Paul Walker Interview Reveals His Secret to Wealth and Happiness

To be a part of something that people really appreciate, as much as maybe certain people hate to admit it, it's important to us. Like, it's always— for me, it's always been like the more simple things in life that I've appreciated. And to be honest with you, I feel like too much focus and I feel like too much attention is being placed on things that really are of no relevance. For me, it was really just an idea. And as a single person, what's an idea? It doesn't really mean anything. What makes it live and breathe are the people that subscribe to the philosophy and the idea of it.

He was an American actor who began his television career guest starring in shows like Touched by an Angel and The Young and the Restless. He rose to international fame for playing Brian O'Connor in the hit series Fast and the Furious. He also founded the charity Reach Out Worldwide, which was an organization that helped provide relief efforts to countries when they had natural disasters. He's Paul Walker, and here's my take on his top 10 rules for success. Rule number 2 is my personal favorite, and make sure to stick around all the way to the end for some special bonus clips. Also, as Paul is talking, if he says something that really resonates with you, please leave it in the comments below and put quotes around it so other people can be inspired as well. Enjoy!

I woke up every morning excited. I was completely jacked. I'd never been more excited to go to work every day as I was on this project. At the end of the day, I'd never been more drained in my life. But somehow, someway, I found the energy every morning to get up and just go for it. And the further we got into it, the more Wayne was just like, "Okay, do what you want to do." Do what you want to do. And I never had that kind of freedom before. I enjoy doing them, but more than that— actually, let me rephrase it. I think the reason why I enjoy it so much is because how much the people get off. The audience appreciates what we do. You know, there's a lot of things I could be doing outside of the industry, even within the industry, but, you know, I don't know if the satisfaction would be the same, you know, because to be a part of something that people really appreciate, as much as maybe certain people hate to admit it, it's important to us, you know, as humans. It's like you want to believe that, you know, what you're putting out there and what you've dedicated so much time to is— there's a certain degree of acknowledgement and more than acknowledgement and appreciation. And, you know, obviously this one's been appreciated for a long time. And that's a great feeling. There really isn't a whole lot of pressure or stress making a movie like this. I mean, I think the most pressure is probably felt by the stuntmen when they got to go do some crazy stunt because, man, they're putting their life on the line, you know, and there's never a guarantee. There's always a degree of risk. But for me, you know, it's more just about showing up and having a good time and, you know, doing the best that I can do. But I can really only worry about myself, you know, and to me it's, you know, if it doesn't feel right, it's probably not right, so let's figure out how we can fix it. But I just roll with it. You know, one day at a time for me. It's the way I live my life. It's the way I do my job. You know, just come in and just— I try to do my best. I give it 110%.

Paul, when you first signed up for the first one, which was back in like '99, 2000, did you think you'd be sitting here in 2013 talking about Number 6?

No. Not a chance. No screenplay, nothing when I signed on. It was just an idea. Yeah. And it was funny because I wanted to do it. You know, working with my friends, because I'd already worked with these people before. And they're like, you can't do it. My representatives are telling me, you can't do it. There's no script. There's nothing.

And then you didn't listen to their advice.

You were right. I got lucky. But it's just, you know, following your heart kind of thing. And, uh, it wasn't even about, ah, down the road. It was about living in the moment and got lucky.

Known as to be, to be somebody who is a daredevil, but in the same time very private.

Yeah, exactly.

It doesn't really go into the Hollywood scene. Is there something that we don't know about you?

Well, I think in terms of just kind of reservations with the whole thing, because it's like I've always considered myself to be kind of— I don't subscribe to what's put in our face. Like, it's always for me, it's always been like the more simple things in life that I've appreciated. And to be honest with you, I feel like too much focus and I feel like too much attention is being placed on things that really are of no relevance and just really aren't important. And, you know, from the crazy reality shows and all that stuff that we have, right?

So you know what I'm talking about.

It's like if you're playing in that world, right, and you're sensitive to not wanting to play into it to that degree, there's always trepidation in every step that you make because you don't want to be misinterpreted or misunderstood, right? People are so afraid to offend or say something, you know. It's like, you know, maybe if I say this, you know, I jeopardize, you know, my career. Maybe I won't get another job, you know. I don't want to badmouth this person or that person. Personally, I like to be straight up, you know, and If I had some smack, you know, or some trash to talk about someone, I'd be tempted to give it to you right now. For me, it's really based on— my reaction is based on the general public's reaction. I don't know if I like something until I know the people like it. You know, especially in movies like this, where the people, the fans, they're very passionate about it. And, you know, the first one was well received, the second one was well received, and now here we are making a fourth one. I don't want to disappoint, you know. There's a lot of fans out there, so— If they're happy, I'm happy. That's pretty much what it comes down to. How is the relationship when you're not shooting? Are you guys like friends? I mean, you've been— Yeah, we're friends, like, you know, and there's times where people drive me fucking nuts, you know? Like in real life? Yeah, in real life. You know, it just happens. I mean, we've been working together for so long and there's certain personalities I'm like, "Really? You're still like that guy?" But, you know, you just learn to accept people for who they are and what it's about. I mean, you know, There's been a lot of self-discovery for all of us on this too. And, you know, I just, uh, I love Tyrese like a brother. He drives me fucking insane sometimes, you know, and we give each other a hard time, you know, but, uh, there's always love between us. Um, you know, Vin, we come from opposite coasts and we got two completely different approaches to life. Imagine that, you know, his childhood was completely different than mine. So sometimes we don't always see eye to eye, but I think we complement one another.

I understand you are quite involved with your own foundation. You are doing some great things for people, and other people could rally to you if they knew something about it. How come we didn't know anything about that? I just found out you had this foundation. I didn't really—

About what?

About you trying to do that.

Because it's not about advertising it. It's about just doing it, right? The thing that I like is it's not— This isn't a promotional campaign. This is something where it was just an idea and a few friends went to Haiti. That's all it was. And then Haiti turned into Chile, and then Chile turned into, I think, Indonesia, and then that turned into more recently the tornado thing. And then it was along the way that we realized that we had something that was good, that people actually cared and were taking interest in. So The idea became a foundation. It wasn't like, this is the idea, let's be a foundation. It was just like-minded friends. For us, it's a small group of 8 to 12 people. We go in, we can make it happen within 42 to 72 hours. And by the time the Red Cross comes around, we can be like, this is what we figured out.

Yeah.

And now we leave. And I want it to remain small and intimate like that. It's important. I never wanted— nobody wants it that's involved wants it to become this big thing. Because we will no longer be effective.

Yeah, you're right.

In our capacity. And you know, it's like, we're not going to move mountains like the Red Cross does, but it's like, we're like that little pebble in the pond. You know, it's like, we really believe, it's like, if you can impact one person's life, one family's life, that radiates from that. And so that's the philosophy, and that's what we're trying to stick with. Yeah, with ROW, things reach out worldwide. Things have moved along really well. I mean, its inception was last year. Last year alone, we had 3 or 4 outings. We had one this year. We had the tornado in Tuscaloosa in Alabama. But this year, for the most part, it's been relatively sleepy, which has been nice. But what's happened is there's been a bit of a groundswell. And organically, what's happened is we've had different brands express interest in potentially sponsoring us or helping us with our cause. So the thing that's nice is we put something out there that we believed in, and others have jumped on. Davidoff, for instance, with their donation. And since then, still, they make chainsaws and a lot of power tools. And we use a lot of their equipment in extraction, especially in Tuscaloosa, cutting trees to remove debris and help people gain access to their home. And it's just, it's exciting. It's exciting to see what's happening. So the thing that I like is, you know, so long as I'm alive and kicking and I'm making money and things are going well, you know, ROW can continue. But there's going to come a time where I might not necessarily be able to fund it. And so, you know, to know that there's, you know, the outside interests that are coming in now, to know that there's a good chance that this is something that could potentially be around well after I leave this planet, it's a good feeling. And the like-minded, I think the people that believe in it, 'cause for me it was really just an idea. And as a single person, what's an idea? It doesn't really mean anything. What makes it live and breathe are the people that subscribe to the philosophy and the idea of it. And the people that are involved have just taken it to a completely different level. So I'm really fortunate. And the people that are involved are just really good people.

Thank you guys so much for watching. I made this video because Niamh T.E., I hope I pronounced that okay, asked me to. So if there's a famous entrepreneur that you want me to profile next, leave it down in the comments below and I'll see what I can do. I'd also love to know what did Paul say that had the biggest impact on you? What are you gonna take home from this video that you're going to immediately apply to your life or your business? Leave it in the comments and I'm gonna join in the discussion. And finally, I want to give a quick shout out to Kamo Todaho. Thank you so much. For buying a copy of my book, Your One Word, and taking that awesome picture with it outside the Eiffel Tower in Paris. It 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.

Very few of us, you know, myself included in the few, you know, on the early trips were really— I was really one of the only ones that didn't have any professional experience. And I realized that my skill set was limited, so I didn't like that feeling. As much as I picked up while we were there and in the field, I realized that there was more to learn. And that's a big part of it that really keeps me, I think, drawn is like, you know, we're only here one time. And I love the arena. I love learning about first aid and, you know, anything pertaining to medicine. It's just— it's fascinating to me, so. It's one thing I continue to work on and work towards and work forward with. And, you know, hopefully within not too much longer, I'll feel qualified, super qualified. Who's the most badass guy on set? Who's the most, you know— Dwayne's the biggest guy. Yeah? And he's pretty athletic. I can do the most. I can surf and I can skate and I can play volleyball and do all that stuff. Those guys can't do that. So it's all a matter of how you, you know— Who do you feel the coolest? Value, I guess. I race cars. I can drive better than everybody else. Ben, where is he? Ben!

Ben!

Everybody's looking for you in the trailer, man. I just called your phone like— oh, what the What the fuck are you doing, man? Dog, what are you doing? I'm Vin Diesel. Paul, look, if he see you like this, dog, he's gonna flip out, dog. You doing too much right now. Diesel time. Diesel time! Diesel time! What time is it? It's diesel time! All right! Diesel time! That's right. Diesel time, bitches.

Back in 2002, it was you, the MTV audience, that first acknowledged this brotherhood between Paul Walker and myself by honoring us with the best team on film. So it's surreal to be standing here 12 years later and that you have been so generous to give us this award again. I wish he could be here to see this. But I know he's here in spirit. Thank you for honoring me, and more importantly, thank you for honoring that angel, my brother Paul Walker.