My guest today is David Meltzer, entrepreneur, speaker, author, and CEO of Sports 1 Marketing. His personal objective in life is to “make a lot of money, help a lot of people, and have a lot of fun.”
Takeaways from the episode:
- Pursue your potential by being of service to others. Dave openly acknowledges that his “me first” mindset led him to be surrounded by the wrong kinds of people with the wrong kinds of ideas, ultimately resulting in complete financial failure. Through the support of his wife he changed that mindset to one of gratitude, and now wakes up every morning and asks God to put ten people in front of him to help. This has opened his eyes to new opportunities as he finds ways to give others what they need every day.
- Detach your happiness from the outcome. Enjoy the pursuit of happiness, instead of waiting for the next event—graduation, landing the perfect job, making the perfect deal—to occur.
- Mentors are important. Dave tells people all the time that “if you want to be successful, always have three mentors.” Picking mentors that are in the situation you want to be in will accelerate your career and carry you on to future mentors.
After spending only a few minutes in his company, it is apparent that having “lots of fun” is not difficult for Dave. Dynamic and engaging, Dave was told as a child that he could sell ice to an Eskimo, and his career path indicates that he might have succeeded had he ever been put in that situation. His first job out of law school was selling legal research online for West Publishing, a position intended for individuals with at least four years of litigation experience. Years later, he was made the CEO of Leigh Steinberg Sports & Entertainment, the world’s most notable sports agency, only 48 hours after meeting Leigh Steinberg himself.
But while success appears to come naturally to Dave, he admits that his priorities became skewed over time, resulting in financial ruin and an emotional plea from his wife for him to look at who he was and what he wanted to become before he lost his family as well. This moment created a paradigm shift for Dave, leading him to focus on others and how he could best serve their needs instead of his own.
I figured out this idea that, “What if I was of service?” And part of being of service isn’t just, you know, walking the streets of Calcutta giving away everything I had, but asking people what they needed. Not telling them what you had…so I started surrounding myself with the right people and the right ideas…and asking “what do you need?”
Join Dave and I as we discuss happiness, mentors, and how to pursue your potential through an attitude of gratitude. Listen on iTunes or in the player above, and if you enjoy the show, please consider clicking here to leave us a review.
Links from the Episode & Transcript
- Dave Meltzer
- Sports1Marketing
- Vaynersports
- Fifty for Fifty Campaign / Unstoppable Foundation
- Crescent Moon Foundation
- Connected to Goodness: Manifest Everything You Desire in Business and Life by David Meltzer
- Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
- Think and Grow Rich film
- Bob Proctor – Proctor Gallagher Institute
- Junior Achievement Worldwide
- Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch
- The Playbook
- The Power of Intention by Dr. Wayne Dyer
- Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch on Indiegogo
- Compassionate Capitalism: Journey to the Soul of Business by Blaine Bartlett and David Meltzer
- Vaynermedia
- Gary Vaynerchuk on The Playbook
- Disrupt Yourself Podcast – Episode 31: Claude Silver
- Download the first chapter of Build an A Team
