fuck? So it kind of put things in perspective for me and let me go, "Okay, I don't have it yet, but if I keep fighting and I keep working hard and I keep staying on my grind," been on this path, it's gonna happen, you know. And as of late, within the last few months, man, just from, you know, like releasing the singles and the music videos and like this solid body of work, I've truly began to, to, to get what I deserve.

13 years ago, you were completely bust, gone, no money. You had £5, you know, $7 left in your hand. You'd use it for a taxi back to your parents, and your career in the record business had just come to a sudden shuddering halt. And here you are 13 years later, you're worth hundreds of millions of dollars, life's taken a huge turn upwards, but I get the sense with you that what happened to you 13 years ago still defines you now.

Yeah, I mean, it wasn't the best of times, but then again, when I look back on it, it wasn't the worst of times, you know, because I think particularly here in Hollywood where most people get it wrong is they're afraid of losing what they've got. They're just terrified of losing their fame, as you said, power, money. But actually, once you've lost it, you can always get it back again. I mean, it's not the end of the world. I mean, being ill is worse. So because I've actually faced what are most people's worst fears and recovered from it, it's not as bad as you think, you know. I didn't lose my confidence. My friends were still my friends. I live with my parents, and I just saw it as a challenge. That I've got to get myself back on my feet again.

What advice did your parents give you then?

They were really, you know, honest to God, they were just cool about it. You know, they were parents, they just, you know, wanted to look after me, live with them for a while. My dad lent me some money to pay the bank, then eventually I managed to pay my dad back. You know, it was what any parent would do, but like I said, it wasn't the worst time of my life. And actually, when I look back on it now, I still smile because I bought this beat-up old British sports car, worked 18 hours a day, and I was so determined, Piers, just to get it right this time, because I knew why I'd got it wrong. So now I find it much easier to deal with things.

If that wasn't the worst time in your life, what was?

Well, when my dad died was the worst time in my life, as you know. You and I discussed that. It was just that, you know, like getting ill, losing a parent, or losing somebody close to you, that's the worst thing that can ever happen in your life. You know, all the things that I worry about now just trivial. I mean, you know, even the whole kind of Idol, X Factor thing, I laugh about it because it's such a high-class problem. My show is better than your show. It's like, but we're both— we both got a show.

It's a bit like Colin Firth and Hugh Grant and the fountain in Bridget Jones.

Exactly.

Fighting, you know, exactly.

Over what? I mean, the fact that we're here, we can do this, it's fantastic.

Before every one of my debates, I did something to keep things in perspective. To keep myself grounded, at the top of a sheet of paper that was always placed on the podium so we could make notes during the debate, just before the debate kicked off, I wrote at the top one word: Dad. I also drew a small image of the sun. And throughout the debate, when I glanced down at that paper to look at my notes that I'd taken, I was reminded of my father's fearlessness in fighting for what he believed was right. And the sun— that reminded me, of course, of that familiar scripture, "Let your light so shine." Win or lose that debate, I hoped I would never do anything that would dishonor or discredit the things I hold most dear. Now, during your life, you're going to encounter circumstances that make you sweat. For many of you, the exams and tests won't be over when you graduate. Someday, and you are all going to stand at podiums, stand in front of a boss to ask for a raise, or work on some critical project in your employment that will make a big difference in your life. At moments like those, perspective is a very powerful friend. You can welcome perspective through preparatory prayer, by considering the blessings of the temple, or by simply glancing at your CTR ring. Find ways to keep your life in perspective.

When I was 20, I worked for this— I grew up in Mount Vernon, New York.

I worked for the sanitation department.

I was a garbage man. You were a garbage— I was a garbage man. I worked the back of the truck, 22 square blocks. That's hard. Doing movies, there's nothing that we do in the movies.

I used to deliver for United Postal Service on the truck.

That was hard. Yeah, yeah, this is a joke.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

People always say, why do you spend so much time preparing and everything?

Because there's a bunch of other guys out there that would want my job, and I'm not going to do anything to mess it up. That's right.

Keep things in perspective. I know we all say it, but it really— you just have to keep reinforcing it. You know, all of everyone in this, in this audience, you know, knock on wood, you're going to do just fine. You're going to have your 4-bedroom house. You're going to have your a car with power windows. You'll be able to go to SeaWorld whenever you want to. And, but along that way, there are going to be ups and downs. And actually, those ups and downs tend to happen a lot when you go to transition points, when you're entering the workforce, you're entering some type of a new phase in your life. And you just always have to keep on the kind of the long-term game, the end game. And I'll tell you myself, I've gone through some fairly dramatic ones right when I was out the gate. You know, when I was— this is 1998, I just graduated, I was a few months older than most of y'all, and some computer magazine had seen something I had done and they wrote this, you know, this neat profile about me. They called it Future So Bright, and I saw that magazine, I was very proud of it, I was like, oh look, I'm set, you know, I have this career ahead of me, I'm already profiled in a magazine, and And frankly, I got kind of into myself. And that's okay, you can enjoy your successes, but I really didn't have any perspective. And frankly, it was a dangerous thing to happen. And to really put things in perspective, and I'm happy it did happen, 2 months later I had kind of switched jobs and, you know, higher salary, I thought I was on the fast track. And I had a new boss, and on the first 3 days of work, He spent an hour just completely castigating me, essentially telling me that I was not worth his time, that I was incompetent as far as he was concerned. And so you can imagine, you know, like a lot of successful whole life, fancy degrees from fancy universities, 2 months ago I was profiled in a magazine, and then now all of a sudden, not even, almost not even 23 years old, I was back in a hotel room in the middle of nowhere crying. Not knowing what I was going to do with my life, convinced that it was all end of everything, that everything was for naught. And you know, so you get through them, you wake up in the morning, things look a little bit better. A week later, things look a little better. You start circulating your resume around. I did find another job 2 months later. And it's okay. And the one thing I want to stress, because you know, I've gone through ups and downs, and you only have one perspective for your own life, but I suspect I expect many of y'all are going to have higher ups than I've had, and many of y'all are gonna have lower downs. And I worry about that sometimes. The ones of you who have higher ups, just keep them in perspective. And it's inevitable, some of you are gonna race ahead and be so successful that none of us can imagine it right now. But keep them in perspective. You know, when you enjoy the successes, but when your ego starts feeling a little bit large, Keep in mind the sun will supernova one day, the galaxies will collide, we are these small little mammals on this small planet, or you know, there's 100, 200 billion stars in the galaxy, in just our galaxy alone. And just have peace in the little success. And when you have a hard time, and you will, and those who will go through painful periods, you might stumble and start your first few times out the gate, also keep in perspective. That those stresses, put them in perspective of the universe. They are small. They're going to be things that you'll be able to laugh about, talk about 10, 15 years from now, or hopefully 10, 15 days from then.

Keep perspective. And that's the hardest thing to tell somebody when they're going through a hard time because, you know, it's so easy to say, well, you don't understand me, or this is so hard, or this is the worst time in my life. And some of that might feel true, and it might be true. It might be one of the most difficult trying times of your life, and all we can say is keep perspective. We can't say keep perspective other than just say, you know, there have been good times. Remember them. Don't cut loose of those good times in your memories just because now your focus is on the dark times. Remember those times that were better. Remember those times in which you did connect with others, that you did create, that you did take action. And remember also your strength, because it's so easy when the times are dark to just focus on all the things that you're doing to screw it up, or all the things that people are doing to mess with your life, and you forget the incredible power that you have. I mean, it is an amazing miracle. If you're looking for the miracle, you already got it. That miracle that you've been given the power of choice and will to direct your own attention each day, to direct your own attitude each day, to direct your own actions each day, to direct your own affections and emotions out into the world, that you control those things, that you can move those things, that you can shape those things. That's the miracle. You are the miracle. You've been waiting for something to show up and change, and I just say you've already been given the gift. Now you have to activate it. So when it's difficult, keep perspective on the fact that there have been good times, there will be more good times, that even if you are struggling personally, you still have that great freedom that has been given to us and that choice, that gift of free will to start directing yourself.

I mean, obviously you can't come on a show like this without mention of the wanking in the toilet thing. Which wanking in the toilet thing? Which one? The arresting. Oh, of course. That one. Yeah, the one I'm worried about. The time I got caught, you mean? Yeah, that one.

Possibly last time.

I think this is the thing.

This is the thing. But, Evan, the way you talk about it is your fantastic sort of unapologetic about it.

You didn't go into hiding, you didn't, you know, sort of go, you know, draw the curtains.

Like, was it the next night you were out in a restaurant in LA having dinner?

Yeah, absolutely.

Well, I mean, what's so important What do you apologize for? You know, I'm a gay man. I'm— at the time I was like 36 years old. If I'm perfectly honest, if I'm perfectly, perfectly honest, outside of my career, I've had a terrible run of luck that started about 10 years ago. I've watched a partner die. I've watched my mother die. I went— just after that I went to see a back surgeon who told me that if I didn't have 2 vertebra removed within the next 6 months to a year that I could be paralyzed. So you just learn to have a different perspective. I don't give a toss if people have a real problem with me, you know, having—

Thank you.

I have a different perspective on life. I've lost a lot of great things, but I still have a lot of incredible things, and the press doesn't really enter into it.

I want my daughter Arabella to grow up thinking that the phrase "working woman" sounds as odd and superficial and forced as the phrase "working man." My husband is my greatest source of motivation.

She always has it in her to accomplish whatever she puts her mind to.

He's the person I lean on the most.

I always tell Ivanka, "Don't worry about the things you can't control. Just worry about how you react to and deal with the circumstances and situations at hand." In the moments of highest anxiety for me.

I will think about Jared and the kids and realize that no matter how poorly I perform, I will come home that night and my kids will not love me any less, and my husband will love me just as much, maybe even a little bit more, because he'll know I'll need it.

But I'm still waiting to see the time that she doesn't perform very well.

Thank you guys so much for watching. I'd love to know what did you think of this video? What lesson did you learn that you loved the most about this? How do you keep things in perspective for yourself? Leave it down in the comments below and I'm gonna join in the discussion. I also wanna give a quick shout out to Takosha Swan. Thank you so much for picking up a copy of my book, Your One Word. It really, really, really, really means a lot to me. 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.