My name is Jenny A. Hansen, and I’m coming at you from Utah. And my question is, do
you go with your passion, or do you go with
what you’re good at? I’ve been doing
nails for 12 years, my grandmother did
nails, my aunt did nails, and there aren’t any decent
nail salons in my area. So, do I open a nail salon? Or do I go with my passion,
which is more in consulting? Which, consulting
salons would be good. But again, there aren’t any
good nail salons in the area. So, what are your thoughts? Thanks for the show,
thanks for your work. Thanks VaynerMedia. – Jenny, thanks
so much for the question. Look, I mean
I’m a big fan, Jenny, and I think you know
this, of practicality. Awfully hard, Jenny, to
consult for nail salons where there are none, or there
are none that are good enough that would actually
pay a consultant. So, I think your
options are you can move, and go to LA, New York,
Philly, you know, places where there are more, or you open a salon. You’re a young lady, so I think you have
time and a long career. Maybe you open up
one for a little while, build up some dollars,
some equity. It’s easy for me to say go move. Maybe you’ve lived in
Utah your whole life, your whole family’s
there, everybody’s there, you’ve gotta be there. You can consult virtually. It is 2016,
technology has caught up. I wrote a book
in 2009 called Crush It!, and it became successful,
and it started a huge debate in my ecosystem
of passion over skills. I don’t think anybody
can answer that question for any of you
watching right now. Really, I don’t. I think what you need to do is deploy as much
self-awareness as possible. I do believe,
it’s why I wrote Crush It!, it’s why I’m thinking about writing a follow-up
to Crush It! right now. I do believe that
there’s nothing greater than being able to do the thing you’re most passionate about. And I think that
if you’re blessed, and you’re able to make
the most money that way, and I actually
think I’m in that category, well then that’s like nirvana. But, I do think that a lot
of people should consider, I am of the camp,
and you know what, that’s the question of the day. Where do you sit in this camp? In the comments,
lets sit on this one. Where do you sit in this camp? Here is my theory, that if
you make $130,000 a year doing something you don’t
love as much, or at all, versus making 89 and loving it, that you should
always go with B. Now, people could say,
that’s easy for you to say, because I have student loans, because I have all
these other headaches. I have a weird
thesis that that 89, because you’re so happy and you’re willing
to work 18 hours a day, becomes 131 over time. And 130 becomes
fired or flat forever. I really do believe that
passion works out that way. And I’m not a secret,
I’m not Oprah. I’m not like sunshine
and rainbows, especially not after the
fuckin’ Jets miss an extra point and lose by one point. I just think it’s practical. I just think being happy
brings a better energy and a work ethic. Listen, I don’t know
if you’ve heard, I believe in work. And I believe the easiest way
to work is to fuckin’ love it. And so, I think, Jenny, you
should go with your passion, I just don’t think that it’s
practical for everybody. I think a lot of people’s
passion is to become the biggest rapper in the world. I think a lot of people’s passion is to
become a supermodel. I think a lot of
people’s passion is to become
a professional athlete, or the next great
director, or this or that. I think people
are completely tone-deaf to their actual skill sets, and they make up ludicrous,
unachievable goals, which then means the blueprint
is broken from the get, which means they
have no shot at victory. So, I think if your passion is to be the greatest
rapper in the world, you should deploy some
self-awareness around, maybe your passion should be being around the greatest
rappers in the world, if you have no flow. You know? I don’t know. I think there’s
a lot of things, Jenny. I think self-awareness, I think recognizing
you only live once, realizing how
much regret is poison. And just really,
and really, Jenny, I’ll give you a
really good answer, try your passion. I’ll give everybody
a good answer, try your passion for two years. What’s gonna happen? Your debt’s gonna compound? It’s not the end of the world, I mean you can
always get practical. You could always get practical.

do you think it’s a bad idea to
give your boss a heads up before receiving job offers so they
can prepare for your departure? – I think that’s every single person. You know,
that’s a tough question. A very smart question. To me, I wouldn’t tell them. I just think it’s a
survival of the fittest kind of thing. Like if you think
it’s a vulnerability that you’re not
gonna be able to find. Like I just don’t, that to me that’s
the risk thing. I just wouldn’t do that, because if they reacted poorly, even after five years,
thank you very much. Thank you, that’s very nice. Thanks Tyler, it made it! You know, I, I wouldn’t do that because that
could get you to zero, and I, you know, don’t forget, they fire you on the spot, then you start taking a job that you don’t necessarily
want just to pay. And now you’re
in a two year cycle of having crappy jobs. Like it could turn
into a whirlwind. Now, if your moral compass
is going off inside, like crazy and
you can’t sleep at night, then do you. Like, I just think everybody’s different. To me, doing the right thing is always the right thing and if for you
that’s the right thing, then that’s fine. But make sure that’s
the right thing for you, not the way your
mom sees the world, or your friends or anybody else. That has to be your decision. And if you’re okay
with the consequences, I’m okay with
the consequences of speaking the way I speak. Meaning, I leave lots of money on the table for cursing. I’m okay with that. You have to be okay
with the consequences. I hate people that are ideological, and then when they have
to face the consequences, they regret. You know, it’s the right thing. What’s the name? – [India] Erik. – Erik, it’s the right thing to do sounds good on paper. If it’s truly the right
thing to do for you, then great, then do it. But, if it’s not,
and then you get fired, and then you don’t
have another job, and who what? You showed a couple of people, “you’re a good guy?” Like, I think a lot
of people front. – [India] Interesting.
– Yeah. – [India] That’s actually not
what I expected. – You expect me to say,
yeah say it? – [India] Yeah. – It’s easy for
me to say, though. Right? By the way,
I wouldn’t do it, India. And people don’t do
it here all the time. Like, I know two
people right now that are actively on
the way of going out. And I don’t, I’m not
mad at them, I get it. Like, you know… I’m not
paying their mortgage. I’m not feeding their family. You know business is,
businesses fire. Like, you know, right? So, I don’t know, I get it. But I’m giving
the real answer here. I think that everybody’s different. But I definitely would
not tell my boss. I would work on it, get the job, and then I would go. That’s why I’m not a hypocrite. I never get mad when
people do that here. I understand, you know.
– [India] Yeah. – It’s scary. You know how
many people are living in this crazy, big, city, that we can now see. It’s expensive,
and they’re on their own, and they’re parents
couldn’t help them, and you know,
like, that’s scary. And then what
I really get sad is, people have done that here, people have quit,
without having a job, not for that reason, but for different reasons. And then they go
into a crappy job, ’cause they’re just scared, they’ve held off
for a couple months, but now they get really scared, and they take anything. And then they’re like, two years step back, you know? Alright…

finished i hope they serve beer and how
lot has changed what you do it all again of course I
mean I’m not here right I was trying to do a lot of things differently but you
like what’s the number again in a noble shit
way because I’m doing this because I think you could you know there’s no
other way for me to be beautiful but it but knowing that like again that’s all I
was happy when you’re like a like I want to go to like a place like I know you’ve
been on so many different things like like in a very fucking real way like what’s the one core thing you think
you can do stiffer um i would realize a lot earlier that it’s not about me right
now even though I’m really good at doing that with my heart like my stories even
though about me if you read all my books we
don’t know very much about me at all you know a lot about things that
happened to me and you’ve laughed a lot of really enjoyed it but i don’t i don’t
burn the reader with nonsense about me because people reading my books want to
be entertained they’re not trying to learn deep about my emotions whatever
right but in the way I meet business decisions
early in my career I was arrogant and stupid and I made most amazing so you
have the leverage it so there was a movie made about my first
book that movie should have done a hundred million or more the box office
and it did like two million and because of my arrogance and hubris and he wanted
to impose certain things that your creative control over I mean yeah it really was like writing
is a very singular art right it’s also i got and I don’t have anyone else help to
the brush your book to make a movie it’s a whole group of people and that
even the smallest movie ever is still being people went into that place of
like look a lot of the guys on business like right holding tight and and I did
because of that I picked the wrong director i picked most of the wrong
production you pick Danny people no I with my pic guys you made it might
have been just my vision which would be better than water water because it
became a Frankenstein yeah it was a print yet exactly and and
I picked a lot of people who told me what I wanted to hear early on but had
their own agendas for and I was blind to it and I was so caught up in myself my
own ego that I screwed up a really massive opportunity for myself sure it’s going to change that and that
goes for a hundo different things well I know it’s funny people always ask
me my biggest mistakes and I was trying to come up with something because i
don’t like to think about my mistakes I actually like this respect my mistakes
it’s a very interesting thing like I recognize them right but I give them no fucking energy
like I really like cool mistake you go over there right to you but no question
my biggest mistakes of the things that I passed on and and done no like it was interesting to
think about like that did not happen right like I could have been a judge on
Top Chef I could have done all these other
business shows like there’s a lot of things you know that i always think
about the things that I haven’t done the investing right I’ve done well but
passing on twenty twice was the clear one window to
everybody but everybody having that all right let’s go daniela asks I’m an immigrant with an
entrepreneurial dream all my parents

“that you don’t know how
to answer for yourself?” – Yeah, there are some
questions I don’t know how to answer myself. The number one being,
when you pay forward, when you take 15 minutes
to speak to a former employee to help them with
their next career move because they made a
mistake in leaving Vayner, not you Claire, but like, you know, I question if all these paying
forward, doing the right thing, will I one day,
when I’m not the height of my power and execution, or when I run out of time and don’t achieve the things that I should have achieved,
or will I re-context and say, cool, I made these things, but I’m also a great person and everybody showed up to my funeral, like I’m most wondering, will I ever have a moment where I become bitter or regretful
of the disproportionate amount of non-value for
me, things that I do. And the question really becomes, which one am I more full of shit on, that I wanna buy the New York Jets, or that I want everybody
to show up to my funeral. I’ve two very opposing pulling actions in my life, which is, I
wanna be this very likeable noble great dude that
everybody talks about at the dinner table. I want all of you, I
literally, this is so sick. I desperately want the three of you to like tell your
grandchildren about this great man that you worked with. I mean it.
I really do. It’s so important to me. But to do that, you have
to do so many things that are not in your
best interest financially in the short term, and I’m just curious, the thing that I don’t
have answered for myself is when I’m dying, and
I’d like to by the way, I’d like to not suddenly die. I prefer to die a little
bit slower so I can ponder, because I like pondering. When that’s happening,
or at least I think so so right now, maybe when I’m a hundred and four, but (beeps) this. Shoot me in the head, kids. (laughs) When I’m pondering it, I’m so curious. Because one’s gonna have to give. I’m trying to walk the tightrope, and boy, I think I’m really doing a solid job. But I’m not sure, the
question I don’t have answered for myself is if I’m gonna like the way I played it. Because I’m consciously playing it. I’m so in tune with
what’s going on with me. Am I gonna look back and be like, good job? Because everytime, I just turned 40, I look back at 20 or 30,
I look back at 30 or 40, and I guess that what
I’ll probably always do, because what’s pretty
consistent now is there’s a lot good, there’s things you’d nitpick. I’m sure everybody does that. The regrets, can I minimize the regrets. Because I think having regret is the most unfortunate thing. Meeting a 70, 80, 90,
100 year old who regrets. Regrets that they didn’t have more fun. Didn’t spend more time with their family. That’s the cliche one. But you’d be surprised how many people regret not doing more for themselves. So I don’t know.

“but don’t come close to
achieving what I want, “will I have wasted my time?” – Go Chase. You can ask it again. – One more time. – [Voiceover] Malik asked,
“If I pursue what I think “is my passion, but don’t
come close to achieving “what I want, “will I have wasted my time?” – No because there’s really
only one thing in life is doing exactly. – The Jets, sorry go ahead. – Which is doing exactly what
you’re supposed to be doing. That doesn’t come from out here. I’ve lived this exact problem. I did what everybody else wanted me to do for the first chapter of my life. – Who was that? That your parents? – The world. – I agree, the market, the market. – Supposed to be a doctor, a lawyer or in some shit or something else and I literally. – Guys by the way who
are watching were old. Back then doctor lawyer was like. – You’re so smart. – Doctor, lawyer. – Yeah, respect. – When’s the last time an 18 year old now is like you should be a doctor or a lawyer. That’s like. – That profession is
going to run out of people to do the work. – It’s insane. That just took me to such a weird place. You should be a doctor or a lawyer or an accountant. Accountant was in the mix. – That was the list. My parents were amazingly supportive. This didn’t really come from my parents. But just culturally that’s where. – Your friend’s parents were sort a son of a bitch, right. I fucking hate the friends’ parents. – The counselor at school. – I never went to my
guidance counselor, ever. Four years of high school, never went. – They don’t know shit. They’re living in a different era. I don’t want to disrespect those folks. – I disrespect different era. – Different era. That being said I serve somebody else for a long time. Emotionally mentally
even trying to reconcile being an artist and athlete. That was because I was paying attention with the culture wanted for me. But that’s all bullshit. There’s only one thing. – Go ahead. Get them both. – You’re right there. There’s only one thing. You doing what you’re supposed
to be doing in the world. You can pay your dues. I have a lot of respect for working hard, digging ditches, doing stuff to survive. Practicality you call it. But let’s be real, you have to do the things that’s in here. Otherwise you’re just burning time. – I’m going to throw in addition, yes. In addition. – You always say yes and that’s what you’re supposed to do. – Is that the improv thing? – Yes, yes. – No but I will say this. (laughter) Countercultural Mike. Mike is just my fake name for general people. Self-awareness. My big thing more than anything is
do not live on regret. So I definitely am also on team being happy will always trump more money at the end at the end at the end. So I try to play that way. Luckily for me mine collided together. But if you know you. And you know like money like money. Like money. Like you just are obsessed by money. Then maybe you should do the thing that makes you the most money because you wouldn’t sit there one day and say damn I wish I was an artist. Now if you’re the other way. – That’s like this in here and you have to be honest
what you want to be. Do you want to be a needlepoint expert. But you want to make 10 million dollars. – That’s fake. – Those two things don’t go together. So you’ve got to be real. – I mean it’s self-awareness
like a reverse engineer yourself to not have regrets. Having regrets in your
70s, 80s and 90s is literally to me the worst thing that can happen in life for sure. – What’s the asker’s name? – Malik. – Malik, seriously in here. The answers are all in here. – Chase I will say this though and this is something
I’ve spent a lot of time with the show on. – Are we really going to go here? – Yes.
– Ok. – I do believe that you and I got lucky by having self-awareness and emotional intelligence isn’t you know. – It’s the new black. – For sure. By the way. It’s always been the black. It’s just being put front and center. – For sure. I just want to make sure
we’re giving practical advice saying like follow from what’s in here. I have family members who
literally have no fucking idea what’s in here. I know them cold. They have no idea. – That’s actually thing one is
you’ve got to figure it out. And the way they figure out is to live your life, get in adventures and do stuff. – You know what. I’m so on that. Test and learn between 20 and 30 to me is hot. I’m hot on this idea that if you really want to live the best life you can live. The new game plan is from 20 to 30 test a lot of things because the downside the risks you could go risky. You’ve got bigger upside than downside. – Classic Richard Branson. Mitigate the downside. That’s literally why Creative Live exists. So you can take thousands classes from the world’s best people. And you can literally dabble. And it’s not just dabble in community college, you’re taking it from
Pulitzer Prize winner, New York Times bestseller, this guy. Smart, smart people. Get you hands dirty. – We’re going to use for 17 hours Let’s go, India. (inaudible)

What gets you out of bed in the morning? Like, what’s the main
purpose of what you do? – For me, it’s pulling at
two opposite directions. One is very noble and one is very selfish. One, I’m aware, and even
before Alex, like, I’m aware that my biggest fans are the
ones that have felt the effects of all of my free information, and it has fundamentally
changed their lives. – Yup. – The thought that a human
being could stand right now and say, Our hap, like,
our great thing is based on the blueprint that
you put out to the world, that is mind-blowing. The selfish part is, I want to win. I wanna, I wanna, I wanna grow, I wanna build big businesses,
I wanna buy the New York Jets, I want to accomplish
things, I want stuff for me from a legacy standpoint,
not necessarily the money, but that I’m that guy, that
I created the blueprint, the future business and
marketing, and I wanna build an empire, an empire, on goodness. – Right – You know, when I look at
the way Steve Jobs’ position, he was a genius and
everybody looks up to him, but he wasn’t great to people. I don’t want that. I want to be the version of
that where everybody also comes to my funeral because
I was such a good guy. – Okay, second one, can I go first? – Can you go, yeah. – Okay, so what’s one question
that nobody’s ever asked you but you ask yourself all the time. – You know, I always ask,
the question that nobody can ask me that I ask myself is, my own personal question of, Am I happy? The biggest fear I have in
life is that I don’t accomplish the things I think I’m
entitled to based on my talent, and that as I get older,
I become more bitter. But it’s easy for me now
to give away so much, but if I’m 80, and I didn’t get there, am I going to look back
for 60 years and say, ah, it’s because I didn’t
throw enough right-hooks, it’s because I didn’t get my fair share. And so, I’m always asking myself, are you okay with what you’re doing? Are you okay with what you’re doing? Because you’re putting
yourself in a position where you might be regretting
what you’ve decided to do, and so, I fear that, and so, that’s the question I ask myself. – Thank you.
– Yeah.