Hollywood exec Ari Emanuel says he treats his to-do list like a ‘contract’ with himself

• Ari Emaneul has a simple way of dealing with the voice that tells him to stay in bed.
• The entertainment exec also shared how he keeps himself from procrastinating.
• He said his persistence in getting things done and networking helped him get noticed early in his career.

Entertainment mogul Ari Emanuel said he doesn’t let himself procrastinate in the morning.

On Tuesday’s episode of “Aspire with Emma Grede,” the executive chairman of WME Group and CEO of TKO Group Holdings, which oversees WWE and UFC, spoke about his daily routine and how he holds himself accountable to what he sets out to do.

“I think it’s very important to have routine. I have the voice like everybody else, ‘Go back to bed.’ I don’t listen to that voice. I make sure I don’t listen to that voice,” Emanuel told podcast host Emma Grede. “I just get my ass up. “

Giving in to that voice can turn into an excuse to put things off, he said.

“That phrase, ‘I’ll do this tomorrow’ — I don’t do that. I made a deal, right? I’m advocating for myself. There’s a contract with myself. I do the job,” Emanuel said.

He said his “relentless” approach to getting things done helped him get noticed early in his career.

He was never afraid to keep following up when someone didn’t return his call, and he still reaches out directly to people he wants to know rather than waiting for an introduction.

“Those relationships take work. You send articles, you have a conversation. Something you don’t understand that you think they might, you call them,” Emanuel said.

Those calls don’t always have an immediate purpose. Sometimes, they are simply a way to start a conversation, he added.

“You’re wondering about stuff, and you’re talking, and then that leads to other things,” he said.

Other successful entertainers and business leaders have also shared the habits and mindsets they say helped them build their careers.

Tom Cruise, for example, said he saw himself as the “CEO” of his life as a teenager and turned his ambitions into concrete steps. Def Jam cofounder Rick Rubin has similarly described himself as a “lazy workaholic” who forces himself to work, even when he would rather do nothing. And at 78, Ina Garten said she still seeks out unfamiliar challenges because she loves “working scared.”