Full transcript of multi-millionaire entrepreneur Dan Lok’s TEDx Talk: The Unstoppable Force – The Real Difference Between Success and Failure @ TEDxSFU conference.
Listen to the MP3 Audio here: The Unstoppable Force – The Real Difference Between Success and Failure by Dan Lok @ TEDxSFU
TRANSCRIPT:
Dan Lok – Multi-millionaire entrepreneur
I want you to imagine a person that you like, respect and look up to, someone who you consider to be very successful. Go ahead and do that in your mind. Now put up your hand if you have that person in your mind.
The question we could explore today is what makes that person successful while others fail?
I want you to imagine what life could be like if you could be your very best in every area of your life — your relationship, your finance, your business, your career, your family, your health, your hobby, your passion.
What would it be like if you could be at your very best in every area of your life?
You see, I’ve been studying success for the better part of 17 years of my life. I’ve been asked hundreds of times in talks and interviews: what is the one quality or action or mindset that will ensure a person truly create extraordinary success.
I discovered, and although there are many factors that lead to success — goal-setting, focus, persistence, time management, people skill — I’ve never been clear on that one thing that really makes a difference.
When I look in my own life, I ask myself the question: what was it that made me successful? It wasn’t because of my intelligence. When I first came to Canada, I couldn’t speak a word of English.
It wasn’t because I had a great upbringing because actually my mum and dad got divorced when I was 16 years old. And shortly after that, my dad went bankrupt. So I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth.
And definitely it wasn’t because I was connected to the right people, because when I first immigrated to Canada I didn’t know anybody.
And it wasn’t because of my personality, because at a time when I was young, was very very shy. I wasn’t social at all. I didn’t have a lot of friends.
And back then, I couldn’t even speak a word of English, and it definitely wasn’t because of luck, because I had failed — I started and failed at 13 businesses before having my first success. I’ve lost millions of dollars in business so I wouldn’t call that luck.
When I look at the deliberate success I had over the years, having a great marriage, building a number of successful companies, writing multiple best-selling books, becoming a highly paid speaker that impacts hundreds of thousands of people, and just living life on my own terms — that I could get up every morning and doing what I love, having that sense of purpose, having their sense of peace — something that very few people accomplish.
I know that I realized there was one factor in each of those successes in every one of little successes. In fact, it was present in everything that significantly happened in my life.
Let’s just pretend for a moment that we all got a hundred IQs, okay. For some people in this room I’m giving you a little. For some people in this room I’m taking it away. Let’s just pretend we got a 100 IQ and let’s pretend I got a 100 IQ, I’m giving myself a little.
Now let me ask you a question: is it possible for someone to have 10 times higher IQ than us? No, I mean I’ve heard of 150 IQs, maybe 200 IQs, but not like 1,000 IQs.
So can we all agree that someone cannot be 10 times smarter than us? Yes, okay.
Can someone work 10 times harder than us? So you work eight hours a day, they work 80 hours a day.
No, so the question is: why are there people ten times more successful than us? Why are there people helping and impacting 10 times more people than us? Why are there people making 10 times more money than us? Why are there people ten times healthier than us? Why are there people ten times happier than us? Why? Why?
It reminds me of a story. There was a young man and he wanted to be successful and he’s heard of this millionaire in his town who’s got a great reputation. That not only he runs a very successful business, he’s a family man — a man of integrity, also a very generous giver to his local charities.
This young man approached this millionaire and said “how can I be as successful as you?”
The millionaire said, “Well young man, if you want to be as successful as me, meet me 6:00 a.m. at this gym. Here’s the address.”
“A gym? I want to learn to make money, not to learn how to exercise, like what go to a gym?”
“Young man, if you’ll learn to make money, meet me 6 a.m. at this gym.”
“All right, OK.”
The young man showed up at the gym, 6 a.m. sharp, brought his laptop, ready to go dressing in business, ready to take notes. He walked into this big gym and there was this huge boxing ring right in the middle of the gym. And the millionaire is standing in it.
And the millionaire asked the young man, he said, “Young man, how hungry are you for success?”
And the young man said, “I’m very hungry.”
“Good.” He grabbed a pair of gloves. He said, “Put on these gloves.”
“Put on these gloves? I came to learn how to be successful, not how to fight.”
“If you want to be successful, put on these gloves.”
“All right, OK.”
He put on the gloves, walked in the ring.
Without warning, the millionaire pooom…punched the young man on the face.
And the young man’s nose started bleeding. And the young man was like, what the heck? Are you crazy? That hurts.
And as he was distracted by his own thought, familiar BAM through another punch and knocked him to the ground. And this young man thought this million is crazy. This guy is nuts. What’s going on?
And the millionaire said to the young man: “I ask you again: how hungry are you for success? Now get back up; keep fighting.”
This time the young man is mad. He’s like I’m going to get you. Okay and he really really tried to hit the millionaire. He really tried to swing back but the millionaire just moved around very gracefully, very quickly, couldn’t even touch the guy — couldn’t touch there and he knocked him to the ground again, and again, and again and again.
And the young man finally said, “This is it. I quit. This is stupid. This is not fair. I didn’t come here to be your punching bag. I thought you’re going to teach me how to be successful. I don’t see how this has anything to do with success. Maybe you are not who they say you were. Maybe it was a mistake we’ve been asked in the first place.”
The millionaire looked at the young man dead serious, and said, “Kid, the world ain’t fair and life ain’t fair. It’s going to push you around; it’s going to beat you down; and it’s going to beat you up. Let me tell you something, and you listen to me and listen to me closely. Success doesn’t come to the most intelligent or the most talented. Success comes to those who are the most hungry for it. So let me ask you: how hungry are you for success? Now get up.”
So that’s my question to you: how hungry are you for success? What are you willing to give up in order to get what you want? What sacrifices are you willing to make? What excuses are you willing to let go? Are you willing to experience humiliation, embarrassment, rejection as part of the price? Are you truly committed to success, or you’re just liking the idea?
See, most people that’s the problem. They just kind of want it. They talk about it, they think about it, they complain about it. But they don’t really want it.
For some people in this room, you don’t want success as bad as you want Pokémon GO. You don’t want success as bad as you want Netflix. You don’t want success as bad as you want to party.
Most people like the idea of having a great relationship. Guess what, if you’re truly committed, you’ll be going out on a date. Most people like the song of the – oh, be my own boss. If you’re actually committed, you’ll be in business.
Most people like the idea of losing 20 pounds. Guess what, if you’re truly committed, you’ll show up at a gym. You will show up at the gym. And that’s the issue: we don’t really want it that bad. We don’t want it that bad.
So the unstoppable force: Hunger is the unstoppable force. Hunger is what is going to make you unstoppable. Hunger is what’s going to keep you going when things get tough. Hunger drives success. Hunger destroys our fear or failure. Hunger is your ultimate competitive advantage.
When you want something bad enough, and when you know what you want and you want it bad enough, you’ll find a way to get it. You’ll find a way to get it.
I disrupt people when I say, you make me extraordinary, because it lets you off the hook. You see, when I started my entrepreneurial career, for the first five years in business, I was working 12 to 15 hours a day every day. I didn’t take a single day off for five years, not one single day.
I was working while my friends are out drinking, partying, and watching sports game, because I was hungry for success. I was willing to sacrifice today’s pleasures for tomorrow’s rewards.
I was willing to pay the price today to buy the possibility of a better future for my family. I am not the smartest. I’m not the brightest. I don’t have the most resources. But boy, I’m one hungry mf’er. I will die climbing the mountain, not sliding down. I will die chasing my dream before I quit.
I can tell you — begin to tell you, how many times during my career, people tell me slow down, slow down, take it easy. Don’t stand out; don’t wear a red suit. Don’t work too hard; don’t stress out. Live an easy life. You know, success isn’t everything.
Have you ever noticed the person who says “success isn’t everything” as the man or woman who has none? None.
I’ve been labeled as a workaholic, a freak, weird, selfish, greedy, egotistical — you name it, I’ve heard all. I’ve heard it all.
And I can begin to tell you how many times in my life, people try to persuade me to give up on my dreams, that it’s okay to settle; that’s okay to settle for less, that’s just the way life is.
And later on, I realized that people who tried to persuade me to give up on my dreams, they’re not trying to help me. They’re trying to make sense why they have given up themselves. They’re trying to make sense why they have given up themselves.
See, the problem is you can’t Google download hunger. Someone was trying to do that. You can’t Google download it. It has to come from within; you can’t Google download it. It’s like people follow me on Facebook, you can follow me on Facebook, you can watch me on YouTube and get to where I am today. You’re just going to see where I am. There’s no glory in that.
If you watch me, watch me to inspire you, just to fight a little longer, if you watch me, watch me, you want to live up to your own potential, instead of copying someone else’s, if you watch me, watch me to get back up and fight one more time, to fight one more time.
It’s like when you want to take the leap, and when you get to the edge, your brain will always tell you to stop, to step back, because your brain is a survival mechanism. It is designed to protect you. But your intuition, your higher self is designed to make you soar. And when you get to that edge, and you want to jump, and you watch everyone elses fly, it’s like you’re watching people on Instagram, you’re watching people on Facebook.
And you watch everyone elses fly, they’re taking that dream vacation, they’re buying that new home, they’re landing the dream job. They find the ideal soulmate and you’re watching everyone else. And you wonder what life would be like to jump without ever jumping.
See, sometimes you have to listen to your own intuition. Sometimes you have to just listen to that voice, and say you know what, I’m going to jump. And guess what, when you’re hungry, you’ll dash off that cliff and you will jump. You will jump.
And when you jump, only one of the three things could happen. One, you would jump; you would spread your wings, and you would soar to new height.
Second thing, you would jump and land on something soft, or you would jump and you’ll land on something hard. That’s OK. You don’t die. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. You’ve heard of the song. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
You see, you and I know. Your greatest fear is not that you would jump and fall; your greatest fear is to get to the end of your life and never jump and never leap. You’re not afraid of dying, you’re afraid of dying before this world sees who you are, sees what you’re capable of — before they get your gifts, before they feel your breath, before they get your contribution, before they feel you. You don’t want that to happen.
You don’t want to leave this planet without someone knowing that you were here. You see, this prescription to extraordinary success is hunger. The single most important element of any human that separates the level of success from the rest is hunger.
If you go where you’ve never gone, do what you’ve never done, say what you never said, you will become the man or woman you’ve always known yourself to be, to be.
So please. I’m not extraordinary. I’m not going to let you off the hook. You don’t get to be left of the hook. I’m just an ordinary man who chooses every day to make one extra-extraordinary decision.
I would like to offer you an opportunity to make that decision today. The most important decision you can ever make in your life is deciding whether you are truly committed to success and happiness no matter what, is the greatest gift that you could give yourself.
Decide what you’re willing to get to the edge and jump for it and you take that leap, and you take that leap and you take that leap. When you want something bad enough and you work for it long enough, and you believe in it strong enough, you will get it. You will get it.
So I’m going to ask you the question one more time, and it’s the last question. Then I’ll be out of here.
I’m looking for one-word answer and one-word answer only. And as loud as you could, you better blow the roof with this thing. One would answer.
Here is the question: Are you truly hungry for success?
Thank you. That’s all I got.
Thank you very much.
Stay hungry. Stay hungry. Thank you.
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