What Entrepreneurs Need to Learn from Will Smith
Will’s movies have earned over $5.7 Billion in global box office and in 2007 Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood. It’s safe to say to say he know something about making a dent in the universe.
It didn’t happen by accident. After Will got his started acting, he made the choice to become the biggest movie star in the world. The first thing he did was watch the 10 top-grossing movies of all time and looked for patterns among them. Will has said, “I study the patterns of the universe.”
The universe is not a thing that’s going to push us around… We are going to bend the universe and command – and demand – that the universe become what we want it to be.
– Will Smith
It strikes me that this exactly the ability required by entrepreneurs. Every entrepreneur has a vision for how the universe could be better, but successful entrepreneurs are able to actually change the universe to match their vision – just as Will Smith has done and continues to do.
So how does he do it? To find out, start by watching the Income Diary video below and keep reading for the five steps you can take to achieve your goals and bend the universe to your will.
Will Explains How to “Bend the Universe”
If you like this video, you can subscribe to IncomeDiary’s YouTube channel and be the first to watch future videos.
5 Steps to Bending the Universe
It’s a shame that Will Smith has never written a step-by-step guide to bending the universe. It would probably be an instant best-seller.
But by listening carefully to his words of wisdom, I’ve compiled five steps that has repeatedly Will emphasized as essential on the path to personal success.
The five steps take only a few moments to understand, but they take a little bit longer to actually seep into your consciousness and begin to make a positive impact on your life.
Step 1: Believe
The first step – before anybody else in the world believes it – is you have to believe it.
If you don’t believe in yourself and in your vision, then nobody else will either.
But, more importantly, your belief in the eventual success will guide your thoughts and your actions to actually make it more likely that your goals wills be accomplished. As Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right.”
Step 2: Make a Choice
Just decide what it’s going to be, who you’re going to be, how you’re going to do it. Just decide. And then, from that point, the universe is going to get out of your way.
Believing in something only works if you continue believing in it, week after week and month after month. That’s why it’s so important to make a definitive choice at the beginning of your journey. Just make sure that you choose something that you’re genuinely passionate about.
Once you’ve decided who you want to be, begin thinking and acting as that person.
Step 3: Change the Way You Think
Our thoughts, our feelings, our dreams [and], our ideas are physical in the universe.
Everybody knows that tables, chairs, and buildings are physical; they have a definite mass, volume, and shape. But thoughts, feelings, and dreams exist only in our minds. They’re metaphysical.
So has Will gone off the deep end?
Not exactly – thoughts may not be physical per say, but they do have physical consequences. When we change the way that we think about reality, it causes us to act in a way that changes reality.
The lesson is to be aware of our thoughts and to actively think in a positive way, a way that pushes us forward towards our goals.
Step 4: Work Hard
While the other guy’s sleeping, I’m working. While the other guy’s eating, I’m working.
Hard work is the key to success. It’s that simple.
Step 5: Lay One Brick at a Time
When Will was a 12-year-old kid, his dad gave him an impossible task: rebuild the brick wall in front of his business. It took Will and his little brother a year-and-a-half, but they built the wall.
How did a couple of little kids build a big brick wall? Will explains:
You don’t try to build a wall. You don’t set out to build a wall. You don’t say, “I’m going to build the biggest, baddest, greatest wall that’s ever been built.” You don’t start there. You say: “I’m going to lay this brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid.” And you do that every single day, and soon you’ll have a wall.
Building a successful business from scratch sometimes seems an insurmountable task – especially when you’re shooting to build the “biggest, baddest, greatest” business that’s ever been built.
But don’t be intimidated. Lay one brick every day – make a little bit of progress every day – and soon you’ll have built a successful business.
Read Next
-
7 Secrets To Writing A Best Selling Book That Sold 2 Million Copies! -
How To Sell A Website For The Most Money Possible -
What The Best Sales Closers Taught Me About Selling Online -
15 Business Lessons from Amazon’s Jeff Bezos -
Elon Musk’s 15 Lessons for Your Startup Business -
17 Reasons Why You Need To Join A Mastermind Group -
21 Key Principles For Success In Modern Business -
How to Be Like Mike: 21 Life Lessons from Michael Jordan
"Do Not Write Another Blog Post Until You Watch This Free Video..."
Watch this free video to learn...
- How I got over 10,000,000 people to visit my websites.
- The types of blog post that got me all that traffic.
- How to get someone else to do it for you!
Where should I send your video?
Please enter your email address
How We Get Over 64.73% Of New Email Subscribers
We first added a popup opt-in box to IncomeSup back in 2010. Today, it gets us more subscribers than our homepage opt-in, footer opt-in, sidebar opt-in and squeeze pages combined.
After seeing how well it worked for us, we decided to develop it into a plugin our readers could use. It's been so popular that over 60,000 websites now use it!
Click Here To Get Instant Access
Simply great.
Thank you so much.
Excellent way of coming up with high quality, entertaining, fresh and unique content.
You are miles ahead of the competing park man. I hope others can discern your way of thought and the talent therein.
You are amazing!
Thanks, Steve!
Conquer, command and demand what is possible……Be a member of life not a witness…. and overstand that the “HOW” in life is NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS>
Make something happen today people ……..
See it, Believe Achieve it
Then do it repeatedly
Good advice — I particularly like the idea of not being a witness. In life, there are no dress rehearsals.
There is no doubt the journey of an entrepreneur starts inside his mind.
Very well written and motivating article.
Yeah — I think it’s important to think from the inside out: focus first on your changing yourself, then look to change the world.
i love will smith
Me too.
Will’s wisdom is astounding. I like when he said, “Don’t ever let anybody tell you that you can’t do something: If you want something; go for it, period.”
He also reads The Alchemist and I hope every entrepreneur should read that book.
I think that’s actually a quote from “The Pursuit of Happyness” which was written by Steven Conrad. But you can hear Will’s conviction in the performance.
And yes — Will does recommend The Alchemist by Choello, which is a very worthwhile read.
This is one of the best business articles I have ever read! Very simple and straight to the point. Too often, people get caught up in the complexities of extensive planning. This is exactly what I needed for my website as well as my new position as a store manager in a business that’s in shambles. Great post!
Thank you for such high praise, Wes. Best of luck with that business — and come back and let me know if you put any of Will’s words to good use.
Fascinating post, Michael. I hadn’t read much about Will Smith’s take on success until now…very inspiring! No matter what our entrepreneurial industry, we can find our OWN “top 10 grossing” and look for patterns among them!
Exactly — there are patterns for every successful path.
I recommend Malcom Gladwell’s book Outliers, which is about the commonalities of successful people.
Hi Nick
This a great post and your tips at the end are very useful.
However, I can’t help but think that Will Smith says what he does because he’s somewhat of a massive ego-maniac.
Because he’s become so successful, perhaps his lack of humility has encouraged him to overlook one important factor in his and all of our success – that of luck.
I take on board all of your well made points, but it’s perhaps important to also highlight that nobody is an island – and we all need the support of other people, fortunate circumstance and good old fashioned luck as additional elements in the melting pot of success.
Will Smith undoubtedly works hard and has a charismatic personality (so do millions of others) – but for him to suggest he is ‘bending the universe’ to his, erm, ‘will’ – is to perhaps over estimate one person’s ability to change things completely on their own.
Having said all that though, I do agree in general with his great ability to think positively – it’s just that he maybe takes it a bit too far, crediting himself with ‘special’ character traits as the key to his success rather than acknowledging the help of his family, friends, luck and opportunity etc.
Just my two cents – thanks for a great post.
Loz
Very insightful. Thanks for peeling this back another layer.
You’re right that Will Smith is very lucky — and that maybe he overstates his case just a little bit. There’s no way that we could all be movie stars.
But I maintain that his message rings true for all of us. Each of us can make the most of the luck we’re given.
Wow. Very inspirational and very well written.
Great Post! I’ve learnt a lot from reading it.
Will is the best! I’ve seen all of his films! It’s no surprise he’s the most powerful man in hollywood, but what does surprise are the facts about him in this article. Thank you for sharing such in-depth and profound information!
I love his philosophy especially when he talks his persistence and how there is so much power in just deciding
I guess the fourth and fifth points are the least attractive but most important messages behind his success.
Wow! A”must-read” blog for all enterpreneurs. The virtual support – video is great experience. I duff my hat!
Will Smith is so right, nothing can happen without our will, thats how the world works.
Yea its really loaded and motivating Nick. Keep it up
Man, there’s some real power behind Will’s words. A guy who’s dominated the industries he’s involved in, and you don’t hear his words of wisdom too often. These 5 steps aren’t exactly unique, but the way he delivers them, and how it relates so directly to his career is just superb. I’m feeling pretty inspired after watching that video and reading this post. Awesome job putting this all together Nick!
I believe am ready to bend the universe, or ain’t I?
Points 4 and 5 are the important ones for me – most people are getting their heads around the importance of belief and committment, but are still struggling with the idea that it takes focus on hard work and excellence in every small step.
I love the concept of bending the universe to suit us. Much more elegant than putting a dent in it!
(not that I’d ever want to detract from Steve Job’s excellent Stanford speech)
Great article, thank you very much!
He makes some good points but I disagree that hard work is that much of a factor. Most wealthy people I know are pretty lazy, only a few are work-a-holics.
You get success by leveraging others work, not by working your fingers to the bone yourself.
I think that by ‘hard work’ what he is really means to say is ‘determination’. That is what makes him stay on the treadmill.
He got to where he is because of his attitude, not because he worked 18 hours a day.
Will is a believer and avid studier of the Laws of Attraction and the school of the New Thought. Amazing man who also studied how to make a “blockbuster” movie.. Sci-Fi + Light Hearted Comedy + Romantic Interest = Summer Blockbuster. An amazing man.
Will Smith is a great actor, he can do comedy and serious both roles. I have watched some of his popular movies. His thoughts are very.
Nick, great words of wisdom and 5 traits from Will that anyone can start and action right now.
No matter the critics and people that don’t like Will, you’ve got to admire that he didn’t become of the most known actors in history by playing Mr. Nice guy.
The guy has a range of talents that any great entrepreneur should take to heart right now and put it in motion.
Dwight Anthony
Financially Elite Blog dot Com
Nice Nick
I think another thing to remember is that even Will Smith took a tumble. As I recall that after the “Fresh Prince” he fell from grace (can’t recall the specifics, but it was monetary I think). The point is, you’re gonna get whacked along the way and you have to get back up
Cheers
Mark
Will Smith for President!!
Awesome article
thanks for sharing with us
I respect the Amish way of life, but no religious groups has the right to punish anyone in America with the exception of excommunication.
I like the article and yes you can do anything the you believe you can do with hard work and sticking with it. If other people did it, Learn “how” the did and work hard. I am glad for Will. He has nature talent and that is not learned; but he made it better.