The Meaning Behind Will Smith's Secrets To Success

In this article we bring you wise words from one of the wisest persons in showbiz today, Will Smith and his secrets to success. 

As an accomplished actor, rapper and songwriter, Will Smith is surely of one of the best examples of success we can give you. But just imagine if you could know the secrets that lead him to be so successful in many ventures, in first person?

No more imagining, you can actually know Will Smith's secrets to success, in his own words(!). A very popular video on YouTube, "Will Smith shares his secrets to success", compiles portions of different Will Smith interviews, where Will gives top notch tips about what you need to do to become successful, like he did.

Bellow we present you the video and the full transcription of Will Smith words. We've organized this interviews by topics and then added our own in depth analysis to the meaning of those words to inspire you, so you too can become successful. Enjoy!

The Meaning Behind Will Smith's Secrets To Success

1. The Purpose Of Life

"I have a great time with my life, and I wanna share it.
I love living! I think that's infectious. It's something you can't fake." - Will Smith

The Meaning Behind: some people hate their life and just complain about it, others love it and simply rejoice. What's the difference? In most cases, it's how people view their lives that dictates their actions and vice-versa. If you want to have a great life, like Will Smith, you need to be in love with it, doing things that you love. And because the things you are doing are just awesome, you feel the need to share it with others. Become it, and that's why you can't fake it, because it's who you become, who you are.

2. The Definition Of Greatness

"Greatness is not this wonderful, esoteric, elusive, god like feature that only the special among us will ever taste...you know, it's something that truly exists in all of us!
It's very simple: this is what I believe, and I'm willing to die for it. Period. It's that simple!
I know who I am, I know what I believe, and that's all I need to know! So, from there you do what you need to do.
I think what happens is we make this situation more complex than it is. (Interviewer: Because we're looking for complexity) Absolutely! (Interviewer: It's got to be something complex to understand). It can't be that easy!" - Will Smith

The Meaning Behind: Will Smith views the traditional meaning of greatness as a myth, conventionally greatness is some sort of divine power (not easy to explain) that only awesome people have. Will doesn't agree with this conception and tells us that anyone can reach greatness, even you! It's a matter of taking the steps to success: know who you are, know what you want and go after it with full effort. It's not easy, but it's a simple process, just take the steps!

3. The Journey To Become Successful

"We didn't grow up with the sense that where we were was where we're gonna be. We grew up with the sense that where we were almost didn't matter because we were becoming something greater." - Will Smith

The Meaning Behind: Most people use the old excuse that they were born in poverty or middle class, so they can't be successful because they don't have the money or the same opportunities as rich people do. But history as brought us examples from both sides: people living in a ghetto that became successful and people living in rich properties that didn't manage to do that well. Will clears out any doubt about this subject, it's not where you are or what you have that matters, it's what you do with it (1) and the vision you have to become something greater (2) that really matter! That is an awesome mindset that you must adopt to be successful.

4. Talent & Skill Definitions For Success

"The separation of talent and skill is one of the greatest misunderstood concepts for people who are trying to excel, who have dreams, that want to do things. Talent you have naturally. Skill is only developed by hours and hours and hours of beating on your craft."
"I've never really viewed myself as particularly talented. Where I excel is ridiculous, sickening, work ethic. While the other guy's sleeping, I'm working. While the other guys eating, I'm working."
"There's no easy way around it, no matter how talented you are ... your talent is going to fail you if you're not skilled. If you don't study, if you don't work really hard and dedicate yourself to being better every single day, you 'll never be able to communicate with people your artistry the way that you want!" - Will Smith 

The Meaning Behind: This is excellent! Will gives you a clear distinction between skill and talent. He states that he is a living example of it and articulates on it: Always remember that hard work can beat talent, when talent doesn't works hard! You might not be as talented as you wish you were, but no problem, you can work hard on it and develop your skills. Make a commitment. It's all about work ethic. The road to success is made every single day, with every single effort, strive to become better every day. It's not what you were born with that matters, it's what you are willing to become and work hard for that makes all the difference!

5. Going The Distance

"The only thing that I see that is distinctly different about me is I'm not afraid to die on a treadmill. You might have more talent then me... you might be smarter then me... but if we get on a treadmill together, there's two things: you're getting of first, or I'm gonna die! It's really that simple!" - Will Smith 

The Meaning Behind: Will gives you another success principle, not giving up! You must love what you do to a point where you are willing to never give up whatever the circumstances are. You must go the distance and endure, because the road to success is made of ups and downs, there will be times when you will feel like giving up, things will get hard, but you must keep on going. 

Will uses the treadmill example as a metaphor, when you run for a long period of time your legs will tell you that they are tired, that it's better to stop. Your mind must tell you the opposite, that you must keep on going despite the pain. If you been through a similar situation, and kept on going, you find out that your legs weren't that tired at all, and somehow your body found new energy for you to keep on running. That's exactly what you need to do with your efforts to be successful, keep on going despite feeling tired!  

6. Brick By Brick, Step By Step

One summer his Dad tore down a brick wall on the front of his business and told 12 year old Will and his 9 year old brother to rebuild it; a job they said was impossible. It took them a year and a half, but they did it.
" ...And he said now don't you ever tell me there's something that you can't do!"

"You don't try to build a wall. You don't set out to build a wall! You don't say "I'm going to build the biggest, baddest, greatest wall that's ever been built." You don't start there. You say, "I'm going to lay this brick as perfectly as a brick as perfectly as a brick can be laid. And you do that every single day and soon you have a wall." - Will Smith

The Meaning Behind: Another principle to achieve success. If your starting, don't overwhelm yourself with big tasks, you know you have to do something big but, that might scare you because right now you don't have that much to show... The way to do it it's to break that big work into small tasks and to concentrate individually on each task, doing one at a time the best you can. You must perfect small to build something big! If you want to build up the muscles on your body or to slim down, you cannot expect to do it with one single workout! You must work hard on every single workout and it's the combination of many workout sessions through time that will give you the desired result. And by the way... this works with every single goal you might have also.

7. Making A Difference By Contributing 

"It's an idea that my grandmother always had that if you're going to be here, then there's a necessity to make a difference. She always instilled the spiritual responsibility that you have to make every group you come in contact with better."
"I want to do good. I want the world to do better because I was here."
"I want my life, I want my work, I want my family to mean something. If you're not making someone else's life better than you're wasting your time. Your life will become better by making other lives better." - Will Smith

The Meaning Behind: This takes us back to the purpose of life. What's your why what are your reasons to do it? Contribution is one of the best reasons behind a successful person, because you are not working solely for you, you are contributing to something outside yourself also! This gives you that extra push, the push you need to be constantly motivated. If you do it just for you, it's easy to get distracted and lazy about it, but when you put others on your shoulders there is no time to waste. Make sure that you contribute in some way to others, make the world better, and you'll become better.

8. The Power Of Believing 

"I want to represent an idea. I want to represent possibilities. I want to represent the idea that you really can make what you want! One of my favorite books is the Alchemist ... Paulo Coelho ... and I just believe that! I believe that I can create whatever I want to create!"
"The first step before anybody else in the world believes it is you have to believe it. There's no reason to have a plan B because it distracts from plan A."
"I think there's a certain delusional quality that all successful people have to have. You have to believe that something different than what has happened for the last 50 million years of history ... you have to believe that something different can happen." - Will Smith

The Meaning Behind: You have great dreams but that might be not enough... if you don't believe! You must believe it's possible and believe that you can actually do it, despite what other people might say. Many will discourage you, circumstances will make you think about quitting, history will tell you that no one has ever done what you what to do, all this things might be against you but you must be stronger than them. You do this by believing in your dreams and in your capabilities with full commitment and faith. Only by believing you can achieve it you can actually do it, otherwise you are already doomed to fail. So believe!

9. Quoting Confucius

"Confucius said, 'He who says he can and he who says he can't are both usually right.'" - Will Smith 

The Meaning Behind: This quote wraps up the power of believing success principle. It gives you the perfect example. See this story: the teacher asked a student to go to the board to solve an exercise, the student reply "I can't!", the teacher said "Yes you can!" and started to engage other students in the classroom to say it also. The student kept on saying "I can't!", the classroom started to cheer for him in chorus "Yes you can! Yes you can!". So the student senses a urge of saying the same thing "Yes I can, Yes I can!", suddenly he gets up goes to the board and solves the problem! See? When you say you can't maybe... you're just scared, you have the ability to do it, but the problem is that you won't even give a try. Once the student believed he could solve the problem, he did. Believe you can and you're halfway there!

10. Shaping Reality To Your Own Reality

"Being realistic is the most commonly traveled road to mediocrity. Why would you be realistic? What's the point of being realistic? I'm going to do it! It's done! It's already done. The second I decide it's done it's already done ... now we just gotta wait for ya'll to see!"

"It's unrealistic to walk into a room, flip a switch and the lights come on. Fortunately Edison didn't think so! It's unrealistic to think you're gonna bend a piece of metal and fly a bunch of people over an ocean. That's unrealistic! But fortunately the Wright Brothers didn't believe that ... and it seems like such a ridiculous idea to me to embrace the idea that it's not going to happen and that's not real for that to happen. As soon as you say it, now you just made it real!"  - Will Smith

The Meaning Behind: Many times, when inspired people expose their dreams to others they hear the advice "that's not possible! be realistic!". That's what Will is talking about right here. Unfortunately, most people were taught to think this way: when they are setting goals for their lives, they are told to be realistic about it, and sadly this is one of the reasons why they don't achieve much. Because they don't aim high enough. If you aim for success, know that there are no limits, only those you set, so choose to set them high if you want to be successful. You might be scared about it, because no one has done it, but that's why they call it making history, because you are the first one to do it! Will gives examples from famous people that thought this way, therefore they created something new and revolutionized the world! Who could tell that the internet was realistic in the 80s? That's the whole point! Aim high!

11. Patterns Of The Universe, Making A Choice

"Our thoughts, our feelings, our dreams, our ideas are physical in the Universe! If we dream something, if we picture something, if we commit ourselves to it ... that is a physical thrust towards realization that we can grip into the Universe. That the Universe is not a thing that's going to push us around.  That the world and people and situations are not going to push us around. That we are going to bend the universe and command and Demand that the Universe becomes what we want it to be." 

"I study the patterns of the Universe."
"There's a redemptive power that making a choice has, you know rather than feeling like you're an effect to all the things that are happening. Make a choice! Just decide, what it's going to be, who you're gonna be, how you're gonna do it. Just decide! And from that point the Universe is going to get out of your way, it's like water. It wants to move and go around stuff!"
"You know there's a flow of the Universe that I've grown to know just how to go with it." - Will Smith

The Meaning Behind: Despite all the simplicity around it, making a decision is the most powerful thing you can do to reach success. Once you decide you start to acting according to it. Any action you take has an effect and creates a reaction, that's how you start to change things. Those who stand still and do nothing, don't change nothing for the better, they just go with the flow. If you want to make an impact, you can determine the flow of things, that's why Will talks about the flow of the Universe. If you are diligent in your actions, things around you will start to change and, sooner or later, you will start to attract good things to you, just like a magnet does.

12. Diversity Hurts Your Level Of Success

"I realize that to have the level of success that I want to have ... it's difficult to spread it out and do multiple things. It takes such a desperate, obsessive focus. You've really gotta focus with all of your fiber, and all of your heart, and all of your creativity." - Will Smith

The Meaning Behind: In today's world many people talk about diversity and how great it is that in this era we are able to do more things because of technology. But were success is concerned, diversity is not a great thing. If you want to be successful in a specific field, you got to deeply focus on that field. If you start to diversify to other fields you will not be successful in any. Because success takes time and work, you cannot waste time and creativity in other fields, or else you will not be able to deliver in your specific field with full effort and commitment. Will Smith is an example of success in many fields, but don't get it confused, when Will was into rapping he was focused on that and became major. When he started acting, he wasn't fully committed to it, but when he focused and acting was the only thing in his mind, he became one of the biggest movie starts of our time. This way he advises you to focus with all of your fiber, all of your heart and creativity, in one project at a time.

13. Mastering Fear

"I'm motivated by fear. Fear of fear! I hate being scared to do something, and I think what developed in my early days was the attitude that I started attacking things that I was scared of."
"You can't be scared to die for the truth. The truth is the only thing that is always going to be constant." - Will Smith 

The Meaning Behind: Fear can do two things to you: it can freeze you or it can push you. For Will Smith fear it's the second option, fear represents a motivation for him. The fear of not achieving is greater than the fear of actually do it, so Will Smith takes action towards what scares him. This is another great advice, if you fear something use that fear as a motivation to move forward. One of the reasons why people are afraid is because they are scared of the unknown, they are afraid of stepping outside their comfort zone. But remember, getting outside of your comfort zone is the way to get better and achieve, so this is a must! Your fears will push you to be great, you must confront your fears!

The second part it's about the relationship between fear and the truth. If you feel in your heart that you're heading in the right direction, fear cannot stop you, because you're riding for something that's stronger than fear. You're on the road to achieve your dreams in the most honest and authentic way, by following your heart and instinct, and nothing is stronger than that, even fear!

14. Protect Your Dream

"Don't ever let somebody tell you, you can't do something! Not even me, alright? You got a dream? You've gotta protect it! People can't do something themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it! You want something? Go get it. Period (in movie "The Pursuit of Happyness")" - Will Smith 

The Meaning Behind: This is taken from the beautiful and inspirational movie "The Pursuit of Happyness". In this scene Chris Gardner (portrayed by Will) lets the setbacks in his life take the best of him, by bashing down his son hoop dreams. But suddenly conscious strikes him (this is the part you see in the video...), and Chris tell his son quite the opposite, by criticizing his previous act, he gives the ultimate lesson about life. People will talk out of frustration, their dreams are lost, and sadly, they will condemn other people's dreams because of it. You must understand this, and discard those critics, because only you know what your dream looks like, not other people. Keep minding your business and doing what you have to do. Say nay to the naysayers and carry on, that is the lesson.

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