Will Smith: How Surrounding Yourself with the Right People Can Change Your Life!

I wake up every morning, espresso keep me going.

I wake up every morning.

As a child, my parents always told me, you could be whatever you want to be, you could do whatever you want to do. And you know, that, that office, that position, the highest office on the face of the earth, it was something I heard my parents saying it but I didn't totally believe it. Yet I went out in the world and I carried myself and I held my head high and I stood there and I looked people in their eyes and I talked to people as if I was deserving of everything that this planet has to offer. So I just really want to say to children out there and to people who are watching, Confucius said one time, He who says he can and he who says he can't are both usually right. So I want to stand here before you, and as I hold this award, I want to give love to my wife, and I want you to keep in your heart, just know that you can. Know that you can.

So I love this video, one, because I love Will Smith, two, because I didn't know Confucius said that. I always attributed that quote about whether you believe you can or you can't, you're right, to Henry Ford. And so I guess Ford took it from Confucius, so that's very interesting. And third, the single most important lesson that my parents taught me that I'm trying to pass on to the next generation of my family, as well as to you guys, Believe Nation, my extended family, is to believe in yourself. If you believe you can do something, you're much more likely to be able to do it. And if you believe that you can't, then you're absolutely right. And so when somebody comes to you and says, I don't believe I can do it, then they'll never— they never will. Growing up, that's what my parents taught me. They would always say that I'm Evan Carmichael. My mom's last name is Castrilli. I could do anything I wanted. I remember that I would have that talk with them every year when I got my report cards. My sisters would get straight A's, and then I would get B's and C's. We'd always sit down and we'd talk about my grades. Instead of scolding me or punishing me, it would always be on the positive side. They'd always say, "Hey, you're a Castrilli Carmichael. You can do anything that you want." And with enough repetition, you know, I think when I received that message at the beginning, I was like, "Oh, I hear it again," but it sunk in. You know, with enough repetition, it made me believe that, and by my last year in high school, my own expectations for myself passed what my parents expected of me. They wanted me to get A's, and I got straight A's in high school. I got straight 90s in my last year. And I don't know what it was in that last year of high school that pushed my own belief system beyond what my parents expected. Expected of me. Maybe it's just becoming more grown up, or I don't know. I wish I can kind of go back, or maybe some psychoanalysis and pull it out of me somewhere buried in my subconscious. But I know what's helped me since is that surrounding myself with people, with ideas, with resources that make me think bigger have stretched my belief of what I can do. So, you know, coming out of high school, I believe I can get straight 90s, and I did it, and I got straight 90s. And now, as I'm trying to have a bigger impact, I want to help a billion entrepreneurs. You know, when I first set that goal, I felt like a bit of an imposter. Like, I wanted to do it, but I didn't know if I could. And I had this internal battle with myself that I remember bringing to my mastermind group one month. Because I don't know if I can do it. I don't know if I believe in myself enough to do it. And so how do you stretch? How do you be able to believe it? Because if I don't believe I can hit that goal, then I won't. And so for me, it was just continuing to surround myself with the content, with the videos, mostly with the videos, with some books, but really it's the videos. Being around successful entrepreneurs doing big things and feeling like, you know what, that billion goal, it's actually not that big. Other people are doing way bigger things. If I'm around them more, their little bit of their magic pixie dust rubs off onto me to help me do much, much, much bigger things. I think whatever goal it is that you have, whatever belief system that you want to change, or if you feel like you're limited in some way and you're angry about it, you want to change it, changing your environment is one of the fastest ways to do it. And so I use the example of confidence, where if you want to be more confident, yes, you can read a book on confidence, yes, you can watch a video on 8 ways to be more confident, and that may give you some practical tactical things, but I think the best way to be able to break through it is to watch people being confident. Whether that's in your circle, whether that's videos of successful entrepreneurs being confident, it just rubs off onto you. If you're around people who are thinking big all the time, you're going to automatically just start thinking bigger. If you're around toxic, negative, complaining people, you're going to end up being toxic and negative and complaining, even if you don't want to be, just because that's what's in your environment. And so often you need to put up a shield and say, like, don't infect me, don't come near me, don't inject me with your poison. I don't want that. That's toxic to me. And you may not be able to escape all of that, right? Like, maybe that's your mom who's telling you you can't do things and that you suck and you're never gonna be anything. You know, it's hard to say, "I don't want to talk to you ever again, Mom." That may be the answer for some people, but most, you know, you want to have some kind of relationship. So it's not necessarily cutting everything off completely. It's limiting exposure, right? So if your box is full, you know, like it's full of negativity, like, limit that exposure and then start increasing the other side with other things. With videos, with books, with content. If you find somebody who you resonate with, like if you love my videos, then subscribe to the channel and watch the videos. If you love Will Smith and his messages, then subscribe to news alerts on Will Smith, and anytime he has a video that comes out, you're consuming it. And start your day with it and surround yourself with it. The more that you can be around people like that, even if only in an aspirational way, like you may never meet Will Smith, but consuming his content and being around him by watching his videos as much as possible now not 24 hours a day, right? You still have to do work, but to the point where it builds you up, then it allows you to have that stronger shield against the negativity. Because at some point, if you don't have the positive, you're just going to be overwhelmed. Like, you can only hold up that shield for so long before those goblins come and destroy you, and they break it down, and then you're acting like them. And so the most important part— that's why I created this channel— the self-belief that you can go off and do amazing things. That, that idea that you have inside your head is possible. That the story you're telling yourself as to why you can't do it is just a story. That just because nobody around you has done it before doesn't mean that you can't. And invariably what I look at is all these successful people that have done massive things that you look up to, like whoever you look up to. Look at Will Smith, look at any of these people that you look up to and say, wow, that person's accomplished so much. Look at where they came from. Look at how they started. Almost all of them started with less than what you already have right now. Less money, less resources, less connections, less opportunity. Like, you're living in a much greater era than any of these people who got started. And so if they could do it— I remember when I first started studying success, I think I was thinking, if they can do it, why can't I? If these people can start with no money in a worse generation, no resources, with a worse upbringing than what I have, Why can they do it and I can't? And it made me realize I can, right? Like, they can do it, I can do it too. And it's not looking at Will Smith now and the impact he can have now, and that's great and that's something to aspire to, but like, how did he get started and how did he build this amazing career and have this huge impact? And all the entrepreneurs that we profiled, if they can do it, you can too. You just have to believe that you're capable of it. So the question of the day today is, I'm curious, what is one thing that you used to believe that you couldn't do and you've changed that belief system around to say, I know I can do this? I mean, I've done it I haven't done it yet, but I know I'm capable of it. What is that thing for you? Write it down in the comments below. I hope that by writing it down, it'll help build up the confidence in yourself to accomplishing it, as well as inspire other people who are watching who may feel a little bit of self-doubt. Seeing that flow of positivity come out in the comments can really be a source of inspiration for others as well. So please share your thoughts down in the comments below. I also want to give a quick shout out to Martin Cupid. Martin, thank you so much for picking up a copy of my book, Your One Word. It really, really means a lot to me, and I hope you're enjoying the read. Thank you guys again for watching. I hope you have an amazing day. I believe in you. I hope you continue to believe in yourself and whatever your one word is. Much love, and I'll see you again tomorrow morning for another shot of espresso.

I wake up every morning, espresso keep me going.

I'm a believer, bro. I see things and I want to make them real. No matter how hard it takes, no matter what obstacles, no matter how many embarrassing meetings I have to imagine is happening when I leave. Doesn't matter. I'm a doer and a freaking make-it-happener.

Here's maybe the greatest thing a teen or anyone in this room and who's watching on the television at home can learn from the champ. These are words to remember when anyone tries to tell you to give up, tell you to give in because whatever you're trying to do is impossible. The champ said this: Impossible is just a word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact, it's an opinion. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing. Greatest quote ever. So as a relatively new dad and a former teen, I'm here to say you will make mistakes along the way. You will fall down. I have many times. Even Ali did. But what we do after that fall is how we make history. Because impossible is nothing.

I was in Johannesburg a little while ago, and I went through the airport, and I went into the men's room, or washroom, or bathroom, however you want to call it. And so I walked into the men's room, and the first thing I hear is, "Welcome to my office." And this was the janitor at the Johannesburg men's room.

That's funny.

Who janitorized, or I'll make up a word, cleaned, the toilets like Mozart composed music. Now, that man has no money. That man probably has very little education. That man is judged by the world as having an unimportant job. And that man is a hero, could be a hero to millions of people. Why? Because he actually saw himself as an ambassador to South Africa. And his passion was, palpable, and his visceral commitment to doing work at the highest level was like you don't see even from the CEOs. And all I'm saying is, even the person with the broken heart, the person who's down on their knees, whether they see it or not, they have a choice to rise above their circumstances. And leadership and humanity is a testament to the people who have done it. I mean, you read the— you look at Mandela, you know, 27 years in imprisonment. When his son died, he wasn't allowed to attend the funeral of his own son. He said that was one of the great pains of his life. And what did he do? The victim looks at something like that torture and says, I am broken. And they give up and they close their heart, they close their mind, they close their creativity, and they blame the rest of their life on what happened to them. But Mandela, what he chose to do was to use it as an opportunity because actually the things that break your heart, if you choose, can open your heart. Fear, the world says fear is bad. Fear is only an opportunity for bravery training. And what he did was he used those 27 years of torture to open himself mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually to the point where when he was released and became the president of South Africa, he invited his jailers to sit in the front row at his inauguration. And he was asked why, and he said, "Because if I don't, I'd still be in prison." And that's a long way of saying, but, you know, we do make excuses because we are very good at self-deception. Because if we actually had to face the responsibility of playing with our bigness in the world, we'd have to let go of our addiction to our excuses and leave what's safe. Am I making sense here?

No, totally.

No, totally makes sense. You have to leave what's safe I mean, we are addicted to crisis sometimes. It makes no sense. We are addicted to pain. And we'd have to actually leave the pain to go out to the possibility of pleasure and joy and greatness. And believe it or not, that frightens us. So we make these excuses, and then we blame people. Oh, Joe or Robin, I don't like the way he looks. He speaks differently. But subconsciously, as you're suggesting, those are just our protective mechanisms to avoid owning the responsibility of our brilliance.

Let me give you the one word secret to happiness. One word. This is all you need to be happy.

The most important word ever. If you had to think of one word that's most important to you or that sums you up or that would be kind of like a little beacon. Hey, Believe Nation, if you want to know what the most important one word is for Tony Robbins, Gary Vaynerchuk, Oprah Winfrey, will.i.am, and Howard Schultz, I have a very special secret video for you. Check the description for details.