In this motivational talk, Dion Shaw (also referred to as Gian) addresses a college‑age audience, sharing a personal story of extreme financial hardship during his first semester of college that culminated in a pivotal moment when he had only $2 left to eat. That experience sparked a decision to "bet on himself" and ultimately led to a successful career as a stunt performer and TV personality. Shaw then introduces his proprietary five‑step "G‑Code" system—Gratitude, Clarity, Ownership, Discipline, and Execution—as a cheat‑code for personal excellence. For each step he explains the underlying principle, provides a brief anecdote, and leads the audience through a short, interactive writing exercise, urging them to internalize the habit by repeating affirmations. The talk blends storytelling, audience participation, and actionable prompts, aiming to shift listeners from a "$2 mindset" to a first‑class mindset by adopting the G‑Code habits.
Chapters
And I want to thank you students for showing up today, even though you were forced, because you look like you don't even want to be here right now. But it's okay, because I'm speaking here to that individual that is looking for the key to unlock their potential and to flourish in their purpose. That individual that is seeking personal excellence. Now, by a show of hands, how many of you had first-class dreams but on a $2 mindset? Come on now, there we go, I'm not the only one. Few of you up there too? Now, you guys saw my intro video, right? It looks fun what I do. I'm falling off buildings, getting kicked in the walls, getting thrown on the ground, being on TV. It's exciting, right? My life wasn't always like that. Actually far from it. I was that person. Who had first-class dreams and standards but a $2 mindset. Now, I know a lot of you are about to go to college, so I want to take you back to a moment that was my final breaking point. Now, hopefully none of you have to experience this, but some of you will. And for some of my parents and teachers out here, I know you probably went through this. Those college years are really scarce. Money's really low. So it was my first semester in college. I basically ran out of money in the first month. I made friends with this real petite girl named Mia, and the reason I did that is because she didn't eat much, so she would allow me to eat off of her food card. So I was making sure I was eating every day, which is great. But the problem was, after so long, the stress started to break me down and wear me down. And I knew I needed a change. I needed to get clear on what I really wanted to do. So I decided that I was going to take a semester off from college, get a full-time job, make some money, and then just kind of figure out my next play. So I take that semester off. I see that the local airport is hiring. Now what you guys may not know is when you work for the airlines, you get to fly for free. There was those first-class standards I was thinking about. And they were starting me off at $9.75 an hour, guys. I was going to be balling. Now I know I'm aging myself a little bit, but that was good money. So I get the job. They're going to send me to Denver for a week of training. And I'm like, OK, this is awesome. This is cool. And they say, hey, we'll give you per diem. I said, good, because I don't got no food for money, so this is going to be great. And they say, you're going to get it the first day of training. I said, wonderful. So I get to the airport, I check in. Another thing you guys may not wonder is, or one of the good things you guys may not know is when you work for the airlines, if there's an available seat in first class, you get it. So I checked in and now I'm sitting first class, guys. I think I made it. $975, gonna get that $50 per diem flying first class. What more do I need? I'm meeting my first class standards and dreams. I fly out there for 2 hours eating all the food, drinking all the beverages that I want, having a great old time. Hit the hotel, beautiful hotel. Jump on the bed, sleep like a rock because I know tomorrow I'm going to be rich. $50 in my pocket, I'm good. So I show up to training and I hop on in there, guys. I'm feeling good. The first announcement, hey guys, sorry to let you know, per diem is going to be delayed. So I look around. And nobody is fazed. And I'm stressed, my heart's beating, I'm sweating, and I'm wondering how I'm gonna eat that night. So I go through that whole day, not even focused, not even paying attention, and here comes dinnertime, and I'm starving, stomach's grumbling, and I walk across the street, I see this barbecue spot called Famous Dave's, and I knew I couldn't afford that. And I see Arby's, and I said, "I might be able to give that a shot." So I walk up to Arby's, and I reach in my pocket, And I got $2 in there. And not even $2, guys, it was like $1.96. This is when we had change. I know some of you guys aren't used to that, but we carried around cash, we had change and stuff like that. And as I stood there, my eyes started to tear up because I'm a grown man and I knew I wasn't going to be able to feed myself. And right then and there, I made the decision to never again allow somebody to dictate when I'm gonna eat, how I'm gonna eat, and what I'm gonna do with my life. Now on a quick little side note, guys, what you may not know about Gian, I'm very convincing, and if there's a will, there's a way. I went up in that Arby's, I convinced the guy behind the counter that I worked at the Arby's in California. He gave me the employee discount, and then when I bought a sandwich, he threw in some fries with it. So I ate that night. I ate that night. But that day, that changed me, guys. That changed me. I knew I was gonna bet on myself. So I know some of you are going through it right now trying to figure out where you're at in life, what you're gonna do, and all I have to say is you guys need to bet on yourself. So if you guys want the cheat code to success that I call the G-code, the same cheat code that took me from that $2 in my pocket to starring on award-winning shows and networks, on FX, CBS, NBC, ABC, and being a spokesperson for one of the top automotive brands in the world. Let me hear you say G-code. G-code. Come on now. Let me hear you say G-code. G-code. All right. Chill out. Chill out. I'm going to give it to you. Let's get into it. All right. Step 1 of the G-code, gratitude. Let me hear you say gratitude. Gratitude. You cannot attract what you want if you're not grateful for where you are. This is a universal law. You must be grateful for the now. Quit looking to the present for your happiness. The current struggles that you're going through are preparing you for the blessings that you asked for. So what I need you guys to do is be grateful. I had to be grateful when I first moved down to LA and I was sharing a 4-bedroom home with 10 other individuals, mostly strangers, because it put me in the proximity to be closer to my dreams. So for those of you struggling filling out those essays, be grateful for that. It's preparing you to go to college. You're struggling at sports, it's preparing you for that next level. So right now I need you guys to write down 3 things that you're grateful for. And what you're gonna do is you're gonna get that into your subconscious. Every night before your head hits the pillow and every morning before your head comes off that pillow, you're gonna repeat those 3 things. Let me hear you say, I have gratitude. I have breakthrough. I know you do. Now, step number 2 of the G-code is clarity. You got to get extremely clear on what you want to do. Too many of us are just floating around in life, and that's why life just gives us whatever. Now, when I was training as a stuntman, I was missing my mark. I was falling, I was fighting, but I was missing my mark. And my mentor came up to me, he said, "Gion, the reason you're missing your mark is because where your eyes go The body follows. Now, it was something simple, and it was pertaining to stunts and fighting and falling, but I took that and I applied that to my life. Some of you guys are floating. You gotta get clear. So what I need you to do right now is write that one thing that you want to accomplish. Maybe it's going to a particular college. Maybe it's making the basketball team. But right now, go ahead and write that one thing that you want to accomplish down on your sheet of paper. Now repeat after me. I have clarity. I have clarity. All right. The third step of the G-code is ownership. Ownership. Gotta take ownership over our lives. Let me hear you say ownership. Ownership. That's right, guys. Quit blaming other people for where you're at in life. You are the constant in every result of your life. I had to take ownership that my stunt career wasn't taking off as fast as I wanted to because I wasn't fully applying myself. Some of you need to take ownership, you students. You're not getting the grades that you know you should be getting. Take ownership. Teachers, you may not be providing the value and support that these students need. Take ownership. So guys, right now, dig deep. Be honest with yourself. Write down those 3 things that you know you need to take ownership of. Repeat after me. I take ownership. I take ownership. The 4th step of the G-code is discipline. You must become highly disciplined in this pursuit. Let me hear you say discipline. Discipline. All right, guys. We got to get down to it. When I was in my stunt career, I had to be disciplined going to the gym, training jiu-jitsu, boxing, gun fighting, knife fighting. I had to be disciplined every single day so I could perform at my peak performance. Some of you guys are floating through. You're not doing your homework. You're not putting in that time to practice. So what I need you to do is write down those 3 things that you could be disciplined in right now to start achieving your goal. So maybe you're trying to make the basketball team. You could work on your ball handling. Maybe you need to go to extra tutoring sessions to get your grades up. I want you to write down those 3 things that you can implement right now to become more disciplined. Repeat after me, "I am disciplined." I am disciplined. All right, guys. And the G-code is incomplete without this final step. You can have gratitude, you can have clarity, you can take ownership, you can be disciplined, but ultimately none of that matters if you do not do this final thing. Do not be someone who confuses words for action. Talking about the thing is not doing the thing. Everybody get up for me. Stand up. Stand up for me. Repeat after me. I am grateful. I am grateful. I have clarity. I have clarity. I take ownership. I take ownership. I am disciplined. I am disciplined. I must execute. I must execute. All right, that's a wrap. I'm Dion Shaw.
