Jesse Itzler

6 Simple Steps to Becoming Self-made

Episode #163

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“Everyday is a new day.” …unless you have a routine.

Then it’s just “eat, sleep, shit, repeat,” like they say in Billions.

“Don’t you want to create memories? Don’t you want to build your life resume and get as much out of life as you can?” Jesse Itzler said on my podcast.

He’s the co-founder of Marquis Jets, owner of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks, endurance athlete, former-rapper and now he’s an author.

“I didn’t have a resume,” he says. “I didn’t want to have a resume. I didn’t want to work for anybody.”

“I had no background, no experience and I had no connections.”

He’s self-made.

I don’t know who’s in charge of my life. Maybe me. I chose myself.

And I still do everyday.

But I also lend my life out. At least once every 24 hours.

“We’re constantly dodging arrows,” Jesse said. “Each arrow is time.”

“Routines are great, but they’re also a rut,” he said.

“I thought wow, this is amazing. I have great balance. I have a great routine. I’m in my routine. Everything is my routine…”

And he needed to get out of it.

So he did something crazy, which you’ll hear on today’s episode.

And you’ll learn his tricks to becoming self-made.

Then you can enjoy your life. I hope. And forget your resume too.

Listen to my podcast with Jesse Itzler.

Or read my notes here:

6 simple steps to becoming self-made:

A) Start before fear stops you.

Before he was a rapper, Jesse cold called record labels saying he was Billy Joel’s agent. Then he waited for them to call back and hear him rapping on his answering machine.

It didn’t work.

He had other crazy ideas. He tried them all until one finally worked.

“I’m just not scared of being embarrassed. I don’t like it, but I’m not scared of it,” Jesse says, “Once you give yourself that gift, you’re liberated.”

B) If you can’t control, confuse.

Jesse called Delicious Vinyl, “this really hot, independent label,” as Dana Dane, a huge rapper in the 90’s.

“They got really confused and I played on that confusion until the secretary came back on and said, ‘Dana, Mike will see you at 2 PM today if you want to come in.’ I buzzed myself in as Dana Dane and that was it.”

Jesse asked to play his music while they waited for Dana.

Dana wasn’t coming.

They said yes. And Jesse became a rapper.

C) Invite disruption

Anytime he wanted something, he raised the stakes. Or “Seal” did.

Seal is the specially trained Navy Seal Jesse invited to disrupt his routine.

He wrote a book about it, Living With a Seal: 31 Days Training with the Toughest Man on the Planet.

You might say he’s not self-made because someone trained him to be tough, form habits, and break down mental walls.

But you’d be wrong.

It takes mental toughness, grit, and courage to invite someone into your life and ask for help when you need it.

Which is the next lesson I learned from Jesse…

D) Ask for help.

Your life is talking to you.

Maybe knowing if you need help is the strongest starting point of all.

E) Build your mental toughness

Motivation doesn’t last. It’s a slutty, insatiable feeling.

“It comes down to mental toughness,” Jesse says. “Not motivation. Mental toughness.”

Listening to this interview will motivate you.

It will tease you.

And make you feel capable of 1. changing your routine 2. attacking your best idea 3. and becoming someone new.

I hope you do.

And you will… if you build your mental toughness.

Find out how on the podcast. (Skip to 37 minutes now to hear Jesse’s strategy.)

F) You can do better

I try to improve 1% a day.

It means I showed up. I invested in myself. And at the end of the day, I’ll sleep soundly.

But we can do more. Even at our best.

“When your brain says you’re done, you’re only 40 percent done,” Jesse says.

Jesse challenges himself everyday. He has a “f-ck it list.”

“Those are things that are challenging. Those are things that require preparation, training, planning, maybe failure, but those are the things that make me feel most alive,” he says. “Those are the things that really teach me about me”

Then “when the tough road comes, you’re not scared of it,” he says.

I do dares. I get lost. I wander.

I’m wandering right now. Each day is new.

Each day, I come home to myself and I recognize someone else. Someone new.

Someone self-made.

Listen to my interview with Jesse Itzler. And tweet us the parts that help you. @jaltucher and @the100MileMan.

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