you see when you're not pursuing your goal you are literally committing
spiritual suicide when you have some goal out here that you're stretching for and reaching for
that takes you out of your comfort zone you'll find out some talents and abilities you have
that you didn't know you have i started speaking just to elementary school kids
the easiest thing i've done was to get out from under the labels and to live the life
that i live the most difficult thing i've ever done was to believe that i can do it
the difference is that when you don't know what's impacting you and it's it's something that
that's holding you down and you're not aware of it there are things that when you
in my situation you live in a dominant culture that is designed to destroy your sense of self
and your belief in yourself and and you have to learn ways in which you can begin
to connect with this power that you have within yourself to handle where you are
the key is to be constantly in a perpetual process of discovering the truth of who you are and
fighting constantly to look for ways in which you can escape the inner conversation you get hungry
by finding something that's you i believe that all of us are born unique but most of us dye copies
you've got to find out what is it that turns you on what resonates with you one of the things that
i realized and what allowed me to become successful as a speaker the speaking industry
has been hijacked by people who speak to sell and it's it's okay to do that and make money
i speak to change lives because somebody spoke and changed my life so this is my passion
this is my drive this is something that i feel in my heart and and so the key to that hunger driven
life is a heart-centered life i didn't do what i'm doing for years because of my programming because
of the culture in which i was raised in i would see other people with
with degrees and phds and and mbas and credentials i don't have and i convinced myself i couldn't do
it but mr washington on that day we became friends and and he taught me not only someone's opinion of
you just does not have to determine your reality he said that you have to work on yourself and
you have to have an unstoppable attitude and no excuse is acceptable and you've got to to
make it a a priority a non-negotiable in your life and hold a constant vision of what it is
you want to achieve see it accomplished and go all out find a way to win in spite of the
setbacks in spite of the disappointments in spite of your failures i tell people when i'm
giving presentations you will fail your way to success i have a saying as life knocks you down
trying to land on your back because if you can look up you can get up every day when i get up
my mindset is what is it that i can do to touch and impact somebody's life
today what is it what does that look like don't live the life that has been given you
by their circumstances by the people that's around you that sydney port here wrote a book called the
measure of a man and he said when you go for a walk with someone something happens without
being spoken he said either you adjust to their pace or they adjust to your pace whose pace have
you adjusted to so if you don't have a program for your mind then your mind is going to be programmed
and you'll find yourself doing things that you did not know and and that they affected you that they
through marketing techniques and strategies that they will create a thirst within you i came up in
an era that said if you built the best mouse trap the world will be the path to your door but if
you know marketing people will sleep outside your store to buy a telephone they've never touched or
seen then i graduated up to junior high school and then the senior high school and then
to various community groups in church groups and civic associations and then to colleges into
businesses now i'm traveling across the country and then traveling nationally and internationally
but i never would have discovered what i'm able to do right now if i wasn't willing to take a chance
you've got to be willing to do that you've got to believe in yourself see many times when you want
more you've got to be willing to pay your dues as you look at your goals and look at your dreams
write this down you will fail your way to success see 85 of people allow their fear of failure
to outweigh their desire to succeed you're going to make some mistakes
and it's okay anything that's worth doing is worth doing badly is worth doing right if you know how
to do it but if you don't know how to do it it's worth doing badly until you get it right you have
to be willing to experiment with life i've done a variety of things and i had absolutely no idea
i have the ability to do those things here's what i can say about you and i don't even know you
you've got greatness within you but you will not discover your greatness in your comfort zone
you've got to be willing to get outside of your comfort zone because in order to do something
you've never done you've got to become someone you've never been and most people they go to their
graves with their greatness still in them maybe that's why one woman said in a moment of anguish
what if you live your whole life only to discover that it was wrong it's something else as you
think about your goals and dreams what's your why why do you want to do it what drives you
living a dream changing your life is hard it's hard when you lose all your money when you
you you've given it the best that you have when you have some major setback it's hard
when a doctor looked at me and said the three horrible words no one wants to hear you have
cancer it was hard to mobilize my mind in spirit to listen to tapes and music and read scripture
and be around other people and seeking out other prostate cancer conquerors to believe that i could
do this it was hard never forget my son said daddy are you going to die why are you asking me that
you're not going out much you're not the bubbly personality that i know you to be you're not
talking much you're spending a lot of time in the room by yourself dad are you gonna
surrender are you giving up are you gonna let that that doctor's opinion become your reality
will my daddy see me graduate yes yes son yes yes i'm gonna fight no no i i don't think it's my time
yet i'm gonna see you graduate but more than that i've got some other things that i'm gonna do with
my life and i thank you for asking me that um but i must tell you that i'm scared scared and um i've
never been in this situation before it's been easy for me to talk to people and encourage people when
they've had challenges in their lives um but it's me and i don't feel less than a man and lit and
admitting this to you yes i'm scared and i need some help see life is hard and and there are some
moments in life when you're going to need some help you're going to need somebody to speak to you
you're going to need somebody to say something to you i have a friend of mine willie jolly who's a
motivational speaker he said a setback is a set up for a comeback i had to listen to willy's tapes i
have another friend kevin braces who's the speaker he said les come on man you can do this you can
make this happen you can hit a home run it's a done deal you are les brown that cancer's got to
get out of your body i said talk to me kevin talk to me that's what i need to hear i needed to hear
those words i don't care who you are many people want to allow themselves to ask for help because
of a pride pride cometh before fall because of ego ego means edging god out no ask for help
not because you're weak but because you want to remain strong and ask for help and don't stop
until you get it i'm here because a lot of people help me i'm here because a lot of people believed
in me at a time when i was struggling to believe in myself the other thing is let us say together
it's worth it yeah see i think and write this down you've got to find five reasons that will make it
worth it for you five reasons what will make it worth it for you mine was i want to take care of
my mother mine was i want to do something with my life what will make it worth it for you mine is
i want to leave a legacy mine is i refuse to die and unlive life what will make it worth it for you
you