With over 40 million albums sold and a business empire that includes clothing, fragrances, sports bars, liquor, and hotels, and more, Jay Z has transformed himself into one of the most powerful brands in the world.
The now 50-year-old former rapper continues a string of business successes, who also now owns a record label, talent agency, and music streaming service. His estimated net worth is over $1 Billion (yes, that's with a "B").
“As kids, we didn’t complain about being poor," explains Jay. "We talked about how rich we were going to be and made moves to get the lifestyle we aspired to by any means we could. And as soon as we had a little money, we were eager to show it.”
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Jay Z has found success by creating his own opportunities. “Those who are successful, overcome their fears and take action. Those who aren’t, submit to their fears and live with regrets,” Mr. Carter says.
In doing so, he's gone from being a teen selling drugs on a Brooklyn street corner to a bona fide business mogul.
He has a number of different business ventures including, the 40/40 clubs, Rocawear, Roc Nation Sports Management, Armand de Brignac champagne, TIDAL music streaming service and his latest venture, Arrive, a venture capital platform that works with early-stage startups, offering investment capital and assistance with business development, branding and more.
But the father of three and husband to superstar Beyonce says that handling all of that and a music career wasn't hard. Building something out of nothing from the projects wasn't hard. It was actually repairing his broken marriage that was the hardest thing for him to do.
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On the title track of his last album, 4:44, Jay, said that he could have lost it all due to his infidelity.
"And if my children knew
I don't even know what I would do
If they ain't look at me the same
I would prob'ly die with all the shame
"You did what with who?"
What good is a ménage à trois when you have a soulmate?
"You risked that for Blue?"
If I wasn't a superhero in your face
My heart breaks for the day I have to explain my mistakes
And the mask goes away"
"What I thought was when I finally met my dad, I'm free to love now," explains Jay in the video below that accompanies the song. "But I thought, 'how are you going to do it. No one informed you how to do it. You don't even have the tools to do it. How are you gonna do this?'"
"It's hard," exclaims Jay. "Remember, I'm from Marcy Projects. I've been shot at...all kinds of stuff. But nothing's harder than this--by far! I'm telling you, it's the hardest thing I've ever done."
"Most people are willing to put ourselves through something like this. That's why most people give up."
And he's right, with the divorce rate in America being 50% in typical America, but in Hollywood and the music/entertainment business, divorce rate skyrocket to 70% and above.
Now that he and Beyonce made it through that period in their lives, Jay is striving to stay on top. In order to do that, one must stay on top. And Jay does this through strategic thinking and keeping his mind sharp.
I. Meditation.
Meditation can mean a lot of different things to many different people. Spend between 15-20 minutes a day doing simple breathing meditation after each intense workout I went through. One exercise is to try to count down from 100 without thinking about anything else but the numbers.
If something else pops in your mind you have to start over again (believe me, its harder than it sounds.) Blocking out everything else and only concentrating on breathing deeply allows you to relax, stress less, and gives you the ability to ignore distractions. The more you practice this, the better your focus and concentration.
Jay had honed this craft of meditation for years by listening, being quiet and a steady stream of focus and concentration. “By the time I got to record my first album, I was 26, I didn’t need pen or paper – my memory had been trained just to listen to a song, think of the words, and lay them to tape.”
Meditation doesn’t always have to be about going out with new age music and “becoming one with nature” as you grab your energy crystals and yoga mat to head off to the nearest park. Just closing your eyes and breathing deeply works as well.
II. Re-Categorize
Re-categorizing is the ability to take a look at a problem one way, and recognize there are other perspectives to approach it--mainly positive ways. It allows you to see weaknesses that you may not have considered before giving you time to adjust.
This gives you the opportunities to see the problem(s) and the solutions.
III. Visualization
Play out all scenarios and how you would handle them. Don't always focus on the outcome, only the process and how to adapt and respond to any situation effectively. Repetition of this can help tremendously if a stressful situation arises.
"People respect success. They respect big. They don't even have to like your music. If you're big enough, people are drawn to you. I've never looked at myself and said that I need to be a certain way to be around a certain sort of people," Jay Z explains. "I've always wanted to stay true to myself, and I've managed to do that."
Staying true to yourself might stand as a succinct summary of Jay-Z's successful philosophy.
