As the pressure grew
How do you
As an international speaker
With all of your attention
How do you cope with all of the pressure?
In terms of hate and everything that goes on
Um, quite easily
From a very basic thing
I know what my intent is
And I'm very grounded in it
And I deploy enormous amounts of empathy
To my haters
When somebody leaves a comment
That I'm a charlatan
Or a snake oil salesman
Or my daddy gave me the money to build the liquor store
And I shouldn't be listened to
I understand why they say that
I know it's not true
It feeds me
In a very good way
And so, for me, to be very honest with you
It's been very easy
Because when your intent is pure
I think about succeeding in one very simple story
There are two ways, my friends
To build the biggest building in town
Step number one
(Chorus)
Just build the biggest building in town
Build the biggest building in town
Step number one
Step number one
Just build the biggest building in town
Build the biggest building in town
Step number two
Build a decent-sized building
And then spend all your time trying to tear
Everybody else's building around you down
So, you end up being
The biggest building in town
My friend
95% of people try to do number two
But when you know you can build
The fucking biggest building in town
You do that
You do that
And so, because I know what my intent is
I just don't value anybody's opinion
About me
Including my parents and wife and children
More than I value my opinion about myself
2x (Chorus)
Just build the biggest building in town
Build the biggest building in town
Step number one
Step number one
Just build the biggest building in town
Build the biggest building in town
How do you
As an international speaker
With all of your attention
How do you cope with all of the pressure?
In terms of hate and everything that goes on
Um, quite easily
From a very basic thing
I know what my intent is
And I'm very grounded in it
And I deploy enormous amounts of empathy
To my haters
When somebody leaves a comment
That I'm a charlatan
Or a snake oil salesman
Or my daddy gave me the money to build the liquor store
And I shouldn't be listened to
I understand why they say that
I know it's not true
It feeds me
In a very good way
And so, for me, to be very honest with you
It's been very easy
Because when your intent is pure
I think about succeeding in one very simple story
There are two ways, my friends
To build the biggest building in town
Step number one
(Chorus)
Just build the biggest building in town
Build the biggest building in town
Step number one
Step number one
Just build the biggest building in town
Build the biggest building in town
Step number two
Build a decent-sized building
And then spend all your time trying to tear
Everybody else's building around you down
So, you end up being
The biggest building in town
My friend
95% of people try to do number two
But when you know you can build
The fucking biggest building in town
You do that
You do that
And so, because I know what my intent is
I just don't value anybody's opinion
About me
Including my parents and wife and children
More than I value my opinion about myself
2x (Chorus)
Just build the biggest building in town
Build the biggest building in town
Step number one
Step number one
Just build the biggest building in town
Build the biggest building in town
Gratitude
On that 400-trillion-to-one thing
I'm grateful
Straight up, like I don't know what to say
Like, you might've not been born
Right?
Like, your dad could've been late
To the apartment that day
On some real shit
Like I don't think people would contextualize perspective like
What?
Like you're alive
Like you're alive
You could have been a tree
You could've been like, right
This is cool
Like, life is good
(Chorus)
Life is good
Like, it's cool to have one
It's cool to have one
Life is good
(This is cool!)
Life is good
(This is cool!)
Like, it's cool to have one
That's number one
One of the biggest things for me
Is being the bigger person
I hate conflict
Ironically, like
I'm a tough guy
When I have the mic and nobody else can talk
But in real life
I like, like happiness
And vibes and like
I've eaten shit my whole life
Kid stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from me
In the liquor store
Like, I found a way for him not to go to jail
For a long time, like, you know
Like, just being the bigger person
Has been a core principle of mine
Not valuing money over family and, like, happiness
Has been huge, fuck money
Like really
Fuck money
You cannot care about money more when you don't care
About what people think about your money
You know?
(Chorus)
Life is good
Life is good
Like, it's cool to have one
It's cool to have one
Life is good
(This is cool!)
Life is good
(This is cool!)
Like, it's cool to have one
That's number one
Patience
Holy shit, I'm gonna live four more full lives
And no matter how crazy what I think about right now is
And, like, what I wanna accomplish on or off the field
I got four fucking lives to do it
You guys know Grey Goose?
The guy who invented that is an entrepreneur
Invented it at 78
78 years old
You know
That's life
Like, you can do everything wrong
Have every dream you've ever had fucked up
Blame it on other people
The girl fucked it up
That injury fucked it up
Coach fucked it up
Blame everybody, have everything go wrong
Be 57 years old
And still have fucking 40 years to make it right
It's crazy, honestly
Like, if there was some crazy new drug
That I could, like, inject in you
That gave you perspective of time
That's the drug I would give you
Straight up
2x (Chorus)
Life is good
Life is good
Like, it's cool to have one
It's cool to have one
Life is good
(This is cool!)
Life is good
(This is cool!)
Like, it's cool to have one
That's number one
It makes you optimistic
People sitting here dwelling already
Dwelling already
“Fuck, I shouldn't have come to Rutgers”
“Fucking knew it”
Of course, there's people thinking that
Like, that's just real life
Dwelling already
Haven't even fucking started
Man, that's what I wanna change
(Akira The Don)
Life is good
Life is good
Like, it's cool to have one
It's cool to have one
Life is good
Life is good
Like, it's cool to have one
That's number one
On that 400-trillion-to-one thing
I'm grateful
Straight up, like I don't know what to say
Like, you might've not been born
Right?
Like, your dad could've been late
To the apartment that day
On some real shit
Like I don't think people would contextualize perspective like
What?
Like you're alive
Like you're alive
You could have been a tree
You could've been like, right
This is cool
Like, life is good
(Chorus)
Life is good
Like, it's cool to have one
It's cool to have one
Life is good
(This is cool!)
Life is good
(This is cool!)
Like, it's cool to have one
That's number one
One of the biggest things for me
Is being the bigger person
I hate conflict
Ironically, like
I'm a tough guy
When I have the mic and nobody else can talk
But in real life
I like, like happiness
And vibes and like
I've eaten shit my whole life
Kid stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from me
In the liquor store
Like, I found a way for him not to go to jail
For a long time, like, you know
Like, just being the bigger person
Has been a core principle of mine
Not valuing money over family and, like, happiness
Has been huge, fuck money
Like really
Fuck money
You cannot care about money more when you don't care
About what people think about your money
You know?
(Chorus)
Life is good
Life is good
Like, it's cool to have one
It's cool to have one
Life is good
(This is cool!)
Life is good
(This is cool!)
Like, it's cool to have one
That's number one
Patience
Holy shit, I'm gonna live four more full lives
And no matter how crazy what I think about right now is
And, like, what I wanna accomplish on or off the field
I got four fucking lives to do it
You guys know Grey Goose?
The guy who invented that is an entrepreneur
Invented it at 78
78 years old
You know
That's life
Like, you can do everything wrong
Have every dream you've ever had fucked up
Blame it on other people
The girl fucked it up
That injury fucked it up
Coach fucked it up
Blame everybody, have everything go wrong
Be 57 years old
And still have fucking 40 years to make it right
It's crazy, honestly
Like, if there was some crazy new drug
That I could, like, inject in you
That gave you perspective of time
That's the drug I would give you
Straight up
2x (Chorus)
Life is good
Life is good
Like, it's cool to have one
It's cool to have one
Life is good
(This is cool!)
Life is good
(This is cool!)
Like, it's cool to have one
That's number one
It makes you optimistic
People sitting here dwelling already
Dwelling already
“Fuck, I shouldn't have come to Rutgers”
“Fucking knew it”
Of course, there's people thinking that
Like, that's just real life
Dwelling already
Haven't even fucking started
Man, that's what I wanna change
(Akira The Don)
Life is good
Life is good
Like, it's cool to have one
It's cool to have one
Life is good
Life is good
Like, it's cool to have one
That's number one
Today's guest is one of the world's leading marketing experts and living proof that the American dream is alive and well
If you're willing to work your face off
Life starts
In being born in Belarus
In the former Soviet Union
I came to the US
When I was three years old
We were very, very, very poor
I lived in a studio apartment with eight family members
And my dad and my mom
As you can imagine are very much my heroes
My dad worked every hour of his life
Being a stock boy in a liquor store
I was a very entrepreneurial kid
I was day trading attention from a young age
I had six lemonade stands
When I was seven years old
And I would spend all my time
Trying to figure out what tree and what pole
To put the signs on
Because I was watching people drive
And trying to figure out what signs
Yes, I was a very sick child
When I was 12 and 13
I was selling baseball cards which were very popular
In the United States at the time
And I was making one to two thousand dollars a weekend
Selling them
In the malls
Which was great and I was rich for a young kid
And it was fantastic
But then my career changed
My dad dragged me into the liquor store
And I hated it at first
But luckily, I realized that people collected wine
I was into collecting sports memorabilia
That was my passion, that was the connection
And I decided
That I was gonna jump into my family business
Open up 4,000 liquor stores across America
Sell the franchise one day
And buy the New York Jets
(Chorus)
'Cause that is my dream
Buy the New York Jets
American football team
That is my dream
Buy the New York Jets
American football team
In 1994 I was in my dorm room in college
My friend came over to me
He brought me into a room
It was the first time I heard, “coo-coo-ch”
Which was the Internet
I was very excited about it
I didn't know what it was
I said something stupid like “Is this the information superhighway?”
I looked at it
This was 1994
I literally stood there
And watched people on the Internet for five hours
It was that crazy
It was just that insane
It was so new
And when I finally had my turn
To go on there
When I finally had my turn to go on there
Within 20 minutes
I landed on a message board
Where people were trading and buying cards
Baseball cards
And I realized, “My God, I can do business on this thing”
2x (Chorus)
'Cause that is my dream
Buy the New York Jets
American football team
That is my dream
Buy the New York Jets
American football team
You two stand up
You two stand up
Let's clap it up for these guys
If you're willing to work your face off
Life starts
In being born in Belarus
In the former Soviet Union
I came to the US
When I was three years old
We were very, very, very poor
I lived in a studio apartment with eight family members
And my dad and my mom
As you can imagine are very much my heroes
My dad worked every hour of his life
Being a stock boy in a liquor store
I was a very entrepreneurial kid
I was day trading attention from a young age
I had six lemonade stands
When I was seven years old
And I would spend all my time
Trying to figure out what tree and what pole
To put the signs on
Because I was watching people drive
And trying to figure out what signs
Yes, I was a very sick child
When I was 12 and 13
I was selling baseball cards which were very popular
In the United States at the time
And I was making one to two thousand dollars a weekend
Selling them
In the malls
Which was great and I was rich for a young kid
And it was fantastic
But then my career changed
My dad dragged me into the liquor store
And I hated it at first
But luckily, I realized that people collected wine
I was into collecting sports memorabilia
That was my passion, that was the connection
And I decided
That I was gonna jump into my family business
Open up 4,000 liquor stores across America
Sell the franchise one day
And buy the New York Jets
(Chorus)
'Cause that is my dream
Buy the New York Jets
American football team
That is my dream
Buy the New York Jets
American football team
In 1994 I was in my dorm room in college
My friend came over to me
He brought me into a room
It was the first time I heard, “coo-coo-ch”
Which was the Internet
I was very excited about it
I didn't know what it was
I said something stupid like “Is this the information superhighway?”
I looked at it
This was 1994
I literally stood there
And watched people on the Internet for five hours
It was that crazy
It was just that insane
It was so new
And when I finally had my turn
To go on there
When I finally had my turn to go on there
Within 20 minutes
I landed on a message board
Where people were trading and buying cards
Baseball cards
And I realized, “My God, I can do business on this thing”
2x (Chorus)
'Cause that is my dream
Buy the New York Jets
American football team
That is my dream
Buy the New York Jets
American football team
You two stand up
You two stand up
Let's clap it up for these guys
Friday about 6 pm
In my room playing Minecraft
Dad comes in
“Hey buddy”
“Have any plans for the weekend?”
“No, not really, no.”
“Why don’t you go out with some friends”
“It’s a nice night”
Conversation continues for another 5 minutes
Dad asks about girls and my friends
I try to dodge around admitting I have no friends and
No experience with girls
But he knows
But he knows
“Ok buddy”
“Just let me know if you ever want to ride somewhere”
“You can borrow my car whenever you want”
Pats me on the shoulder and leaves
I get back to Minecraft
After a few minutes feel thirsty
No drinks in my room
Venture out into the kitchen
Hear my Dad in the living room
Crying
Look around the corner
He is looking through photo albums and pictures of me
“Hey Dad”
He looks up
Trying to hide that he was crying
“I’m going out with some friends”
“Can I borrow the car?”
He smiles the happiest smile I have seen in years
“Sure thing buddy”
He gets up and hugs me
Tears in his eyes
I get dressed
Get in the car and leave
I drive to an empty parking lot in an industrial area
I go to sleep in the backseat
Return home the next morning
Pretend I was out with friends all night
Dad hugs me again
I have been doing this almost every week for months now
Be me
Be me
Be me
Be me
Be me (faded)
Be me (faded)
Be me (faded)
Be me (faded)
In my room playing Minecraft
Dad comes in
“Hey buddy”
“Have any plans for the weekend?”
“No, not really, no.”
“Why don’t you go out with some friends”
“It’s a nice night”
Conversation continues for another 5 minutes
Dad asks about girls and my friends
I try to dodge around admitting I have no friends and
No experience with girls
But he knows
But he knows
“Ok buddy”
“Just let me know if you ever want to ride somewhere”
“You can borrow my car whenever you want”
Pats me on the shoulder and leaves
I get back to Minecraft
After a few minutes feel thirsty
No drinks in my room
Venture out into the kitchen
Hear my Dad in the living room
Crying
Look around the corner
He is looking through photo albums and pictures of me
“Hey Dad”
He looks up
Trying to hide that he was crying
“I’m going out with some friends”
“Can I borrow the car?”
He smiles the happiest smile I have seen in years
“Sure thing buddy”
He gets up and hugs me
Tears in his eyes
I get dressed
Get in the car and leave
I drive to an empty parking lot in an industrial area
I go to sleep in the backseat
Return home the next morning
Pretend I was out with friends all night
Dad hugs me again
I have been doing this almost every week for months now
Be me
Be me
Be me
Be me
Be me (faded)
Be me (faded)
Be me (faded)
Be me (faded)
Be me
Go on Amazon to buy a stainless-steel popcorn machine
I love popcorn
I love popcorn
Add my shit to cart
See they have an upgrade to Amazon Prime called Amazon Prime X
Claims to deliver your order in under 10 minutes
Think its bullshit
Free trial so I use it anyway
[Chorus]
I love popcorn
I love popcorn
I love popcorn
I love popcorn
Checkout
10 minutes go by
Think
“I knew it was too good to be true”
“I knew it was too good to be true” (faded)
But then
Knock, Knock, open up the door, it’s real
With the non-stop
Pop pop pop stainless steel
My face when X gonna give it to ya
Fuck waitin’ for you to get it on your own
X gonna deliver to ya
X gonna deliver to ya
[Chorus]
I love popcorn
I love popcorn
I love popcorn
I love popcorn
I love popcorn
I love popcorn
I love popcorn
I love popcorn
Go on Amazon to buy a stainless-steel popcorn machine
I love popcorn
I love popcorn
Add my shit to cart
See they have an upgrade to Amazon Prime called Amazon Prime X
Claims to deliver your order in under 10 minutes
Think its bullshit
Free trial so I use it anyway
[Chorus]
I love popcorn
I love popcorn
I love popcorn
I love popcorn
Checkout
10 minutes go by
Think
“I knew it was too good to be true”
“I knew it was too good to be true” (faded)
But then
Knock, Knock, open up the door, it’s real
With the non-stop
Pop pop pop stainless steel
My face when X gonna give it to ya
Fuck waitin’ for you to get it on your own
X gonna deliver to ya
X gonna deliver to ya
[Chorus]
I love popcorn
I love popcorn
I love popcorn
I love popcorn
I love popcorn
I love popcorn
I love popcorn
I love popcorn