Daymond John
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Book Excerpt 1 POWERSHIFT Motivation for Light f I were to ask you the number one reason people don’t get close I to achieving their hopes and DAYMOND dreams, what would your answer be? JOHN Would you tell me it’s because is the found- er and CEO of they’ve started from a place of FUBU, a com- pany he started disadvantage? by taking out a Would you say it has something to $100,000 mort- gage on his do with unrealistic expectations? mother’s home and grew into Would you point to a bad boss, a a $6 billion life- style brand with bad economy, or some other barrier worldwide rec- to achievement, opportunity, or ognition. Today, he is an inves- reward? tor on ABC’s award-winning We’ve all got our excuses to ex- business show plain away a failure or disappoint- Shark Tank, a New York Times ment, and these are damn good bestselling au- thor and a high- ones. Some of them, I wouldn’t ly influential even call excuses — they’re more consultant and motivational like reasonable explanations. You speaker. 2 POWERSHIFT can always find a million reasons why something didn’t happen, but it’s up to you to find the one reason why it did happen. And that one reason better be a good reason. But the biggest reason most people fall short of their goals, outside of health challenges, is simply that they don’t take the time to think them through. They put it out there that they want to make partner, or they want to make a mil- lion dollars, or they want to start this or that business, but they don’t stop to think about why they want these things, or how these things might actually impact their lives. They just hop on the moving side- walk of life and let it take them where ev- eryone else is going. Back in the day, when I was hanging ’round all those video sets trying to get all those rappers and hip-hop artists to wear our clothes in their videos, I decided to take a film-making course at the New York Film Academy. I wanted to know 3 POWERSHIFT what the hell I was talking about, what everyone else was talking about. This was me, doing my homework, laying in a foundation, going the extra mile … all of that. It had nothing to do with designing a clothing line, but in my mind it had ev- erything to do with shifting the power in my favor, so I went out and learned what I could. One of the things I learned was a term called motivation for light, which I’m pinching here for the title of this chapter. Why? Well, to a lighting direc- tor, that’s the single most important fac- tor when you’re setting up a shot. Doesn’t matter if it’s random light, a filter light, sunlight … whatever. If there’s a light in a shot, on a character’s face, you damn well better know why it’s there. They’ve even got an acronym for it: MFL. Once you learn about it, you’ll never watch a mov- ie the same way. You’ll see a scene lit by candlelight, or a sliver of light creeping in through the crack of a closed door, or 4 POWERSHIFT through a half-opened shade on a window, and you’ll know it’s been discussed and considered into the ground. So I ask you, what’s your motivation for light? What are you looking to highlight or illuminate in your life or career? In oth- er words, what is your why? I’m reminded here of that great line from Friday Night Lights — “Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.” Clear eyes, to me, means having a plan, a clear set of goals, maybe even a specific outcome. Get that covered, and you’re that much closer to getting it done. How much closer? Well, according to a 2017 project management study put out by PMI Pulse of the Profes- sion, a lack of clear goals was reported as the most common reason (37 percent) for under-performance or project failure. Not too long ago, I emceed an event for AARP. They’ve been a brand partner of mine for several years, because I love the way the organization is committed to em- 5 POWERSHIFT powering its members as they enter the next stage of their life — with education- al programming, community outreach, live events, and much more. At the event, someone in the audience pointed out that most people just dig in at work and go through the motions of living without stopping to think about what they want out of life or what they’re willing to put into it. I said, “Damn right. That’s why there are so many opportunities for those of us who take the time to honestly assess our strengths and weaknesses, our assets and liabilities.” I hear all the time from people who tell me they’re not happy, they’re not fulfilled, they want to make some sort of change, and I can tell they’re looking to me to help them find someone or something to blame. If they’re honestly looking for help and searching for answers, I put it back on them. I tell them the reason they’re not happy is because they don’t know what 6 POWERSHIFT they’re looking for. Happiness doesn’t just up and find you on its own. You’ve got to have a clear idea of what happiness is — what your happiness is — and get after it. You’ve got to step off that moving sidewalk and set your own trail. This is a hard mes- sage for a lot of people to hear. We like to think we’ve got it all figured out, or that if we follow along on what I call The Path of How Things Have Always Been Done it’ll eventually take us where we want to go. But that’s not usually the case. We like what comes easy. But that doesn’t always get us any closer to the happiness we’re looking to find.One of the key drivers in life is knowing what you want. If you’re fortunate enough to be a parent, you might have noticed that your kids al- ways have their eyes on the prize. But as we get older, that clarity, that focus, often begins to fade. We forget the why behind the things we do and the choices we make. When I listen to people tell me they’re 7 POWERSHIFT not happy or fulfilled, I always put it back on them. I say, “Well, what do you want? What will make you happy?” More often than not, they’ll have no idea, or no abil- ity to put what they want into words, be- cause they haven’t allowed themselves to think in this way. So I’ll put it back on them again and tell them to get back to me when they’ve figured it all out. Af- ter all, happiness and fulfillment and all those elusive qualities we seek are like any of the tangible objectives we hold out in front of us. Think about it: We can talk pretty specifically about making our first million, or getting the corner of- fice, or being able to afford a dream va- cation, so why don’t we put the same amount of thought and energy into recognizing what it is we truly want in life? Otherwise, you could be working hard and busting your ass but really have no idea where you’re trying to go. Here’s another way to think of it: You 8 POWERSHIFT need to dig a little deeper in your thinking, so the goal is not just about making your first million — it’s about what you plan to do with all that money. It’s not just about landing that sweet corner office — it’s what you hope to accomplish once you’re in a position of power. And it’s not just about setting off on that dream vacation — it’s about what you hope to discover about yourself, or the person you’re traveling with, that will help to recharge your bat- teries and power your days going forward. What do you really want out of life? One good way to help you figure this out is to sit down and write your own obitu- ary. It sounds a little morbid, I know, but it’s a great exercise. It forces you to think through what’s important, how you’d like to be remembered, what kind of footprint you want to leave here on this earth. I write mine every ten years, and when I do, it helps to frame my days going forward. It gives me clarity and helps me to recognize 9 POWERSHIFT where it is I want to go and how I mean to get there. I know with me it took a good long while before it felt like I had this figured out. And it can change over time, too. When I was younger, I’d always been about making money — I had my hustles and my side hus- tles since I was a little kid. I saw dollar signs in every transaction, but that’s all. I was constantly running these equations in my head, trying to decide if a job or a project or even a relationship was worth my time.