10 Gary Vaynerchuk-Approved Success Strategies The VaynerMedia founder gets real about drive and ambition.
By Nina Zipkin
Perhaps the best way to describe Gary Vaynerchuk is "nonstop." The founder of VaynerMedia, VaynerSports and Vayner/RSE is also an author, host and vlogger who records just about everything he does.
Related: What Gary Vaynerchuk Learned by Experimenting on Himself
He is known for being relentless in his pursuit of the hustle and has a loyal audience of millions (2.4 million on Instagram, 1.58 million on Twitter and 2.3 million on Facebook) who take his advice to heart.
We took a deep dive into his blog archive to find some of his best tips and advice for making it as an entrepreneur.
Related video: Gerard Adams and Gary Vaynerchuk Discuss 'Real' Entrepreneurship
On why failure shouldn’t scare you
"It's the lack of fear of failing that has allowed me to make decisions so quick. People don't make decisions because they are scared to lose. I make decisions because I want to know what's going to happen, and then I use that information to help advise what I do next," Vaynerchuk writes. "The one thing I know for sure, is the outcome of what happens if you don't decide. If you never make a decision, or deliberate for too long, all the upside or potential opportunity could be lost."
On the value of patience
"The game is LONG. There's so much opportunity. Optimism is the secret to capitalizing on this opportunity and that's where you need to live. You need to figure out how good it really is and how much opportunity you have," Vaynerchuk writes. "Patience is practical. I push patience because I know life is long. Everybody around here is running around like it's not. 24 year-olds running around like it ends tomorrow. Like they need it now. What's wrong with being 26 or 41 or 73?"
On why age has nothing to do with ability
"The youth are the future of everything. They are the future of business, of society, of law and of government. We better pay attention, and empower them to be the best that they can be," Vaynerchuk writes. "My hope is that we lose the sentiment of age makes a difference in skill. There are plenty of 22 and 24 and 26 year olds in my office right now that work harder and smarter than some of the 50 year olds I know. It's just the truth and we are going to continue to see this trend adopted in the marketplace. You can't deny results."
On how to build a lasting legacy
"I think my actions map to my ambitions. Because my ambition is to have legacy. I treat it that way. I treat everybody I interact with, with kindness and respect. These days, as my notoriety has grown, I still treat people just the same. I look them dead in the face and I'm just in it with them for that one minute or two or three or 10, and really care about they have to say! Because I am very appreciative and humbled for their attention. I will never get over it. I will never get over the fact that people actually care."
On the importance of an open door policy
"I don't think one can win in business without having the proper teammates and empowering them to play their role. Ideas can come from anywhere but the fact of the matter is you need an offensive line, you need a receiver, you need a quarterback, you need them all and I think any leader that doesn't recognize that will ultimately not succeed in the long term. Obviously you can have a company that runs for six months and you sell it but over a 10, 20, 40 year period, there is no other strategy that will actually work."
On why you need to prioritize your own happiness
"To truly be selfless, you have to give without expectation. It's the mindset of giving with expectation, which kills everything. It just doesn't work at all. Being selfish is the gateway to selflessness, because you learn to take care of your own personal needs first in order to use that as collateral later so that you can really, truly help."
On why you shouldn’t think about how things “should be”
"Navigating our society and our lives with the hope of how it 'should be' versus the way it actually is, is the quickest and least practical way to create success. This is something I say to myself every single day," Vaynerchuk writes. "I am in control of my destiny. Nobody else. I get to decide how I react and how I respond, and the greatest motivator to inspire perspective is the simple statement "What's the alternative?'"
On why you must value the perspective you bring to the table
"Why are you taking somebody else's opinion about yourself greater than your opinion about yourself? It's the single greatest mistake that will keep you from finding happiness and confidence in who you are," Vaynerchuk writes. "And it's not that their opinions don't matter. You have to have an equal amount of respect for yourself as for others. It's a democratic society and everyone gets a vote. So beyond the thought leaders, and politicians and school systems you have to have respect for yourself. You need to put yourself on your own pedestal and then start weighing the opinions of others proportionately to how you actually feel about yourself."
On why the competition doesn’t matter
"I am and always have been consumer focused. The reason I don't pay attention to my 'competition' is not because I'm brash or cool. It's because it doesn't matter when you're obsessed with the end consumer," Vaynerchuk writes. "Because it starts and it ends with the end consumer and where the attention actually is. I will always do actions that bring you the most value because then I get value in return."
On why your goal should be to keep working
what overrides it. I didn't need to get mine at 25. Heck, I don't even need to 'get mine' at 41. This is the long, long game. I'm driven by the climb. It could be because I'm an immigrant and I just have this chip on my shoulder. Or maybe it's in my DNA. I don't like winning. I like losing. I like the struggle. I like people telling me that I can't," Vaynerchuk writes. I don't give a shit if my payday comes tomorrow. I want the game. The game is my life. There will never be a moment to quit. There's no dollar amount. Nothing you can do to make me stop."
