- It takes such a desperate, obsessive focus
to excel on a level that I want to make movies.
You have to be able to laugh at everything.
He who says he can and he who says he can't
are both usually right.
- He's an American actor, producer, rapper, and songwriter.
He's been ranked as the most bankable
movie star worldwide by Forbes.
As of 2016, his films have grossed
over $7.5 billion worldwide.
He's Will Smith and here's my take
on his Top 10 Rules for Success, volume two.
Rule number one is my personal favorite
and I'd love to know which one you guys liked the best.
Also guys, as you're watching
if you hear something that really resonates with you,
please leave it down in the comments below
and put quotes around it
so other people can be inspired.
Also, when you write it down,
it's much more likely to lock in for yourself as well.
Enjoy!
(dramatic music)
I realize that to have the level of success
that I want to have,
it's difficult to spread it out
and do multiple things,
in order to be world class.
And I made a decision, I want to be world class.
It takes such a desperate, obsessive focus
to excel on a level that I want to make movies.
I was, 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 really got to focus with all of your fiber
and all of your heart and all your creativity.
The concept of improving lives
runs through the center of everything I do
and then I realize
that the way to improve lives
is to continually improve yourself, right?
So with that,
every morning when I get out of the bed,
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
from 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.
And I thought that was,
I knew that was profound and I paused for a second
and I said all right,
what the hell is a ladle, right?
(audience laughing)
Right?
So that, I just I touched it on my iPad,
is ladle, oh it's like a big spoon,
a big spoon, okay.
It's like a soup spoon, yeah.
A soup spoon, I was like why a soup spoon?
So trying to empty the ocean with a soup spoon.
As the mentality of how you wake up every day
to try to do good in the world.
So for me I'm really driven by continually trying
to elevate my mind and elevate my spirit
and care for my body
and to be able to love as many people
as effectively as possible with this mystery of life
that I've been given.
For me, I never did anything for money.
It was never about money.
My experience has been when people do things for money
you make bad choices.
Find what you love and then you'll learn how to make money
doing what you love.
When I changed careers,
I was never changing to something for money,
I was changing to something I loved more.
And that, to me that's really the only way
to keep the passion.
If you have two choices,
and one is playing the piano and another one is bowling,
and you can make more money bowling
but you love playing the piano more,
you got to play the piano.
It's like you'll tear yourself apart
if you're not doing the thing that you love most in life.
And you know what it is right now.
Right now, there's something that you love
more than everything.
Whatever it is that you love crazy,
has to be the thing that you dedicate your life.
You have to be able to be vulnerable in front of anybody.
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.
Because as soon as you allow people to see,
all of a sudden you get access to things
that you didn't realize you had access to.
For example, like a thing I used to do,
is when I was probably 18 or 19 years old,
I got in touch with those blocks,
the camera hates emotional blocks.
You put a camera in somebody's face
and they're uncomfortable about delivering emotion,
it looks fake and you feel it.
You'll immediately know it's not real.
Especially, look at the size of this screen
and in a shot that whole screen could be just your eyes.
So it's like, you can't hide discomfort, uncertainty.
So you have to be able to get comfortable
just being anything,
anything that you have to be for the role,
you have to be comfortable being it.
(audience cheering and applauding)
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, it was some of the most open
and powerful conversations that 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,
I go to see him one day
and he said, "Man, this is embarrassing."
And I said, "What, Daddy?"
And he said, "Man, you tell everybody
"you would be dead in six weeks.
"Three months later you still hanging around."
Laughing is the elixir.
And that was another thing that my father taught me.
He was joking all the way up 'til the end like laughing.
You have to be able to laugh at everything
and for me the beautiful part
is that's my natural
color on the spectrum.
I naturally go to comedy.
And when I'm looking at something
I'm always trying to find why that's funny.
And it's been really really helpful in this experience.
And even just this point in my life,
keep, remember to laugh, remember to laugh.
And spend time with people that make you laugh,
that is hugely important.
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 that office, that position,
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 looked people in their eyes
and I talked to people as if I was deserving
of everything that this planet has to offer.
(audience cheering and applauding)
So I just, I really want to say to children out there
and to 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, know that you can.
And the greatest thing in my career
has been the constant commitment
to putting something in the world of value.
- Mhmm.
- Not putting something in the world
that makes me look hot.
- Mhmm.
- 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--
If there was one concept
that I would suggest to people
to take a daily confrontation with is fear.
The problem with fear is that it lies.
So fear tells you, "Hey.
"If you say that to that girl
"she's going to know she has you.
"And she'll never really be attracted to you
"if she knows how much you attracted to her.
"Don't say that, no.
"How we get her is when she walks by, ignore her."
(audience laughing)
- Puppet on your shoulder.
- Fear tells you dumb like that.
(audience laughing)
So for me the daily confrontation with fear
has become a real practice for me.
Since about three years ago,
I went skydiving in Dubai.
And skydiving,
skydiving is a really interesting confront with fear.
So I got to stand up, I got to stand up.
(interviewer laughing)
I got to stand up.
So all your friends,
what happens you go out--
- Hold this. - How you, oh sorry.
Oh, I dropped my thing.
So what happens is you go out the night before
and you take a drink with your friends
and somebody says, "Yeah, we should go skydiving tomorrow!"
And you go, "Yeah, we'll go skydiving!"
And we're "Yeah! Yeah!"
And you're, "Yeah!"
And everybody goes, "Yeah!"
And you go home, you're by yourself,
you're like, "Mm."
(audience laughing)
You're like, "Well yeah, I mean they was drunk too."
(audience laughing)
So maybe they not,
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 keep,
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.
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.
So you wake up the next day
and you go down where you say
where you were going to meet and everybody's there.
You're like oh sh.
Alright, alright.
Cool cool cool cool cool cool.
So you get in the van
and you don't know
that your friends had the same night that you had
'cause they're pretended like they didn't.
They're like, "Yeah man, my uncle's a Navy SEAL
"and this is going to be great.
"I've been looking forward to this."
And you're 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 the safety brief
and you're standing there
and the guys will tell you,
"Well if the chute doesn't open
"what's going to happen is you do a--"
Well why the hell, why, what could happen?
That the shoot wouldn't open?
So you do a thing and what you do is your first jump,
you're attached to a guy
who is going, he's going to walk you out.
So you go and you get there
and there's an airplane and nobody's stopping.
Everybody's still going.
So you get onto the airplane
and you're sitting there and it's extra
'cause you're sitting on some dude's lap, some stranger.
(audience and interviewer laughing)
You're sitting on his lap
and it's all, you're trying to make small talk.
"Yeah. man.
(audience and interviewer laughing)
"So you'd be jumping with people all the time, huh?"
So and then you just want to make sure,
"You got kids, right?
"You got people you need to see?"
Just want to make sure he's serious.
So you get in there.
So everything's normal.
So you fly and you go up,
you go up, you go up,
and you go up to 14,000 feet
and you notice there's a light,
it's red and it's yellow and green.
So right now the light's red,
so then you start thinking
at some point the light's going to go green
but you don't know what's going to happen.
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.
(audience laughing)
Terror, oh sorry I'm spitting.
(imitating loud spitting)
Oh sorry.
Terror terror terror terror!
So you go and then if you were smart,
you sat in the back so you don't go first.
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 two
because people grab on three.
(audience and interviewer laughing)
And you go--
(imitating screaming)
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.
It doesn't feel like falling.
It's like that you're actually are kind of
held a little bit by the wind
and then you start
and you start falling, you're falling,
and you, there's zero fear.
You realize that the point of maximum danger
is the point of minimum fear.
It's bliss!
And you're flying.
And you're doing it
and then 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 40 seconds.
And you have enough time to just kind of be like,
ah, there's that building I saw that morning.
Oh you can see the ocean!
You start doing all of that
and 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 did you need that, the fear is,
fear of what?
You're nowhere even near the airplane.
Everything up to the stepping out,
there's actually no reason to be scared
it only just ruins your day.
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
are all of the best things in life.
I have to show up at work with the right attitude
and with the positive energy.
And I actually had a t-shirt made that said
"Positive energy is a part of your job description."
So the idea that I want to show up with the right energy,
I want to show up, we're all here.
Even now we're all here,
we're trying to feed our families,
we're trying to have a good time.
This is an important part of our lives,
our time is all that we have.
So to me it's hugely important
to deliver positive energy in a way
because it's viral.
So if I come with positive energy,
then someone else is going to pick up on the positive energy.
And you're going to take it home to your families.
So for me it's just hugely important
to approach everything and everybody at every turn
with the most positive loving kindness
that I can generate.
(audience cheering)
(upbeat hip hop music)
- [Jimmy] They love you!
- [Will] Wow!
They love you, they love you! - Wow!
(audience cheering)
- That's got to feel good.
- Yeah.
- That's got to feel good.
Good to see you, man.
- You too.
Yeah, that was good.
That was like,
that was a really really good introduction but I just,
they seem excited.
I just, I think I can do it better.
(audience cheering)
- You can do it better? - Yeah.
- No, they gave you, they love you.
They gave you a standing ovation.
That was fine, that was...
- No no, I just think,
they deserve a better entrance than that.
They just, I'm sorry.
Just one more, one more.
- Want to do the intro again?
- Yeah, just one more. - Alright.
- One more, okay.
(upbeat jazz music)
(audience laughing and cheering)
- Our first guest this evening
is one of the biggest stars on the planet.
He's a multiple Grammy Award winner
and multiple Academy and Golden Globe Award nominee.
Next Friday you can see him
alongside Margot Robbie and Jared Leto
on one of the most anticipated movies of the summer,
Suicide Squad!
Please welcome, the one, the only,
Will Smith!
(audience cheering)
(playful music)
That's how you do it!
That's how! - Yeah, yeah.
- [Jimmy] That's how you do it!
- [Will] Yeah.
- Will Smith, everybody!
That's him right there!
That is how-- - Yeah.
- You make an entrance! - Yeah.
- Right there, Will Smith!
- Yeah!
That was pretty good.
It felt a little bit better.
- [Jimmy] Yeah?
- I felt a little bit better about that one.
- A little?
That was fantastic.
You came out in a hamster, a human hamster ball.
That was unbelievable, that was great.
- I just, I just think they deserve a little more than that.
(audience laughing and cheering)
- Seriously? That was fine.
- No no, just listen.
Everybody at home, what we've done.
I was your first guest ever on this show, man.
- I know, yeah.
I know, I know, I know.
I remember that, yeah, of course.
- Just one.
- Want to do one more time?
- One more, I got to, I got to give it to 'em.
- Oh, yeah yeah yeah.
- I got to give it to 'em. - Yeah yeah yeah, sure.
(upbeat jazz music)
(audience laughing and cheering)
- Our first guest this evening
is one of the biggest stars on the planet.
He's a multiple Grammy Award winner,
multiple Academy, Golden Globe Award nominee.
Next Friday you can see him, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto,
one of the most anticipated movies of the summer,
Suicide Squad.
Please welcome, the one, the only,
Will Smith!
(audience cheering)
(upbeat disco music)
- Thank you guys so much for watching,
I hope you enjoyed.
I'd love to know, what did you think of this video?
And in general, what do you think of our volume two series?
Leave it down in the comments below.
I'd also love to know,
what did you learn from Will Smith in this video
that had the biggest impact on you?
Which clip was your favorite
and what are you going to take from this video today
and immediately apply it to your life,
or your business somehow.
Leave it down in the comments below,
I'm super curious to find out.
Finally, I want to give a quick shout out to Gourav Jr.
Gourav, thank you so much
for picking up a copy of my book, Your One Word.
It really really really really means a lot to me.
And I hope you're enjoying the read.
So thank you guys so much for watching,
I believe in you,
I hope you continue to believe in yourself.
And whatever your one word is, much love.
I'll see you soon.
- The movies that I made
while I was making The Fresh Prince,
so I was the Fresh Prince during the winter
and then the summers were Bad Boys,
Independence Day, Men in Black.
So it was like, it really captured a time.
So it's very difficult.
I wouldn't have it any other way.
I love being able
to make people smile and cheer over that
but I also am going to boldly go to new creation.
Even something like the decision,
I had the two screenplays in front of me
for the Independence Day Two and for Suicide Squad.
So I had to choose between the two of those
and even the choice of going to Suicide Squad,
nothing about the qualities of the movies
but the choice of trying to go forward
versus clinging and clawing backwards.
So I do want to aggressively go forward
and do new things and create
and hopefully be able to stumble upon a new heyday.