About a week ago, I was up late at night indulging in one of my favorites vices. YouTube. As I made my way through the plethora of cute cat videos, angry political rants, and jaw-dropping montages of people doing awesome things, I came across a 3-minute video from Gary Vaynerchuk. A video that, I believe, has the power to change thousands of lives. As I watched this video over and over again, it made me realize something. Despite that fact that everything he touches seems to turn to gold (and hundreds of millions of dollars), the “King of Crush IT” is just a normal human being like you and me. Sure, he’s a social media giant, marketing guru, entrepreneur extraordinaire, and pathological hustler. But it’s pretty clear when you watch videos like this one that Gary is not a freak of nature or some sort of anomalous human being with superpowers that we mere mortals can only hope to possess. He’s just a normal everyday dude who understands exactly how the game is played. Tony Robbins, world famous high performance coach and success expert has made a fortune meeting, dissecting, and explaining top performers, and as he says, “Success leaves clues”. In today’s article, I’m going to dive into many of the “Clues” that Gary has left over the course of his almost three decade long entrepreneurial journey. While you might not like everything that you hear, I can promise you that if you are willing to pay attention, be humble, and learn from one of the best in the world, you can put yourself in a position where success becomes all but inevitable. Sound like a plan? Good. Let’s dive in. Gary’s Story in a Nutshell For those of you who aren’t familiar with Gary Vaynerchuk or his story, here’s a (very) condensed synopsis so that you understand why you should care about his tips for success. Born November 14, 1975 (a good Scorpio) in Babruysk, BSSR, Soviet Union. Moved to the US at age three, living with 8 other family members in a studio apartment in Queens, New York. The family then moved to Edison, New Jersey. Growing up, Gary had a lemonade-stand franchise. He also made thousands of dollars trading baseball cards on weekends. Joined his family’s retail liquor business at age 14. Took control in 1999 after graduating Mount Ida College with a bachelor’s degree. Changed the name from Shopper’s Discount Liquors to Wine Library. By 2005, he had taken the business online and annual sales catapulted from $3 million to over $50 million. Started Wine Library TV on YouTube in 2006. It went viral with daily wine reviews, tastings, and advice. He retired from video blogging in 2011. Started VaynerMedia in 2009 with his brother, a social media-focused digital agency. In 2016 VaynerMedia grossed $100 million providing social media strategy services to Fortune 500 companies. Invested in Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo, Tumblr and many other early tech phenomenon. Started VaynerRSE – a $25 million investment fund focusing on consumer technology, incubator, and angel funding. Founded VaynerSports in 2016, entering the sports marketing and agency business, one of Gary’s first loves. Estimated net worth of over $150 million. Has his sights squarely set on his first billion and ownership of the New York Jets. He’s only 41 as of this writing. Oh, and he’s also happily married with two children. Now that you understand a little bit more about his story, let’s dive into Gary’s advice for creating a level 10/10 life. Gary Vaynerchuk on the Knowledge for Men Podcast To find the first set of “Clues” to help me understand Gary’s rise to fame, I looked no further than the Knowledge for Men podcast and one of the earlier interviews that Gary did with Andrew. During this interview, Gary left 5 “Takeaways:” Learn to Love the Hustle – This is a consistent theme you will see among high-achievers. Pure and simple, they work harder than the also-rans. As Gary said in the podcast, “There’s not one minute (of his day) not allocated to…..ACTION!” Only Operate From Strengths – Outs