Will Smiths Top 50 Rules For Success

Will Smiths Top 50 Rules For Success

I look at the world through a lens of

comedy right so my natural reaction is

always no matter when something happens

and I can't even help it it's why is

that funny you got to take a shot you

have to live at the edge of your

capabilities you gotta live where you're

almost certain you're gonna fail I've

never seen myself as particularly

talented where I excel is I'm willing to

die in the process of acquiring skill

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grandma snack and chew in today's

lessons from a man who went from being a

great student but refused to apply to

college because he wanted to rap to

becoming one of Hollywood's biggest

stars

he's Will Smith and here's my take on

his top fifty rules for success also if

you want to know what Will Smith and

other successful entrepreneurs have to

say about building unstoppable

confidence check out my 250 for

confidence series where every day for

the next 254 days I will send you a free

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the link is in the description below

I was excited about taking a shot the

fact that it was so strange you know as

an artist it was it was a fun to get out

on that on that limb and hoping it

doesn't break under your feet

okay let's pick it up with rule number

one don't listen to the little man

we'll never let somebody tell you you

can't do something

not even me

all right

you got a dream

you got to protect it

people can't do something themselves

they want to tell you you can do it

you want something go get it period rule

number two where you are isn't where

you're going to be he didn't grow up

with the sense that where we were was

where we were going to be you know we

grew up with the sense that where we

were almost didn't matter because we

were becoming we were becoming right

something greater rule number three make

a choice there's a concept that I don't

want to be an icon I want to be an idea

you know I want to represent an idea i

want to represent possibilities I want

to represent magic right that you're in

a universe in two plus two equals four

two plus two only equals four if you

accept that two plus two equals four two

plus two is gonna be what I want it to

be you know and there's that there's a

like there's that there's a redemptive

power that making a choice has you know

rather than feeling like you're at a

fete to all the things that are

happening make a choice like you just

decide what its gonna be who you're

gonna be how you're going to do it just

decide and then from that point the

universe is gonna get out your way this

lets water it wants to it wants to move

and go around stuff you know so for me I

want to represent possibilities I want

to represent the idea that you really

can make what you want one of my

favorite books is the The Alchemist

Paulo Coelho and that's just I just

believe that I believe that I can create

whatever I want to create if I can put

put my head on it right study it learn

the patterns and you know I just I it's

hard to put into where it's real

metaphysical esoteric nonsense but I

feel very

wrongly that we are who we choose to be

rule number four have purpose difference

between depression and joy right and I

think its purpose right it's like when

you wake up in the morning and your life

means something to somebody other than

you that you have a purpose if you don't

go do the things that you're gonna do

people's lives will suffer and I think

that that kind of purpose that like to

live in service not to you but to live

in service to humanity to live in

service to your family to live in

service to your church to your city to

your country to the world living in

service is that I feel like that is the

purest form of joy rule number five be

great greatness is not this wonderful

esoteric illusive godlike feature that

only the special among us will ever

taste you know it's something that truly

exists in all of us it's very simple

this is what I believe and I'm willing

to die for it you know period it's that

simple

I Know Who I am I don't know what I

believe I know who I am I know who what

that's all I need to know that's how I

do you know so from there you do what

you need to do yeah you know and I think

what happens is we make this situation

more complex than it has been looking

for complexities gotta be subtle and

complex to understand it can't be that

easy rule number six commit the road to

success is through commitment and

through the strength to drive through

that commitment when it gets hard and it

is gonna get hard and you're gonna want

to quit sometimes but it'll be colored

by who you are and more who you want to

be I definitely found that

wanting to be an actor stems from

wanting to be somebody and wanting to

say something to people rule number

seven do not be outworked the only thing

that that I can see and you can never

really look at yourself the only thing

that I see that is distinctly different

about me is I'm not afraid to die on a

treadmill right I will run it would not

be outworked I will not be be outworked

right period yeah you know you might

have more talent than me you might be

smarter than me you might be sexier than

me you might be all of those things you

got it on me in nine categories but if

we get on the treadmill together right

there's two things

you're getting off first yeah or I'm

gonna die it's really that simple

right so let's go back to the question

about what if people block me out it's

do is going to be two options yeah I'm

gonna get back in or I'm gonna be dead

Yeah right it's like you're not going to

outwork me it's a it's a very is such a

simple basic concept is the the guy who

was willing to hustle the most is gonna

be the guy that just gets that loose

ball you know you got though he got that

oh okay he got to oh god he's hustling

grabbed out my dad was going to be out

of bounds but he saved it back in it's

like the commodity that I see the

majority of people who aren't getting to

places they want or aren't achieving the

things that they want in this business

is strictly based on hustle it's

strictly based on being outworked it's

strictly based on missing crucial

opportunities I say all the time if you

stay ready you ain't gotta get read rule

number eight work on your skills the

separation of talent and skill is one of

the the

the greatest misunderstood concepts for

people who are trying to excel who have

dreams that want to do things talent you

have naturally skill is only developed

by hours and hours and hours of beating

on your craft there's no easy way around

it no matter how talented you are your

talent is going to fail you if you're

not skilled you know if you don't study

if you don't work really hard and

dedicate yourself to being better every

single day you'll never be able to

communicate with with people rule number

nine let fear motivate you I'm motivated

by fear fear you know

fear of what fear of fear

I hate being scared to do something I

hate that feeling of the feeling that I

had before I had a meeting with Quincy

Jones because it's really Quincy Jones

and a guy named Benny Medina who I know

and Jeff Pollan came with the idea for

the freshman bel air and I hated being

scared you know like that I didn't want

to even take the meeting there were

there were opportunities during when I

first my first year as a rapper Bill

Cosby and the people in The Cosby Show

had seen my music video and called me to

be a character even to come right and

try out for the Cosby Show and just

every time it was set up for some reason

I couldn't make it the mayor of theater

fear I hated I just hated that being

scared to do something and I think what

developed in my in my early days was the

the attitude that I started attacking

things that I was scared rule number ten

be amazing at what you do you a better

man than me

you happy now you're gonna tell will or

not I'm not gonna do your dirty work for

you fine oh I'll call him from the road

yet it wanted to do that yeah I'll do it

Daniella was that well I'm glad you hear

some business came up I got a handle so

we're gonna have to put a our trip on

hold you understand yeah yes that's cool

just for a couple weeks

mmm I understand it it it may be a

little longer yeah whatever whatever

look I'll call you next week and we'll

iron out the details okay yeah yeah it

was great seeing you son you too Lou

yeah I'm sorry will you know actually

this works out better for me you know

this slimmies the summer come to class

wearing that's nuttin you know the well

it's all right to be angry

hey why should I be mad for saying at

least he said goodbye this time I just

wish I hadn't wasted my money buying a

stupid present I'm sorry I'd you know if

there was something that I hey you know

what you ain't gonna do no nothing Uncle

Phil hey you know ain't like I'm still

five years old you know ain't like I'm

gonna be sitting up every night asking

my mom when's daddy coming home you know

who needs him he wasn't there to teach

me how to shoot my first basket but I

learned didn't uh hey I got pretty damn

good as to did not fulfill God do my

first day without him right I learned

how to drive I learn how to shave I

learn how to fight without him

I had 14 great birthdays without him do

you never even send me a damn card

I need them then and I'll need them now

we'll no you know what Uncle Phil I'm

gonna get through college without him

I'm gonna get a great job without him

I've been married me a beautiful honey

and I'm having a whole bunch of kids

I'll be a better father than he ever was

and I sure as hell don't need him for

that cuz ain't a damn thing he can ever

teach me about how to love my kids how

come you don't want me man

rule number 11 focus I realized that

when you to have the level of success

that I want to have it's difficult to

spread it out and do multiple things you

knows it's in order to to be world-class

and I've made a decision I want to be

world-class and it just it takes such a

desperate obsessive focus to to excel on

assert honor on the level that I want to

make movies you know I was a Star Wars

when I was young i sat in the movie

theater and watched Star Wars and I just

couldn't believe that that movie made me

feel like that just floored and just

stunned by the creativity and just I'm

realizing that in order to move people

in that way in order to touch people in

that way you've really got to focus with

all of your fiber and all your heart and

all your creativity rule number 12

improve yourself the concept of

improving lives runs through the center

of everything I do and then I realize

that the the way to improve lives is to

continually improve yourself right so

with that every every morning when I

when I get out of the bed you know I I

haven't fixed everything in the world

yet so there's always something to do

and in this film I read an interesting

quote the Siddhartha Gautama the Buddha

he said that good people have to get out

of the bed every day and try to empty

the ocean with a ladle right and I

thought that was you know I knew that

was profound and I paused for a second

and I said all right

what the hell is a ladle right

right so they're you know I just I

touched it on my iPad is ladle oh it's

like a big spoon a big spoon okay so try

to empty the ocean with a soup spoon you

know as the the mentality of how you you

wake up every day to try to do good in

the world so for me I'm I'm really

driven by continually trying to elevate

my elevate my mind and elevate my spirit

and care for my body and to be able to

love as many people as effectively as as

possible with this mystery of life that

I've been given rule number 13 don't

chase money

my experience has been with people

bad choice and then you'll learn how to

make money doing what you love here

that's when I changed careers

I was never changed into something

for money I was changed into something I

could write and that to me has to be the

only way to keep the passion if you have

two choices the one is playing a piano

and another way

we can make more money bullying but you

love playing the piano

you got to play the piano it's like

you'll tear yourself apart if you're not

doing

you know what it is right right now

there's something that you love more

than everything whatever it is it's

crazy has to be the thing that you

dedicate your life

rule number 14 be comfortable with

anything you have to be able to be

vulnerable in front of anybody you know

you have to be comfortable looking silly

you have to be comfortable making

mistakes and you have to break the thing

inside of you that doesn't want people

to see right because as soon as you will

allow people to see all of a sudden you

get access to things that you didn't

realize you that access to right for

example like the thing I used to do is

when I was in probably eighteen or

nineteen years old I got in touch with

those blocked the camera hates emotional

blocks like you put a camera in

somebody's face and they're

uncomfortable about the liberating

emotion it looks fake and you feel it

you immediately know it's not real right

especially look at the size of this

screen and give a shot that whole screen

could be just your eyes right so it's

like you can't hide discomfort

uncertainty so you have to be able to

get comfortable

[Music]

rule number 15 laugh at everything I got

in probably two weeks into my

preparation for the film and my father

was diagnosed with cancer so we just

started talking about love time and

death and we we it was some of the most

open and powerful conversations that we

you know we we'd ever had and they gave

him six weeks and he actually he lived

for four months so about three months

into the six weeks you know I go to see

him one day he said man this is

embarrassing and I said what daddy said

man you tell everybody you will be dead

in six weeks much later you still

hanging around laughing is the elixir

you know and that was another thing that

my father taught me he was he was joking

all the way up to the end like laughing

yeah you have to be able to laugh at

everything and for me the beautiful part

is that that's my natural color on the

spectrum I naturally go to comedy you

know and when when when I'm looking at

something I'm always trying to find why

that's funny and you know it's been

really really helpful in this experience

and and you know even just this point in

my life keep remember to laugh remember

to laugh and and spend time with people

that make you laugh like that is hugely

important rule number 16 know that you

can as a child my parents always told me

you could be whatever you want to be you

could do whatever you want to do and you

know that that office that position that

the highest office on the face of the

earth it was something I heard my

parents saying it but I didn't totally

believe it yet I went out in the world

and I carried myself and I held my head

high and I stood there and I look people

in their eyes and I talked to people as

if I was deserving of everything that

this planet has

okay

so I just I really want to say to two

children out there and to two people who

are watching Confucius said one time he

who says he can and he who says he can't

are both usually right so I want to

stand here before you and as I hold this

award I want to give love to my wife and

I want you to keep in your heart just

know that you can notice you can rule

number 17 provide value and the greatest

thing in my and my career has been the

constant commitment to putting something

in the world of value not putting

something in the world that makes me

look hot yeah you know yeah so I think

as long as you can stay focused on

delivering your art and delivering

yourself and delivering your energy and

delivering your ideas for the world to

be better

rule number 18 live life without fear if

there was one concept that I would

suggest to people to take a daily

confrontation with is fear the the the

problem with fear is that it lies right

so fear tells you hey you know if if you

say that to that girl she's gonna know

she has you you know and she'll never

really be attracted to you if she knows

how much you attracted to her don't say

that know how we get her is when she

walks by ignore her

[Music]

you know pop it on your shoulder fear

tells you dumb like that you know so you

know for me the the daily confrontation

with with fear has become a real

practice for me since about three three

years ago

I went I went skydiving in Dubai right

and skydiving skydiving is a really

interesting confront with fear right so

so I got I got a stand-up so so all your

friends what happens you go how you oh

sorry

all right drop my thing so what happens

is you go out the night before and you

you know you take a drink with your

friends and somebody says yeah we should

go skydiving tomorrow and you go yeah

we'll go skydiving Yeah Yeah right

and you go home but you by yourself you

like aim right you're like well yeah I

mean they was drunk too right so so

maybe maybe they not maybe maybe I mean

we don't have to go we don't have to do

it so then that night you're laying in

your bed and you just get and you're

terrified you keep imagining over and

over again jumping out of an airplane

and you can't figure out why you would

do that right and you're laying there

and you have the worst night's sleep of

your life but you still have the hope

that your friends were drunk

right so you wake up the next day and

you go you know down and you say where

you were going to meet and everybody's

there you're like oh all right all right

cool cool cool cool cool cool right so

you get in a van and you don't know that

your friends had the same night that you

had cuz there pretended like they didn't

it like yeah man my uncle is a Navy SEAL

and you know this is gonna be great I've

been looking forward to this you like oh

my god oh my god and your stomach is

terrible you can't eat and everything

but you don't want to be the only punk

who doesn't jump out of this airplane so

you get there and then you have this

safety brief and you're standing there

and the guys that tell you what the

chute doesn't open what's going to

happen is you

you might've helped with what could

happen good to shoot the shoot wouldn't

open right so you do a thing and what

you do is your first jump you're

attached to a guy who is going you know

he's gonna walk you out so you go and

you get there and there's an airplane

and nobody stopping everybody's still

going so you get onto their airplane and

you're sitting there and and you know

it's extra because you're sitting on

some dudes lap some stranger you sit on

his lap and it's not you know you got

trying to make small talk yeah man so

you deal you'd be you be jumping with

people all the time right so and then

you just want to make sure you got you

got kids right you got people you need

to see right just want to make sure he's

serious right so you get in there so

everything's normal so you fly and you

go up you go up you go up you go up to

14,000 feet and you notice there's a

light it's red and it's yellow and green

right so right now the lights red so

then you start thinking at some point

the lights going to go green it but you

don't know what's going to happen right

and you wait and it goes yellow and the

light goes green and somebody opens the

door and in that moment you realize

you've never been in a freaking airplane

with the door open right terror no sorry

I'm spit

sorry go terror terror terror terror

right so you go and then you know if

you're if you were smart you sat in the

back so you don't go first right and

then people start going out of the

airplane and you go and the guy walks

you up to the end of the thing and

you're standing and your toes are on the

edge and you're looking out down to

death and they say on three and they say

one two and he pushes you on - because

people grab one three and you go and you

fall out of the airplane and in one

second you realize that it's the most

blissful experience of your life you're

flying right it doesn't feel like

falling right it's like that you

actually are kind of held a little bit

about a win and then you start and you

you start falling you falling and you

there's zero fear you realize at the

point of maximum danger is the point of

minimum fear it's bliss it's bliss and

you're flying right you're doing it and

then 20 seconds 25 seconds 40 seconds

and you have enough time to just kind of

like ah that's that building I sound

like that

right you start doing all of that and

the the lesson for me was why were you

scared in your bed the night before why

did you what do you need that fear for

just don't go why are you scared in your

bed

16 hours before you jump why are you

scared in the car why could you not

enjoy breakfast what would what did you

need that fear is fear of what you're

nowhere - even near the airplane

everything's up to the stepping out

there's actually no reason to be scared

it only just ruins your day your you

don't have to jump and then in that

moment all of a sudden where you should

be terrified is the most blissful

experience of your life and God placed

the best things in life on the other

side of terror on the other side of your

maximum fear or all of the best things

in life rule number 19 express positive

energy and work with the right attitude

with the positive and actually have a

t-shirt made this positive energy is a

part of your job description right so

the the idea that I want to show up with

the right energy

you know we're out here you know even

now we're out here we're trying to feed

our families where we're trying to have

a good time we're trying out there this

is an important part of our lives our

time is all that we have so to me it's

really important to deliver positive

energy in a way because it's so someone

else the positive energy they come to

your families and you know so for me

it's just hugely important to approach

everything and everybody at every turn

with the most positive loving kindness

generate rule number 20 have fun Mucha

gente en los comisarios say Bob and Amy

porque no conocía las palabras de la

Bamba just my first day of shooting on

the movie it's called Gemini man we

shooting in Georgia

I love Georgia but y'all gotta do

somethin bout the bugs Georgia is so

gorgeous

no it's really is it's beautiful but go

rock this to be out here alright so I'm

just saying y'all need to fix it cuz I

put off I sprayed off on the bugs is on

that like it's honey I make I make my

living with my face so somebody do

something about it quick can't believe

it I can't believe this I'm rattled life

in pieces like Seattle nights of

sleepless and grieving speech

[Music]

rule number 21 focus on the people you

know I've always been really product

oriented you know it's like I want to

win when I do something I want to win I

want it to be number one and I want to

smash it and I had a period I have a

daughter and I was over a 15 year old

daughter and she really she got me and

shifted my focus from product to people

it took a couple of years but as soon as

I gotten knocked off of product and

started shifting to people the whole

world opened up for me again and acting

opened up in a whole new way to not go

into day one of a movie trying to figure

out what everybody has to do so we win

versus opening up and every person's a

new it's a whole new world meaning the

character you play all the people you

work with both absolutely you know

generally when I went into a product

when I went into a meeting with a

director my focus was can this guy win

can this girl win and that it was it was

a you know who's a pathology that got

broken for me a couple of years ago and

then releasing that and just wanting to

connect with people and wanting to grow

and wanted to get new ideas and have new

experiences that don't have to have an

outcome it just opened up a whole new

world for me and I fell in love and then

I couldn't imagine what else I could do

in acting that could add so much to my

life other than acting rule number 22

take a shot

police officer hey don't get me stabbed

why boys always gotta be the bad guys

well when you were on Conan you were

asked to give your best description of

Brighton you said think of it is the

energy of training day Meets Lord of the

Rings yes which is a little bit baffling

but surprisingly accurate confident that

you could pull off this odd cocktail no

I wasn't confident at all but that's

what was exciting to me it's is so

wonderfully weird I was excited about

taking a shot the fact that it was so

strange you know as an artist it was it

was a fun to get out on that on that

limb and hoping it doesn't break under

your feet rule number 23 always be

joyous I look at the world through a

lens of comedy right so my natural

reaction is always no matter when

something happens and I can't even help

it it's why is that funny you know so

even at a funeral I can't help but think

why that's funny you know so it's it's

extremely helpful for me just

psychologically that no matter what's

going on I can't keep my mind from

finding jokes you know so it's a it's a

beautiful way to stay joyous and

positive rule number 24 be motivated by

fear you get nervous or afraid I live in

complete terror you know everything for

me about this business and a you know

about what I've been trying to build and

what I've been trying to do with my life

keeps me in terror

I am deeply motivated by fear I'm

surprised you say you you live in fear

how do you deal with that do you turn

somebody for advice do you meditate well

how do you get over that you know I'm

trying to to develop a more realistic

perspective of what this business is

yeah I told my mother this the

the other day and she thought it was

hilarious I said when I was 15 years old

my first girlfriend cheated on me oh and

I remember making a decision that nobody

would ever cheat on me again and the way

I was going to do that is by being the

biggest actor on earth huh right so is

there's there's been this weird

psychology that I've always felt like if

my movies are number one my life is

gonna work out great huh you know and I

always look forward I've always been the

type of person who thought of I thought

of myself as resilient you know that I

could always make my way back being

stuck in the past is it makes it

extremely difficult to find your way out

and future thinking for me has always

been the way to get over difficult times

to be able to look over the darkness to

a potential time of light very rarely do

I look backwards I'm always looking

forward

rule number 26 be yourself so both your

kids are in showbiz - is that worrying

for you okay no you know it's you know

to me showbiz is not separated from the

rules of the universe right so whether

you're in show business or you know

you're selling cars or you're farming

you know you're not you're not separate

from the laws of the universe and all of

the rules are the same everywhere so for

you know for from my children the most

important thing is that they be

encouraged to fully and thoroughly be

themselves no matter what and when you

when you have yourself and you're

thorough and confident in who you are

you can survive anywhere rule number 20

experiment right goes out to 190

countries hundreds of millions of people

see it but it's not in theaters so for

two artists what is a unique

satisfaction of this you know so for me

it's really experimental what I learned

when Independence Day came out so I was

I had been doing The Fresh Prince and

that Friday before Independence Day came

out everybody will will will that Monday

was the first time that anybody ever

called me mr. Smith right so there's

something about that big screen that

NASA blockbuster that does something

inside of people emotionally so I'm

curious as to see because Netflix is

doing all of the other stuff you know

it's exactly the same production process

the promotion everything is exactly the

same you would do for a gigantic

blockbuster and the question is will the

emotional resonance the sort of

nostalgic residue a year two years three

years from now still be there with

people not experiencing it in the

overwhelming fashion of the cinema so

you're just this is an experiment and we

see how it works let's see how it goes

yeah but it's definitely the future

rule number 28 have a strong y-you know

I got the call from Ridley and he said

he said I've got a gift for you and he

sent me a concussion and you know I read

it immediately and I remember thinking

that this ain't no damn gift I was like

I'm a football dad yeah for me it was a

beautiful screenplay but it opened up a

huge conflict for me did you know about

about what had happened before did you

know the story a little bit

vaguely okay really vaguely I I knew you

know my son play football for for four

years and during that time I had never

heard about the the concussion issue

okay at all I don't loca so you know it

was part of what really inspired me and

made me wanna to to do the the film

forced me to to have to do the film is

because as a parent I had no idea I had

no idea that there was a an issue with

and repetitive head trauma right in in

football man so it was a it was a quite

a revelation

rule number 29 put positive energy into

the world for me a personal

confrontation with death made me see the

value of time and the fact that the only

elixir is love you know so the the time

that you spend has got to be in

preparing yourself and giving and

receiving the most about a love you can

you know my mission is to improve lives

so I want to do things that put

positivity and positive energy and love

into the world

rule number 30 have fun so I'm gonna put

on this orc mask because I can't walk

the floor comic-con as me and out in the

middle with everybody I think I'm with

people all right so now I feel sorry for

Joel

all these things when we go out of

public Apple killed somebody

so let's go and I never get to do this

this is gonna be Graeme to get to walk

around

[Music]

it's hard to see and is hard to breathe

but I'm a soldier so I don't need

neither water than thing I bought for

Omar

[Music]

rule number 31 find your purpose finding

your purpose like that's a that's a

that's a big one just keep trying stuff

just keep trying you got a key keep

going and in terms of finding purpose

that was helpful for me to realize that

just because everybody in Philly

believed you know one thing in one set

of ideas and everybody in Philly was in

a certain paradigm as soon as I got out

of the city and out of the country I

realized there were people that didn't

give a damn about stuff that was the

most important thing in the world

try experiment me travel that was a big

part for me and that's a lot of what

you're gonna sing on my youtube channel

to like travel is huge

rule number 32 maintain infectious

energy what you just told my piece we

just bought you not just I it's hugely

important to me to maintain a certain

energy it's a it's it's healing it's

loving it's kind and I've learned really

young that my energy was infectious

right so when you know I come into the

studio when I long after I leave the

energy that I bring is still gonna be

here and then people are gonna take it

home and they're gonna affect their

families with it so you know for me it's

hugely important to maintain just a

positive loving energy just release your

wife's grateful yeah yeah I'm really

happy it's funny at work TG I work with

Gene Hackman and we had a thing every

morning cuz Gene Hackman wasn't a

morning person and she said this is what

I do anymore

you know so every morning I would say I

would say day good morning mr. hack

Manny oh yeah I don't say he'd say how

you doing will I say hey man I'm just

happy to be here he would say no you're

lucky to be here every morning but it

became my way of like just you know

getting it getting it up and getting it

going it's just I love it

rule number 33 fail forward love this

one fail early fail often fail forward

you know it's always a little bit

frustrating to me when people have a

negative relationship with failure

failure is a massive part of being able

to be successful you have to get

comfortable with failure yet you have to

actually seek failure failure is where

all of the lessons are you know when you

go to the gym and you work out you're

actually seeking failure you want to

take your muscles to the point where you

get to failure because that's where the

the adaptation is that's where growth is

successful people who fail a lot they

fail a whole lot more than they succeed

but they extract the lessons from the

failure and they use that the the energy

and they use the wisdom to come around

to the next phase of success you got to

take a shot you have to live at the edge

of your capabilities you got to live

where you're almost certain you're gonna

fail that's the reason for a practice

practice is controlled failure you're

getting to your limit getting to your

limit getting to your limit you can't

lift that you can't do that you until

you get to the point that all of a

sudden your body makes the adjustment

and then you can do it failure actually

helps you to recognize the areas where

you need to evolve so fail early fail

often fail forward

rule number 34 dedicate your life to

your dream think was 94 something like

that they were open to Planet Hollywood

I found myself in a room with Arnold

Schwarzenegger Bruce Willis and sly and

I was like oh my god I got these three

guys in the room

and I was like okay I want to be the

biggest movie star in the world and I

need you guys to tell me how to do it

and Arnold Schwarzenegger he said he

said if your movie is only big in

America it doesn't matter you'll be a

movie star only when you're a movie star

in every country in the world you have

to travel you have to go you have to

meet the people thanks for the tip facts

son facts that became the way that I

started looking at movies I wanted to be

in every country in the world in that

part of my career I refused to do

anything that wasn't in the best

interest of the goal I set for myself

and there's probably a 12 year period of

my life where I did take a train I have

a drink where I didn't go out in the

weekends that I was so set on my goal it

created a serious circle of protection

and an elevation because I refuse to do

anything that wasn't in my best interest

it's hugely important that if you have a

dream that you have to dedicate your

life to it and that every hour of every

day has to be dedicated to bring it into

fruition the things that you dream about

rule number 35 seek those who fan your

flames I just saw this Rumi quote that I

love set your life on fire and seek

those who fan your flames the Phillie

translation of that is don't be hanging

with no Jang casts Joker's that don't

help you shine the prerequisite for

spending time with any person is that

they nourish and inspire you

they feed your flame look at your last

five text messages are those people

feeding your flames or dousing your fire

put your phone down for just a second

and look around look to the people

around you are those people throwing

logs on your fire or they pissin on it

the people that you spend time with are

gonna make or break your dreams

everybody don't deserve to be around you

you got to defend your light with

your life so who are the people in your

life that are fanning your flames shout

them out tag on below

rule number 36 do everything you

originally started off as a rapper so I

was wondering you know it's been sown

over ten years since your last album

experimenting in the studio yeah I can

explore in like new sounds like the new

wave of hip hop are you releasing like

planning on releasing any new music so

yes I just I just have been probably 30

days on on Instagram and so you can

follow me at and I just launched a

YouTube channel and they didn't realize

how great social media was for the short

form content so I have all of these

ideas I have all of these songs I have

all of these skits I have all of these

things that I didn't think I'd ever get

around to putting out that I'll be doing

on my social media so I'll definitely be

putting out records I'll definitely be

doing skits and I'll definitely be

creating content that has been bubbling

in me for years yeah

rule number 37 decide to inspire people

I went to Catholic school up to eighth

grade with all white kids and probably

two or three black kids but if you know

predominantly white school and then I

went to my neighborhood High School in

ninth grade that was 99% black kids so

the first day that I walk in to ninth

grade I walked into the lunchroom and

you know it's like 500 kids and four to

this day I don't know why I did this I'm

sure it was because I was I was nervous

and you know I got that I have a thing

with fear I don't like being scared so

I'm sure I was I walked in I looked

around and I said excuse me can I have

your attention can I have your attention

please

he's here he's here right now thank you

thank you

people who's got to looking and there

was just one dude and he was sitting

there and he looked up to me he said man

don't nobody get that you here right and

I said hey just give me 10 minutes your

girl going care right and he was like

and you gotta watch that not that not is

not a good night he was like

and I was like okay so I went some

walking up the steps we're out of the

lunchroom and I had forgot about it

so we're gone and I'm walking up the

steps and he had taken one of those

combination locks and he put the lock in

the palm of his hand and put his put the

the loop around his knuckle and he was

holding the lock in his hand and as I

was walking up the steps he cracked me

in the side of my head with the lot and

I went down I was out I don't remember

nothing I still got the lump on my head

you can't see it because I got my hair

but I stood like there's still a lump so

I remember I fell down and I hit my

mouth on the steps all of that stuff you

know so I went up so I'm in the

principal's office all attacked the

police comes and I got the ice on my

lips and I'm sitting in the principal's

office and my father comes in he sees me

and you know I'm telling the story now

the police are there and I remember I

saw this kid they put him in handcuffs

and took him out of the school and I'm

looking sitting in the principal's

office and I'm watching the police take

him out and put him in the back of a

police car and I just couldn't believe

it had escalated to a kid being removed

from from school and I was laying in my

bed that night and I was just feeling

like Shh and I had the recognition that

I had caused this kid to throw his life

away

right and he was kicked out of school

and I never knew what happened to him

but I have a sense that it didn't go

well

beyond there and I felt a deep sense of

regret and a deep sense that I had

caused an emotion in a person that made

them do that and that that feeling of

regret turned into a sort of a fear of

how much power I had and I was like

everything I say and do has that kind of

effect on other human beings and in that

moment I decided that I would never walk

into a room and do anything other than

inspire and uplift and enlighten people

and help people to be the greater

versions of themselves and I would never

do anything that would cause people to

or to rile up the darkest dirtiest parts

of people I only wanted to enliven and

enlighten and inspire and I remember

laying in my bed that night and I made

that promise to myself and I made that

promise to God and it's something that

has completely shaped how I approach

people how I approach moments how I walk

into rooms how I deal with every human

being on this earth

rule number 38 developed self-discipline

I do scream to me the other night a will

I wanna be active man I will be active

just like you you know usually people

say stuff to me like that I'm like yeah

man you know you do is give them an

encouraging word but I was just sitting

here thinking and it dawned on me 99% of

people that say stuff like that are not

willing to do what it takes to make

their dreams come true the Marines have

a saying everybody wants to go to heaven

but nobody wants to die and that's just

real at the center of bringing

dream into fruition is self-discipline

you know something something as simple

as food and eating it is not about your

body as much as it is about your mind

it's getting command of your mind to be

able to choose actions that are in your

own best interest every day we are

choosing that's not in our own best

interest right so if the world is

attacking you and the world wants to

fight you in the world's trying to hold

you down so you're gonna kick yourself

in the balls so you will stop yourself

from getting what you dream

self-discipline is the center of all

material success you cannot win the war

against the world if you can't win the

war against your own mind

rule number 39 take responsibility I was

just having a debate with a friend of

mine and we got stuck when the

difference between fault and

responsibility she kept talking about

how something was somebody's fault

somebody's fault and I was like it

really don't matter whose fault it is

that something is broken if it's your

responsibility to fix it for example is

it's not somebody's fault if their

father was an abusive alcoholic but it's

for damn sure their responsibility to

figure out how they're gonna do with

those traumas and try to make a life out

of it it's not your fault if your

partner cheated and ruined your marriage

but it is for damn sure your

responsibility to figure out how to take

that pain and how to overcome that and

build a happy life for yourself fault

and responsibility do not go together it

sucks but they don't when something is

somebody's fault we want them to suffer

we want them punished we want them to

pay and we want it to be their

responsibility to fix it but that's

that's not how it works especially when

it's your heart your heart your life

your happiness is your responsibility

and your responsibility alone as long as

we're point

finger and and stuck in whose fault

something is we're jammed and trapped

into victim mode when you're in victim

mode you're stuck in suffering the road

to power is in taking responsibility

your heart your life your happiness is

your responsibility and your

responsibility alone

rule number 40 have fun what's gonna

happen which is gonna ask us each to

name three things three types of like

cars or something and we'll have five

seconds to name three things and then

hit that to see how much time is left on

the clock okay all right if you do it

you get a point if time runs out you get

no points at all five seconds goes very

very fast okay I shall go first you

shall go first okay okay

Ellen name three things you do in a car

you drive you park and you say hello to

people

I see I see now we need some like judges

are you job you say hi you wait you wait

will ya name three things you should

never do in a car

never drink smoke three words you use a

lot love baby and be kind I'm gonna give

you that one cuz that's the right answer

okay we'll name your three favorite

songs to sing in the shower in the

shower the dream girls I'm telling you

Whitney Houston's died yeah but that's a

it's like the end I am Telling You

[Applause]

[Applause]

[Applause]

rule number 41 maintain positivity

he was always challenged for that right

like all yourself you're different but

the positivity was always challenged

like yeah I always wanted you to justify

being positive right absolutely

yeah now that was a that was a difficult

time coming up cuz it's like I'm from

I'm from Philly right so during that

time in Philly it was Joe Frazier and

rocky so a fistfight was common yeah

Chuck D used to he called it pug City

he's like pug City is like he's like

chuckles like you can't go to Philly

without getting in a fight so it's like

I grew up in that so for me too it was

always difficult for people you know to

say I was soft and I was you know my

music was cotton candy you know that's

all I always wanted to fight to try to

to prove myself but the be fighting

yourself to maintain positivity as the

hardest fight you ever gonna have right

and it's like that struggle to just stay

my course to you know be the person in

the world that I wanted to be no matter

what people said and it was a I started

to call it offensive positivity right

like you know I wasn't gonna be on

defense with my positivity I was gonna

be on offense with it rule number 42

seize your opportunities me and Jeff had

come out with smash hit parents just

don't understand we made a bunch of

money we want a Grammy album with triple

platinum

I have motorcycles and cars I called the

booty store in Atlanta and I was like

and I'm smiling but that's stupid we

released our next album and it was like

a flop it was a tragedy it went like

double plastic I had spent of most of my

money like all of I spent all my money

and I didn't forget but I didn't pay the

IRS in my mind I mean I wasn't like

trying to avoid paying taxes I was just

like oh damn they need a money the IRS

took off with all that stuff so I was

like broke broke broke being famous and

broke is a combination because

you're still famous and people recognize

you but they recognize you while you

sitting next to them on the bus and the

stuff they ask you to sign on a bus you

know like oh can you sign my baby

that's a sharpie but I probably

shouldn't write on the baby with that

are you too big to sign my baby

well no I mean you know so I signed it

so I was like playing around and my

girlfriend was like dude we're not doing

this like you're not just gonna be

laying around this house all day you

gonna go do something I was like what

what I'm supposed to do go where people

is is doing it where people doing it go

to the Arsenio Hall Show just go stand

around at the Arsenio Hall Show

yes that's stupid

so I went to the Arsenio Hall Show and I

met a dude named Benny Medina Benny

Medina is the real-life Fresh Prince of

bel-air except he actually went from

watts to Beverly Hills same basic

concept way shorter distance now meet

Benny and he pitches me the idea for

this show and I'm like you know I'm not

an actor am i cool and he said hey you

know I want you to meet Quincy Jones

when see Jones's producer with me stop

by myself like Quincy's and his actors

and artists and celebrities and

politicians like everybody that Twenties

up it's like The Wiz without the

costumes so Bennie walks me in and

introduced me to Quincy Lehane q what's

up and say hey man you know I saw your

music videos I love I love what you're

doing I love what you're doing tell me

rap name again they call me the Fresh

Prince

all right good that's what we gonna call

the show and he handed me a screenplay

for a failed Morris day pilot like I

don't have the time so I need you to do

this I need you go ahead take a few

minutes take 10 minutes study the script

and I'm gonna clear all the stuff out

the living room and we don't have

everybody sit down in the living room we

don't do an audition

he had movers that could reset his

furniture I was like this dude is real

so close how does it break come on come

on come on I was thank you hold up man

hold up I'm not ready to do no audition

and he said oh all right well what you

need tell me what you need just set the

meeting for a week and I can do it he

said yeah yeah you know Brandon

Tartikoff the head of NBC is out there

I'll get on the schedule for next week

and then you know what's gonna happen

something gonna come up and then he's

wanting to reschedule

oh yeah yeah so three so three weeks

from now here we can do it three weeks

from now so yeah yeah yeah three weeks

from now be good or you could take ten

minutes right now and you can change

your life forever I was like get there

yes give me ten minutes I said yes and I

let it rip and I got to the end and

everybody's clapping Quincy

at Brandon Tartikoff the head of NBC did

you like it and Brandon said yeah yeah I

like the question says no did you like

it you say yeah I like these a good

you're his lawyer Romney up something

right now

rule number 43 work on your body I used

to be able to eat whatever I want and

then in six weeks I could get in any

shape I wanted to get into but that's

not the case anymore where we're around

the twelve or fourteen week mandatory

training to do anything but but I love

it I enjoy I enjoy the discipline of it

for me working on on your body is the

beginning of everything you know your

mind starts to work better you're the

better husband a better father a better

friend and life is just better when you

you know care for your body at the

highest level

rule number 44 be obsessed I told the

famous everybody you kind of backed into

acting Fresh Prince of bel-air yeah and

the next thing you know you start making

these movies and I forget that bad boys

actually came before Independence Day

right yeah yeah tennis day just was like

one of the biggest of all time like what

was that transition like for you so yeah

you know actor and like the biggest

actor in the game no it was um that was

like the first real goal like that in

terms of setting goals I was like I want

to be the biggest movie star in the

world right and every up until that

point everything was like it was fun and

it was happening and we were creating in

Jeff's mom's basement and it was

successful but that was like when I

moved into acting that was the first

time I started applying skill to my my

talents right and you know I always look

I look at skill and talent separately

like Pete you're born with talent you

know it's like there's certain things

that you just do naturally you were

gifted with a talent and you have it but

skill is acquired through discipline and

you know I've never seen myself as

particularly talented where I excel

I'm willing to die in the process of

acquiring skill like is you know when I

put my obsessive mind or sign the dread

exactly it's not working yes is a

ridiculous and sickening work a

sickening work ethic exactly it's like

you know so for me to be a movie star

was the first thing that I ever really

wanted like that and set my own he was

like all of them I was like I was like

you know cuz I went out when I looked I

always felt like there weren't a lot of

people I saw do things that I felt like

I couldn't do right when I when I look

at people and I see things I don't I

don't feel like I can't whether or not I

will is something different but I don't

ever feel like I can rule number 45 have

a strong wine anytime I put something in

the world

I am always connecting to an idea I'm

always asked why am i making this what

why I'm putting this out in the world

why so with with concussion dr. Bennet

Omalu was deeply connected to tell the

truth and he said the truth doesn't have

a side and that's what he kept saying I

thought that was such a powerful if any

idea that there you know whose side are

you on you're Republican or Democrat I'm

trying to tell the truth truth the truth

doesn't have a side rule number 46 deal

with rejection rejection is everywhere

you know we all deal with the me worst

of all the worst of all you know I think

the idea of rejection is relative I mean

if you you take a you know a kid in a

small town and somebody posts something

negative about them and all that their

friends laughs you know that's the worst

rejection a human being can experience

it's not you know for that kid it's not

any less than for my kid to read

on a comment page you know it's it's

emotionally it's it's the same my kids

grew up in this world so they're much

more acclimated to the difficulties of

this world but it doesn't make it

emotionally more difficult or more

painful than for any other child who has

to deal with it rule number 47 be

authentic

you're like the Prince but now you're

the king of Instagram I know I was like

how come you've embraced social media in

this way like cuz for the longest you

know you have this mystique behind you

well in you know when I when I started

the the the only way to be a movie star

was through distance and mystery and

mystique right that was the the the way

is that you know yeah you could see me

on July 4 in the movie theater alright

so that was the way keeping that

distance was how you maintained star

power and in the last five years that

shifted much more to a friendship model

like people support artists that they

feel like they know thoroughly that

they're friends right so that the social

media the the daily interaction is much

more like a family friendship kind of

interaction that is an audience demand

for for you know their loyalty but is

there such thing as revealing too much

not in this world

too much data that's personal you know

like it's it's what can you handle you

know I think one of the major one of the

beautiful parts of social media that I

think is a beautiful evolutionary thing

is that social media demands

authenticity right so social media

pushes you more and more into having to

reveal what's true

if you don't you know TMZ is going to

you know so it's you know it's a

beautiful thing I'm and I'm actually

enjoying the push right nobody's happy

who doesn't get to be themself right so

the the the eyes and ears of the world

are starting to demand more and more

authenticity where you gotta say what's

true for you and live or die by what

that is so I'm enjoying the the social

demand for authenticity I'm coming into

a space how have you maintained your

authenticity because I mean you come

from Philly going through everything

like your journeys being crazy like how

have you maintained that um you know

it's really interesting is it's like the

idea I I haven't maintained my

authenticity per se I've maintained my

character right I've maintained my

beliefs character in two senses I've

maintained my character of Will Smith

and I've maintained my personal

character of what I believe in

so but in terms of authenticity the

character Will Smith signs every

autograph and it's always happy and

wants to see the fans and is always in a

good mood and that's actually not often

authentic right I actually I do want to

slap somebody you know every once in a

while so in terms of authenticity I have

successfully maintained positivity and

now I'm working more to maintain

authenticity I'm granting myself the

freedom to not give up when I don't give

a Yeah right and now I'm working into a

space of much more authenticity rule

number 48 face your fears something that

probably a lot of people don't know

about me I don't put the ocean the ocean

is like the ultimate woman

she's beautiful and she will nourish you

but she will tear you to shreds also the

ocean is my worst fear I don't know what

it is or where it came from but there's

something about not being able to

breathe

I've tried snorkeling before and I was

hyperventilating my 50th birthday is

this year I just wasn't gonna go into

the back 9 of my life without having

attacked my fear the ocean so we're

about to scuba dive the Great Barrier

Reef you know I've never scuba divin

scoubidou scuba I never been scuba

divers before so we're taking a boat

ride out do we go through a storm

probably 25 years old in my mind I would

be here one day so I'm ready I'm ready

this is stupid I'm not going is it okay

to punch sharks in the face back up with

your shark ass back up with your shark

ass

shucks ass back up I got it the question

isn't can you handle the situation the

question is can you handle your mind can

you manage the thoughts and the emotions

that are trying to poison your progress

forget managing the situation

manage your mind

[Music]

training your mind to sit calmly

I of the storm rule number 49 inspire

others to succeed you know growing up my

mother and father and grandmother

demanded no less of me than to represent

the family every time I stepped out in a

way that was helpful to others the city

gave him his start he's worked hard in

the city has worked hard for him knowing

that this man is no West Philly opens

eyes for them they open their lens when

you're in Philadelphia you see a lot of

things in the youth in the neighborhoods

that not always positive and I think

seeing that will motivate you all in the

zone because you're always gonna want

something better for yourself you don't

have enough role models out here you got

too many kids being led astray thinking

the wrong things is what's good they

grow up too fast you need people that's

puttin that out there like you don't

have to do this you don't have to do

that it's so much easier being yourself

when you are young kid and you're

walking to school

and you see images like this and makes

you aspire to want to be that person

right what he's done in his life vibrate

all your overseas to touch you they

touch people ya know what but this right

here will affect people the main thing

you did you take the main detail yeah

you got wills ears right

this man who is an icon is looking at

GLA so my kids everyday will see this

image and know that you can be whatever

you want to be this is a man who grew up

and fill it up they went to Overbrook

high school up the street was a part of

this world that he now is looking at us

and telling my children you can be

whatever you want to be it's just so

powerful if you're a kid here growing up

now and you see this every day

it can give you a real understanding

that this guy is me you know he lived

here and he grew up here he had the same

chances as me the same possibilities as

me the same everything and he's being

painted on a wall because he's done

something incredible with his life and

rule number 50 the last time before a

very special bonus clip is ask awesome

questions we're about to make history

we're doing an IG live to the

International Space Station

oh yeah and see now that's the thing

look I'm doing it like that everybody

can do an interview to the International

Space Station and how shoot it in terms

of like the the simple basics right so

you on earth people have to poop you're

like it's important to poop on Earth

right so when you're up there I see your

microphone floating I need to understand

what you do with that like how do you

manage that

well are you sure you want to talk about

this this problem because it is pretty

challenging

I like to say you can have a good day in

the bathroom and you can have a really

bad day in the bathroom and you really

you hope for the good days the bad days

can be challenging on earth we talk

about the the you know the mile-high

club

as anyone you know attempt it for

research purposes has anyone attempted

you know the process of procreating the

human species in space all right well

similar to the last question I'll just

say are you sure we want to talk about

this I'm just you know I'm a Manitou

people drew I'm a man of the people and

it's important to me to ask the

questions that the people want to ask

this to I'll just say as far as I know I

have no knowledge of those tests being

done but I can imagine that that would

present some unique opportunities

I've got a really special bonus cut from

well on how to not chase awards that I

think you're gonna really enjoy but

before that it's time for the

three-point landing questions time to

move from just watching another video to

actually taking action in your life and

your business so answer these three

questions number one how will you

maintain your positivity when things get

rough number two what is your strong why

to keep going and number three what fear

do you need to face and how will you

conquer it this week

first Grammy ever given to two rappers

and we boycott it right that year so

they the the Grammys weren't televising

the rat portion and we felt like you

know we had done enough that deserved to

be in the televised and they they really

they they everybody was still scared of

rap music at the time and thought it was

a fad and all that stuff so we received

our Grammy in in absentia I've never

used that word before I like that in

absentia were you still happy that you

received that Grammy that award was like

bittersweet you know I've never really

been awards minded right so I liked it

everybody you prefer to win and lose

that for right I have no I actually

don't know you know Jeff asked me all

the time like he's like where is your

Grammy I was like dude I have no idea

wow have not and I'm just not awards

minded I'm much more that box office

locks office yeah always yeah open a

weekend open a weekend yeah I'm much

more it's like total go see total I got

like winning hit the box office I like

numbers I like sales and awards are cool

but it's like I never uh never really

never really got into the excitement of

winning and a war it's like what you

know with you know I've been nominated

for Academy Awards twice and it's like

it's it's nothing

it's like believing that feeling with

the film stuff that's never yes like I

like box office assassination raise your

standard

Apple at the core its core value is that

we believe that people have passion and

change the way people not one drop of

myself work depends on your it's

something serene if you want to learn

about Will Smith sickening work ethic

and how you can develop it yourself

check out the blog next to me I think

you're gonna enjoy it continue to

believe and I'll see you there there was

um excuse me there was a moment when I

was about nine years old.....

Will Smiths Top 50 Rules For Success