We can all learn a thing or two from Gatsby.
If you’ve read the book or seen the film, you know that Gatsby threw crazy, opulent parties where hundreds of people poured through the doors.
Here are some of my big takeaways from the story…
1) Why throw parties
If you’re the person throwing the party, everyone knows you.
The person throwing a party is someone we call a ‘hub’.
You become everyone’s common point of conversation, you’re the favourite topic for people to talk about, and everyone gets to know you better through their discussion.
The great thing about being a ‘connector’ is that by putting people together, people want to reciprocate by helping you out and doing you favours. You become important in that way.
2) An alternative to becoming a ‘hub’
With that said, you don’t have to be the one throwing the party all of the time to develop a network.
What you do need however – if you’re not going to be the hub – is build a good relationship with a hub.
If you know the person throwing the party, you always have a way to go and meet people.
You can then use this person as a gateway to meeting more and more new people.
3) Have an emotional vision for life
One of the things we know about Gatsby is that through all of his achievement, he had an extremely emotional vision of where he was going.
I’m always coaching that if you want to get somewhere, you can’t be driven by logic.
Logic doesn’t last. Logic leads you to running on will-power and will-power never lasts.
You have to run on emotion. You have to find something that drives you on a visceral, gut level.
For Gatsby it was a woman. It was the ideal he had in his head – and of course that become an unhealthy ideal because it became unrealistic – but he had something driving him that was bigger than an amount of money or the size of a house. It was a VISION of his life with somebody.
We all have to find an emotional vision that’s going to drive us through the hard times.
4) Believe you’re destined for greatness
Gatsby believed that he was destined for greatness, even as a boy.
You have to believe on some level that you’re destined for great things. We all have to believe that we’re special in our own way.
–What makes YOU special?
5) Have a plan
Gatsby had a way of constantly improving himself and saw himself as his greatest asset.
(In the book) His dad found a journal with his daily diary.
Schedule Sept 12th 1906
Rise from bed – 6:00 AM
Dumbbell exercise and wall scaling – 6:15 – 6:30 AM
Study electricity etc. – 7:15 – 8:15 AM
Work – 8:30 – 4:30 PM
Basketball and sports – 4:30 – 5:00 PM
Practice elocution, poise and how to obtain it – 5:00 – 6:00 PM
Study needed inventions – 7:00 – 9:00 PM
General Resolves
–No wasting time at Shafters
–No more smoking or chewing
–Bathe every other day
–Read one improving book or magazine a week
–Save ($5.00 – crossed out) $3.00 a week
–Be better to parents
Have things that act as a compass for how you live.
If you’re thinking about this when you wake up, it’s already too late.
This has to done the night before so that when you wake up, you’re straight into action and you know exactly where you want to be.
Now Gatsby had his flaws. But I feel like we can all learn something, even from flawed men.
When we take his best parts and combine them with the learnings we see from a far, that’s when we’ll achieve our own form of greatness.
Question: What did you take away from The Great Gatsby? Let me know in the comments below!
Was that an American ‘R’ I heard? It was! Well done! I’m so glad we haven’t colored all of your ‘R’s stateside red, white, and blue. Two nations would have to declare a state of emergency… God save the Queen & Matthew’s British ‘R’s ;)
The video, your message, and of course your accent are all fantastic! Very creative- I look forward to seeing what you come up with next ;)
Hugs,
Amanda
Thx for reminding me these things. I used to had a booklet like that to schedule my life, but then guys mocked me that I am having a list for everything and that I cross each option. So, I started to doubt it and even thought I am obsessed with the action of writing down my daily routines. Now I see it is not true. thx Matthew.
XX( you have got 2 cheeks)
I love the Gatsby take :) very creative. Great work Matthew, you’ve achieved so much and it is truly amazing.. but you know what, you deserve it! You worked hard for it but mainly because this is your passion and you are great at it!
Although, one little comment if I may… I hope the LA way of life will not change you and you’ll stay the ‘good old’ not-so-glamourous-and-fake-but-true-heart-to-heart-and-sincere coach :) We, your UK (&European) followers just love you as you naturally are! :)
Ildiko x
You are so funny Matthew…You have this little arrogance combined with a great sense of humor. I like it. Every video I learn something new from you and sometimes I think: This is so simple ! How come I did not think about it???. Well thank you for being here :) I hope to see you sometime in some seminar
My comment seems to have disappeared from the site! :(
Anyway what I took from The Great Gatsby was how to throw amazing parties!!
Very Creative! I loved the video! Keep up the Great work!
When I watched the film a few weeks ago I was talking to my girlfriend about what we can take out of this and we both came to the conclusion that every now and then we need to step back and re-evaluate our lives and how we can do things better.
I gotta get the book now that I saw the movie!!
Te casarias conmigo?
Matthew you always inspire me. I am as I said before taking the bull by the horns. I am in the process working on my “meet & Greet” for singles. I’m working on finding me a Hub. This is ideal for me because I love a lot of attention.
Great, awesome, superb! :)
There’s definately a great deal to find out about this topic. I really like all of the points you’ve made.
Hello Matthew,
The Great Gatsby knew about “The Secret”…!!! ;-)
Excellent list. You may also want to add GasBuddy since gas prices tend for being more
expensive in the summer.
You really make it appear really easy together with your presentation however I to find this topic to be
actually something that I feel I might never understand.
It sort of feels too complicated and very huge for me.
I’m taking a look ahead for your next post, I will
try to get the hang of it!
Hmm it appears like your site ate my first comment (it was
super long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I had written
and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I as well am an aspiring blog blogger but I’m still
new to the whole thing. Do you have any recommendations for inexperienced blog writers?
I’d certainly appreciate it.
cute presentation <3
Hi Matthew!
I’m a fan of your videos and mostly agree with the sentiments that you convey. In this case I can’t help but feel sorry for the hub! Know the hub… that sounds a bit like using another person for your own gain which is not a nice quality in my mind. Do you even need to like this hub person? I prefer a more genuine approach to how I interact with people.
‘The best thing a woman can be in this world is a beautiful little fool.’ Tennessee Williams
You know that Gatsby despite all the parties ends up alone and friendless Matthew?