Queen Latifah's Top 10 Rules For Success (@IAMQUEENLATIFAH)

It's not really about the accolades, that those will come, you know, but the work. When you feel like you—

you know that feeling when you feel like, "I nailed that." I need to have, you know, realness around me to kind of break through all the, I don't know, smoke and mirrors, if you will.

And if I want to go visit Thailand, I'm going, you know what I mean? And eat some crazy food that you would never eat, maybe. Well, I want to try it.

She's a rapper, singer, actress, and talk show host. She gained mainstream success for her performance in the film Chicago. She's long been considered one of hip-hop's pioneer feminists. She's Queen Latifah, and here's my take on her top 10 rules for success. Rule number 2 is my personal favorite, and I'd love to know which one you guys like the best. And as always, as you're watching, if you hear something that really resonates with you, please leave it 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. Stick with you as well. Enjoy.

You won a Grammy, you've got like nominations for an Oscar, you've won a SAG Award, you won a Golden Globe, like you've done so much. Like how do you keep going? Like what inspires you?

Honestly, I pray always to stay open, you know. If you're always learning something new, then you have You can be inspired, but I don't just kind of sit and look at the past like I did this. Until people like you remind me of a lot of that stuff, I don't really, you know, think about it in the same way because I see the new things on the horizon and I don't feel like I have to do the same thing over and over. I think if you're a creative person, then you kind of just have to follow your vibe. If an opportunity is there for something interesting that, you know, kind of sparks that thing in you, then you go for it. And I'm just kind of never one of those people I felt like I couldn't do it. I got the right people around me that I believe to do anything I put my mind to.

Well, you do kind of master everything that you've done.

I don't master it all, but I persevere through it all, and it gives me a chance to find the next thing to work on. So I'm a fighter, you know? I know how to take them as much as I can give them.

I've been a businesswoman all these years. I get a lot of joy, like, when we first managed Naughty by Nature, just taking them from A to Z, getting them signed, helping them create their record, helping them create their name, their image, all of that, and watching them put out a hit record that became platinum. There's a good feeling in that because you know you had something to do with helping someone else become a super success. And now they have opportunity, their family is good, they have a career they can run with. That feels good.

Just like playing some role that's super difficult or so challenging in some way, or you gotta go to some deep, dark place within yourself, or you got to give yourself therapy to get through your own mess so you can play this thing, and then you see it on screen and you see that it worked.

That feeling is amazing. It's not really about the accolades—

those will come, you know—

but the work. When you feel like you— you know that feeling when you feel like, "I nailed that," and you go to sleep that night feeling like, "Wow." 'Cause you are in the forefront, honey.

Yeah. I don't know. I don't know what kind of leader I am, but I don't know.

I just—

I'm not trying to be a leader. I'm just trying to be me, and if something that I say helps someone else out, then that's fine. But to go out and say, okay, I'm the role model around these here parts, and I'm the spokesperson for all women, I'm not trying to do that because we are individuals and we all have minds of our own and things we want to say for ourselves. And I just say the things I want to say is what I say, not what other people want me to say.

I have real people around me. I think that's the best way to maintain your realness is to have honest people around you who actually care about you. So there's a balance, you know. I mean, I think as creative people we can be sensitive, so there's a way to tell— to talk to us. But at the same time, I think it's important to really have an idea of where you are, who you are, and not have just a bunch of yes-men around you unless that's your thing. Maybe that works for some people, but that doesn't really work for me. I need to have, you know, real— realness around me to kind of break through all the the, I don't know, smoke and mirrors, if you will. And we create, we create a lot here. We build this, so this construct around us here. So we need to have, you know, real people to kind of let us know, keep us grounded, keep me grounded for sure.

I've always been the kind of switch for different things. I'm interested in different things too. So I have to have the freedom to step into those worlds and not feel like, oh, I gotta stay here, keep this certain persona, be this person. No, if I wanna go visit, Thailand, I'm going, you know what I mean? And eat some crazy food that you would never eat maybe. Well, I want to try it, you know what I mean? So that's just who I am. So I think being okay with that has allowed me to not be afraid to go into different things and, and places and try different things and kind of move, move my own personal needle forward a little bit.

Has there never been a point where you have felt frustration sort of, uh, in Hollywood? I'm sure maybe it was earlier in your career.

Absolutely.

Absolutely. But you know what, you run into stupid people.

People everywhere, unfortunately.

Doesn't matter if it's the cab driver who doesn't want to stop for you or, you know, or go past 110th Street, or, you know, or, you know, if it's some executive who somehow managed to become in a position of power to greenlight movies who has no clue. I mean, you know, some things are just timing and determination and perseverance. If you don't have a sense of your feet on the ground, if you're not level-headed to some degree, you could really lose it. You literally have all these people telling you how incredible you are, right? And if you don't have a sense of, yeah, but I still have to take out the garbage, you know what I mean? Yeah, I still got to walk my dog and poop up scoop, you know what I'm saying? Scoop up poop. If you don't keep your head, you know, then you could kind of get a little, you know, souped up, a little conceited, and lose your edge, you know? Or some people take themselves too seriously after that.

They feel they have to do every Incredible.

No, I did Scary Movie 2 after that. It was just because the kids loved it.

And I'm like, do you—

I asked one of my friend's kids, would you— did you like Scary Movie? He was like, yeah. I'm like, you think I should do Scary Movie 2? He was like, yeah, yeah.

Well, I trust a 9-year-old. Why?

Because I don't owe them money, they don't owe me money.

That's right.

They're not getting a cut off of it. They just— it's just real. So I did it just for fun, you know.

Yeah.

And then did more critical kind of things, but I mix it up.

But what I don't think we should do is limit ourselves in any way, shape, or form in terms of what we think we're capable of. Word. You know, and I think that's been part of the problem. We're relegated into these particular fields, and who says that you can only do those things? You know, unless it's something physically preventing you from doing it, in which case leave it alone. But other than that, go for it. Like, go for it. And but just be prepared for what, you know, you are going to deal with those you know, things. And when you find people that you can connect to who will support you, whether they are male or female, those are the people you need to keep in your life. Because my partner, Shaquem, has respected my brain from the very beginning. Not just my get-down, not just my rap skills, or not just, you know, how cool I am, but really, he respected my mind from the beginning. And so he and I can get together intellectually and come up with something. And then we talk shit to each other and like, "Yo, I bet you we can do that." "And you can't do that." "Yes, we— Well, that's how we—" And then we bang about how we can do it. We can, you know, make it happen. Right. But, you know, if he didn't respect me, then it wouldn't even go there. If I didn't respect him, then it wouldn't go there. So, I mean, I don't think we always have to live on an island, you know, not with guys or not with women. You know, I think we just need to connect with people who get what we're trying to go. We're moving in the same direction. And the rest of those are the ones, the haters, those who tell you you can't do it, the negative ones or the hangers-on, those, that's the dead weight you got to cut.

I've had a guy who drove me in his limousine tell me, you know, his 12-year-old daughter has a beautiful voice and she was afraid to sing and she would cry because her classmates would tease her and tell her she's never gonna make it, she can't do this. And by looking at me, she started singing again and she's like, if Queen Latifah can do it, I can do it. Because she looked more like me and because she had a Queen Latifah to look at, it inspired her to stay on her path.

Follow her dreams.

So I think it's been a great thing.

I feel good about how I've been able to impact people's lives.

We just follow the moves, right? Oh. Whoa. Give us some encouragement here.

Oh.

OK, that's not too bad, though, right? Uh-oh. Oh yeah, I like this part. Kind of gets to chill out. Oh, this is fun. Oh, get into it. My legs are falling out. Let them out. They're my favorite body part.

Thank you guys so much for watching. I made this video because FocusWSU asked me to. Also, if you want to nominate someone for the next top 10 video, please check the description for a link to a video where you can vote for people and put in your suggestions as well. I'd love to know what did you take from this video? What was the most important lesson that you learned that blew your mind that you're going to immediately apply to your life or your business? Somehow, please leave it down in the comments below. I'm super curious to find out. I also want to give a quick shout out to Kat Harvey. Kat, thank you so much for picking up a copy of my book, Your One Word, and the fun interview we did together on your channel. It was a blast. I really appreciate your support, and I hope you're enjoying the read.

Today we have a special guest who I admire and love. This guy has a huge heart. When you think of him, I think of inspiration and definitely the money because he's a boss, of course. And he's helping change lives all over the world. I mean, just pouring into a lot of people. His videos on YouTube is how I actually found them. So of course I had to have him on today. So without further ado, please welcome the mogul himself, Mr. Evan Carmichael.

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.

Once you know what your dream is, setting those goals to accomplish that dream, it will require sacrifice, It will require work. It will require maybe sleepless nights, but your passion for what your dream is has to be that strong that you're willing to sacrifice all that to accomplish it. Put good people around you that can help you get to where you're trying to go, move you in the right direction. Don't get caught up in a crazy relationship in college unless you went to college to get married, which some do. In that case, find a good man. And do it quick. Before somebody else does. Other than that, stay focused on your education. Focus is important. Don't get caught up going here and there and everywhere. Just keep your eyes on the prize, keep God in your life, and you'll be there.