Selena Gomez's Top 10 Rules For Success (@selenagomez)

And when I was 11, I had a casting director tell me that I wasn't strong enough to carry my own show.

I've had a lot of people try to tear me down. Sure. But I'm here. I never took a moment to just go. Mm-hmm. Go away and be myself and figure it out. You're not meant to put a goal on your life. You're not meant to say, "Once I get there, I'll have it all." I think the definition of strength is being vulnerable and being honest. You've got to go and explore and explore who you are and find out what it's about and what you like and what you don't like.

She's an American singer and actress. She came to prominence after being cast in the Disney Channel series Wizards of Waverly Place. She embraced an increasingly mature image with the 2013 of her debut studio album Stars Dance. She's Selena Gomez, and here's my take on her top 10 rules for success. There are so many great ones that it's hard to choose, but if I had to pick, I'd go with number 1 as my favorite. And make sure to stick around all the way to the end for some special bonus clips.

[FOREIGN] And when I was 11, I had a casting director tell me that I wasn't strong enough to carry my own show. And I'm sure all of you have been told that you don't have what it takes and that you may not be good enough and you don't have enough people supporting you. And you're being told all of these things when deep down it's all you want to do. You want to be a part of something great. You want to make something great. And it does more than knock the wind out of you, it crushes you when people try to tell you that you're not me that I'm not good enough. And it almost did for me, but there was my mom next to me, stronger than ever. And she said the most important thing is to always trust in myself. If I have— if I'm doing something because I love it, I should do it because I love it and I believe I can do it. So she told me to keep going.

Thank you.

She told me and she taught me to turn the other cheek. And let the credits— or let the critics be critics, and let us just trust ourselves. So for me— thank you. 2 years later, I got my own show, and the first thought— the first thought wasn't, "Oh man, that girl when I was 11 said I wouldn't carry my own show, and I did." I mean, I thought about that for a little bit, but I thought about what my mom said. My mom was like, "You have to trust yourself," and I realized if I didn't believe that I could do it, I wouldn't be able to be here.

I think I've been doing this long enough to realize that no matter what people perceive of me, I always shine through at the end of the day. So I've had a lot of people try to tear me down. Sure. But I'm here, and I've always been myself, and I've always wanted that, and I've been graceful, and I've tried to handle myself with as much class. And it's only because I know how hard I work and I'm not going to let any of that get to me. Do I have a dream? Your next step? What are you going to do next? I don't know. I don't want to say it's one thing. I just want to constantly have goals to keep reaching them because I don't want to stop. If I feel settled, then I won't keep going. So yes, personally, there's a lot of things I'd love to do in my life, and professionally, I feel like I've just begun. So there's a lot to come.

When you wake up in the morning and you say, okay, a year ago I didn't think this or know this, what is it?

How to love myself first. And not just in a relationship, in my everyday life. I give myself so much. I let people pull at me in every direction and I want everybody to be happy. And eventually I would, I mean, I would be in my bathroom sobbing right before I'd go on stage and then I'd just put myself on stage and I'd want to be there for those people. I never took a moment to just go, go away and be myself and figure it out. I kept pushing myself. And I think the biggest thing I learned is it's okay. I'm gonna stop when I need to stop. I'm gonna feel when I need to feel. And I don't care what comes with that or what people wanna say. It's normal. I'm supposed to keep going and I just wanna, that's all I wanna do. You're not meant to put a goal on your life. You're not meant to say, "Once I get there, I'll have it all." Mm-hmm. I think that that's the biggest lesson I've needed to learn, is how to be present in that moment and to know that I'm always going to strive for something. I think everybody who's watched my story, they've seen that not everything has kind of been handed to me. And I've been honest about everything. Some of the things haven't been me in the past, and other things I've been so proud of. I'm so passionate about and so spot on with. So if anything, that's what revival represents. It's that I feel the most confident I've ever felt. And it goes like that. It's like, it's constantly changing. And I don't know, I think that's just, that's what I want it to feel like.

There's a real difference with revival though, isn't there? Because it really reflects on a lot of what you've been through over the last few years, and there are some songs on there that have much more deeper themes. Right. What was that like for you, putting that out there? Was the process of putting the album together quite cathartic?

Yeah, I think the beginning of my career, it was very tailored. It was very precise. Sharing the vulnerable, raw, messy side wasn't necessarily—

Encouraged. Yeah.

<LYRICS>You left some peace.

Left me in pieces.</LYRICS> If you take the album sort of on a whole, it's quite actually empowering, and it feels like you're finding your voice.

Absolutely.

A little bit. And also, I guess, being prepared to be on your own as well.

There's vulnerability. Yeah, there's vulnerability. I think the definition of strength is being vulnerable and being honest, and that doesn't mean you have to be like, "I'm strong, I'm amazing, look at me." You can have those moments, but you won't have those moments unless you're vulnerable. You're like, I've been broken. I've felt things. I've messed up a lot. And I'm okay saying that.

For many young stars who have had a lot of success at a young age, sometimes they get on the wrong path.

Mm-hmm.

How do you stay on the right path?

You are who you surround yourself with. I know that's such a cliché quote, but it's true. I've just witnessed it too much. It's easy to get caught up because, of course, you're— thrown things, you're given things that are fun and exciting, but it's just at the end of the day, success is nothing if you don't have the right people to share it with. You're just gonna end up lonely. First of all, congratulations on just world domination. Grazie. That's literally what you are on. Like, this tour is gonna be huge. How excited are you? I'm really excited. To be honest, in the best possible way, I really haven't been able to sleep or I mean, I'm taking care of myself, but it's crazy when you really believe in something. It's so different. And not to say that I didn't believe in anything in the past. I just didn't know what I was— what my purpose was. I didn't know what I was meant to say, how I was supposed to say it. And then once I started experiencing so much and I knew people were wanting to know what I felt, and I was scared, to be honest, and now, to see it come to life, it's crazy. Everybody's path is different, you know, everybody's gonna do things differently. So honestly, I'm— I understand when you need to be free. It's like everybody, when you're younger and you need to experience something and you want to feel real things, you've got to go and explore and explore who you are and find out what it's about and what you like and what you don't like. So everybody's different, and I'm just knocking on wood hoping that it works out. Out because it's never an easy transition being a kid and transitioning into adult.

It never ends, the journey.

No, I mean, when do you stop growing? You keep going. Sometimes you have to just say, like, why would you want to make the situation miserable? Uh-huh. I go to photo shoots and I actually working with Pantene. They were so sweet and they're just like, you're so nice. And they said that to me as if that was shocking. And I looked at them, I'm like, why would I want to make this miserable for you and me? Like, We are taking pretty pictures. I'm flinging my hair around. Like, it's— you have a choice.

Yeah.

It's like, if you wanna be happy, be happy. And that's so hard to do sometimes. Yeah. But it's something that I just have come to terms with more than ever lately in my life. And I think people just see that.

Thank you guys so much for watching. I made this video because Hussam Ezzie asked me to. So if there's a famous entrepreneur 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 your Selena's top 10 rules had the biggest impact on you and why? What change are you now gonna make after watching this? How do you feel after watching all those inspiring clips? Leave it in the comments and I will join in the discussion. Thank you so much for watching. Continue to believe and I'll see you soon.

Tell me about the first time that you decided, said to yourself, you know what, I love to act, I want to act, I think I always knew that I wanted to do it.

Plus, I was an only child, so I basically entertained myself. I was super dramatic and always wanted to put on a show for everyone. I actually held auditions for my friends and wanting to, like, cast plays like my mom. I mean, my mom was probably a little bit of an influence in that because of the theater background. I loved watching her do her own makeup and run the lines in the mirror, and then she'd kind of notice and be like, "Oh, Lord, she's gonna be an entertainer." It's interesting the way it starts.

There's some moaning at the beginning, which makes—

Which one?

The first song on the record.

Birthday.

Don't know the titles. No one told me the titles. Just heard the record. Is it called— Look at that exclusive. Birthday. Yeah, you say birthday in a lot. But that's a very mature progression sonically to add those kind of moaning sounds, as opposed to being that Disney person you've been known to be over the years.

Sure, but I mean, I'm not necessarily—

It's not a bad thing.

Yeah, no, of course. No, I think more— I think it's more me being able to experiment, you know? Going into the booth and actually— really having the confidence of being like, all right, let me try this, let me see if this works, and messing around with melodies or just harmonies, or as you say, moaning.

Is that— well, that's what it is, isn't it?

I guess that's the right term for it in a way. But, um, yeah, no, I think in a way I really was able to just play, and that's— that was fun for me. It's all on how you choose to live your life, because you can allow yourself— yes, I do. I choose to live this life, but I also choose to live it the way I want to 'Cause it's too easy to say that I want people around me that will tell me yes and think everything around me is perfect. 'Cause I can have those people around me right now if I want. But I'd rather have people around me that tell me I don't look good, or I should work out, or that sounded stupid. You know, I like having real people that make me feel like a normal person. 'Cause then it makes it easier to be me. So, I don't know, I hope that there's more of that. I'd rather just have real people with me.