I have no delusions about my likability in every scenario. I know that in order to get things done the way you want them, oftentimes your position will be unpopular.
Interpretation
Understanding that achieving goals may require making unpopular decisions.
In this quote, Frank Ocean reflects on the reality of likability and the often unpopular nature of certain positions taken to achieve one's goals. He acknowledges that personal popularity may take a backseat when it comes to making decisions that are necessary for success, emphasizing the need for resilience in the face of unpopularity.
In practice
In a speech about leadership qualities.
Whenever I think about movies, I always look at that art process as having the best of a lot of worlds. Because if you watch a great film, you have a musical element to it, not just on the scoring, but in the way that the shots are edited - that has music and rhythm and time.
It's about the stories. If I write 14 stories that I love, then the next step is to get the environment of music around it to best envelop the story, and all kinds of sonic goodness - sonic goodies.
I think we all change each other's paths. I don't know which law idea that is in physics, but I don't think any of us can live without affecting one another.
Work hard in silence, let success be your noise.
We were poor. But my mom never accepted that. She worked hard to become a residential contractor - got her master's with honors at the University of New Orleans. I used to go to every class with her. Her father was my paternal figure.
Some people focus more on sonics. Some people focus more on story. I focus on both sonics and story, but music sometimes, just music itself, can turn into more of a maths problem. I guess everything in life is a math problem, but it can be more about an empirical route to getting the symmetry that you want, and this vibe, sonically.
Performance is better than promise. Exuberant assurances are cheap.
A ball player has to be kept hungry to become a big leaguer. That's why no boy from a rich family has ever made the big leagues.
A minute's success pays the failure of years.
Great companies don't just have one founding moment. They have many founding moments.
I played for Santos at 16, and we had an excellent team, so it helped a lot. And then I played for Brazil at the Maracana against Argentina. So I get more experience. This was one year before the World Cup, and it made a lot of difference.
Before dreaming about the future or marking plans, you need to articulate what you already have going for you - as entrepreneurs do.
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