Sure, he’s made a fortune.
He started with nothing but T-shirts, and built it into an international clothing empire, netting him hundreds of millions of dollars. That’s impressive in anyone’s book. So obviously, that makes him a brilliant businessman. He SHOULD be respected.
Sure, he’s a TV star.
He’s expanded his resume by becoming one of the super wealthy investors who make up the Shark panel on Mark Cuban’s breakout success show Shark Tank. Now he’s a full blown celebrity, and a successful, best-selling author, too. He’s the real deal.
Sure, he knows what he’s talking about.
One of the appealing elements of the show is to hear spontaneous comments from the Sharks about winning and succeeding in business. These are the things and attitudes you need; the elements that separate those that make it form those who don’t. Hearing the Sharks share secrets about the fine line between failure and success is fascinating.
But even he can be wrong.
In responding to a entrepreneur this season on the show, Daymond made this remark: “The world is made up of 2 kinds of people: sharks and people who want to be sharks.” So Daymond thinks the world is only made up of two groups? The handful in the super wealthy group and the billions whose main defining motivation is that they want to be super wealthy?
“There are two kinds of people in the world, those who believe there are two kinds of people in the world and those who don’t.” —Robert Benchley
Here’s the point.
It’s true, EVERYONE wants to have enough money. But do you believe EVERYONE is driven to become one of the super rich with hundreds of millions in the bank, with mansions, yachts, jets, an assortment of luxury cars, and hundreds of celebrities on speed dial?
People want different things.
They want to make good money, but it’s not their main motivation. Most are simply after the opportunities or lifestyle that being financially comfortable offers. For example:
- Millions are called to serve others. They go into medicine, ministry, coaching and education. Others go into public service.
- Millions of others are motivated to create. They paint, draw, sing, sculpt and compose.
- Others are fascinated by science, and so they go into research, finding cures for diseases, new products and making all kinds of new discoveries.
- Some love to entertain; some love working with animals; some love the rural lifestyle and farming; some love sports and design their lives so they can spend maximum time doing that.
Few of these expect to become super wealthy.
Daymond lives in the super wealthy celebrity cocoon.
He thinks everyone wants what he has, but they don’t. We need pioneers like Daymond. There’s nothing wrong with him, his motivation, or his success. We would be better off with more like him, since his rise has given him the opportunity to raise thousands of others up with him. But there’s also nothing wrong with the billions out there who are motivated in other directions. We need them too!
