Robert Herjavec
Appearances
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
I was just very lucky. Like you and I talked about it. I got to learn from a guy named Harry Rosen, who was a legend in Canada, one of the biggest men. And he was just a nice human being. So I went there to buy a suit. And it was like, this is a long time ago, it was like $1,200. $1,200.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
And I'm like, oh my God, I can't afford $1,200. We have more money than I'll make this month, kind of. Wow. And the salesman said to me, you know, if you work here, you get to buy one suit every six months at 50% off. So I was like, great. So I got a part-time job there. And I got a job there. And the guy who owns the place called Harry Rosen, now it's a multi-billion dollar company.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
But Harry used to teach on Saturdays. If you showed up an hour before the store opened, he would teach you how to dress. That's cool. You'll love this. So like the guy's a legend. It was like, even then it was like the biggest shop in Canada ever.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
And he says, show up at 7, 30, because there's a store open at 9, and I'll teach you everything you need to know about dressing law and how to sell to men. And I'm like, I'm so excited. I leave. It was like a Wednesday. I show up on Saturday. Nobody there. Nobody there. So it's just him and I. Wow. No one else shows up. No one else shows up.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
So later in the day, I say to my buddy, hey, how come nobody showed up? You know what he says? No one's paying me to show up. Interesting. Isn't that interesting? Your friend.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
Yeah, unless I'm getting paid.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
Yeah, I don't get paid. Interesting. I don't get paid. What I heard is, I don't get paid. He said, I don't get paid to learn. And I always thought, man, I don't need to get paid to learn. I'll learn for... I'll pay to learn from the best. I thought I would have paid him to teach me. It was great. He taught me everything. He taught me everything. How to dress, how to spot someone with money.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
So I've always been lucky to kind of found that. Then I worked for Warren Avis who started Avis Rent-A-Car. I've just been really fortunate to have great role models who are good human beings.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
That's a great question. I think, how did I end up there, right? Because I think back and I think, none of my buddies got a job at a men's club. And so if I think about it, what I've always been good at is not lying to myself. I think I've always been brutally honest with myself.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
Like I told you, I went on my first sales call and went to see a customer and the customer said to me, you dress like crap. I've never had an ego for success. So if somebody said something to me and there was even an ounce of truth to it, I would take it in. I would leave my ego at the door. So when somebody said to me, you dress like crap, it wasn't like, oh, I'm so offended.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
What are they talking about? It was like, Oh, do I dress like crap? And then you go home and you look in the mirror and you're like, yeah, I dress like crap. How do I get better? And then it just looked up the best men's store. Wow. So I've always had an ability, I think, to be honest with myself. There's a saying that the biggest lies in life we tell are the ones we tell ourselves.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
What's been the biggest lie you've been telling yourself lately? um that i'm the biggest lie i've been telling myself lately is that uh i've made it i got to a point where i felt like i've kind of made it and just in the last few months i've been thinking hang on a sec Because you tend to, you know, like I'm older now, I'm 62, and you think, oh, I'm kind of at the end of the road.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
Because I know a lot of older people who are super successful and they're like kind of encosting and it begins to affect me. And I kind of went a few months where I'm like, yeah. And then one day I'm like, hang on a sec. like age is a number and there's lots of people that can start something at this age and I have more capital than I've ever had. So yeah, I think I can still do it again.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
When you're starting out, you always think, oh, if I had a bigger house. Like, you know, you live here and you drive by Bel Air. Sure. And you think, oh, if I had a house over there, I made it. Or you have a, I don't know, a Corvette. You think, oh, if I had a Ferrari. And you think, oh, if I had a jet. And then you have a jet. And then you think, what if I had a
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
Like when I sold my last company, in my mind, I had a G4. Right. And I used to think, I mean, this is how shallow it was. I used to think, oh, if I had a G6, come on. But then I made it because my G4, my G5 and so I sold the business and literally within two weeks I bought a G6 and this is a long time ago. Now I think, I don't think in terms of things of making it, I think in terms of potential
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
So when I think I haven't made it, I don't think I've reached my potential. There is no car I want to buy or no jet I need to buy or no home I need to buy to fulfill me. What I need is I need to feel like I've drained every part of my potential. I want to feel like when I'm on my deathbed that I say, I couldn't have done more. And whatever that is, because I think it's different for everybody.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
So for me right now, it's really about getting super fit. It's about starting another business. It's just about taking everything I've learned and applying it.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
Well, number one, knee jerk is absolute obstinate obsession about their skill set. Not about the world in general, but about that one thing. Do you know what I mean? All the billionaires I know would struggle on Jeopardy. Right. General knowledge doesn't get rewarded, specific knowledge. And so that's the first thing that comes to mind.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
I don't know a single billionaire that isn't a world class expert at a very narrow singular task. I think the second one would be curiosity. It's hard to be abundant if you're not curious. I love to learn. How did you start the podcast? I'm fascinated. And I think that comes into because people of great wealth tend to be problem solvers. We tend to like problems.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
And I think the third one would be discipline. Now, discipline is different. Discipline to me is fit body, fit mind, fit business. But I have billionaire friends who are slobs. Sloppy, right? Yeah. They eat like crap, they're overweight, they don't care, but they're extremely disciplined about their business. I think the discipline applies to who you are and everybody can be different.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
I think those are the three.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
It's a great question. I think it's the same reason why people who are wealthy aren't fit. What is that reason? They look at the superficial, easy ways to do it. So people that have a lot of wealth think that they can get fit by taking a drug or surgery or they look for placebo type band-aids. I think anything hard is discipline and habit.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
So people that are super fit have discipline and habit, but they're like me when I was a teen. They don't know where to apply it. You know, interesting story for you, uh, years ago, cause I've always been a pretty fit guy. So years ago, the army Rangers reached out to me and asked if I'd like to go to the training camp and, you know, I think I'm pretty fit.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
And so I was like, yeah, rah, anyway, long, long story. I went completely kicked my ass, huge amount of respect for people in the military, the discipline. When it was done, I sat down with the guy who ran the training program and they kind of did an analysis of over the last couple of weeks, what you did well, what you didn't. And I said to him, people in the military must be great at business.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
Because think about it, discipline, habit, like no one has that more than army rangers or most people in the military. He said something very interesting, which was, it's very rare that people in the military do well in business. Why is that? Why do you think?
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
And that was my answer.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
And that's part of it. But he said there's a bigger reason. Tell me, yeah. And the bigger reason is purpose. People join the military because they have a need to do something greater than themselves. Think about that. You're willing to lay your life down for our country. Think about that commitment. That's not... Gee, do I, you know, am I kind of into it or not?
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
Like that is an all in passionate commitment. I am willing to die for my cause. So then they leave the military, they get a job in sales and their boss says, if you don't make your number, we're not going to make it for the quarter. and they struggle with that. They're void of purpose. When you have that great a purpose and that leaves you, it's very hard to replace it with a different purpose.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
You would think they could, but he said that was the reason. And so I think it's both. I think people with great wealth don't have a purpose to get fit and people that are super fit, really at the core. Show me somebody who's done great things and I'll show you somebody with unbelievable purpose.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
Yeah, probably my 20s, to admit it. Yeah, I was very superficial because my understanding of wealth was very external. It was everything that I saw other people. So my definition of wealth was how other people spent it, what kind of car they had, what kind of a house I had. Because I never really met anybody who had great wealth.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
I always say there's superficial wealth, which is you live for the way you think you should. You buy a nicer car, you get a bigger lease, you get a bigger mortgage because you think those are the things that you need in order to be successful. And I think once you really achieve great success, you begin to realize I don't actually need another car. I don't need these things to fulfill me.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
I think your net worth is not a reflection of your value. Poverty and wealth are situational. So somebody listening to this could be making 50 grand a year, but they're a high power, high value individual.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
everybody's at a different stage of their journey you just got to believe that you're learning the skill set in order to get there one day and you've got to have a greater purpose in order to get there so I never thought I was gonna end up where I was You never thought you'd end up where you are now? Well, I never thought I'd end up like I am now.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
But even when I was poor, I never thought I'd stay there. Got you. I see what you're saying. It's just that the scope of my dreams wasn't big enough. My dream in my 20s was to make $1,000 for my age. So when I'm 50 to make 50 grand to buy a house and pay it off in my lifetime. Wow. And to buy a Corvette. That was your dream. That was my dream.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
That was my like that was the that was my vision board dream. Like that was my like knock it out of the ballpark dream because we didn't know anybody who had done those things. How did you begin to expand your mind to shatter that limit? Again, super curious, super honest with myself. When I bought a used Ferrari and I moved into my house, I was so proud of it.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
It was a 1986 Ferrari Testarossa and it was used and there weren't that much money at the time. And I brought it over to my garage and I put it in. And this was my superficial state. So I moved into this neighborhood and I see my neighbor across the street. And his name is Richard, still a friend of mine. So I go over and I'm like, hey, blah, blah, blah. Oh, by the way, look at my car.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
So he comes over out in the garage and I'm so proud of it. I've never been arrogant. Like, let me show you why I'm better. I was just so happy. So I show him my Ferrari and he's like, oh my gosh, that's amazing. I love that year. He says, come to my garage. So we go across the street to his garage. He opens up the garage and he has two Porsches. Uh-huh.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
And, you know, it's those moments in life that something happens. You're ready to learn it, but you don't know what you need to learn. And then something comes in and those two things fit and it's an aha moment. And I remember it so clearly. He opens the garage. There's two Porsches. And I worked my ass off to buy a used Ferrari.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
it took everything I knew to get that car and it wasn't like it was one of many I was it was that and I walked across the street and that guy has two and I couldn't fathom how that could happen like I was like how could he do that interesting And so I walk back and I was thinking, there's something I need to be better at because the road I'm going, I'm never going to get there. Really?
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
Because you're like, I've worked as hard as I can work and this is what I got. Every piece of knowledge, every bit of hard work, every bit of discipline I had got me one Ferrari.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
My dad worked in a factory his whole life, two shifts, paid off his house in his lifetime. Super successful guy in his world. I will never work a day in my life harder than my dad worked, ever. That man was the hardest working human being I'd ever come across. Just because you work hard, though, doesn't mean you'll be rich. Oh, man. What it means is you won't be poor.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
And there's a fundamental difference between the blue collar poverty mindset and the wealth abundance mindset. And what I learned in that moment is I literally frigging couldn't give more. I was sleeping four hours a day. I was great at my task. I was driving my company as hard as hard as I possibly could and he gave me one Ferrari. It's still cool but yeah. Super cool. Nothing wrong with that.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
But you didn't see how you could get more. Yeah and the first part was did I want more? Ah. Was that important to me? And people misunderstand that. They're like oh yeah I'd like more Ferraris. It was never about more Ferraris. It was just about How do I get more? How do I get more value, more worth? How do I get a better life? And so I said, yes, I definitely want more. Why not? Why not me?
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
And so that was the first part. Big lesson for me, though, is you have to pivot. Hard work is absolutely foundational, but smart work is pivoting.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
What I learned is markets and people will pay for value, not for time. People will pay you for your knowledge, not for how long you've been doing it, or the amount of hours you're going to spend on it, or those kind of things. And what I realized is I wasn't creating enough of that.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
Okay, I want to hear this story because I have a similar story. And so I write about this Tony Robbins, and this is the early Tony Robbins when he was like, you know, bigger than life. And he was coming to Toronto, and me and four buddies went to buy tickets. Uh-huh. Only one of us bought a ticket and showed up. Wow. All my buddies were like, oh, it's a waste of time.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
So I go there and I bought like the super expensive ticket, right? Like the one that came in front row. And Tony walks in and it's like, boom. And I was like, wow. Like I'm high energy. That guy is transformational energy. Wow. What I realized was all my energy was internal. I was doing a great job of influencing me, of making me better. I saw Tony
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
And I realized I need to make other people better. So I need to make my employees better. I need to make the people I work with, like I need to make them that. And then I need to bring transformation to my customers. And what started for me was a outward transformation of my energy. Before that, I was highly motivated on my own.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
But if you met me, you wouldn't have walked away and said, oh my God, that guy's like, boom. After that, if you met me, you would have said, that guy's full of joy. And I started changing our sales pitch to our customers away from product focus to a subconscious focus. I started thinking about why people buy and not what they're buying.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
And so many people watching are so focused on product features. Why is my product better? We said those things are important, but until we engage people, until we open their minds, they're really not going to listen to us. So we started in our sales calls Why did they say that? How did they say it? How were they sitting? What did you say? All those things. And none of our competitors.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
Keep in mind, we're in a very, very technical field. And we're out talking to people about how they feel. Interesting. In order to sell them really technical stuff.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
We're selling comfort and we're selling safety. You know, there's the good salespeople sell features, great salespeople sell outcomes. And really great salespeople sell feelings. So I pivoted our company and I said, if the only thing you get out of the sales call is that the customer feels better, we've achieved something. Because that gives you the opportunity for another call.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
And I didn't come up with the saying, but the saying is, people never remember what you say. They remember how you make them feel. And when I sold my first company to AT&T, interesting story, So everything I've learned about business, I learned on my own. I don't have a business degree. I have a degree in classical English literature. So I sold my first company to AT&T for, I think, $32 million.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
I mean, $32 million for a kid that wanted to make $50 grand. That's a lot of money. Yeah, a lot of money. So AT&T does the due diligence on the business. They hire an external company. Anyway, long story, they bring me in and they say to me, we have a problem. I'm like, what's the problem? They said, well, you know, we hired this external company. We looked at your systems.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
We looked at the way you do ticketing, blah, blah, blah, blah. And we measured it with all your customer response and it's not great. And so I'm thinking, oh my God, I'm not going to get the $32 million. So I'm scrambling and I'm like, hey, did you ask those customers if they would buy from me again? And they're like, yeah, actually we did.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
So they flipped to the last page and they said, 97% of your customers said they would buy from you again, despite all of these things. And I said, you ask them why? And they said, yes. And they said two reasons. One, you made them happy. And two, they believed if they had an issue, you would take care of them.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
And so you think about how many people are starting a business, how many people have a product that doesn't emotionally connect with their customers.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
It's not even just tech, though. You look at retail today. I just did an interview with Forbes or somebody about this. And the reporter said to me, they think retail is dead. And I don't think it is. I think we're going to see a resurgence in retail. But I don't think people are going to go to the mall to look around. You know, like, oh, I'm here. What shops are here?
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
I think people that depend on location to survive are going to be in trouble. But I think brands have an emotional connection. Like I will drive to a mall to buy Lululemon. I will drive to a mall to buy canned goose because those brands speak to me. So I think it's in everything. I think it's in tech. I think it's in fashion. We see it on Shark Tank. Yeah.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
Yeah, great question. So I've really struggled with my faith in my lifetime. Started out very religious, altar boy for many years, became very cynical about it, became a superficial Christian, meaning I believed in my God and my faith when it was convenient for me. And then went through a horrific time and found my faith again. So kind of left, cynical.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
Left, cynical, believed that I didn't need God or faith or anything else in my life. believed I was in control of my own destiny. And we are, but there's a greater plan.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
I've I was going through a really really difficult time and like I mean like to the point I didn't think the Sun would rise again and like suicidal thinking yeah yeah like contemplate suicide came close like it was and you know I mean you know me a little bit now
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
i've always been a happy guy and i've always believed like i was superman wow and i lost it all like i realized i had kryptonite and uh i was just like downward downward downward and uh a good friend of mine john saw me spiraling like like i was a shell of what i was
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
Emotional. Just emotional. I was going through a horrible divorce and just family stuff and like just horrible. And John, thank God, he's a priest, he said to me, I need you to go somewhere and you have to have faith in me to trust me to go here. And so I did. I flew to Seattle on my super fancy plane.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
And got off the plane and I met one of his friends who was a pastor in Seattle and he took me to a homeless mission and I spent the next month or so there. I spent the first couple of weeks at the mission, then I got a hotel, and it was absolutely transformational. Wow. Yeah.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
Well, I think the first thing, as horrible as this is going to sound, I felt so sorry for myself that seeing people who were worse off than me was just a bit of a wake-up call. Sure. Of course. Perspective. Like I'm going there on my jet, have thought about suicide, contemplated suicide, didn't think I had any value left to give in the world. Flying on my jet. Sure, sure.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
Meeting a guy who literally has nothing, not nothing because he doesn't know if his life has meaning, like literally has nothing. And Union Gospel Mission is a Christian, like you have to go there for a year. It's for homeless, addicts and so on. So I think that was the first thing is like, I just like, wow, these like, what am I complaining about kind of thing?
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
And then the second part of it was just getting back to purpose. If you don't love yourself and you feel like you have nothing to give, you can't give to anyone else. And I was void of me. Going there was a wake-up call and getting back to my faith, getting back to seeing value in me. Like I went there broken, and I left there like, whoo!
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
And people have a funny, because I meet a lot of people with faith who believe in God and other things, and they always think, how can you be so motivated and have so much faith? And people don't understand that faith doesn't mean that you give up control of your life to someone else. Like I hate when people say that, oh, my life is in God's hands. And I'm like, But you got to do something.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
Like I think we were given this opportunity in life and we've got to make the most of it. And I think that was the greatest thing I got out of that month is just the feeling of back to joy.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
Such a great question, because I always think about that. Like, I think about how... arrogant was I to have all this stuff and feel so sorry for myself? Why couldn't I, on my own, figure that out? Why couldn't I have used some of my wealth to do good? How shallow was I to focus on my own misery? It took the misery of others for me to realize that.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
And I always think, how arrogant and shallow is that? But I think, I think it's hard. I think it's really hard to ask for help when you feel you're in control of your own destiny. Right. And like, I think, I think powerful people and strong people have a hard time asking for help and I just needed help. I mean, it could have been anything.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
Peace. I mean, I pray for peace. I pray for joy. I just want my family to feel fulfilled, right? And I think about I also think, I was just talking to somebody about this, they said, do you worry about your legacy? And I think, no, because once I'm gone, I'm gone. But what do I want my kids to remember about me? And I want them to remember the joy. and the love. That's beautiful.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
I mean, I think that's what every human being wants. Love, joy, peace. And I would also add financial success. Because I think those aren't separate. I think if you live in North America you have to make a certain amount of money to take care of your family.
The School of Greatness
Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
I mean that's just reality and that's one of the things I worry about America in the last few years it's become becoming wealthy almost became like a dirty word. It's one of the things I love about Shark Tank is you have Six of us, self-made, relatively nice people, and we show people every week that anybody can do it.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
Yeah, it's a great question. It's like sales. If you ask most people about sales, they would say to you, oh, I don't want to be a sales rep because they think used car salesman. But I'm sure with your experience, the greatest salespeople you've met are probably super nice and super helpful, right? Sales is the ability to help someone not to get them to buy something they don't need.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
That's the same thing with wealth. Wealth is not the creation or the subjugation. What's the quote I read a long time ago? Power is not the subjugation of the weak. Power is the ability to get the powerful to see your vision. And I think it's true. I think most people that don't have wealth want an easy answer as to why they're not doing it.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
The sun always rises tomorrow. I think the reason I went there is And not just personally, but in business, I tended to have these horrific, like, oh, my gosh, if we get this one deal, the world will change, good or bad. So I think that's the first thing I would say is the sun always rises. Like, don't make mistakes, though. Kill you. Don't bet at all on one thing kind of thing.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
I think the second thing I would say is the world is your oyster. Like it really, like you think about, like somebody owns this building. And sure, they may have inherited it, but let's go back to the first, like somebody bought this land, built this building. Somebody created it. The world is incredible. Like the things we can do. And I think the third thing is you are all powerful.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
You are all powerful. There is nothing we cannot achieve if we believe and we're willing to work hard enough.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
No, I think this was great. I mean, I'm a big fan. You've had some amazing guests on here. I appreciate you having me in that same company. I think this is great.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
What would those three truths be for you? Number one, my family, because they are, especially my kids, they are the embodiment of, I hope they're the embodiment of what I am. Number two is joy. Without joy, there is no life. There is no wealth in misery. How many successful people are miserable? I think you can spike to success, but if you don't have joy, it fades.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
How many successful people commit suicide and drugs and alcohol? Joy is everlasting. And I think the third one is empowerment. I think if you would hope that when you leave that you've empowered somebody in their life to do something better.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
It's one of the great things about Shark Tank. Where was I just the other day? Somebody gave me a card and thanked me for being on the show and how much it affected them and their family. And I think, how great is that? To be on a show that inspires so many people for 21 years.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
And that's a great question. Somebody asked me yesterday because they knew my story. I went for a medical and the nurse was like, oh my God, I read about your story and you came to Canada with nothing. Blah, blah, blah. It must have been so hard. And the truth is it wasn't. I mean, it was my mom and dad escaping from a country, coming to Canada on a boat with one suitcase and
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
Geez, that's such a great question because my dad was a great man and my mom was a great person. And my definition of greatness would be fulfillment of potential. So My dad never made any real money. But I think considering the pain and life he had, that man wrung every moment of his life. If I did nothing but what my dad did, that wouldn't have been greatness. Because I was given more.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
Those that are given more need to do more. Those that have being given more, need to find greater purpose. So I never think that it just wasn't enough. Like I couldn't have achieved any level of greatness if I just simply did what my parents did. And I think a lot of people listening, it's the same thing, is you've got to find your own purpose. Yeah. That's beautiful.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
What's your definition of greatness?
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
And I'm the only child. Wow. So for them, absolutely, horrifically hard. Didn't speak the language, had no money, my dad was in jail, could never go back, the whole nine yards. Wow. Comes to a country, doesn't know anybody, doesn't speak the language. Now, I'm eight years old, first time on a boat. It's an adventure. It's an adventure. Interesting.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
So well said, because I think, you know, it goes back to God and faith. I think that There's no one external that's going to do it for you. But the signs are there. Yes. And you never know how the dots connect until you look back. That's true. When... When I first, when Kevin and I first got on Shark Tank, we started in Canada. We started a show called Dragon's Den.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
And the very first day they put me in a room, you know, just to see how you'd react on TV like this. Sure, sure. And they threw these fire questions like, tell me what EBITDA is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But they were random questions. And one of the questions was, why do you want to be famous?
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
What did you say? Just to see what you'd say. What I said is, so I can get on Dancing with the Stars. Shut up. You did not say that. I did, 100%. Everybody laughed and thought that was funny. What people didn't see was 10 years before that, My mom's favorite show was Dancing with the Stars. Wow.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
So imagine a little Eastern European immigrant woman, horrible life, watching this beautiful show with these beautiful dancers. Like if you called my house on a Monday when the show was on, my mom would answer the phone and go, like, bye, you call. I watch the show. Mm-hmm. My mom ended up getting ovarian cancer and she went to the hospital and she was there for a year.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
And every Monday I would go to the hospital with the other women who had ovarian cancer and we'd all watch dancing. Wow. And one day my mom says to me, Robbie, you're so beautiful. Why not you be on show? And I say, without thinking about it, if they ever ask me, I'll do it for you. Wow. And my mom passes away. Ten years before I even had an inkling of being on TV.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
Fast forward ten years later, I'm sitting in a room. They throw that question at me. First thing that comes to my mind. Fast forward another ten years. I'm going through this horrible time. I come out of it, fix myself, finally begin to think I have value in life again. Three days later, the producers of Dancing with the Stars ask me to be on the show. Oh, my gosh.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
Poverty wasn't my mindset and I think that's a big difference. I think people that are born into poverty or encompassed in poverty, it's harder to get out of. My mindset was joy. Really? So I grew up on a small village with my grandma. the traditional vision of poverty with dirt floors. We didn't have a phone. Like it was one of those, like it was a village. There was one phone.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
Like before they're finished asking me, I say yes.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
I walk in. Wow. Meet the woman I'm going to marry. Oh, my God. And today I have this unbelievable life. I didn't create those dots. I believe life or a greater force or God, whatever your faith is, created those things. But it was up to me to connect the dots. And I think for anybody watching or listening, you have the power to connect those dots. Wow.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
You have to have enough faith to believe it all connects, but you still got to get up every day, work your ass off, and make it happen.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
Are you kidding me?
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
Well, it's good to have a dream.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
If you want to get ahold of my grandmother, you called the guy with the phone and he came to me. But I didn't know we were poor because everybody around me lived like we lived. In joy. Oh, I mean, everyone around you lived the same. The same. So it wasn't you were rich, I was poor. We all lived in a little dirt floor outhouse. It was fine. But as a child, we had animals and it was joy.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
I didn't realize that we were poor until we came to Canada. And when I went to school, I remember this so clearly. I don't remember the journey. I don't remember any of it. My mom thinks I blocked it all out. But I remember the first day of school and kids picking on me and making fun of me and telling me I'm a poor immigrant.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
wow first day of school first day of school because you know you don't speak english either at this point right and there was no english classes so they just threw you in and that must have been kind of terrifying also terrifying i don't know what's this teacher saying yeah and i came from environment where i was really a lot of fun but my dad was the youngest of 15. tons of cousins.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
And I go into an environment where I literally don't speak the language and kids are making fun of me. I really don't know why they're making fun of me. So I learned poverty and I learned poor as a situation. So I never thought I was poor, I just thought the situation we were in is poor. And I know it's a very subtle difference, but I think you learn your mindset.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
And I think poverty is a learned mindset, and I think abundance is a learned mindset. I didn't learn a wealth mindset until later on. And I always think if I would have learned an abundance mindset sooner, I would be much wealthier today.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
The beginning for me is a poverty mindset is when you believe you're poor. or you believe that you are the cause of the situation you're in, or you believe that external circumstances have made you what you are. I never believed I was poor. I just believed our current situation was poor. Really? So I got to a point where I didn't want to be in that situation anymore.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
But there was nothing wrong with me. My mom loved me. I was a good human being.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
Probably around 12 because it was just such a crappy environment and we had no money and at that point I'd been poor in my mind for four years. We constantly moved schools so you know when you're an immigrant you make a little bit of money, you live in a crappy apartment, you make a little bit of money, you live in a better apartment. And so on.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
So by 12, I'd gone to like three different high schools. And my dad worked an unbelievable amount of hours, like two shifts. Manual labor, I'm going to say. Yeah, blue collar, factory, swept floors. I mean, eventually he became a millwright, taught it himself. Somebody gave him an opportunity. And, you know, they paid off their house, which was, you know, the immigrant dream. Right. But...
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
I think at 12, I'd been living like that for four years and we went to a better high school. And every time we went to a better school, the kids around me had more. The richer. Yeah. You're like, I've got a little more, but they've got a lot more. So I'd be like, I'd be in this high school and we'd make a little bit of money and I was poor, but the other kids weren't that much better off.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then we moved to a better house and now the kids were way better off. And I was just like, wow, I'm never going to get out of this cycle. How do you get out of this cycle?
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
Very, very true. What's the saying? You are the net result of five people you hang out with. And I think it's really true. I think that you are It's very, very, very rare and hard to raise yourself up on your own. I think if your environment, your parents, your friends are constantly pulling you back, it's hard to keep going. I think back and I think,
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
none of my friends I grew up with ever made it. And it would have been so easy to stay there. But I think as you do more and you get more, your circle influence and your friends becomes wider.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
For me, it was an energy shift. Now, I've always been pretty high energy, right? So I've always been like, go, go, go, go. What I didn't realize at the time was I was looking for external things to make me better. It took me a long time to realize I can't take external things to make me better until I become better. I always say, show me a small business in trouble
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
and I'll show you an entrepreneur in trouble. Wow. It's very, very difficult to disassociate a lazy, unmotivated entrepreneur with a highly successful business and vice versa. And that was me at 12. I was just pure energy, bouncing off the walls. Like we talked about, I wanted to be a detective. I wanted to join the FBI. I wanted to be an actor because immigrants think,
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
If you're on TV, you're rich. You're making money, yeah. Like I just wanted not to be poor. But I didn't know how to be rich. Interesting. And I didn't understand that mindset. And as corny as it sounds, it always starts with you. It always starts with discipline. It starts with habit. It starts with learning.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
Sales. People always think I'm wealthy because I'm really good at computers. And I am. I'm probably one of a handful of the top cyber people in the world. But I'm not wealthy because of my knowledge of a task. I'm wealthy because of my knowledge of sales. and how to sell what I'm doing to other people.
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Robert Herjavec: “This Mindset Took Me From Poverty To Multimillionaire”
You can't force somebody to buy something they fundamentally don't need. And I was very lucky that way because if I would have been taught the used car sales mini schlocky way, I mean, I was just hungry for knowledge. Like I would have gone any way. Like I always think if somebody would have taken me under their wing and they were like a con man, I would have been a con man, right?