Moment 26 - Eddie Hearn: Don’t Forget What REALLY Matters

In these ‘Moment’ episodes of my podcast, I’ll be selecting my favourite moments from previous episodes of The Diary Of A CEO. In this week’s clip, Eddie Hearn reveals what he’d regret if he only had a few more days left on Earth. You see, the drive to succeed can be both a blessing and a curse. What drives you in some areas of your life can also distract you from the things which really matter, especially if you’re young. Episode 58 - https://g2ul0.app.link/Bv30UaOl8jb Eddie: https://twitter.com/eddiehearn https://www.instagram.com/eddiehearn/ The Diary Of A CEO is going on tour! Sign up here to be the first to know about tickets - https://g2ul0.app.link/diaryofaceolive Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:03Steven Bartlett?

  You talked a little bit about that, about being 80 years old and looking back on your life. I'm gonna just play a little, a little game with you. So we've got to imagine, imagine that, what day of the week was, I think it's Tuesday today, Tuesday. So Friday, you find out that Friday's your last day on earth. My question is, and really put yourself there, right? So Friday's your last day on earth. All the fights coming up, AJ, Fury, it's all falls away. What do you immediately regret?

• 0:29Speaker 01

  That's actually something that I've thought about quite a lot. And the reason was is about four months ago, my granddad passed away. He was 93. Great life, you know. And when I went to see him in his last couple of days, you know, and he obviously didn't look great. And I looked at him, I thought, wow, life's crazy, isn't it? I said, everything that you've done in your life, and now you're laying here about to leave. So when you get experiences like that, just you have to be reminded sometimes that this is a game. Life is a game. We're only on borrowed time. Right? And you can never take yourself too seriously. I think that's one thing I do well, is I love to have a laugh and I don't

• 1:11Speaker 01

  take myself too seriously. In answer to your question, since that moment, I've been thinking a lot about if I, you know, if I went now, do you look back and say, I couldn't have done any more? I had a great time. And I think the answer is yes. I mean, we could all do, we can all do better. But my dad is an inspiration in that respect, because he's the kind of person that couldn't have squeezed one more drop out of his life. Right? So I'm quite envious of that. He's 73, and who knows how long he's gonna last. But I do feel like it's very important that when you get to whatever stage, when God says, that's enough for you, that you are able to look back and say, I couldn't have done any more. And that

• 1:56Speaker 01

  scares me a little bit because-

• 1:57Steven Bartlett?

  I want to know exactly what, when you think about more, you're saying, I could have done more. You find out that this Friday is your last day. What are the things where you think, do you know what? Because I think that the hot, the, that moment, like the, the deathbed moment puts everything in perspective.

• 2:14Speaker 01

  It does, but I think in that moment, your emotions are very different to when you're well and fit and on the hustle and just, you know. So you don't get a chance to reflect on that kind of moment until you're there.

• 2:26Steven Bartlett?

  Yeah.

• 2:27Speaker 01

  And the obvious reflection at that point is, I wish I would have spent more time on my family. You know, I wish I would have been less focused probably on work, but I'm not a believer in, you know, the thoughts then are not the thoughts now. And you have to act on the moment. You can't live your life saying, well, blimey, when I'm on my deathbed, you might look back and because I don't, I don't think you can plan like that. You have to do what's in your heart. You have to do what feels right. And what feels right for me right now is this.

• 2:56Steven Bartlett?

  Sure.

• 2:57Speaker 01

  What might feel right then is, ah, do you know what? Should have probably missed a few trips really and just done the school run a little bit more. And, and, and I know that. You know, you, you have to, you really have to understand where you are in life. This is great for your mental health as well and your sanity. You've got to be honest with yourself and, and you've got to understand the situation. I know exactly where I'm at, what I'm thinking, what I'm doing, the sacrifices I'm making, what I could do better at, what I, you know, but I'm okay with it. You know, I'm, you, you can't get the perfect balance, but as long as you understand what is going on and you're not deluded, you're not stubborn, that I don't know about, I'm not that, but yeah, I know, I know I need to do more at home.

• 3:40Speaker 01

  I know I need to do more school runs. I know I need to be less short with the wife sometimes.

• 3:44Steven Bartlett?

  But can you, there's a couple of points here that I think are super interesting. So, um, that, that deathbed moment, what I think it's doing, and I've never been there, you've not been there, but what I think it's doing is it's telling you what actually mattered. Because to some degree, I think that it's, it's like with that hindsight, you can say, fuck, that person criticizing my hair or my cut or this, none of that fucking ever mattered. All of that was trivial. The things that mattered were, as you say, like my niece or my, you know, so I think that's what that moment's doing.

• 4:12Speaker 01

  But that comes over time. How old are you now?

• 4:14Steven Bartlett?

  Twenty seven.

• 4:15Speaker 01

  Okay, you're a baby.

• 4:16Steven Bartlett?

  Yeah.

• 4:16Speaker 01

  Right. When I was twenty seven. What what people thought of me really mattered.

• 4:22Steven Bartlett?

  Hmm.

• 4:22Speaker 01

  You know, I mean, listen, I've been working out for thirty five years just to stay fat. You know, like the barnets going a little bit, I could not give a monkeys now. At your age, oh, mate, I was, you know, I might have been Jack the lad, I might have been turning up, but but deep down, you know, it'd only take one of the boys to say, you know, tell you what. Ed, you putting on a bit of timber there? Or look, look, your barnet's creeping back. What? What do you mean? What do you mean? Now, I go, yeah, mate, I know, this is a sign of the times, isn't it? So being comfortable with yourself is the best feeling in life, you know, is the best feeling in life. And I think when I was growing up at school, I wasn't subconsciously. I think I had a massive chip on my shoulder and that's why I was a bit of a bit of a knob, to be to be quite honest.

• 5:05Speaker 01

  But when you get comfortable with yourself, it's a beautiful thing in life, it really is. You know, when you wake up in the morning and you you've always got to try for me and look good and feel good and be the best version of yourself you can be. But you do get to a stage, and that's actually when you become really powerful and effective. You know, it's the same kind of thing. You know, when you're young and you're courting or you're looking for a young lady to show you some interest. You know, when you try really hard and you're sort of on edge and you're a bit, oh, I don't don't really like my hair or, oh, God, you know. You know, the ones that walk into the bar and just go, oh, mate, you know, that I I know I'm not the best, but I, you know, they're the ones that everybody gravitates to. Anyone with a smile on their face is always creates so much more energy and flow than the people that that don't.

• 5:50Speaker 01

  And and that's about being comfortable in yourself. So I think that it's very difficult with everything you've achieved at your age. To just know where you're going or what you're doing. I'm done. Do you know what I mean? I'm I'm married, I've got two kids, I've got business, I'm struggling to balance everything, you know, but I'm here. You know, I'm not gonna roll back the the years and do this and do that, and I know exactly what I'm doing, I know exactly where I'm at. I know exactly what I'm focusing on and that life starts to become a lot easier then. At at your age, you know, I went to work, I left college after my A levels. I went to work for five years in sports management companies and event management companies. I was a sports agent on a PGA Tour in America. I had no idea.

• 6:31Speaker 01

  Where I was going, I mean, I I just wanted to be successful, I wanted to earn money, you know. But the mindset of of or the changing mindset over the years is unbelievable. I always say to people, now what matters to you now, you will look back on when you get to my age and go. Can't believe I even used to worry about stuff like that. And and that that's important because I I feel like people that are very successful. You know, you did it at a very young age, very impressive because. I think it takes time. Now, when I did the Cambridge talk the other day, you know, you're sitting down with all these young. I mean, I'm I'm I'm street smart and I can sell, right? These people are like, yeah, but.

• 7:14Speaker 01

  I'm jealous of boffins. I used to take the Mickey out of boffins. I'm jealous of boffins now. I find intellectual people fascinating. I love talking to them and just trying to learn and absorb. And I'm sitting in this room of people and they're listening to me and I'm thinking. You know, firstly, you must be listening to me thinking, this bloke, who is he? What is he? A car, used car dealer or something like that? And then, but I'm I'm talking around, I'm saying to you, what would you wanna do? Well, uh, you know, what what is success to you? They've not got a clue. And it's not because they're at Oxford and they're they're deluded. It's because that's just, it's very difficult at that age to understand. I don't believe anyone at forty looks back at what they were thinking at twenty and said, yeah, I had this plan, I'm there now, and this is what I always wanted to do.

• 7:59Speaker 01

  So it takes time to develop a passion for something. And that that is, that's a key word, passion. Because when we talk about being relentless and we talk about this work ethic, you can only have it if you love what you do.