Ty Howard:

Larry, thank you for extending me this time to interview you for the Winter 2013 Issue of MOTIVATION magazine.
 

Larry Winget:

Thanks for your request to interview me, Ty.
 

Ty:

I'm going to start with two preliminary questions to get us going. Larry, the first question is, we all have guilty pleasures, what’s your favorite snack food or health food that you enjoy?
 

Larry:

Ty, my favorite snack food – my guilty pleasure in terms of food would be chocolate, anything chocolate. I love all things chocolate, so I would have to say if you’re going to sneak a little treat once in a while, it would be a bag of dark chocolate M & M’s.
 

Ty:

Larry, what’s your most memorable motivating or inspiring childhood experience?
 

Larry:

Oh that’s a challenge... you know the thing that really turned my life around was when I was 13 years old, I walked into my 8th grade Civics class and a kid looked up at me and asked me, "Winget, are you so poor, you only have one pair of jeans?" And it was true, I only had one pair of jeans. The jeans had a little rip in the pocket area, and you can’t have every pair you've got with the same rip at the same place every day. So yeah, it was obvious I only had one pair of jeans and I was busted, embarrassed and humiliated. Best thing that probably happened to me because at that moment, I made a decision on my life, I was going to figure out what it took to get rich. That was a huge moment in my life and taught me a lot about life and making decisions. Once you make the decision to do something, you've got to figure out how to make it happen.
 

Ty:

Larry, that is very motivating and inspiring. My next question, what motivated you to get into the professional speaking business?
 

Larry:

Well, I was very successful in another business. I came out of a telecommunications background and started out as a telephone operator with Southwestern Bell. When I left 10 years later, I was the area sales manager for AT&T for the state of Kansas, had a good career there. I left when the Bell system broke up at divestiture and started my own telecommunications company. Did really well at that, started just as a start up company and ended up the largest independent in the state of Oklahoma. I did really well and then one day, I went to work and the corporation commission had ruled that what I did for a living wasn’t going to be legal for independence anymore. They were turning that back over to the telephone companies. I went to work a rich guy and went home that day bankrupt and out of business. I had to make a decision on what I was going to do. All I’d ever wanted my whole life is an audience, so I told my wife I was going to go be a speaker and she said, "you don’t really know anything about that, do you?" And I replied, no I don’t, but I’ve read training materials, sales training and I think I'm really good at sales training. I started out as a sales trainer then I found people thought I was funny. Then I found out they pay a whole lot more when you make people laugh, than they do when you teach them how to sell. I became sort of a motivational humorist.

About 19 years ago, I had this huge crash and burn time in my life. Like a mid-life crisis, like a lot of people do, and I got to the point I just wasn't really very authentic as a speaker. So, I decided I was going to start saying what was really important to me to say, instead of giving the audience a false part of me. I was a very popular, very successful typical motivational guys saying all that happy crap that most motivational guys do, and what really came to me is that wasn’t authentic to me. I went on stage and a guy heckled me during my speech. I wasn’t used to being heckled and I told him to shut up, stop whining and get a life. The crowd gave me a standing ovation in the middle of my speech when I told him that. I went away and wrote a bestseller called, Shut up, stop whining and get a life. It went to number one on the bestseller list the first week it was out. That was a big shift in my career. For my motivational speaking career, I would say, I started as a motivational speaker, now I’m trademarked as the world’s only irritational speaker. So, as you can hear, I’ve taken a shift in my career along the way.
 

Ty:

That was going to actually be my next question for you. What brought about your registered trademark names, The Pitbull of Personal Development® and The World’s Only Irritational Speaker®?
 

Larry:

That was the impetus that caused it, it was the lack of authenticity in what I was doing. When people lack authenticity, and we’ve all seen people who talk the talk but don’t walk their talk. I was one of those guys who really did – I was a very successful motivational guy. It’s just that it wasn’t authentic for me and I was tired of being like everybody else because I didn’t wear a suits. I hated wearing suits and I had earrings that I took out before I went on stage because that wasn’t what the audience expected of me. I just gave all that up and decided to make myself happy in life and if they liked it, fine, and if they didn’t, that would be fine too. I’d go do something else but I was going to authentic. Authenticity for me is based on me telling you the truth whether you like it or not, and if you don’t like it, that’s not going to be my problem, you’re going to have to deal with it. I just go on stage now and share my truths, stuff I know works. You know the things I talk about: honesty, integrity, taking responsibility, life’s your own fault, spend less money than you earn, take care of your kids, teach them what it takes to be successful and feed them right and discipline them. All those kind of things. That’s just good common sense stuff and that’s not what most speakers teach from the stage. I do.
 

Ty:

Larry, why do you think you have reached the higher level of success in the professional speaking business than many other speakers who started out in the business before or around the same time you did?
 

Larry:

I think I’m more successful and have become more successful than most of the guys in the business because of "authenticity." I’ve discovered along the way that people won’t listen to what you have to say and they wont believe what you have to say but they will always listen to see if you believe in what you have to say. That’s what they’re looking for from the people or speakers who stand on stage in front of them. They want you to believe what you’re talking about whether they believe it or want to disagree with you or not. They just want to know that you mean it. I’ve been very fortunate that I’ve been able to turn that into a very recognizable brand. I’ve been called by lots of people in this business probably the most recognizable brand in the business. Nobody looks like I do, and nobody says what I say. The brand that I’ve created has been based on my personality, my style, the way I say things. I think that’s what brought me the level of success I am, plus people like what I have to say.
 

Ty:

Larry, that’s good, that’s good. My next question, looking at your life prior to coming into the speaking business, where did you struggle, fail and/or make mistakes?
 

Larry:

I did all the typical stuff most people in business do. I made about every mistake that you could make. I didn’t serve my customers well from time to time, I wasn’t a great leader all the time, I’ve made every mistake. I wrote a book called, People are Idiots, and I Can Prove It. There’s one chapter in there called, "Larry Winget, Idiot Extraordinaire." I mean, I’ve done everything in the world wrong. The key in life and in business is not about making mistakes, it’s about learning from those mistakes. I did learn from all those mistakes. I can actually look back and say, the best thing that ever happened to me was going broke and bankrupt because it reminded me what it took to get rich. I went out and did the research, I read 4,000 books in the last 20 years. I don’t know anybody who’s read as many books as I have. I’ve done what it takes to figure out how to be successful. That’s one of the mistakes people make, they don’t do what it takes to be successful, they talk about success and contradict it by doing things that don't lead to success they say they truly want.
 

Ty:

The theme of the Winter 2013 Issue of MOTIVATION magazine is "Purposeful ACTION." Larry, what’s the difference between busy action and purposeful action?
 

Larry:

Ty, lots of people know about busy work and busy work doesn’t really get you where you want to be in life. I can point out lots of people that are busy and they never achieve anything. It’s about clearly knowing what you want and then stopping at nothing to get it. My approach is a lot different than others, it's about getting rid of everything that stands in your way. Most people figure out how to get more successful by doing things. I tell people that you don’t get successful, you give up what’s keeping you from being successful. Purposeful action is about throwing away everything, every activity that doesn’t move you closer to where you want to be. The problem – you know, you don’t get rich, you give up what’s making you broke; you don’t get skinny, you give up what’s making you fat; it’s about giving up things that stand in your way.

Purposeful action in my opinion is giving up all those things that don’t move you closer to what’s really important. The problem with that is my approach is about sacrifice, and sadly, people aren’t willing to sacrifice anymore. They don’t want to give up things and activities that keep them from what they say they want. We got motivational idiots out there standing on stages telling people you can have it all. That’s the dumbest thing in the world. You cannot have it all. You have to choose what you want and once you choose what you want, then you have to move forward to reach it by throwing away the things that keep you from reaching it.
 

Ty:

Larry, that was good, actually truthful and powerful. When it comes to successful purposeful action, who helped and influenced you most when it comes to your business success today?
 

Larry:

Well, in my business today, I created a very unique path to success in the speaking industry. I was one of the very first guys who really merchandised the industry beyond books and audio tapes back then. I considered putting my brand on t-shirts, glasses and beer mugs – you know name it. I became the Gene Simmons of Kiss within the speaking industry. Nobody had merchandised it before, I did that and there was no influence in the way I created my business. I actually created the genre of professional speaking called, The Personality Speaker. Everybody else was, your everyday motivational speaker or sales trainer, whatever. Looking at what made me successful, I made me successful by creating this genre of speaking.

In terms of personal influence on me and overall success not business success, my mentor even though I only met him once, was Jim Rohn. Jim Rohn to me was the ultimate success philosopher. He influenced my career in many ways. He spoke about principles, not about tactics. That made a lot of sense to me because principles apply every time, in every situation, regardless of what you’re talking about. I’ve always spoken about principles, not tactics. Principles, I have a theme, personal responsibility. I drive that theme through everything that I write about, five best sellers---all on different topics but with a simple theme of personal responsibility. I’d have to say Jim Rohn is my business biggest influence on how I speak but as far as the way I run my business, I created that part.
 

Ty:

Larry, what do you feel are the top three reasons why people do not succeed in creating the life they say they truly want?
 

Larry:

Stupid, lazy, and don’t care! Yes, really, that’s what it comes down to. I have a philosophy for a long time and there are three reasons people don’t do – well: they’re stupid, lazy, and they don’t care. Stupid means, you know what it takes to be successful and there’s not a person that will read this or listen to this that doesn’t know what it takes to be successful. Everybody knows what it takes to be successful. The problem is they don’t do it. The same way for being healthy, we have the most obese society on the planet and people say, "oh I don’t know what it takes to be healthy." Are you kidding me? Eat less, exercise more, drink lots of water. I don’t know what it takes to be financially secure. Earn more, spend less. All this stuff is very simple! The problem is never that we don’t know what to do, the problem is always that we don’t do it, which is a stupid concept. You know what it takes to be successful and don’t do it, that’s stupid. Next, stupid and lazy... If you know what it takes to be successful and you don’t do it, not only are you stupid, you’re too lazy to do it. People get caught up on doing the dumbest things. Average American watches television six hours a day, and most never read another book after high school. They’re just too busy. They’re not too busy, they’re lazy. They’re doing the wrong things, their priorities are messed up. And the last one is---you don’t care. Your time, your energy and your money always go to what’s important to you. If you really cared about being successful, you’d figure out a way to get it done. If you really cared about being healthy, you’d figure out a way to be healthy. It’s not important enough to you to make the effort. Those are the three reasons people aren’t successful: stupid, lazy, and they don’t care.
 

Ty:

You’re dead on Larry. When it comes to lifelong success, how important are sound money management habits?
 

Larry:

Ultimately they’re probably the most important thing because lifelong success – it’s hard to call yourself a success if you get to be old and you don’t have any money. It’s hard to call yourself a success if you need a lawyer or a doctor or something and you’re too broke to hire one. So money management is critical in my opinion in terms of success. It’s not about how much money you have, its about how well you manage the money you have. I saw an interesting commercial one day before I did a big CNBC special called, A millionaire Inside, and it said one of the top four money mentors in the country, and it was me. I was amazed to be called that. Then somebody later interviewed me and said how did you become one of the most influential money mentors in the country? I replied, I’m not really sure, pretty much all I can say is spend less money than you make. That’s a very simple principle but 40% of society don’t spend less money than they make, they spend more money than they make. The key is spend less money than you make, save 10%, be charitable with 10%, invest 10%, learn to live on the 70%. It’s the easiest plan in the world but you've got to care enough about being financially secure in order to do that.
 

Ty:

Yes. Larry, what two books would you recommend for the MOTIVATION readers to read so they can improve their abilities and success through purposeful action, and why?
 

Larry:

Well, do I get to name my own book in that list?
 

Ty:

Yes, you can. You can name one of your books, then give us another one, how’s that Larry?
 

Larry:

That’s great. I wrote a book called, Shut Up, Stop Whining and Get a Life. It was my first number one best seller. It's really about getting honest with yourself. It's about where you are in life, where you want to be, telling yourself the truth, teaching yourself how to get rid of all the stupid things in your life, and how to effectively make plans and move forward. I would recommend Shut Up, Stop Whining and Get a Life.

There are so many great books out there. The second book the MOTIVATION readers should read is a book by Dr. Wayne Dyer, Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life. People would think that our philosophies are very, very different but they’re not different at all. He is a very inspiring person. Most people think a new age kind of a soft guy but he’s not really. I’ve gotten to know him, I’ve listened to him, and he’s really very much about taking responsibility for your life. His whole intent is to get your thinking right, get your actions right, and then you’ll be all right. Keeping with the them you’re talking about now, purposeful action, he did write a book called, The Power of Intention which is also a very good book.
 

Ty:

Larry, when you look at the young people in the world today, what do you feel are two areas parents need to take better purposeful action to raise positive, proactive and productive children?
 

Larry:

I wrote a book called, Your Kids Are Your Own Fault, and it’s a guide for raising responsible, productive adults. I have a lot to say about this parenting issue. I think one of the biggest mistakes we’re making right now Ty is something we’ve already talked about, we’re not teaching kids about money. We’re not teaching the importance of earning it, that’s why we have a sense of entitlement going on in our country right now. We’re not teaching them how to save it, invest it, or even how to spend it responsibly. I would say money is a huge issue that we need to start teaching our kids about so they understand credit and budgeting and all those sort of things. Our country is a mess because we haven’t taught individuals that principle. So, money is high on the list there.

The other thing would be a sense of personal responsibility and that your life really is your own fault. If I have to say one thing that sums up my entire philosophy of success it is this, life’s your own fault and we need to teach our children to take responsibility for the way their life turns out. Not to blame others, and not to have that sense of entitlement. Realize that it’s up to them to create the kind of life that they say they want. To live by healthy habits, choices, actions, work ethic, honesty, integrity, and a personal philosophy on how to live their life as a civil and responsible adult. And that has to be taught by responsible parents. Parents have to understand that its not the school’s responsibility to teach their kids how to act, it’s their responsibility. If a kid doesn’t do well at 30 years old, he/she will need to move back in. They’re not moving back to their school room, they’re moving back into their bedroom, and you’re stuck with them. So, your goal is independence and responsible productive adults, and you do that by responsibly teaching them about personal responsibility, work ethic, civility, and the principles of money.
 

Ty:

Larry, what would you tell the young adult who spent time in foster care or was bounced from home to home because they didn’t have the best parents in the world?
 

Larry:

Get over it. Nobody’s got the perfect childhood. I know that a lot of people come from broken or troubling homes but I think you just have to realize that you get to a place in your life that you can’t look around any longer to blame the fact that your mom and daddy didn’t do right by you, or you didn’t have the ideal kind of upbringing or all that stuff. It’s still up to you at some point. You have to go to the mirror and look at yourself in the eye and say, "Ultimately this is all left to me. I’ve got to stop looking back. I’ve got to stop blaming others. I’ve got to get over it, and start looking forward." When you start looking forward, you will realize that you’re pretty much always going to be in this thing alone and you’re going to have to go to work and take care of yourself. I think that’s what we’ve not instilled in our society today. We expect somebody else to take care of us or to fix us, and that’s a mistake. Anybody that comes to me and talks about all the problems they had, I recognize that but at some point in your life, I don’t care what you had happened to you, you've got to get over it and move forward.
 

Ty:

Larry, before I ask you the final two questions, what is the best way for someone reading this 1-on-1 interview, and for possible clients to contact and hire you to speak for their audience... what’s the best way for them to get in contact with you?
 

Larry:

The best way to always find me is on the internet at larrywinget.com. You will find everything that I’m doing there or you could read my blogs and I know how to stir things up pretty good. If you’re ready for some real hard core self help, that would be the place to go. Also, I have a huge following on Twitter, it’s @larrywinget. And a big, big following on Facebook at the Larry Winget Fan Page. Any of those three places you’d be able to keep up with me and what I have to say, and my philosophy, and find out about my books, and how to hire me and all that sort of stuff.
 

Ty:

That’s great. Larry, what motivates Larry Winget to achieve and succeed each day?
 

Larry:

Ty, I set a very high standard in my own life. I believe that’s one of the gifts we have. We have to set our own high standards. We don’t look to someone else to set a standard for us. Every single day, I have a level that I know I need to achieve in order to achieve self satisfaction. I expect a lot from myself. I drive myself. I don’t wait on anybody else to say, this needs to be done. I know what I’m capable of doing. Then everyday when I do it, I try to push myself a little more by saying, I could do a little more. I push myself in those ways, it’s those standards of excellence that I have set for myself that really keeps me going every single day. I also know that people pay me for what I do, it’s a job and a rewarding career. When people pay you for something, they have the right to get your very best whether you feel like it, whether you like it, whether you’re in the mood for it, it doesn’t matter! The point is, you’re being paid, it’s your job to be good every day. I have to do this because it’s my job to be good, so I hold that standard of excellence not only for myself but out of a commitment to others.
 

Ty:

My last question Larry, do you have anything else that you’d like to share with our MOTIVATION readers?
 

Larry:

It’s the simplest plan to be successful and that’s the number one question I get, "Larry tell me quickly what it takes to be successful?" I tell everybody to do this, get three sheets of paper. On the first sheet of paper, write down where you are in every single area of your life, how you’re doing financially, how you’re doing in your relationships, how you’re doing at work, you name it. Pick an area in your life and write down where you are. Take another sheet of paper and write down where you’d like to be in every area of your life, then look at the difference between where you are and where you like to be. Now go back to what I said earlier, and on the third sheet of paper, figure out what you’re going to give up to get from where you are to where you’d like to be. It is always about giving up. Write down what you’re going to have to give up... watching so much television, those extra junk food snacks, some people in your life that are standing between you and the kind of achievement you know you’re capable of. You’re going to have to give something up and when you become very, very clear by writing down where you are, where you want to be, and what you’re going to give up—you can then have a plan, a true action plan, that will move you and your life forward to where you truly want to be!