'I am committed to exemplifying what it is to be a true leader. Spectacular performances are preceded by unspectacular preparation. I get up anywhere between 5am and 7am and I spend two to three hours reading. It might be philosophy - I like Nietzsche - or motivational material such as Anthony Robbins or Dale Carnegie. I like reading the greatest thinkers of our time.
Then I go to the gym and spend an hour on the elliptical machine listening to my Naked Cowboy dialogue [a series of recorded self-improvement maxims]. Sometimes I may go back to the gym in the afternoon and listen to another motivational CD. I expect to be physically and mentally better than anyone else. I am the success principle gone wild.
In the wintertime, I'll go into Manhattan for two to three hours. I park for free. I change in the SUV and run into Times Square. If it's 20 degrees [minus seven degrees Celsius] outside, I'll only be in the square for between 20 and 30 minutes because otherwise I start showing signs of hypothermia. Then I'll go home, have two hot baths, do some more reading, maybe go to the gym, then go back out in the afternoon. I'm on a circulating system of read, workout and go show the muscles, which is the result of the accumulated work.
In the summer I might be out in Times Square for a total of four to six hours. I have a list of about 100 hit classics that I play on my guitar. Songs like Whip Out Your Balls of Steel and I'm the Naked Cowboy. None of the people in Times Square can refuse me. I can earn between US$300 and US$350 per hour. But that's not really where I make money.
People send me e-mails saying they'll pay me US$1,000 to use my image on a billboard. I just signed
a deal with a company that makes underwear that will be sold in Wal-Mart. I charge US$1,000 just to do an appearance. I've got a gig in Germany coming up and they're going to pay me US$5,000. I charge whatever I want and they give it to me. I'm the only one. For a Pepsi commercial, I was being paid US$3,000 every month for what seemed forever. I'm a registered trademark, both my name and my image. No one can call themselves the Nude Cowboy. But I'm not interested in the money; I'm interested in the capacity to go person to person.