8 life lessons every gentleman can learn from Justin Bieber

Love him or hate him, anyone reading this has to be man enough to admit that Justin Bieber isn’t just smart – he’s a genius. From the second he was discovered (via a YouTube video of him singing) he has broken every single record there is. After he was signed by none other than Usher in 2009, his first album immediately went platinum. That same year he was the first artist to ever have 7 songs from a debut album in the Billboard Hot 100 chart. And the guy was 15. Since then, he’s been through a rollercoaster of ups and downs and in the last 7 years has experienced more than any one of us will ever go through in our lifetime. Leaked photos that he probably didn’t want anyone (other than the intended recipient) to see, a public affair with a married woman (more on that later), a run in or two with the law and a continuous streak of record-breaking songs are just the half of it. So today, on his 22nd birthday, we thought it appropriate to share the life lessons that every gentleman can learn from Bieber….

Bieber has turned himself into a product that half of the world go absolutelynuts for, and he’s the first to admit it. In 2013 he tweeted the lyrics of a Kanye West song, saying: “I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man”.

If you’re not convinced, here are some stats to put things into perspective for you. His latest release, Purpose, became his fifth million-selling album – Believe (released in 2012 sold 1.61 million), Under the Mistletoe (2011 sold 1.51 million), My World 2.0 (2010 sold 3.33 million), My World (2009 sold 2.08 million) and within a month of release, Purpose (November 2015) had already sold over a million copies. Where he stands today, his net worth is $200 million.

Unlike a lot of young Hollywood today who have become ‘famous’ because of their famous parents, Bieber has grass roots like the rest of us. He was raised in Canada by a single mother living off low-income housing. She was the one who spotted his talent from an early age and started posting videos of her son on YouTube. In every sense of the word, he has truly worked his way from the very bottom to higher than most can even imagine coming close to.

Yes, he might be a multi-millionaire with a lot to give, but Bieber definitely knows how to work the room and get any woman he sets his sights on. He managed to prise Miranda Kerr (aka Victoria’s Secret angel and one of the world’s most beautiful supermodels) away from the arms of husband Orlando Bloom. And no, we’re not condoning affairs, we’re merely making a point. He also had a long-standing relationship with Selena Gomez, and is currently rumoured to be dating another model, Hailey Baldwin.

Bieber may have more dollar bills than you can shake a stick at, but he’s not one to keep it all to himself. This guy is as charitable as they come: on Valentine’s Day 2011 he flew a 6-year-old cancer patient to New York and spent the day with her. He also actively supports at least 20 charities, from Comic Relief to PETA. Last year, he sold a pair for his personal Nike trainers for $62,000 in an auction where proceeds went to a food bank in his hometown, Ontario. He’s also taken a pair of shoes off his own feet to give a helpless child in Guatemala. The list is endless, but you get the gist.

To say that the release of Purpose at the end of last year has done wonders for Bieber’s career is an understatement. Just when most people assumed that he would eventually become a washed up pop star who phased out into the background, he hit us all with a killer album that firmly cemented him back into the industry.

Before the release, he’d gone all Britney Spears circa 2007; getting pulled over for speeding in this $300,000 Lamborghini and sending dirty photos, leaked for the world to see. The flawless pop prince was no more, and teenage girls the world over were left broken hearted, crying into their autograph books. And then, suddenly, Purpose. And no one can deny the impact that the album has had on his career and how it’s turned pretty much everyone we know into a diehard Belieber.

Bieber is king of social media. He has a cool 60 million Instagram followers and this is how he makes it work for him: he doesn’t filter, he doesn’t only post photos of himself looking immaculate, and you’d be hard pressed to find one of his mansions or cars in a shot. He’s made his social media accounts as accessible as they can possibly be, in a way that makes him seem more down to Earth. He uses social media for self promotion – his way of actually showing the world the product he’s created and where he comes from. Where most celebrities with a following like his show off unachievable lifestyle, Bieber would rather show his personal side, and there’s a lot to say for that.

(Photo: Broadimage)

Take one look at Bieber’s social media, read any line of any interview and it’s clear that this guy is obsessed with his family. He’s forever posting photos of his stepbrothers and sisters, singing his mothers praises or going on tour with his father. Just because he spends most of the year travelling the world and playing to hundreds of thousands of people, doesn’t mean that he can’t make a little time for the family. If Bieber can, you can – no excuses.

One of the cardinal rules of business is this: no matter where you get to in your career, you should always remember the people who got you where you are, who supported you from the get-go and who have stood behind you. We’ve touched on Bieber doing this with his family but he also makes a point of interacting with his biggest fans, whether it’s on stage, talking to someone in the crowd or as small an act as replying to a comment on social media. If Bieber has time, you should email the first person who ever supported your business concept.

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