Categories: Articles

As Good As It Gets

In my music industry career, I had the chance to meet and interview Henry Rollins on numerous occasions. Over a decade-plus, I had the chance to interview many of the world’s biggest rock stars, but Rollins always intimidated me. It wasn’t the muscles or the tattoos. It wasn’t the punk panic from his work fronting the band Black Flag or his own solo ventures. It was his written and spoken word. He had his own publishing imprint, 2.13.61, and I bought, read, devoured and re-read practically everything he self-published (and the authors that he signed to the imprint as well). I own almost every single CD of spoken word work he put out. Intimidation = massive fanboy. The good news? Rollins never disappointed. He was kind, gracious, well-spoken and professional. I often get asked what it takes to make it in the marketing industry. I think this short and beautiful clip of Rollins sums it up perfectly…

Watch this:

Life lessons from Henry Rollins:

Always ask yourself: "is this as good as it gets?"
Life can be tough: a lot of standing on your feet and a lot of taking it from other people with very little to show for it by Friday evening.
Always look at the ice cream scooper in your life. Trust me, you have one.
If you walk out today to follow your dream, what will you really be missing?
Whatever you do: pack your bags and meet the band on the road.
Life is a lottery.
Never forget what you have to go back to.
Say "yes" to everything.
People like you (and me) fail most of the time.
It’s not about talent… it’s about tenacity.
Know where you came from and know what you could wind up going back to.
Have a plan B, C, D, E, F and G.
Write everything down twice, show up early, shut up and listen.
When luck comes your way, take advantage of the opportunity.
There’s not that many unique stories in our world.

I could watch this video multiple times, every day.

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.