Nov 6, 2018
Gary Vee Is Not The Problem
As I write this, the Internet is full of people hating on Gary Vee.
When he first came onto the scene with his book ‘Crush It’ he was a hero. People worshipped him and he took the shrink wrap of this new thing at the time, which no one understood, called social media.
Fast forward to today and Gary Vaynerchuk is hated and loved by many.
I have no problem with Gary Vee. He’s not the problem.
Gary’s message is pretty simple:
- Doing the right thing is always the right thing
- Respect, patience and humility are key
- You have to put in the work (entitlement is fucked)
Now I don’t know about you, but I think young Gary has something worth saying. How could any of those three messages be wrong?
The Internet seems to think differently
This is the same internet that is full of lies and people that have nothing better to do than find someone who’s doing a good thing and hate on them. Gary Vee is a perfect example of this.
He built a well-known digital agency.
He has a gazillion followers.
He does many keynotes to large audiences.
That makes him a target for the internet. The issue is not Gary Vee; the issue is the internet that makes it okay to tear someone down for doing nothing more than saying what they think and trying to help people.
Gary Vee is not the problem.
Watch a video and then reconsider
There’s no way in hell you could watch a Gary Vee episode on Youtube or a video of his keynotes and say he’s an asshole trying to screw the world up.
There’s no way that telling people to be patient and put in the work is an evil message that is inaccurate. The videos I’ve watched of Gary are definitely not full of advice that everyone can use or take advantage of.
His videos are full of love for other people, kindness and trying to show people how to do the right thing. Gary wears his heart on his sleeve and that’s what made him famous in the first place.
“He’s not trying to get more, but he is desperately trying to get each of us to see more of our own potential”
Gary Vee is not the problem.
Motivational quotes.
People hate on Gary for his motivational quotes.
The reason for that is that being optimistic is not normal. It’s far too easy to say that motivational quotes are stupid and don’t mean anything. Optimism is not stupid, though.
Motivational quotes are just a reminder to get out of your head and not be beaten down by the negativity in the world.
Motivational quotes are obviously not the answer to world hunger, but they’re not doing any harm.
We all need a reminder once in a while to stop complaining and being pissed off for no good reason at all. Optimism is useful.
Gary Vee is not the problem.
Fake Wine Business Myth
There have been many cheap shots thrown at Gary.
The worst one is saying that he took over his dads wine business and ‘had it made’ from day one. This is not true.
If that idea were true, then people who became millionaires from the lottery would still be rich today. The statistics show that getting money from something like the lottery is no guarantee of success.
Holding onto the money (or success) is the hard part.
If Gary’s dad were in charge the whole way through then the business would have probably been nothing more than a single retail wine store with zero internet presence — the Wine Library brand would be still unknown.
Taking an old school family business and making it into a highly successful eCommerce business was no accident. It was hard work and lots of trying new ideas.
You can’t take Gary’s success with Wine Library away from him.
It had nothing to do with his dad.
The secret to Gary’s message
When you help others, you’re the one that wins.
Gary is the living, breathing example of his message. He helps millions of people and that’s what has allowed him to live out his fantasy of building a successful business.
If you watch him coach people, he’s always trying to get people to get out of their head and closer towards being unselfish.
Gary knows like I’ve learned over the last five years, that helping people is the key to it all.
The benefit of helping people is:
- It feels good
- It gives you meaning for your life
- It allows you to compound your impact thus helping move humanity forward
That might sound like some big words, but that’s because helping people can really be an enormous superpower once you commit to practicing it, despite what the internet might tell you.
Gary built his empire by helping people.
Gary Vee is not the problem.
The root of the problem
And it’s not Gary Vee…
I wish it were that straightforward. Life isn’t.
The problem is this:
“Many of us waste so much time every day and never put in the years of work that it takes to do something we’ll end up being proud of.”
It’s easier to go have a drink with friends.
It’s easier to write hate comments on social media.
It’s easier to play video games.
It’s easier to travel the world and disconnect from reality.
The internet is forcing us to look for the easy answer.
If you understand what Gary is saying he’s trying to tell you that there is no easy answer. The internet doesn’t have all the answers.
The only way to get the answers for yourself is to actually put in the work and have a go at something that is meaningful to you. The life experience is where the answers come from.
You actually have to be prepared to:
- Make sacrifices
- Put in the work
- Fail a bunch of times
- And not have all the answers
Again, Gary says this over and over. Still, we fall for the lie that Gary’s the problem. He’s an easy target.
God forbid we actually took our focus away from blaming everyone else and took a long, hard look at ourselves and our own life.
“I took a long, hard look at myself back in 2011 and realized I was a pretentious, arrogant, ignorant, asshole — that realization was far more powerful than blaming Gary Vee for my failures and broken dreams”
Taking ownership and seeing who you are is the answer.
Gary Vee is not the problem.
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