The Bulls&*% That Gary Vee Said

All I can say is “WTF?”

I was just about to turn over and take a short nap when I saw a quote on a Gary Vaynerchuk video. I don’t know if he was quoting someone else, or this was one of the frequent one-liners that made me continue watching his videos.

Gary is one of those guys you either love or hate and I admit that I have caught flak before from a few snobby writers who regard Gary as beneath them. But the guy speaks to me on a level that others don’t. Maybe it’s because he is close to my age, but I love hearing him talk.

The quote said, “Adversity is the foundation of success.” It took me by surprise and I was like, “WTF?” I’ve heard this before in other forms and every time I always think, “That’s great, but when does the adversity stop and the success start?”

I mean, I am 55 years old and have survived mental illness, suicide attempts, divorce, the death of my brother, a challenging 2^nd marriage, getting a college degree, and so much more stuff that can only be described as bullshit.

When does the success happen? Will it happen when I am so old that I can’t enjoy it? Will it be when I am already dead and only my family can appreciate how fucking hard I worked my whole life?

I really hope it happens soon because I don’t know how much more foundation I am willing to build. I am frankly tired and fed up with having so much foundation.

Have I just not done the right things? I feel like I have done nothing but push myself to the limit, looking for success, but should I have done more? Should I have sacrificed another family in my quest for success? Do I have to lose 3 more kids? Do I have to keep pushing my body so much that no amount of plant-based goodness will ever fix me?

I wish someone would just take me aside and say, “Jason, I can’t watch you keep spinning your wheels, here is the answer!”

I wish someone would tell me what I am doing wrong.

Is my wife correct when she says that maybe some people are not meant to be successful? Am I too nice to be a billionaire? She says that people like me fail because I am too nice.

Is she right?

Is the reason I am not a success because there is a moral line I will not cross? Am I not going to be rich because I am not willing to take the last dollar of a grandma in Boise, or the life savings of a retired coal miner from Virginia?

Am I wrong to feed that guy who sits outside 7-11 when I go to buy my Coke Zero? Most of the time all he wants is a boiled egg, should I instead walk by him, get in my car, and put those 100 pesos in the bank?

I don’t know if I can do that.

Is the reason I am poor, and Bezos is a billionaire because he is willing to let people work themselves to death for him, selling cheap garbage no one needs and I am not?

Of the 100 businesses that I have started over the last 30 years, why didn’t one of them make me money? Did I give up too easily, did I move on too quickly? Did I just not have that spark that separates the have’s from the have-nots?

I don’t want to sound like a whiny little bitch, but what have I been doing wrong all these years?

I feel like such a failure.

I am so embarrassed that I have learned so much about so many things but cannot turn that knowledge into a foundation that will make me a financial success.

Am I the one guy that Gary Vee doesn’t know about that is only destined to have adversity and no success?

I have more foundation than I will need for 4 lifetimes. When does the success start?