The Daily Mastermind
ALL EPISODES
Episode 421 · Aug 24, 2021

16 Tips from Influential People to Create Success and Own Your Life

Listen

George Wright III, host of The Daily Mastermind, built an entire episode around a simple but powerful idea: success leaves clues. In episode 421, George walks through 16 tips drawn from some of the world's most influential people, covering athletes, business leaders, and visionaries. These are not abstract theories. They are proven, direct pieces of advice you can start using today to pivot in difficult times, take ownership of your future, and build the life you want.

Embrace Difficulty and Challenge Yourself

The list opens with Melinda Gates: "When you come to a point in your life when you see difficult things, don't look in the other direction. Move toward it. That's the movement when you can affect change." George frames this as leaning into challenges, because challenges are opportunities in disguise.

Oprah Winfrey follows with a challenge to push past your own limits:

Do the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the second time. The only people who ever tumble are those who never mount the high wire. This is your moment. Own it.

Sitting on the sidelines is not a strategy. Richard Branson's tip reinforces the point: put yourself out there, because you can't win a game you're not playing.

Hold High Standards and Stay Persistent

Steve Jobs said it plainly: "Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected." George adds that holding yourself to high standards doesn't mean letting perfectionism stall you. It means moving forward while expecting the best from yourself.

Elon Musk's contribution is equally direct: be persistent. "Persistence is very important. You should not give up unless you are forced to give up." George puts it simply: you'll never truly fail if you don't give up.

Serve Others, Stay Committed, and Stay Positive

George H.W. Bush's tip cuts to the heart of meaningful success: "There could be no definition of a successful life that does not include service to others." Focusing outward, on how you can help other people, is one of the fastest ways to get out of your own head.

LeBron James adds commitment to the list. His question is worth asking yourself every morning: are you committed or are you not? Saying you want success and actually committing to it are two very different things.

Sonia Sotomayor rounds out this group with the importance of a positive attitude. "I have never, ever focused on the negative of things. I always look at the positive." Your attitude shapes your perspective, your perspective filters your emotions, and your emotions drive your actions. Getting this right matters.

Be Bold, Expect Obstacles, and Trust Your Gut

Walt Disney said all of our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them. Be bold. Get out there and pursue what matters to you, because your dreams don't happen without your participation.

Barack Obama reminds you that success doesn't come easy: progress will come in fits and starts, and it's not always a straight line. When you expect the challenges, you won't be knocked off course by them. You'll see them as part of the process.

Barbara Corcoran, known from Shark Tank, urges you to trust your intuition. "Don't you dare underestimate the power of your own instinct." Stop second-guessing your gut. Make the decision, say yes, and figure it out as you go.

Communicate, Stay Passionate, and Define What You Want

Jim Rohn, one of the all-time greats in personal development, put it this way: "Effective communication is 20% what you know and 80% how you feel about what you know." Conviction matters. When you're passionate about something, that passion comes through and moves people.

Michael Dell picks up that thread directly: whether you've found your calling or you're still searching, passion should be the fire that drives your life's work. The journey matters. If you're enjoying the process and staying engaged, your passion will carry you through.

Tim Ferriss brings it to a sharp point:

Life punishes the vague wish and rewards the specific ask.

Stop wishing and hoping and start expecting and committing. Define exactly what you want, then go after it with precision.

Be Confident and Make Smart Choices

Daymond John encourages you to be confident in yourself and to be inspired by the success of others without being intimidated by it. You have real value to offer. Imposter syndrome is a distraction. Focus on your unique strengths and let the success of others fuel you rather than diminish you.

Gary Vaynerchuk closes the list with a simple statement about legacy:

Your legacy is being written by yourself. So make the right decisions.

Make smart choices. Too many people spend money and energy on things that don't actually serve their goals. Be intentional about where your time and resources go.

Action Steps

  • Each morning, ask yourself LeBron James's question: are you committed or are you not?
  • Identify one area where you have been avoiding difficulty, and move toward it this week.
  • Write down your specific ask, not a vague wish, for what you want to achieve in the next 90 days.
  • Trust your next gut decision and act on it rather than overanalyzing it.
  • Audit one area of spending or time investment and cut what does not serve your actual goals.

Success leaves clues. The people George highlights in this episode have each earned their credibility, and the advice they offer points in the same direction: take ownership, stay persistent, be bold, and commit. It's never too late to start living the life you were meant to live.

READ THE FULL TRANSCRIPT

Good morning, good afternoon. Today I want to talk to you a little bit about this phrase that you've probably heard several times, success leaves clues. You've probably heard that, I've heard that. Today I want to go through a really awesome article that I came across that has 16 tips from very influential people. These are tips that are going to be able to help you because they'll help you create your life, pivot in difficult times, and really take responsibility for your life. So I've got some great tips from these individuals for you today. and also don't miss out tomorrow on the Daily Mastermind Facebook page. We're going to be doing a live midweek mastermind. So join me on that and let's get right into it. Have a great day. All right, welcome back to the Daily Mastermind. George Wright III here with your daily dose of inspiration, motivation, and education. I am super excited today because we're going to be sharing 16 tips from the world's most influential people. Seriously, you know, amazing athletes, business gurus, media moguls. It's an article I came across in lifehack.org. That's a great site, by the way, for content. I'm really, really excited about these 16 tips because I can't think of a better just grouping of advice in order to pivot in the current marketplace, create success, and ultimately create your life. And so let's get right into it. There's 16 of these. The first one is by Melinda Gates, and it says, when you come to a point in your life when you see difficult things, don't look in the other direction. Move toward it. That's the movement when you can affect change. And this is a seriously important piece of advice because they tell you, and I've always said it, and I try to do this in my life, to lean in to difficulty, to lean in to challenges because those challenges are really opportunities. So that first one is embrace the possibility. The second tip is from Oprah Winfrey, and the tip is to challenge yourself. And Oprah says, do the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the second time. The only people who ever tumble are those who never mount the high wire. This is your moment. Own it. And I really love that advice because especially right now when things are difficult and things are going on, the second tip of challenge yourself is a great one from Oprah Winfrey. the third one is put yourself out there and that's from Richard Branson Richard Branson says put yourself out there to be successful you have to be out there you have to hit the ground running and this is huge because we've talked about the fact that you have to be in the game to be able to win at the game of life if you're not in the game there's just no shot anyway so you're going to miss 100 you're you're going to fail at 100 of the shots that you don't take right okay so number four is by Steve Jobs, another huge media mogul. Number four is hold yourself to high standards. Steve Jobs says, be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected, but that's what I believe going on to add my take. That's what I believe you have to do. Excellence has to be expected. Now don't let perfectionism keep you from moving forward. You've got to move forward. But Steve Jobs says, number four, hold yourself to high standards. Number five, number five is be persistent. This is a great one from Elon Musk, another amazing successful business entrepreneur Be persistent Persistence is very important You should not give up unless you forced to give up And that is really the rule for success. We know that failure is the price of success, but being persistent is really the key because you'll never fail if you don't give up, right? So I love that one by Elon Musk, be persistent. Number six is by George H.W. Bush, and it's serve others. He says, there could be no definition of a successful life that does not include service to others. Find something to do. Get off the bench. And this really relates directly to what I said yesterday when we were talking about making some changes. When we say one of the ways to get out of your head is to start focusing on service or thinking about other people rather than your past, your situation, your circumstances. So I love that number six, serve others. Number seven. Number seven is by LeBron James. and this is commitment. Commitment by LeBron James. He says there's that moment every morning when you look in the mirror, are you committed or are you not? And I think that's a great question to be asking yourself. You have to ask yourself, are you committed or are you not? Do you say you want success or do you want success? See, we all say we want it, but are you committed? So I love that number seven. Number eight, have a positive attitude. And this is by Sonia Sotomayor. I have never, ever focused on the negative of things. I always look at the positive. And that's the thing that I love the most about just going through life, right? Have a positive attitude because your attitude will determine your perspective and your filter on things. And your filter is going to create those emotions and feelings that will drive your actions. And so you have to have a positive attitude. It's definitely one of our prosperity pillars. Got to surround yourself with positive people as well. Okay, number nine. Number nine, and I know we're going quickly here today, but I want to get all these in for you. Number nine is by Walt Disney. And Walt Disney says, all of our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them. And the tip is be bold. Be bold by Walt Disney because all of our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them. If you don't pursue them, if you're not in the game of life, like I said, you're never going to win. You can't get your dreams if you don't actually get out there and put yourself out there and have the courage to pursue them. So I love that one as well. Next, we go to number 10. Number 10 is by Barack Obama. And number 10's tip is success doesn't come easy. And I think we know that, but success does not come easy. Barack Obama says progress will come in fits and starts. It's not always a straight line. It's not always a smooth path. So what I like about this is that if you expect the challenges, then they won't knock you off your game. If you expect the challenges, you're not going to be taken by surprise. You're going to look at them as opportunities. You'll be prepared for those challenges, right? So tip number 10 is success doesn't come easy. And I would add to that, just accept it and embrace it, okay? Now, number 11. Number 11 is by Barbara Corcoran. Many of you know her from the CNBC series Shark Tank. A lot of success there. And number 11 the tip is trust intuition I actually seen that a lot on Shark Tank but trust intuition She says don you dare underestimate the power of your own instinct And I think one of the problems we have as we go through life is we start to question our instinct more and more and more. So the key is trust your intuition because don't underestimate the power of that gut feeling, that innate nature that you have to be able to make the right decision. And then just go ahead and make the decision. Say yes and figure it out. If you say yes and figure it out, then you know that there's really no wrong decision because you expect failure, you'll move past failure, and you'll be persistent. So trust your intuition. Okay, tip number 12 is by Jim Rohn, one of the all-time greats, Jim Rohn. And he said, effective communication is 20% what you know and 80% how you feel about what you know. And the tip is learn to be a strong communicator. because I, this is a good one because we've used this in our quote of the day before. Learn to be a strong communicator because as he says, effective communication is only 20% what you know and 80% how you feel about it. And I believe this is that, you know, that conviction that you can put behind what you're passionate about. It's another reason why we talk about operating inside your unique talent because when you're, when you're actual about something, you know something, but you're passionate about it, that conviction will come through in a big, big way. And that leads us right to number 13 by Michael Dell. And number 13 is be passionate. Be passionate. Michael Dell says, whether you found your calling or you're still searching, passion should be the fire that drives your life's work. And I really like that advice. Let me read it again. Whether you found your calling or you're still searching, because many of you are still searching, passion should be the fire that drives your life's work. And this goes back to, I think too many people try to get caught up in what their unique talent should be or what their focus should be when really if you're enjoying life and you're enjoying the journey, then your passion will drive you through all of those. Your passion will drive you and your focus will change throughout life. But you've got to be passionate about that. And so I love that, number 13. Number 14, define what you want. Define what you want by Tim Ferriss. Like all time, you know, one of my favorite podcasts, best-selling author, New York Times author. Define what you want. Life punishes the vague wish and rewards the specific ask. Let me read that again. Life punishes the vague wish and rewards the specific ask. This is a common message. You notice here success leaves clues. Have conviction. Have passion about something. It's not about whether it's going to be the right or the wrong way. Stop wishing and hoping for things and start expecting and committing to things. And so I love that by Tim Ferriss. Number 15. We're getting to the end here. Number 15 is by Damon John, another Shark Tank, really, really successful entrepreneur. And the tip is be confident in yourself. Be confident in yourself. He says, be inspired by the success of others, but don't be intimidated by it. See, a lot of us fall into this imposter syndrome where we're afraid we're not good enough, we're not great enough. But if you focus inside your unique talent and you just realize that you have value for the world, he has some great advice because he says, be confident in yourself. and be inspired by others Don be intimidated by it Have that inspire you to be more because you can always be greater And so being confident in yourself I believe is one of the real big keys to being successful Confidence by far has to be one of those right Number 16 by obviously one of my favorites, Gary Vaynerchuk. Number 16 is make smart choices. I love how pragmatic he is. He says, your legacy is being written by yourself. So make the right decisions. And I love that quote for a couple reasons. Number one, that's the thing about Gary you'll know is that he doesn't need anyone, but he embraces everyone. And so your legacy is being written by yourself. Make the right decisions. And I think I would go on to say he commonly and often would say make smart decisions. So many of us are getting caught up in buying and spending money and investing on things that don't benefit us. They just make us look good or they're for the benefit of others. So make smart choices. So let me review those again with you real quick. I'll go one through 16. Embrace the Possibility by Melinda Gates. Challenge Yourself by Oprah Winfrey. Put Yourself Out There, Richard Branson. Hold Yourself to High Standards, Steve Jobs. Be Persistent, Elon Musk. Serve Others, George Bush. Commitment, LeBron James. Have a Positive Attitude, Sonia Sotomayor. Be Bold, Walt Disney. Success Doesn't Come Easy, Barack Obama Trust Intuition, Barbara Corcoran Learn to Be a Strong Communicator, Jim Rohn Be Passionate, Michael Dell Define What You Want, Tim Ferriss Be Confident in Yourself, Damon Johns And Make Smart Choices by Gary Vaynerchuk These are literally golden nuggets and I encourage you to go back through this whole episode and listen and think about each of these tips because we know success leaves clues, but these are literally words of wisdom, advice, and value bombs. And so implement each of these in your life. Get your mind thinking about these kinds of things. I appreciate you joining me today. Thanks for listening to the podcast. Do me a favor and download the free Daily Mastermind mobile app and you won't miss out on any of the blogs and podcasts and guests and interviews and things we have. You can get it on iTunes or Google Play. You won't regret it, I promise. It's serious on-the-go content for entrepreneurs. Once again, my name is George Wright III, and this has been The Daily Mastermind. Have an amazing day. Talk to you soon. Today's podcast was brought to you by Protect Wealth Academy and the three-day asset protection and wealth creation summit. I've worked with Protect Wealth for over two decades, and they are by far the longest running wealth creation and asset protection event in the nation. You know, so if you're interested in creating double-digit returns, you want to significantly lower your taxes or just protect yourself from lawsuit or judgments, then you definitely want to check out their event it's an unbelievable collection of you know america's greatest attorneys trainers experts all totally live over three days and it's worth thousands of dollars but i've arranged for you and any of the members of our mastermind community to attend the entire event all three days absolutely free you just need to go to the show notes i'll put a link in there for you to claim your two free tickets and there's only a couple of these per year and they sell out quickly so go grab two tickets to the next event take advantage of the offer. And remember, it takes a lifetime to accumulate wealth, but just a few days to protect it if you do things right. Anyway, have an amazing day and I'm glad this could be something of value for you.

About the host
George Wright III, host of The Daily Mastermind

George Wright III

George Wright III is an entrepreneur, investor, and the host of The Daily Mastermind. Over more than two decades he has founded and scaled several multimillion-dollar companies and built a renowned seminar business that put some of the world's biggest names and brands on stage. With 25+ years across marketing, sales, and executive leadership, he's made a career of turning bold ideas into results — and momentum into lasting growth.

Today his mission is singular: empower driven entrepreneurs everywhere to master their mindset, unlock their potential, and live their ultimate destiny. Through The Daily Mastermind, George shares the Prosperity Principles and strategies that help people create massive change — in their business and in their life.

MORE ABOUT GEORGE