David Meltzer is an entrepreneurial mastermind and spends his time working to educate and empower others, with the ultimate goal of bringing happiness to one billion people.

And, with 469,000 followers on Instagram alone, it’s safe to say people are tuning in.

Meltzer’s history is unique.

Early on Meltzer worked for well-known sports agent Leigh Steinberg – the real-life inspiration for the film Jerry Maguire.

However, Meltzer infamously built – and lost –  a $120 million portfolio, which he has publicly credited losing because he surrounded himself with ego.  

Now, in an effort to serve happiness to one billion, Meltzer operates by way of speaking engagements, social media personality and TV host, providing his perspective and helping other entrepreneurs find their vision.  

During the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, his podcast “The Playbook” helped anchor a few streaming opportunities, specifically BloombergTV’s “2 Minute Drill” and Apple TV’s “Office Hours”, which just launched its second season. 

On the business-style gameshow 2 Minute Drill, now filming Season 4, more than $50,000 in prizes are up for grabs to an entrepreneur who can sell the best idea to Meltzer and his accompanying judges. 

Thanks to platforms like these, Meltzer’s entrepreneurial tenacity is put on display for audiences nationwide. Ironically, within the hours of social media edits, Meltzer poignantly quotes, “Money doesn’t buy happiness – it doesn’t buy love – but it allows us to shop. And if you shop for the right things, I promise you’ll be happy.” 

Irvine Weekly caught up with Meltzer to get an inside look at how his routines and business acumen have led him to become one of the biggest names in business coaching, investing and sports agency expertise.

As CEO and founder of the Irvine-based David Meltzer Enterprises, Meltzer is in the constant pursuit of inspiration. Emphasizing the importance of routine, Meltzer wants his peers to understand the importance of being “adaptive” when it comes to maintaining those routine activities day in and day out. 

“I teach that people need to have two routines in their life. One of these routines should be a set-in-stone schedule. It should be considered as your ‘normal’ daily routine. The tasks that are a part of this routine would be activities that would take place in an everyday schedule such as waking up, family time, work time, exercise,” he said. “The second routine is your ‘adaptable’ routine. This is the routine you use when you are traveling, you have family or friends visiting, or something else that disrupts your ‘set in stone’ routine.”

From the outside looking in, Meltzer might give the impression that he has all the answers, but he admits it wasn’t always the case.  

“There was a time where I thought I knew all the answers,” Meltzer jokes. “It wasn’t until I learned that everything in the universe vibrates and the truth is what vibrates the fastest that I decide to pursue truth and the real answers.”

Whether it’s coaching billionaires or explaining how he can sell you an ink pen for $1 million, Meltzer’s delivery always looks effortless. 

In order to prepare for these high intensity situations, Meltzer says he needs to get in the zone both mentally and physically. Crediting his ego-based consciousness, Meltzer often relies on meditative practices that block out fear and identify goals.  

“I try to spend minutes and moments in ego-based consciousness, and I have a practice for the times when I feel off, called ‘stop, drop, and roll.’ When I identify fears, I stop feeding into them,” he said.  “Next, I use some basic breathing techniques to help me drop down to my ‘center’ or baseline. From there, I ‘roll’ and take some action that has me moving in a positive direction, rather than remaining stuck in a place of fear.”

From Meltzer’s perspective, genuine happiness comes from the enjoyment from working toward maximum potential. While he admits this philosophy comes from an unfortunate experience, it helped him institute a glass-half-full mentality.  

“The origins of my mission are rather unfortunate,” he said. “After learning that my daughter’s friend committed suicide. As someone who ‘had everything’ in life, I wanted to figure out why that could happen. I started researching suicide and realized there os an epidemic of people who are unhappy. From there, I started delving into the power of happiness, looking at it from both the spiritual and pragmatic side.”  

Meltzer is vocal about his past, admitting to massive financial gains and swallowing unprecedented loss. When asked what the David Meltzer of today would say to his 18-year-old self, Meltzer said he would opt for help. 

“Ask for help,” Meltzer said. “I lived in arrogant ignorance for so long, but reality is that you don’t know what you don’t know. The fastest way to get unstuck or to accelerate in your life or business is to find someone that already sits in the situation you want to be in and ask for help or directions.”

For now, Meltzer will continue on with his mission of delivering happiness, adding that he will always adapt to focus on his family and friends while being a student of his calendar. Currently filming the second season of Apple TV’s Office Hours, Meltzer plans on featuring the trials and tribulations of celebrities, actors and entertainers dishing on their experiences with success and failure, which he hopes can empower others.   

“I wanted to know what it would take to create a collective consciousness of happiness. I knew that I could at least empower a thousand people with content from my books, coaching, podcasts, shows, and all the things that I’ve been blessed to do to make money and help people have fun,” he said. “And if I can empower them to not only be happy themselves, but empower others to be happy, that is something we can scale. 1,000 people times 1,000 people times 1,000 is a billion.”

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