Jordan Belfort: 4 Keys To Becoming Wildly Successful
Whether or not you’re a big fan of Jordan Belfort or the movie The Wolf of Wall Street, you have to admit that he’s pretty darn good at what he does and that he’s one heck of a salesman. In an hour long interview I watched last night, Belfort claims that to become successful in anything you do, you should follow these 4 principles, consciously or not. I thought it was pretty interesting so here goes:-
1) Vision – There’s a clear distinction between having a goal and having a vision. Vision is bigger than goals. Vision is something you want to see happen or you have an idea of how something should be. For example, your vision might be to help your parents pay their bills, but your goals might be to become richer or to get a well-paying job. Setting goals is good, but it is more important to have a vision.
2) The ability to manage your state/mood – This is perhaps the most important thing because it shapes how you see the world. Being in the right state allows you to access the resources you have inside you. When you’re angry or sad, everything you do seems to produce a negative result. However, when you’re in the right state, you’ll feel that you’re more efficient and productive.
There are 3 specific states that you must be able to control:-
• Certainty – be certain about what you’re doing
• Clarity – be perfectly clear about what you’re doing
• Courage – be courageous enough to take action
3) Beliefs – Beliefs govern everything you do. From going to the gym to starting a new business, you’re governed by your beliefs and it is your beliefs that determine the outcome of your action. Belfort says he always tell his trainees, who are often crack heads, that their past is the past. It does not matter if you’re poor or uneducated because these are limiting beliefs that are not going to let you move forward.
4) Strategy – Strategy is a plan of action. Pretty straight forward, figure out what you need to achieve your vision and follow it. For example, if you’re trying to start a business, you might want to first look for the right mentor, business partner, etc.
Additional to all this, the glue that holds everything together is your standard. Never settle for mediocrity. You should always follow your ambition and set a high standard for yourself so even if you don’t reach it, you’re still ahead in the race.
Belfort himself might not be the quintessence of excellence given the things he did in the past, but I think there’s some good advice here that we all can use.
More realistic version of the 4 keys to success from Jordan Belfort:
I pirated all of his videos and they are amazing. I love this guy.
Website/Link?
Belfort is quite adroit at "managing his state." After all, it is a defining characteristic of all sociopaths.
Seriously, why the fuck is this jerkoff seen any differently than Madoff? Are we supposed to lionize him because Leo is playing him and doing lines off a strippers ass on a yacht?
WSO is the ONE community I would hope could recognize what an ass this dude is. Am I supposed to give him credit for these astoundingly watered-down and generic slivers of wisdom?
If I went to one of his speaking engagements and all he gave me was "dude, you must have vision, beliefs, and strategy," I would punch him in the face. Take the name and face away from this content and it isn't worth a middle-school paper.
Perfectly applied. Jordan would be proud.
Are we discussing his ability to see or his moral principles? Who cares what he did in the past. This guy was such a good salesman he went to jail.
His sales training videos are online so I wouldn't pay for them, but they are great to learn from. I listen to them all the time and it is essentially pick up artist for business essential. Tonality especially.
Anyone trying to start out in sales or simply trying to become more confident and a better networker should watch them.
The guy is obviously talented. His misdeeds are what they are. I think he's a pretty solid resource for learning sales and general business tactics. It goes without saying that you don't need to emulate his illegal practices.
I agree. You have to separate the good from the bad. TNA, the link to those sales videos would be great!
I went on Piratebay and got the full DVD's, but you can find most of them on Youtube. His advice and techniques are pretty solid. As with anything, it can be used for good or bad. IMO, if you are looking for sales advice this guy has walked the walk.
Hilarious comments... Seriously though--total scumbag as portrayed in the film, but I am all for redemption and second chances...so I'll not throw out the baby with the bath water. His principles are pretty spot on, if a little generic. Executing every time with diligence and charisma? Now that's harder to do than say.
I agree with most of the posters here. I would never state that I learned any tenets of success or guidelined any of my actions based on information I read about Jordan Belfort. Yes, he is good at what he does (lie, cheat, sell based on deception), but then again so are mob bosses, Bernie Madoff, serial killers that haven't been caught, etc. The whole story is interesting, but glorifying this guy will get you nowhere from a career standpoint, even if you are just quoting his ideas about selling and marketing.
Mob bosses use violence. Bernie Madoff had a ponzi scheme. JB simply used sales and selling skills to sell shitty products and broke securities law.
Selling is selling. You can do it ethically or you can do it unethically. Same with picking up women. You can be a whore or meet a person you want to be with. The decision is yours.
Of all the places, I would have thought that WSO would have been the most likely to nuthug on Jordan Belfort.
I've seen his interviews and he really does seem to be a likeable fun guy with energy and enthusiasm. It's a shame he used all that character to steal and abuse.
Even though he might have some good advice on selling, it is really hard for me to get past all the slimy stuff he did. The videos come across like those TV Infomercials on working from home and getting $40,000/month in passive income. I'll pass.
I agree with TNA his videos are great. What this guy was doing was illegal but I dont know why everyone is singling him out for what is wrong with finance. Majority of everyone on this board wants to work at BB but the BB have been steadily screwing over their clients for the last 10 years and lost a lot more money for their clients than Jordan. Jordan stole about 200 million dollars from his customers over time.
LIBOR rigging, untold billions probably stolen from clients.
JP Morgan knew madoff was a scam but never said anything and funneled clients money into his fund.
Jordan Belfort is a great salesman and while the stocks he promoted were not worth anything, it still takes tremendous skill to convince people to buy stock over the phone from a broker that just cold called them.
Were the times that different? I can't imagine this happening today. I can hardly believe it ever happened. Some random motherfucker calls your phone and tells you to buy stock through him and you do it? How fucking shady is that? Didn't people have dedicated brokers? How do you cold call someone and get them to make an impulse purchase of stocks?
Like, I can't imagine what you would have to tell me about the prospects of that company or the direction of the market to get me over the "This situation is incredibly shady" hump. And even if you did sell me on the stock, why would I not go buy it through a reputable broker instead of someone who cold calls?
@GoldenCinderblock not to pimp Eddie's book but ... buy Eddie's book. Great anecdotes on that era.
Yeah, I am not condoning his actions, but his sales techniques are great. Learn how to sell and apply it for legal means. Or go learn how to sell from a Priest or someone pious and suck at sales because of it.
What world do you live in where a priest sucks at sales? Religious leaders are among the most influential people in the world. They sell thousands of people a promise that can only be fulfilled after death, and make money hand over fist. Creflo Dollar makes Jordan Belfort look like an amateur.
I'm surprised many people are talking about ethics and morality here when most people have Gordon Gekko's face as their profile pic and 'greed is good' as their signature. TJS nailed it on the head, GS, JP, Citi, and other big banks have headlines written about them every day yet we're all hoping to slave away 100+ hrs to work there.
This post is simply showing you the principles that made him become good at what he does.
Boiler room clients don't deserve their money (not condoning what JB did).
Ponzi scheme clients are completely innocent.
GoldenCinderblock, It works in this day and age, just harder. I am only 27 but my first job out of college was working as a broker at one of those small firms and I opened a ton of accounts over the phone. These individuals were not Joe the plumber but unbelievable smart and wealthly individuals. I think Jordan said the top 1 percent of this country are gamblers and it is true.
The entire system of cold calling was created by Lehman brothers. The process was to cold call someone introduce yourself and then follow up the next time you had a recommendation.
However, Lehman and then eventually the other wirehouses were recommending quality bluechip stocks. The bucket shops took the Lehman style and pretty much killed cold calling by pitching penny stocks and doing pump and dumps.
Also most reputable brokers cold called to build their business. Some called on stocks but a lot of brokers also cold called on bonds. Goldman wealth managers also cold call, they were one of the first firms to cold call on not stocks or bonds but on a tax sheltered annuities, exchange funds, and stock option strategies. Cold calling works it is just hard.
Jordan Belfort is a great salesman, he's also a major scumbag. I'd never take ethical advice from him but if I needed advice on how to sell something, I'd listen to him.
There's a lot more concern for ethics here than I would have presumed.
This shit has to be a joke. He is not skilled, he is not a hrd worker, he is not good "at the stock market", he is a robber. He stole money from people who were completely ignorant and oblivious, that is not a difficult thing to do. And now he is trying to sugar coat it by giving some interviews, trying to re-brand himself as the succesfull and smart man who earned his fortune through hard-work and dedication.
Next thing you know, occupy wall street protesters will be asking him for a signature and a selfie with him.
Everyone claimed the Wolf of Wall Street movie was not going to glorify him. F*** me, right?
Why is it legal to steal from the rich and give to the poor, but not the other way around?
Like you said, the poor are "oblivious". They're undeserving, anti-intellectual, lazy, and always looking for the quick buck. To say that JB wasn't hardworking is the dumbest thing I've ever heard.
Listen to Daddy Blankfein and let him teach you the error of your ways.
//www.youtube.com/embed/Wd4XSY6xZ20
....He did not rip off the poor.....he ripped off people that were fairly well off, some of them even quite wealthy. Just people who did not know much about investing. He stole money from people who earned it.
the man is very very persuasive when he is selling his story. you can tell that he has spent his entire life crafting a spiel about his version of success and salesmanship. that guy is a snake no doubt!!
Sorry to be harsh but anyone who admires this guy is an idiot. It's people like him that are the reason that people villainize wall street, investment banking, and the financial services industry as a whole. Make no mistake, Jordan Belfort is a fucking loser. He lacked the intellect, diligence, and morality to make money the right way. At the end of the day, all he was was some hack. Was the Wolf of Wall Street a good movie? Absolutely, Leo did an awesome job and it was entertaining as hell. But don't think for a second that Jordan Belfort was anything but a snake.
Nobody is fucking admiring this guy... Simply saying he has a very good skillset when it comes to sales.
Nobody is born like this. Madoff, Skilling, and Belfort were all honest, hard working individuals at one point in their careers. It's funny how college kids can talk about how they can't comprehend what he did - no fucking shit, you've never been in the real world before, and you've never been under the kind of pressure these sociopaths have dealt with.
Oh, and another thing: his 'skill set when it comes to sales' is called manipulation. There's nothing impressive about it. If you think that he actually had a skill when it came to sales, you clearly can't understand that this guy was very clearly either a psychopath or a sociopath.
No one is fucking idolizing the guy, but he can sell. If you aren't in sales or care about sales, move along. The level of butthurt in this thread is ridiculous. I have a feeling that everyone criticizing his sales skills would piss their pant on a cold call.
+1 SB for summarizing an interview that I did not have the patience to watch
The vast majority of Americans need a government reminder to breath. Not that this has much to do with Jordan as he sold his shit to rich people.
Interesting...
I say dumb poor people don't deserve their money - I get shit on.
I say dumb rich people don't deserve their money - nothing.
fucking pussies
Yet another useless ''advice'' giver.
These people only give you the descriptive aspect of things. They don't tell you how to actually achieve those ideals.
They give you the final product of their efforts but notice how they never tell you what those efforts were made of.
i hope this guy got aids and die
Some of these comments are asinine.
Who would you prefer to learn to sell things/yourself from? This isn't about morals, at all. Nothing in that list is immoral or wrong. Life is mostly one big sales pitch...if you can't sell, at some point down the line it will bite you in the ass.
Completely agree here. And for the guy who wishes Belfort gets aids and dies, how f'ed up do you have to be?
Yeah I mean the guy did some bad shit but are you really going to wish his death upon him? Are you saying he's as bad/worse than Osama Bin Laden, Saddam, Tim McVeigh, etc? I hope not.
you're right.
Everything on that list, however, is blindingly, insultingly, mind-numbingly obvious and unoriginal. To all of you monkeys who feel that you have learned anything of merit from the entire one-hour interview, I pity you.
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