I’ve been around a long time.

I’ve seen lots of people who are successful.

And I’ve seen lots of people who aren’t successful.

I would include myself in both of those groups. In life, my balance sheet is definitely positive, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t lost a lot, too.

On the whole, between bad contracts and real estate deals I’ve missed out on and so much more, I would say I’ve lost about $1 million in my lifetime.

And looking at both myself and the men and women I know who are successful, one thing is very clear to me.

One of the Biggest Keys to Success is the Ability to Listen to Criticism

Years ago, when I opened up my first business, it was in the early ’90s in New York City.

The business was called Bar X, a theme bar, which was a big trend in New York in the ’80s and ’90s.

I was a micro-manager.

When I walked into the bar at night, my bartenders would salute me and call me the general. I literally would micro-manage everything instead of allowing them to do the job they were hired to do.

I would make sure that they would do it my way.

It’s a trait that, at times, has haunted me throughout my entire existence.

Over the last 10 years, I’ve hired people.

And unfortunately, hiring is not exactly one of my greatest strengths.

I seem to hire people on a regular basis that don’t seem to do what they need to be doing. I would love to see them do what they need to do, but unfortunately, most of the time people just do what they think they need to do, or what they think is right.

And that’s something I learned along the way. When you hire somebody, it’s all about dropping the ego.

You’re going to have great feedback, they’re going to have great feedback. Together, you can collaborate on things, and make things work.

The Know-It-Alls Never Seem to Know It All

They’re all just about ego.

The people who don’t listen, and never listen to the things that they are being critiqued on, are the egomaniacs.

And egomaniacs are rarely successful in the long run, because they always believe that they know what they’re doing is 100% right.

But in reality, it isn’t.

Think about your life.

Do you get criticized over and over again for the same thing from different people.

If so, that’s something that needs to be worked on. Because that means the universe is ganging up on you and giving you the same lesson over and over again so you’re able to start really becoming a much better version of yourself.

That’s really what it’s all about. Lessons show up so you can be a far more powerful and far more interesting version of yourself.

Successful people take criticism well.

They don’t get defensive. They listen. They see the lessons that keep coming up, and they understand that dropping the ego is one of the biggest things that they need to do on a regular basis.

Drop your ego and watch your success blow up.