BOOK SUMMARY 30 Crush
It
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Summary written by: Alyssa Burkus
“My secret is that I live by three pretty simple rules: Love
your family. Work super hard. Live your passion.”
- Crush It!, page 2
If there was ever an example of pure passion
and sweat equity transforming into success and a viable business, Gary
Vaynerchuk is it. With his inaugural book Crush It.
“Gary Vee” comes into his own as an
authority on taking what you love and developing it into something remarkable.
Vaynerchuk has a simple manifesto for
success. Being passionate about what you do is important, but it needs to be
combined with extraordinary effort in order to achieve the results you’re
seeking. That effort though, can’t be at the expense of relationships,
particularly with your family. It sounds like he is prescribing the ultimate in
an impossible combination of work/life balance, but the message of his book
shows that working with discipline and intention allows you to achieve the mix
you need. He wants you to conquer the world – or “crush it” in Gary’s language
– but not at the expense of creating a meaningful life. His advice helps us
achieve both.
The Golden Egg
The Importance of Combining Passion with Productivity
"Ultimately
this book is not about making a million dollars, although it just might help
you do that. It’s about ensuring your own happiness by enabling you to live
every day passionately and productively. Business is not just about making
money, and if you think it is, you’re broken."- Crush It!, page 13
We all have those amazing ideas in the shower
or when we least expect it. Ideas for a new product, service or business that
might just change the world. A smaller percentage of us might take that idea
and start to think more about it, but never take it beyond the idea stage. But
thinking won’t bring it to life, and as much as we may have passion for our
ideas, a very small percentage of people will combine ideas with lots and lots
of hard work, and are ultimately the ones who might have a chance of bringing
those ideas into fruition.
The passion side of the equation is important
to think about too. When you are excited about your work, whether as an
employee or business owner, your enthusiasm must extend beyond your excitement
for profits. What excites you most, to the point that you’re willing to consume
every waking hour working on it? What are you looking to create? What
relationships are you building? How are you making the most out of every day?
These are questions you need to contemplate and revisit on a regular basis.
Passion and productivity are just the
starting point. Vaynerchuk’s recipe for success has additional elements as
well.
Gem #1
Authenticity, the Key Ingredient
"Watch
me for two seconds and you know exactly who I am and what I stand for.
Authenticity is key."-
Crush It!, page 31
Arguably the single most beautiful element of
the online world is that it allows you to connect with millions of people who
share your same passions and interests. Everyone can connect with
everyone, making the world a much smaller place. This is a
double-edged sword of course – it’s great in the sense that you’re now able to
find companies (both potential employers and clients) that have a passion for
what you do more easily than ever before. It also means that the
competition can find them more easily too. So how do you
differentiate yourself from the masses? Do something
unique. Do something uniquely you.
There are a lot of unauthentic people out
there – people doing what they “think” they should be doing, and saying what
they think you want to hear. Genuine authenticity is
refreshing. It stands out. More than finding someone with
the right skill sets or experience, people really just want to connect with
other passionate, genuine human beings. It’s amazing how far you can
get by being genuine about who you are.
Take a chance this week – let down your walls
and speak openly, honestly. Be raw and imperfect. People
will respond to it. Just watch.
Gem #2
Meaningful relationships will become your legacy
"Making
connections, creating and continuing meaningful interaction with other people,
whether in person or in the digital domain, is the only reason we’re
here. Remember that, set the tone, build legacy."- Crush It!, page 131
For all your efforts, endless hours and
really hard work, Vaynerchuk’s cautions us not to forget about relationships.
It is so easy to bury ourselves in work and justify that we are in business
building mode, but connecting to others in our community is really what the
core of our business should be. Think about your business on a 20-year time
horizon. It won’t be about your product sales in year five that your remember
most; you’ll likely remember the people you met and connected with along the
way. Maya Angelou, the great American poet, tells us that people won’t remember
what you did, they’ll remember how you made them feel.
Work
your guts out. Crush It is not just a book, it’s an
attitude. It’s an invincible, “try and stop me”, taking on the world with a raw
passion sort of mentality. You have to know your stuff. But at the end of the
day, it’s all about who works the hardest. If you want to make a name for
yourself, if you want to get ahead (and stay ahead) of the massive competition
base, you need to be willing to (in Gary’s words) “work ‘till your eyeballs
bleed.” But don’t do it at the expense of relationships. Creating
meaningful relationships, especially with those you love, will make the journey
much more profound.
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