Message to the Class of 2020

Grant Cardone
The 10X Entrepreneur
4 min readMay 1, 2020

When I graduated high school over 40 years ago, I didn’t know what my dreams were.

I had no direction.

I went on to waste my time in college because I wasn’t committed to it.

I was using drugs and alcohol.

So, as you graduate and begin your new life, let me be the first to tell you:

Leave all drugs and alcohol alone.

It wastes your time and creativity.

You don’t need the assistance of any drugs or alcohol to feel better or have a great life.

Instead, you need new friends.

People that are creating and doing things.

People who are seeking to do better.

Have you got your free books from me? Click HERE and I’ll ship you one

When I graduated, I was around people who were destroying themselves and others.

That’s what a lack of purpose will do to you.

Without purpose, the world is your prison.

Don’t think that just because you don’t have to go to school any longer you’re free.

You will end up replacing one prison you hate (public school/ University) for another prison you hate (your life).

In fact, the entire middle class is in prison, trapped by old ideas that are no longer relevant for 2020.

At school, you dream about NOT having to go to school anymore.

But a normal person, working a normal job, taking normal levels of actions, will not be a millionaire…but rather a middle-class inmate NOT being able to go where he wants to go when he wants to go.

Life can be similar to school, right?

Now you enter the real world, and let’s face it: $8 bucks, $12 an hour, what does it matter? Even at $15 an hour, you need to be looking for more money because there is no money leftover at that wage.

$15 an hour is $28,000 a year. You cannot raise a family on that.

Train on Sales and Business Inside Cardone University Free — -> click here

I understand how tough it is.

I worked at McDonald’s and I didn’t deliver — I wasn’t worth the $7 an hour they paid me. I didn’t deliver because I was not committed. I didn’t deliver, I wasn’t great, so they threw me away and fired me and replaced me with somebody else who would work for seven bucks.

You have got to get great or nobody will ever pay you real money.

There is no money in being average. There is no pay-off.

Even people that start good businesses often fail because the world is brutal.

You have to get great and committed.

Life isn’t fair and neither is business.

Your education hasn’t stopped — it should be just beginning.

Never stop learning and educating yourself.

I read every day, study, skill up and work to stay ahead of the market.

Today’s marketplace is changing at the speed of light and you need to be nimble in order to be successful. Speed is power. Get great — and get fast. Patience is not a virtue.

Your high school diploma means nothing in the marketplace — and rarely does your University mean much except to maybe get your foot in a door.

You need to bring value to the world.

Don’t stay with your parents — go and get a job. I know it’s going to be tough in this COVID-19 economy. So you’re going to need to 10X it:

Decide that you are going to get a job where you want and eliminate other options.

Treat unemployment like the plague. Your job after graduation is to go out and get a job, even in the worst economy of your lifetime.

Nothing is beneath you right now — you’re JUST graduating. Find out who knows the players in the company you are shooting for and get yourself in front of the decision makers of that company — if you can’t do it in person do it digitally.

Companies are interested in revenue, so plan how you can bring them that.

Walk the extra mile and never fly under the radar. Go the extra mile. Don’t lower your targets because your goals seem too big. Seek freedom, not comfort.

Have an “I-have-to-get-it-done-now” mentality. Let others sleep like they’re rich while you’re up like you’re broke — because you are.

Be committed to success as your duty, obligation, and responsibility. Have the mantra of, “If it’s going to be, it’s up to me.”

I’d say good luck, class of 2020…

But the reality is you will have to create your own luck!

Be great,

GC

--

--

Grant Cardone
The 10X Entrepreneur

CEO of Cardone Capital, international speaker, entrepreneur and author of The 10X Rule. Founded the largest business conference in the world, the 10XGrowthCon.