Barbra Streisand shares ten rules for success from her decades in music and film, including following your bliss, embracing imperfection, and persisting through doubt. She recounts how her mother's voice and early insecurities shaped her drive to prove doubters wrong.
She's a singer, songwriter, actress, and filmmaker. She's one of the best-selling artists of all time worldwide with over 245 million records sold. She's the only recording artist to have a number one album in each of the last 6 decades. She's Barbra Streisand, and here are her top 10 rules for success.
A man's reach should exceed his grasp. It's just, life is a carousel. Life is a bowl of cherries. I don't know, it's— life is short, and you just gotta play, dance, experiment, fail, succeed, learn, give. In life, it's like, you know, follow your bliss. If you're following a a path that is pleasurable to you, it's much easier. It flows. It's— there's a light behind the eyes, you know. There's a shine within. It's beyond— it's not just work. It's a joyous experience. It's a— you long for that. As I got older, I just thought too many people said to me, "How could you not sing in public? Like, we as your fans really want to hear you and see you live." And I thought, I owe this to them. And maybe I owe it to myself too, to build up the courage to try it again. Because it's not about perfection, as you know. You know, this could happen, your voice could go flat, da da da. And there is a certain excitement to that and a certain acceptance again of you know, imperfections. My mother had a great voice. Not like mine, not like my sister's, not like my son's. A high soprano voice, but like a bird. I mean, really beautiful. But I used to say, "Mom, you know, why didn't you try to get a career as a singer?" "No," she said, "she was too shy. She couldn't do it." And I'm basically shy too, but there, that makes the difference. You know, how do you succeed if you don't try? The truth is, I think for years I thought, well, I don't want to disappoint people. You know, it's like, it's like you have this thing for me. Well, if you meet me, you know, will you be disappointed? Will it destroy the mystique? Now, as you get older, you— and when you accept your own imperfections, there's a warmth to that. That's like the Indian sewing in the flaw in the blanket, you know, that it shouldn't be perfect. So I really can't make a mistake because If I accept my flaws, then you will accept my flaws. Exactly. Music is, is transporting. Music elevates life, you know. Music is larger than life. You know, when you have certain emotions that are larger than life, you want to sing, you want to express it in a larger way. Music is so Powerful to the soul. It's so rich in being able to identify with feelings. Music can transport. So it's very strong. You had a lot of people say you were never gonna make it besides your mom. Yeah. And what did you think in your head when they'd say that? I thought they were crazy. Same thing with me. That's what I did. No, I mean, I thought I knew what they meant. I knew why they thought that. But isn't that funny that within enormous insecurity and doubt was a kind of knowing? A knowing that, you know, if I stick to my guns and I tell the truth and I I will be there. I don't know, I never thought about it that much. It was something so deep, I guess, that I tell people— some people ask me, you know, do you think I should be an actress? And I say, boy, if you have to think about it, don't be it. Now I can direct, people know I can direct. Now I can write songs, people know I can write songs. I don't need to do that anymore. I do bore myself a lot, you know. I have to go on, and it's not Conquer? I don't know if I'd use the word conquer. It's expanding one's horizon, you know. It's trying something new. It's risking failure. Even that's exciting to me. You see, actually, you have to be thankful for people like that, because in a way, they gave you more courage, they gave you more energy, more of a sense of your own destiny. It's true. I thank my mother actually for not believing in me because I really set out to prove to her that I, that she was wrong and that I, I could make something of my life, you know, as an actress. I am proud to say I am, but there is no such thing as perfection, and I found that out when I was 15 years old. I wrote it in my journal that perfection is imperfection. So it has that humanity, a human quality. Otherwise it's too cold, right? You could just strive for perfection. Better word is excellence. Strive for excellence.
Thank you guys so much for watching. I made this video because AL Interpretations asked me to. So if there's a famous entrepreneur that you want me to profile next, leave it in the comments below and I'll see what I can do. I'd also love to know which of Barbra Streisand's top 10 rules most resonated with you. Leave it in the comments and I'm going to join in the discussion. Thank you guys so much for watching. Continue to believe and I'll see you soon.
