This Phone Call with Gary Vee Changed My Life

He’s one of the best motivators in the world today. He just helped take the next step toward a better life.

Have you ever heard of Gary Vaynerchuk?

If not, you should have by now. He’s one of the best influencers and businesspeople in the world today. He’s also a well-known motivator for self-help and personal development.

And he just changed my life with one phone call. Here’s what happened:

He Dug Me Out of My Rut

Five years ago, he spoke on the phone with a 22-year-old girl named Taylor. Their conversation can be found here:

Taylor felt like she was in a rut in life. She wanted to build her personal brand and become a millionaire at 25.

She also said she was spending much of her time on Instagram admiring celebrities like the Kardashians from afar and wondering when life would be great like that for her. Gary Vee responded:

“Every second you spend thinking about what somebody else has is taking away from time that you could create something for yourself.”

Damn, that hit me like a freight train. It really did. I’ve fallen into this trap too.

I spend a lot of time on social media, scrolling through newsfeeds wondering when I can go biking one guy and cook a delicious meal like another woman. When will that ever happen for me?

Well, if that’s the life I want, I can’t go begging for it. I have to work for it.

I’ve always had a strong work ethic. However, Gary’s conversation with Taylor gave me the kick in the pants I need to succeed in life.

The more time I waste on my phone and social media is time spent away from living life to my full potential. It’s that simple, but I’m disappointed I hadn’t learned about it earlier.

But now I have, and I want you all to know the same. That way, you don’t make the same mistakes I did.

Gary Also Explained This Too

One of the major pitfalls of society today is that people want things great and fast. There is no patience in the world.

This probably comes from technology’s quickness along with so many self-service options available today like Grubhub and Uber.

Taylor said she wanted to become a millionaire by 25. Gary responded with this:

“Wouldn’t you rather guarantee millionairship by 36 by doing long term marathon running versus doing a bunch of bullshit sprints that guarantees never having it?”

That hit me like a ton of bricks too.

For a while now, my goal has been to become a millionaire by age 30. But why am I rushing it?

Life is going to be long for sure. When I reach my goal at that set age, then what? Another goal? I guess so, but I would rather enjoy the process on my way there.

And that’s what Gary talked about too. He said:

“Taylor, you need to start lovin’ the process, and the work, and the grind. You need to start respecting people that are like sleeping with like four roommates and buying their t-shirts at Walmart.”

I love the process I’m on right now. I’m not out there trying to reach thousands of followers or hoping to become the next best writer. I’m enjoying the process for what it is.

I will reach where I need to be when I get there. It will take time, but that is where the patience comes in.

Take Gary Vee for example. He explained to Taylor he wants to buy the New York Jets someday. People are always asking him when, two years, five years?

He tells them 20. He doesn’t want to just own the Jets and enjoy it. He also wants to enjoy the process for how he reached to the point in his life.

He believes he can do it. I believe I can too. We all can have goals in life, but we must enjoy the process.

It’s just that simple.

Closing Thoughts

Too often nowadays, we all find ourselves driving our minds crazy but thinking about too much at one time. We also think it can be done in a short period of time.

Life is a journey. What we want to do in life is all part of the process. And we have to enjoy the grind of it all.

That’s what I’m trying to do with my life goals. After reading this transcript, it gave me the kick in the pants I needed to succeed in life.

Slow and steady wins the life race. I’m ready to take each step one day at a time.

Noah Nelson is a senior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign majoring in journalism with minors in political science and history. He serves as a senior columnist for The Daily Illini, a writer on Medium and the host of his blog called Nothing But Noah. “Life: A Collection of Short Stories” is his first book available now on Amazon. Like what you read? You can write for Medium too!