No More Excuses: What a 21-Year-Old in a Beat-Up Honda Knew That You Don’t
Mitch Mitchem - 1998 Universal Studios Florida CityWalk
By Mitch Mitchem
You are just out of college or under 25. You've got ChatGPT writing your business plans. You are making vision boards. You keep watching a bunch of free learning videos by people your own age who also don't know shit but used Claude to write a nifty script about some topic. Instagram is making you think you're one viral post away from freedom. And you have more knowledge in your pocket than existed in the entire lifetime of a person in 1776.
So why the fuck are you still stuck?
I know why. And before you get defensive, understand this: I'm not judging you. I'm trying to save you from wasting the best years of your life watching other people live theirs.
Oh, and for the older folks, before we go on, my Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers
This isn’t just for the younger generations. If you’re over 40, 50, or even 60 and you catch yourself thinking the best chapters are behind you, stop it right now. You’re not too late, you’re just too comfortable. The world has changed, yes, but opportunity didn’t vanish; it multiplied. You’ve got experience, networks, and perspective the twenty-somethings would kill for. You might have a few scars, maybe a few regrets, but that means you’ve got material. I still wake up some mornings feeling too old to start something epic, and then I remember I’ve already done it before. So I get up and start again.
The Moment Everything Changed
Picture this: It's 1992. I'm 21 years old, driving a 1984 Honda Accord that sounds like it's perpetually dying. Everything I own is in that car. My entire net worth is $1,400 cash in my pocket. I'm heading to Chicago, a city where I know exactly zero people, because I have an idea for an interactive comedy show. At this point in time, I just knew it would work. I had no idea how, but I knew. Just a young, very handsome, very talented, not so humble, funny guy with a dream.
About an hour into the drive, reality hits me like a freight train.
My hands start sweating. Heart pounding. I can't breathe right. I pull over on the side of the freeway and just sit there, completely frozen. The voice in my head is screaming: "What have you done? You're going to fail. Everyone's going to laugh at you. You're going to end up homeless, your parents are never going to talk to you, and it'll be exactly what you deserve for being this stupid. You dropped out fo college for this? Dumbass."
I sat there for an hour. A full fucking hour, paralyzed on the side of a highway, on the verge of turning around and slinking back home with my tail between my legs. Oh and it was raining.
Then I remembered my notebook.
I'd written everything down. Every detail of the show. Every step I needed to take. Every contingency I could think of. I read it over and over, and something shifted. The panic didn't disappear, it never does, but it got quieter.
I started talking to myself out loud. "You can do this. You are stronger than you know. Just go see what you can do."
I got back on the highway. I didn't look back.
When the Chicago skyline appeared on the horizon a few hours later, I felt like I was on fire. Pure adrenaline. Pure purpose. Flying into a big city is one thing, but coming around the corner on a freeway in the early evening is something else. For about an hour, I drove around and finally found the address for a studio apartment i saw in the paper. The internet did not exist yet. It was $495 a month. After paying the deposit and first month's rent, I had almost nothing left. But I had a roof over my head. And I had a plan. Oh, and for those of you that don't understand how time works with money, that is like $1,100 - $1500 a month today. Or close to it. The price of an average dumb studio in Chicago. I looked it up.
The next day, I walked into the most insane nightclub I could find, a 45,000-square-foot medieval castle called Excalibur. (It's Tao Restaurant Today) I walked straight up to the manager and, with more confidence than I actually felt, told him I had a revolutionary idea that would pack his club. I made a ton of the ideas up on the spot, but I had been performing for the last three years in Ohio as a DJ and MC. I had tested some of it.
I got a job, starting as a DJ. I got the shot. It was not the perfect path. It was not me in charge. But it was an opening. And I walked in.
Excalibur Chicago 1999 - Comedy You Can Dance To
That shot turned into five years of me ultimately building Comedy You Can Dance To, a fun, interactive, dancing, comedy wild ride where the audience became part of the show. It became a phenomenon that lasted for another 15 years after I left and went to Universal Studios in Florida.
But here's what matters: None of that would have happened if I'd turned around on that highway. I would have never made the show happen. I would have never studied at SecondCity. I would have missed all the acting classes, the performances, the fun, the wild ride that was working in a nightclub/comedy scene. Thank God social media and the internet did not exist, or some basement dwelling troll may have reminded me of my insecurities. Instead, I made history, and so many memories flood my mind each day.
The Real Lesson Behind the Drive
That day in my car, alone, I learned that courage isn’t confidence. It’s commitment in motion. I wasn’t fearless; I was willing and curious. And that’s the difference between people who build empires, do amazing things over time, who overcome life obstacles, and people who build excuses.
In that hour on the side of the road, I didn’t just decide to keep driving, I decided to stop being the kind of man who needed permission to. That’s the moment everything changed. Not when I got to Chicago, but when I stopped negotiating with my fear.
Mitch Mitchem 21 ish
If I could talk to that 21-year-old kid now, I’d tell him he was about to become the man who teaches CEOs how to eliminate friction, the man who built so much in so many industries, and who would ultimately become a father of four, married to the most amazing woman ever. I would tell him it was all possible because he first learned how to eliminate his own fear.
What If I Started Over Today?
Young people, including my kids, ask me this question constantly. If I were 21 right now, in 2025, with everything I know, what would I do? I see people complain online all the time that things are expensive, life is hard, and everything is a mess, but I laugh. Not out of ridicule, but because if they knew what I know, and stopped paying for $1000 phones that then cause hundreds or thousands of dollars to leak from their lives each week, they would be unstoppable. And they would win at life.
So I do have a bigger answer than just stop drinking lattes and drop your phone. My real answer will piss off your parents, your guidance counselor, and probably you. But it's the truth.
So imagine, this guy, I told you handsome, is now here in 2025. He will get a haircut that does not look like Tho Von, or perhaps not, and change that OP shirt, but other than that, here is what I am going to do.
Skip College
In my life I eventually went back to college, did the whole thing, and I will tell you, I'd skip it entirely and not even attempt. With AI, I can learn any skill I need, faster and cheaper than any university can teach me. I don't need a degree to prove I'm smart now that information cost is ZERO. need a portfolio that proves I can deliver. The four years you're spending in lectures and drowning in debt? I'm spending building something real, getting actual market feedback, and learning from failure while the stakes are still low.
Your parents will hate this. They're wrong. The world changed. The old playbook doesn't work anymore.
Universal Studios Florida 1998, Mardi Grais with Mitch Mitchem and Comedy You Can Dance To
Pick Your Battlefield
I would skip Chicago this time. I'd pick Nashville. Maybe Austin. Somewhere with energy, opportunity, and a cost of living that doesn't require a trust fund. I'd find the cheapest studio near the action, live on a bike, and save every single penny. I would still find improv classes, those rocked. But Nashville has plenty. And online, I can find great learning.
Location matters. You can't build an entertainment and music career in Des Moines. You can't break into tech from your hometown, where nothing is happening. Get yourself to where the game is being played and be prepared to live humbly. Who gives a shit? Everyone on TikTok is full of shit and faking it anyway.
Exploit Your Unfair Advantage
This is the part that makes me jealous. You have weapons I never had.
If I'm working as a DJ or MC from 7 PM to 3 AM, I've got from 10 AM to 6 PM to build an empire. I'm hitting the gym, or if I can't afford one, I am finding a power at-home workout on YouTube. I'm creating content. I'm documenting the journey. I'm building a following. I'm running a side hustle online. I'm a content machine while everyone else is hung over or scrolling TikTok while chasing some stupid car or larger apartment. Those will come later.
The internet is the greatest leverage tool in human history. Social media is a printing press that reaches billions. AI is like having a team of assistants working for free. But here's the thing: These tools amplify what you already are. If you're lazy, they'll amplify your laziness. If you're focused and relentless, they'll turn you into a force of nature.
Build the Feedback Loop
I'd perfect my live show and build a name in the real world. Then I'd negotiate a deal with the venue to sell merch as the show grew. The online brand fuels the live show. The live show fuels the online brand. It's a flywheel that compounds.
This is how you win: You don't just exist online or offline. You dominate both, and you make them feed each other. And the key is that you need the discipline to know that social media is full of shit, and that all you want to become is inside you. Most people under 30 lack this level of simple structure to show up on time, be consistent, and get results. I would know this and do it again.
The Brutal Truth About Then vs. Now
Let me show you something:
Then: My Reality
No social media. No smartphones. Just me and my thoughts on a long drive. I would work at the club until 3am, then have zero distractions, beyond the cutie at the bar, and would go home to work on new show ideas. You would be surprised what ZERO distractions does for you
Now: Your Reality
Constant notifications. Endless scrolling. Comparison culture that makes you feel like shit every time you open your phone.
The Lesson: Find Your Focus
You have to be ruthless about your time. Turn off notifications. Kill the apps that are killing your dreams. Set aside specific blocks of time for deep work. The ability to focus, truly focus, is your superpower in a distracted world. Everyone else is scattered. You'll be a laser. Your device should be a tool to make money. Nothing more.
Then: My Reality
Limited resources forced me to be creative and resourceful. I had to figure out how to make things happen with almost nothing.
Now: Your Reality
AI can do the work of ten people. The internet is a library of infinite knowledge. You can outsource almost anything. You have nothing in your way and every known thing in your hand.
The Lesson: Don't Get Lazy
Use these tools to amplify your effort, not replace it. AI can write your emails, but it can't shake the manager's hand. The internet can give you ideas, but it can't execute them. The tools are incredible, but they're worthless in the hands of someone who won't do the work.
Then: My Reality
I had to figure everything out on my own. No Google. No YouTube tutorials. Just trial, error, and persistence. Even my parents, hard-working Boomers, had no idea how to give me advice. I was truly paving a new road.
Now: Your Reality
You can learn anything, instantly. But this leads to analysis paralysis. You watch 47 videos on "how to start a business" and never actually start one. Then you wait for approval from other people who are not even close to having their own shit together.
The Lesson: Stop Learning, Start Doing
You don't need to know everything before you start. You just need to know the next step. Take it. You'll learn more from one month of doing than from a year of watching videos. Consume less. Create more.
Then: My Reality
Driving to Chicago was a physical commitment. I couldn't just log off. I burned my boats. (look up what this means)
Now: Your Reality
It's easy to start a project online. It's just as easy to abandon it when it gets hard. There's no real consequence to quitting.
The Lesson: Burn the Boats
Create real stakes. Tell people what you're doing. Put your reputation on the line. Invest money you can't afford to lose. When you can't go back, you'll be amazed at how resourceful you become. Desperation is clarifying.
The Hidden Tax of Comfort
The greatest poverty now isn’t financial. It’s comfort. It’s the quiet, numb life of potential never tested. It’s waking up safe, scrolling endlessly, and convincing yourself that waiting is a strategy.
Comfort feels good until it costs you your purpose. The richest people alive aren’t the smartest; they’re the ones who kept driving when everyone else turned around. And most of the time, they are WAY older than 30. Being rich at 30 is not as common as you think. The average age of a U.S. millionaire is around 61 years old. So stop thinking you are supposed to be rich at 21. If you got there, awesome, but if not, you have forty more years to be average.
The Voice That Never Shuts Up
Mitch Mitchem 2025 Keynote
That voice of doubt that hit me on the side of the road? It never completely goes away. I still hear it. After thousands of keynotes, after building successful companies, after proving that voice wrong a thousand times, after being in the media, writing a book, changing industries, it's still there.
But here's what I learned: You can turn down the volume. You can learn to talk back to it. You can, and you must, believe in yourself more than you doubt yourself. The voice will tell you to wait. To prepare more. To learn more. To get one more certification, one more course, one more safety net. It will seek the stupid opinions of others who are ignorant.
Fuck that voice.
Step into your power.
Added Reflection: The Inner War
That voice isn’t your enemy; it’s your old identity trying to survive extinction. Every time you move toward greatness, the smaller version of you fights to stay alive. Your job isn’t to silence it. It’s to outgrow it.
Growth always sounds like fear at first. But the people who win? They drive through the noise.
You Are in Charge of Your Own Disruption
Nobody is coming to save you. Nobody is going to hand you the life you want. Your parents can't give it to you. Your school can't teach it to you. The government isn't going to create it for you. There is no social justice that will. No program. You are totally on your own.
You have to go out and take it.
You have tools I never dreamed of. You have opportunities that didn't exist when I was your age. The only question that matters is: What are you going to do with them? Are you going to use them to build something real? Or are you going to use them to scroll, consume, and watch other people live the life you wish you had while online trolling with an energy you could use elsewhere, perhaps on your own life?
Stop Waiting for Permission
The perfect moment isn't coming. You're never going to feel completely ready. There's never going to be a day when you wake up and feel like you have it all figured out. I didn't feel ready when I drove to Chicago. I was terrified. But I went anyway.
That's the difference between people who make shit happen and people who talk about making shit happen.
The Mirror and the Moment
If you’re reading this and still waiting for a sign, this is it. You don’t need clarity. You need commitment. You don’t need another plan. You need proof, the kind that only comes from doing. Your moment is now. Not next year when you have more money. Not after you finish school. Not when you feel more confident. Now. Pack your car. Pick your city. Make your plan. And when that voice of doubt shows up, and it will, tell it to shut the fuck up and keep driving.
You're stronger than you know. You're more capable than you believe. And you're one decision away from a completely different life.
Mitch Mitchem 2025 - Moving out of Colorado
My grandmother had a saying that I use all the time:
"Life is long, we are all in it together, and no one gets out alive."
That last part it's the one to remember most. You are going to die, as is every person you know. Who cares. Fuck it. Go do something that your kids, family, and friends will talk about after you are long gone.
And for the older folks again
Don’t think this story was just for the kids. Hell, I might just do that show again someday, dust off the mic, crank the music, and see if I’ve still got it. Not because I need to prove anything, but because comedy and creation are the closest things we have to staying alive forever. If someone dares me, I’ll do it. Because fuck yeah, that’s who I am.
The dream never dies until you do.
About Mitch Mitchem
Mitch Mitchem is the founder and CEO of HIVE, a global leader in human-AI transformation. A former entertainer turned leadership visionary, Mitch has trained more than 200,000 professionals worldwide on how to eliminate friction, amplify potential, and fuse human intelligence with AI innovation. His upcoming book, F*CK YOUR FRICTION: How to Get Back All the Time and Money from the System Designed to Steal It, is a manifesto for reclaiming control in an automated world. Mitch’s message is simple and unstoppable: eliminate the friction, unleash the human. Learn more at https://AhumanhIve.com
