Matt Damon to make a home video of himself , begrudgingly shaking a coconut from a tree in his backyard , then tirelessly chopping it open so his young daughter could drink from it with a straw , then sent the video to the president of Coca-Cola . Zico Coconut Water , which Jesse co-founded , was one of 27,000 beverage companies in consideration for Coca-Cola to purchase .
During a 100-mile race that he ran with friends , he became so inspired by a Navy SEAL named David Goggins who ran the race by himself that he invited David to live with him for a month . He turned that experience into a best-selling book , Living with a SEAL : 31 Days Training with the Toughest Man on the Planet .
Today , he is one of the top ten speakers in the world , married to the founder of Spanx — Sara Blakely — raising four kids , and co-owner of the NBA team , the Atlanta Hawks .
Jesse Itzler shared his unorthodox journey of going from a kiddy pool attendant to growing a company to $ 5 billion in ten years and how he pulled off his extraordinary accomplishments . Here are thirteen lessons from Jesse on how to create your own luck .
1 . BUILD DEEP , AUTHENTIC , MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIPS .
When Jesse was 22 and had no money , he sent ten handwritten letters out every day . They were all one-way letters , meaning he didn ’ t expect a response . He built relationships by authentically sending messages that truly meant something to people at a time when they weren ’ t expecting it . For example , he ’ d send a note to someone and tell them he admired the way they parented their kids and that they were an unbelievable dad . “ I did three things my entire life to build deep , authentic , meaningful relationships with people in my inner circle ,” Jesse said . “ I complimented them . I congratulated them . And I consoled them . . . and a crazy thing happened . They gave me a referral . When something went wrong in my business , they stuck with me .”
2 . PUT YOURSELF ON THE PLAYING FIELD AND DO WHATEVER YOU CAN TO ACCELERATE YOUR PLAN .
In the beginning , a lot of Jesse ’ s meetings were flukes . He ’ d be out somewhere and see someone that he ’ d been looking to pitch . Then he started putting himself in situations where his audience was hanging out and be ready with his elevator pitch . When he started Marquis Jet , to get leads , he ’ d show up where wealthy people were hanging out . He flew to a TED conference , but when he arrived , they wouldn ’ t let him in because he didn ’ t have the credentials . Noticing that the TED audience was buying lattes
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