Let’s say you’re like me, just a small town guy who lives in an unassuming humble home. And let’s say the town is Williston Park but it could be just as well be New Hyde Park or Westbury or Roslyn or Port Washington.
And if you’re like me you grew up in a middle class home watching lots of TV and movies and reading magazines and the sports section of local newspapers.
What we’ve watched are guys like Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Taylor Swift. All extremely rich and extremely famous.
It’s enough to make us all a little sad, jealous and envious.
If you’re a golfer, you’ll never be the next Tiger Woods. If you sing in the local choir you’re not about to become the next Madonna any time soon.
It seems we’re all stuck in the middle of Thornton Wilder’s play “Our Town” with little chance of escape.
Yet somehow hope does spring eternal?
There’s a slight chance that you will strike gold and get to the top of magic mountain.
The odds of acquiring fame are about the same as winning the lottery yet that doesn’t seem to stop people from buying lottery tickets.
The question is exactly how does one make fame and wealth happen.
You’ll be happy to know that psychology has the answer.
All we need is a role model to emulate. Someone you can study and try to act like.
Just find someone very rich and very famous, introduce yourself, make keen observations and then act like them.
Now you may protest that there aren’t any real stars to meet and to chat with here on Long Island.
When’s the last time you noticed George Clooney walking down Hillside Avenue?
Yet Naomi Watts and Sarah Silverman were seen filming a movie in Williston Park not so long ago.
In fact I met two super stars within the past week, both extremely famous and extremely rich, one from the world of music and one from the world of golf and here’s what I learned.
The World of Action Bronson
Last weekend in Manhattan I had lunch with my sister in law and two nieces who had just flown in from Italy.
We met in the new high end Italian restaurant called La Sirena on 9th Avenue, tres chic with tres yummy food.
After devouring all that was set before us we paid the tab and began to walk out when my niece Chiara whispered in my ear “Oh my God, that’s Action Bronson sitting over there.
Oh God, it can’t be, it can’t be.”! I thought that maybe Charles Bronson had a famous grandson but how wrong I was. I later discovered by googling him that Action Bronson is the most famous rapper on the globe with everyone one of his YouTube videos garnering over 15 million hits.
He makes Snoop Doggy Dogg look like small potatoes.
Action was once a world class chef but turned to music when he broke his leg. Indeed he has this dirty as you can be tattooed overweight persona but there he was conducting a true power lunch with film star Jonah Hill seated to his right and the rest of his management team talking about their next film deal.
Since I didn’t know any of this at the time I boldly walked up to the table and asked Action Bronson if he wouldn’t mind saying hi to my niece who was a big fan of his.
They chatted for a while, I took some photos and we said goodbye.
When he shook my hand he grabbed it tightly and said to me “Let’s see a real handshake from you now.”
He was charming and witty and clever. You don’t get to make millions with a dull mind.
So what can we cull from this close encounter with a musical super star?
The lesson we can learn from Action Bronson is obvious.
Here is a guy living life to its fullest. He was once a famed chef and now he sits in an Italian restaurant eating some of the finest food one can buy.
His size shows that he enjoys food and doesn’t really care whether his audience wants him to look like Mick Jagger or not.
Action Bronson personifies a man who is enjoying life. His videos are extremely funny as well. My favorite is a live appearance he did in a Bronx nursing home where he had the 90 year olds rate his rap performance afterwards. Very very cute.
So lesson one is that if you want to ever become rich and famous you ought to follow your passion to its fullest.
Dream big and let your dream pull you toward it.
Joseph Campbell the American mythologist and writer would always tell his students at Sarah Lawrence to “follow your bliss.”
That’s what Action Bronson appears to be doing and is one of the secrets to any real success. You want real fame? You want real wealth? Dive head first into something you truly love.
Taylor Swift loved to sing as a kid. Tiger Woods loved to play golf. Pick something you love and then do it every day.
And by the way it’s never too late to start this journey.
Grandma Moses, who is our most famous folk artist, began painting at 78.
Next week I’ll tell you all about my close encounter with the world’s number one golfer Rory McIlroy who just visited Long Island and the secret he taught me.
