He denied Bill Clinton's phone call. He just lost the NBA finals championship. "I was inconsolable," John Wallace said on my podcast. "I didn't want to talk to anybody. I didn't want to talk to Bill Clinton. I didn't want to talk to my mom..." "But doesn't that make you a sore loser?" "You show me someone who accepts losing and I'll show you a loser," he said quoting Cam Newton. -- In the 90's, I walked out of my job a loser. I didn't stick with it. The stomach aches tasted like metal. I walked across the street. And played chess against a faceless man. I'll never forget him. I won that game. That's when I learned it's ok to lose. "What do you do?" Carpenter, author, server. "I'm in finance." "I'm in fashion." It's the one question we ask in New York. "What do you do?" I wander. I read. I spend time with people I love. I lost in the corporate world. But I'm winning at choosing myself. "It's one thing to give your time. It's another thing to give your money. And it's a-whole-nother thing to give both consistently. That's what I've been trying to do," John said about his philanthropy efforts. "Certain people won't do business with you if you're not giving back." I take care of myself everyday. Then I show up for other people. I ask them questions. And find out what makes them work...how they grew, shrunk, and then exploded into excellence. John said it best, "Humility turns to fire. And that fire turns to greatness." When I lost, I started over. Just like John. And now, if the president calls, I'm ready. -- Listen now to my interview with John Wallace to hear his "choose yourself" story : "From Carjacking to World Excellence." Then I hope you share yours. Email me at chooseyourselfstory@gmail.com ------------What do YOU think of the show? Head to JamesAltucherShow.com/listeners and fill out a short survey that will help us better tailor the podcast to our audience!Are you interested in getting direct answers from James about your question on a podcast? Go to JamesAltucherShow.com/AskAltucher and send in your questions to be answered on the air!------------Visit Notepd.com to read our idea lists & sign up to create your own!My new book, Skip the Line, is out! Make sure you get a copy wherever books are sold!Join the You Should Run for President 2.0 Facebook Group, where we discuss why you should run for President.I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltuchershow.com------------Thank you so much for listening! If you like this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe to "The James Altucher Show" wherever you get your podcasts: Apple PodcastsiHeart RadioSpotifyFollow me on social media:YouTubeTwitterFacebookLinkedIn See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.