- There's so many people that you see
that are in this industry or just life in general
that are going through their days
and may have everything they could ever want
but they're not happy.
Confidence is the best, I think.
You could literally rock a trash bag if you have confidence.
I don't need to cuss and whatever.
I don't need to do that to make a great song.
Michael Jackson never did it,
so I don't think I got to do it either, you know?
- She's an American actress, singer, and dancer.
In March 2016 she was cast in
the Spider-Man film Homecoming as Michelle.
She began her professional career as
a fashion model for Old Navy and Macy's.
She's Zendaya and here's my take
on her top 10 rules for success.
Rule number one is my personal favorite
and make sure to stick around all the way to the end
for some special bonus clips.
Also as she's talking if she says something
that really resonates with you,
please leave it in the comments below,
put quotes around it,
so other people can be inspired as well.
Enjoy.
(intense uplifting music)
- What's your message for viewers out there
about following your dreams?
- I would say
if you truly believe in something
and you really have a passion for something,
then go for it.
I think there's a lot of obstacles
that you have to go through and nothing's ever
given to you and it takes a lot of hard work and dedication,
but if you really believe in it, then you should do it.
Confidence is the best, I think.
You can literally rock a trash bag if you have confidence.
Literally.
Lady Gaga does it all the time.
She can rock whatever she wants
because she has that confidence
that makes you believe that it's
just the coolest thing ever.
And I think that that's awesome.
You know, when you see a confident woman,
I think there's nothing more attractive
or fabulous about a confident woman
because you know that she
loves herself and is in her own skin
and I think that's the best.
It's the best accessory, it's the best outfit,
it's confidence.
Well the best thing I've learned
and advice I could give maybe my younger self,
is really to focus on happiness.
You know, happiness is the key because
there's so many people that you see
that are in this industry or just in life in general
that are going through their days
and may have everything they could ever want,
but they're not happy, you know?
So you have to focus on what makes you happy
and make decisions in your career,
in your life that make you happy.
And so I've been trying to do that
and it's working, you know?
And saying no to things that are negative
and saying no to things that you don't want to do.
You know?
So I think that that's my biggest piece of advice.
Something I do or I try to do every day,
is I try to make someone,
whether it be in my team or my life or whatever,
just happy.
Or I try to make them feel good or feel comfortable
or feel loved, whatever it may be.
It could be the littlest thing,
it could just be saying, oh you look really pretty today.
Or it could be,
something even smaller than that
or something bigger than that, you know?
It doesn't really matter but it's just
making a conscious effort to make someone feel good.
And that could be a stranger
or it could be your mom, you know?
I'm not pretending to be something that I am not
or pretending to be this goody two-shoes or whatever,
I'm just being myself.
And I think that, you know,
then nobody can be disappointed in who I am as a person
or I don't feel like I have to hide or pretend
because I'm not.
I'm just being Zendaya, you know?
And I'm just going through life and learning
how to be a young woman.
You know, and I have that responsibility,
I think it's a responsibility.
Is it a little bit of a weight sometimes?
Absolutely but it's a responsibility
that I'm willing to take. - I love that.
- You know if you don't get the part,
it wasn't yours to begin with.
And that's the truth, it wasn't meant for you.
I feel like if the opportunities
and what's meant to happen to you
is going to happen to you and you just have to trust that,
and you have to work hard.
What I did is I just,
I knew something was going to happen.
It wasn't a matter of if, it was a matter of when,
so I just worked hard until I got there.
And I had the goal, I knew what I wanted,
and so when I came into LA,
things happened a lot faster for me
because I had my goal, I was ready to go
and I was a new face.
- It worked out, right?
- That's right.
But of course there was nos, of course there was nos,
but at the end of the day my eye was like,
it's going to happen, it's going to happen.
I've been taking a long time to like,
you know those four years since Replay
and everything like that.
Or three years, however long it's been.
Just taking the time because
A, I've grown as a woman.
You know what I mean?
You learn who you are, you come into your own,
you find out more about yourself.
And that's a big transitional period, you know what I mean?
When you're growing into literally becoming a woman.
My thing was how I translated that
and turned that into the music.
You know what I mean?
How do I translate my maturity and my growth
and let people connect to that
and make it a little more real?
Also on the same token,
you know, I'm finally getting the chance to really do
the music that I want to do, you know what I mean?
There is no sacrificing anything.
There's no, you know, giving in.
You know, people have opinions.
You know, behind the scenes of like
what lane I should go in and what I need to do,
but I know what I want.
And that's my number one piece of advice
for anyone who's doing anything in life,
is you have to stick to your vision
and stick to your gut, you know what I'm saying?
Olivia Pope gut, go with it, it works every time, you know?
Acting, singing, and dancing I think
are all things that came to me naturally
but they're all things that I try to challenge myself on.
So I'm always trying to push myself
in every area of the arts whether it be
acting, singing, or dancing.
It's about whether it be perfecting
the dance that you already know,
or learning a new style of dance.
Or whether it be trying to hit a note
that you never thought you could hit
or play a character that is outside of your range.
Then you know, that's something I want to continue to do
and continue to grow.
I think if you stop challenging yourself
then there's no more, you stop yourself.
But there's no limit to the things that you're capable of,
so I think I'm going to continue to challenge myself.
Here's my thing, is I'm always very
careful about how I do,
like especially when it comes to topics on music.
It's like, you can talk around things,
I just am not going to say, you know what I mean?
You can talk around things, so it's like
really it can mean whatever it wants to mean
for whoever is listening to it.
You know what I'm saying?
It's up to you to decide what that means to you.
And that's like kind of how I want to keep it
and I think that's kind of like the greatest in the world.
Like Michael Jackson, you know what I mean?
He talked around all kinds of things.
- Even the song Creep itself,
like I remember listening to it.
- Have no idea what it means.
- Literally like somebody creeping like.
- [Zendaya] Exactly.
- But it's what you put into it as well.
- Exactly, it's what you want to make it
and I think that that's the way,
that's kind of like the loophole.
That's the way to have edgy music
and allow my older fan base or whatever
to enjoy the music and understand it
and also have young people listen to it
because it doesn't have to be.
And I don't need to cuss and whatever,
I don't need to do that to make a great song.
Michael Jackson never did it,
so I don't think I got to do it either, you know?
So it's just, I think,
it's a balance, you know what I'm saying?
It's a way to be edgy and push the limits
but do it at the right pace.
This whole kind of transition
into womanhood is all about pace,
taking my time, making the right steps
and the right moves when it needs to be made, you know?
Not going too fast.
I have decided that I want to do what makes me happy
for as long as it makes me happy.
So if that means, and this is something
my parents have always told me,
if that means I wake up tomorrow and I decide that
none of this is making me happy, it's not fulfilling me,
it's making me a miserable person, I don't feel good.
- What are you going to go do?
- Something else.
- What? - I don't know.
- But like what?
- We'll decide when we get there.
- You've never thought about it?
Like what else you would do?
- I would want to like, I would probably want to go to school,
I want to go to college.
Probably for, like, child psychology, something unrelated.
Who knows, I might wake up and say,
you know what?
I want to be a doctor.
You know what?
I want to be a this, I want to be that,
I don't know what the future holds.
As long as it makes me happy.
I got to find a passion, you know?
But for now, this is making me happy,
and I'm going to keep doing this.
Especially if you're young in this industry,
you get doubted
and people like to not listen to you.
- [Ross] Yeah.
- And so I'm not one of those people that cannot be heard.
You know what I'm saying?
You know, I think it's very important
that people exercise their
voice and what they feel is right
in your gut and your instinct,
especially if you're in this industry as a young person,
you have to follow your heart
and do what you think is right.
- Thank you guys so much for watching.
I made this video because Roamez asked me to.
So if there's a famous entrepreneur
that you want me to profile next,
leave it in the comments below
and I'll see what I can do.
I'd also love to know which of the rules
had the biggest impact on you.
What did she say that left a profound mark
that you're going to immediately apply something
to your life or your business?
Leave it in the comments and I want to see
what you have to say.
I also want to give a quick shout out to John Carter,
thank you John for picking up
a copy of my book Your One Word
and tweeting out that picture
of you at the beach holding it.
I hope you enjoy it, thank you for sharing the love, man.
I appreciate it.
So thank you guys again for watching,
I believe in you.
Hope you continue to believe in yourself
and whatever your one word is.
Much love.
I'll see you soon.
- And I myself have taken a break.
Everyone needs to just hold off
and not be on their phone because we get
so caught up in the negativity of social media
that we forget to use it for a positive thing,
you know what I mean?
Like when I use my Twitter
to say anything or to do anything,
I'd use it to make messages that I think are important
or to get out things that I think will make people laugh
or funny, you know what I mean?
You know, I'm not going to tweet something negative
or hurt somebody's feelings,
that's just not who I am, you know what I mean?
And sometimes we get so wrapped up in like,
oh it's funny or oh this is how I feel.
And you know you're allowed to express how you feel
but at the end of the day we're all human beings.
Like gosh, you know, we all have feelings
but you have to be loving of yourself
and get in touch with yourself
and be happy with yourself first.
I think it's less about other people
and more about like I have to do better than myself.
Like if I feel like I reach a level,
then I have to work harder.
You're never, you know, the best,
you can always get better.
There's always room for improvement
and that's in every area,
that's not just as, you know, an artist or whatever
but that's just as a human being.
I constantly try to become a better person, like I'm like,
even if I like let negative thoughts come in my mind
or I think some type of way or I'm thinking petty,
I'm just like, dude, like, you're better than that.
You're like zen, chill.
Like, I'm good, you know what I mean?
Me, I've been making children's programming for a long time
and for me, a lot of people ask me like,
why are you still on Disney channel?
Why do you still do that?
And to me it's because I still have a responsibility
as this young person that I am
to create positive programming for these young people.
I have little kids that look up to me
and I think of that as a responsibility.
And I know there's so many parents that come up to me
and just hearing them say thank you
for being that for my daughter or for my son,
being that inspiration for them,
that's everything to me.