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3 Career Lessons You Can Learn From The Daily Show’s Best Host Ever, Jon Stewart

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Jon Stewart is one the most loved and respected comedians in recent television history and is mostly responsible for the large success of The Daily Show. What most people don’t know is that he left The Daily Show to pursue his lifelong dream of directing a movie and he stumbled upon a lot of resistance when he decided to do so.

Today we outline Jon’s 3 career lessons based on his autobiography with The Daily Show: an Oral History as Told by Jon Stewart. Here’s a video version as well:  

1. People Hate Change

When John came onto The Daily Show, he was taking it over from a host who had run it for one season and during that one season it was as successful as it possibly could’ve been. The previous host got poached by one of the big three networks to become a Late Night host. That shows you how good and successful the show was.

When Jon Stewart came in to host The Daily Show it was not a news show, per se. It was more of a comedy show, similar to what was airing on Saturday Night Live. So John had to pivot this show to create one he always dreamt of watching.

Problems arose as soon as he started. One of the main issues that he came up against was everybody on the show were against Jon from the start. They had their own ideas and habits and they were trying to get Jon to host the old style Daily Show and he had to fight and actually fire most of the people that were there in order to get them to pivot to The Daily Show as it became.

Once he created his version of the show it became one of the biggest shows ever aired.

“Every generation has their challenges. And things change rapidly, and life gets better in an instant.” – Jon Stewart

2. Once You Build Something, Live Your Dream

The Daily Show made Comedy Central a household name. During the peak of the show’s popularity Jon decided to make a move that surprised everybody. Jon had this platform, he was very successful and at the height of the show Jon Stewart decided that he wanted to leave the show for a few months and direct a movie.

This movie was called Rosewater. It was about an Iranian filmmaker who gets detained and beat up in Iran. People in charge of the show and Comedy Central would not let him leave. It didn’t make sense for the show or for the network.

He had to negotiate very hard to get this and he eventually did leave the show to live his dream to become a movie director because he felt like he needed to.

So the bigger rule here is nothing lasts forever. Jon Stewart could have easily just sat at the helm of The Daily Show forever until he retired like most comedians and hosts do, but he decided that he wanted to go direct this movie and then come back.

3. Keep Going

When Jon Stewart was off directing his movie he put John Oliver, a british comedian, in charge of The Daily Show during the summer. For 2 or 3 months, those shows were extremely highly rated. They were funny. I actually saw a live taping in New York. Great reviews were just pouring in.

Jon Stewart knew at this point that he wanted to leave The Daily Show and he was preparing John Oliver to take over, when HBO came in and gave John Oliver a much bigger deal to come to their network. John agreed and The Daily Show lost its replacement host.

Jon Stewart still wanted to leave. Here lies the big lesson. Jon Stewart could have given up the search. He was leaving anyway, he could have been: ‘Okay, Comedy Central, you guys figure it out. Doesn’t really matter to me I’m retiring in a few weeks.’ Instead, he went out and he found Trevor Noah.

He found another replacement host for him. So that just goes to show you to keep going. Jon Stewart was living his other dream, he was directing, doing the stuff he loves, but he didn’t want the show to die and he didn’t let it die.

“Love what you do. Get good at it. Competence is a rare commodity in this day and age. And let the chips fall where they may.” – Jon Stewart

It’s okay to move on and it doesn’t always mean that you leave failure and destruction behind. Lots of people get stuck in a role that is perceived as successful and don’t have the courage to pursue doing something their heart tells them to.

Those are the lessons I learned from Jon Stewart’s unique career path. Why do you think most people get stuck in a role that’s not their dream one? Leave your thoughts below.
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How to Break the Cycles of Mediocrity and Manifest Your Greatness

There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity

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In just a few weeks, we will be wrapping up 2023. Can you believe it? This year has been absolutely incredible for me.

I have seen amazing doors opened, new relationships formed and I am seeing dreams realized in my life. While this seems like the hallmarks of a great year, this has also been the most challenging year of my life. With all of the change happening in my life, I have been forced out of my comfort zone and challenged to grow in every area of my life.

I can truly say that I have made the most of my moments this year and I have used everything as a catalyst for maximizing my greatest potential.

As a revolutionary leader, I have the pleasure of consulting and advising leaders around the world to fulfill purpose, realize their greatest potential and make an impact.

I want to share some insights with you that will help you to break cycles of mediocrity and manifest your greatness

Everything legal must come through the matrix

I am sure that some of you are wondering why I am using the term matrix. However, what you have to understand is that I am trying to make a highly complex spiritual principle practical to understand.

Regardless of your spiritual beliefs, every life has an origin and I believe that origin is divine and begins with eternity. You are birthed from eternity and into time to fulfill a unique purpose and assignment in your lifetime and generation.

The matrix is simply the portal or vehicle that brings something out of the invisible realm and into tangible form. The problem with much of the teaching today is that it excludes the matrix. We are told to believe that success is instantaneous and overnight.

Nobody talks about how a dream progresses through stages beginning with visualization and ultimately culminating in manifestation. Without a matrix or portal then everything that you attempt to birth and build will be illegal.

The matrix not only makes you legal but it gives you the authority and power to function as the greatest expression of who you were created to be. 

Every matrix has an incubation process

While many people admire and respect me today, I remember a time when nobody knew who I was or the significance of my message. How did I get to where I am today? I got here through an incubation process.

In other words, everything that has been destined for your life is incubating and awaiting a set time of manifestation. The problem is that most people live their entire lives idle and never initiate the incubation process.

What do I meany by that? Most people are living reckless and very few people are living intentionally. I am amazed at the number of people I have conversations with that have no vision, goals or strategies for their lives. They show great promise and they have undeniable potential.

However, without development they will die with their dreams still in them.

Everything that has been destined for your life must be incubated and converted to become realities born to time. 

“Visualize this thing that you want, see it, feel it, believe in it. Make your mental blueprint and begin to build.” – Robert Collier

You must give expression to that which is not yet born to time

When you think about a matrix or a prophetic incubation process, you have to understand that potential is often unrealized and untapped. In other words, your potential is in raw form and your potential cannot serve you as long as it is untapped.

The thing that makes me valuable is that I have the ability to convert potential into power. I have done it in my own life and I have empowered leaders around the world to do the same. How do you convert potential into power?

First, it is important to note that you have to perceive potential. If you cannot perceive your potential then you can never cultivate your potential. In addition, you must take the time to cultivate your potential. We often get excited about our capabilities; however, we never expand our capacity in order to realize our greatest potential.

In other words, the strength of your potential is only discovered through your willingness to stretch. The more we are challenged the more we are empowered to expand our capacity for greatness. Most of all, you must begin to express your potential. The expression of potential is different for every person.

For example, the expression of my potential is best demonstrated through the thoughts, ideas, products, services, books, etc.

For another person the expression of potential may look like a screenplay, artwork, sports, scientific discoveries, medical breakthroughs, etc.

Regardless of the form of expression, I know that you will live empty and unfulfilled until you make the decision to express your potential. The expression of your potential gives voice to your dreams, life to your vision, significance to your moments and activates your true power.

You must manifest your greatness

As a revolutionary thinker and leader, my work has impacted people around the world. I am grateful that my life is a source of empowerment to so many people. However, before anyone could ever benefit from my life, I had to make a non-negotiable decision to become who I was born to be.

I wish I could tell you that this journey is easy and that you will get there overnight. However, in a world that celebrates us for doing we are often criticized for being. As a result, I wasted a lot of time trying to be who other people wanted me to be instead of being who I was born to be.

There is no greatness without becoming and there is no becoming with authenticity. It is through our bravery to be vulnerable that we ultimately manifest our greatness. We do not bless the world by being a duplicate. We bless the world when we honor our difference. When you honor your difference you honor your potential.

Ultimately, your difference is how you manifest your greatness.

When you present anything but your authentic self to the world, you are playing small and you are robbing the world of your significance. Manifesting your greatness requires you to master your gifts.

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