Simon Cowell's JOURNEY to Success: It's Not What You Think!

If you're going to be good at something, it does take a while. Just enjoy the getting there. What I realized very young is that I didn't want to live in fear. Where most people get it wrong is they're afraid of losing what they've got. Anybody who at the age of 60 calls himself Sting is an idiot.

He's an English reality TV judge, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He's most recognized as a judge on the TV series American Idol, X Factor, and America's Got Talent. According to the Sunday Times, he's one of the wealthiest people in the UK. In 2015, he had an estimated net worth of over £325 million. He's Simon Cowell, 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. And as always, if Simon says something that really, really means something to you, is really meaningful, please leave it in the comments below and put quotes around it and share it so other people can be inspired as well. Enjoy.

The good thing about how I made a career was I was patient. So I would say to anybody still today, if you're going to be good at something, it does take a while. Just enjoy the getting there. You're gonna get fed up, you're gonna get disheartened, and people are gonna tell you you're useless. Had all that. But what I can say, after about 15 or 20 years, I learned how to do something well, and I enjoyed that getting there as much as being there.

Let's say you're about to get out of high school, and you say to yourself, as you said to yourself, you know what, I don't think I'm college material. The fear sets in. That number one, if you don't go off to college, then the world's gonna pass you by. That's first of all.

Yeah.

Secondly, it is if something's gonna happen, I gotta make it happen quickly. I can't afford to spend 4, 5, 10 years in an apprenticeship.

It— I think it depends what you want in your life. I mean, what I realized very young is that I didn't want to live in fear. All my years in school, I did live in fear that if you got something wrong, they would beat you. I mean, literally. So you were kind of nervous, and I was always scared that I could have a job which I may not be very good in, and my boss could hate me, and if he hated me, he could fire me. And I thought I couldn't live my life like that. So I kind of prepared myself to be good at something where I wouldn't have to have a boss. And then I would only have myself to answer to, and then I wouldn't live in fear any longer. And there are times in this job where you get nervous or you lose your nerve, but I don't wake up every morning like I did when I was going to school, or wake up on a Monday morning feeling sick because I've got to go to school. So I'm a great believer of, if you're not bright at school, and I wasn't clever at school, you can teach yourself something good Providing you have a good mentor and providing that you're patient.

How important is it to you to be popular?

Very important. Whether you're a sportsman or you're in business or, you know, doing what I do where you make TV shows, nobody does this to become 77th, you know. You always, always strive to be more successful than your competition, and the day that stops, you have to stop doing this for a living, genuinely. You have to have that drive. Even as a kid, if I was losing Monopoly, I'd tip the board up. Seriously? Oh my God, yeah, absolutely. Or I'd be the banker and nick all the money so I would always win. So tell me, everybody wants to know, why are you leaving? Probably for the same reasons you left. You just know it's time, time, time's up. I remember the first year when we did this and it was like an adventure. And I loved that not knowing if it was going to be successful and the buzz. We were kind of making it up every week. Yeah, when I interviewed you after first season, you said, "I don't know how long this can go on." When we first met, I remember thinking at the time, this would be the one and only time I'm sure you and I ever meet because I'm not sure we're going to be around much longer. But I just— I loved that buzz. And I like the kind of the adventure, and it was fun. And then you get to a point, and for whatever reason, 2 years ago, I remember sitting in the auditions one day, and I thought, I think this is about as far as we can go. And I've always promised myself that I'd leave before I was forced to go. It feels like the right thing to do.

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 lived 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's 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, you know, 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 I mean, the fact that we're here, we can do this, it's fantastic.

Do you think the secret to your success is actually that you are, in many ways, in the way you lead your life, your tastes are quite average, middle of the road, the kind of stuff that the mass market would like?

For sure, absolutely right. And I don't think you can make records, I don't think you can make TV shows properly unless you can sit there as a listener or a viewer. You can't guess what people like. It would be like me guessing what you want for dinner. It's impossible. I can tell you what I want. So I base everything on my own tastes. And I have, you know, fairly broad, you know, I'd say quite simple tastes. I never tried to make my show mean. It was supposed to be funnier rather than mean.

You just say some of the meanest things ever seen on American television.

Not inten—

well, coming from you.

Not intentionally, but you know what we're like. We have a different sense of humor. You know, we look at things in a different way. I like things to be a bit more extreme, a bit more crazy, and I always felt with the Idol producers they want it to be a bit more homely and safe. So I think for them now they're very, very happy because they can make the show they want to make now, and then I can go make the show I want to make.

Will you be a different character on X Factor to the one we saw on Idol?

Like what? I can't imagine it. Like what?

I always say to people, trust us, this is what he's really like, it's not an act.

No, but that's what I was going to say there, that I think that You can't go on one of these shows and put on an act. I mean, if somebody horrific is singing in front of you, I can't sit there and go, take a few more lessons and come back next year, everything's going to be great. I'm like, put this person out of their misery. Or it makes me laugh. But I do like the— I like things to be really, really extreme. And I like it to be slightly chaotic. And I like it to be controversial.

How can I make you feel important in this interview?

You already have, you're sitting here. I feel important.

I know it's one of your sayings that the first thing you try to do is convince the other person that you're going to make them feel important.

It's good that you mention that. It's something my dad taught me when I was very young. And I asked him a question once, you know, how he runs a company. And he said it's very simple. He said everybody has a sign on their head that says, "Make me feel important." And it's something I've always been very aware of, that when you make a show and you've got 150 people on it, Every person on that show rightly has to feel that they're acknowledged for the part they play. If you start thinking it's all about you, you've got a big problem.

Sting recently said, "The X Factor is a preposterous show, and you have judges who have no recognizable talent apart from self-promotion and advising them what to wear and how to look.

It is appalling." Well, first of all, anybody who at the age of 60 calls himself Sting is an idiot. Um, I find You find those kind of people who live, who really do live in mansions, you know, who come from, you know, quite humble beginnings and they're living, you know, in these stately homes professing to know everything about everything in the world and what the contestants may or may not feel. They can say that because they've got everything they want in their lives, but what they're really saying is anybody else who needs a shot shouldn't be allowed to do it.

Have you always lived your life with this relentless honesty?

I think so, yeah. Um, I mean, when I, I said— when I was young, Dan, I, I got into the music business via the mailroom, um, and you kind of hustle your way, you know, into the main part of the record company or the music publishing company, as it was in those days, and you try and work your way up. And the interesting thing is it's a business where they invest millions and millions of dollars, but they give you no training. So, you know, when you screw up, and I did in the early days, I mean, I was told in no uncertain terms why I'd made a mistake, and I was taught tough love. And in return, I try and do the same thing back, because the worst thing you can do is, particularly when I do a talent show, if somebody comes in with absolutely no talent whatsoever and absolutely no chance of a career. I think it's a crime to say to these people, "We'll take a couple of singing lessons and it will all work out," because it just doesn't work out that way. So let me just go to Susan Boyle. Why was that one of your favorite auditions? Susan Boyle, if I'm being honest with you, on the day I was in such a bad mood. I just didn't want to be there, bored, never thought we'd find anyone good. Second I saw her come out, I see them from the right-hand side walk out and I'm like, oh God, here we go. And, uh, you were judging the book by its cover. 100 billion percent, yes. And I also guessed, because they're holding the dreaded handheld microphone, oh no, there's a singer. I know this is going to be terrible. And I was completely judging the book because just the way she was walking on, I thought she's either going to tell jokes or she's going to sing. Or even worse, a combination of the two. So I was so not interested. And the audience were the same, you know, they'd sat there a long time, they were restless, and I wasn't really listening to her answers. And then she started to sing, and I thought, my God, we've got this so wrong. And then when I watched the clip back, when it was all edited together and I saw the whole thing, I actually hated myself. I mean, genuinely. You hated yourself? Yeah, I thought, you know what, we're all sneering, we're not listening to people, we're judging everybody. I just didn't like what I saw. In yourself? For sure. Yeah, it was a wake-up call. And I was happy that she made us look stupid. Genuinely happy. Because we deserved it. I am seriously— I was blown away by that. And, you know, I just want to address something. You know, I know the show is Britain's Got Talent and you're not from Britain, but I am absolutely honored that you chose this show. To show us your talent. I really genuinely am. And I think, I think everybody feels the same way. I mean, always welcome talent wherever it is around the world. And I genuinely feel privileged that we've just seen one of the most amazing things I've ever seen on this show. It really moved me. Fantastic. Fantastic, guys.

Thank you guys so much for watching. I made this video because Mikaela Lynch 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 which of Simon's rules had the biggest impact on you. What did you learn most? What are you going to apply to your life or business? What was most eye-opening about this video? Leave it in the comments and I'm going to join in the discussion. I also want to give a quick shout out to Dorma Jean McGruber. Thank you so much for picking up a copy of my book. It really, really, really means a lot to me. So thank you guys again for watching. I believe in you. I hope you continue continue to believe in yourself and whatever your one word is. Much love. I'll see you soon.

If you really want to get good, you're the first in and you're the last out, and you listen rather than talking. Because if, if you're lucky in life and your eyes and ears are open, you may bump into somebody who can transform your life because they can teach you. But to meet that person, you've got to be receptive, if that makes sense. To do what I do, the only thing that bothers me is whether or not I'm relevant any longer. Because I think if you're sitting on these shows but you're not having hit records or hit artists in your real life, I think you look a bit of an idiot. So that's all I really care about, Dan, is that I can sit on one of these shows and justify why I'm there, because in my day job I am creating hit artists. Otherwise, you're just a judge for hire, which I just couldn't do.