- Effort is between you and you.
There's no limits.
Don't let the world ever put limits on you.
Don't move to next year too fast.
Just like don't go to tomorrow too fast.
To the King he said King I can't fight your fight.
I got to fight my fight.
I was so pissed off I said I got it.
I said I got it.
Time slows down for no man.
So the question is how much time you gon' waste?
I don't need to give you everything you want,
I just got to make sure you have everything you need.
Write down your vision.
Let your subconscious mind be the leader of you.
Every footstep that's ever tooken
while you been on this earth is accounted for.
Boy we are finna play a football game tonight boys.
It's gon' be a great night tonight!
- He's a former American football player who played
his entire 17 year career with the Baltimore Ravens.
- He was selected to 13 Pro Bowls.
- Playing middle linebacker his entire career he's
considered one of the greatest of all time at his position.
- He's Ray Lewis and here are his top 10 rules for success.
(swooshing)
- Effort is between you and you.
This ain't about x's and o's.
Because long as you play this game you gon' have mess ups,
you gon' have great plays,
you gon' have good days,
you gon' have bad days.
That's just the irony of this sport.
But when you talk about effort,
I wondered when I got to the University of Miami
because it's so many great athletes,
like in this building,
athlete after athlete after athlete after athlete,
what makes me different?
How do I stand out?
What makes the coaches notice me?
And I started figuring out playing with the Sapps
and playing all these different people,
somethin' got to click in.
That every time the coach turn on the film,
why is he calling my name?
Why does he notice me?
I ain't the fastest.
I ain't the biggest.
I ain't the strongest.
Never have been.
But Lord be my witness,
I've never met a man in my life
that'll flat out out work me.
Honestly there's no difference.
The way you win it,
the way I win at the game,
I go at business as hard as I went at the game.
I studied businesses and I studied people
as much as I studied people trying to figure out plays.
It's something I told the kids yesterday.
When you see transition really start to happen,
when you really want to transition into something,
master it there's no limits.
Don't let the world ever put limits on you.
You can do anything you want to do but make sure,
if you have a vision,
make sure the vision is written.
Make sure you have something to actually chase
and not just hoping and wishing
and all these different things.
I tell guys this all the time,
put your plan together
and then work the plan.
Don't work somebody else's plan.
That's one thing about the league.
I love the league,
but the league is somebody else's brand.
You have to create your own brand yourself
and your brand is whatever you feel like doing.
Whatever your heart is passionate about chase it.
I've had seasons where
I've had the worse surgeries ever.
I had seven surgeries
and that alone,
you ask yourself time and time again how do you bounce back
from that year in and year out?
But I've always used it as
taking that time to strengthen myself.
I never knew I was going to play 17 years.
Who could of ever thought that?
You don't say,
when you come into the league,
you don't say you know what
I'ma play 17 years.
You don't even think of it that way
you just say I take it year by year
and that's what I try to tell kids,
don't move to next year too fast.
Just like don't go to tomorrow too fast.
Deal with today.
Deal with right now.
We'd be in the locker room and we at practice and I'm like,
listen put the phones down
'cause these moments gon' go too fast
and when they gone they gone.
Before you look up you in two three five seven 10 12
if you make it that long
because most of them don't.
Just like you spoke about earlier,
most of these young babies never see five years.
Never see seven years
nevertheless a 10 year career.
You try to prepare them to understand what the moment
actually feels like and that's why I think honestly
why my career lasted so long
'cause I always lived in the moment.
Nothing else mattered to me
and I was selfish at times because,
even towards my family,
nothing else mattered when it came to that.
When it came to that I was dialed in.
It's a heck of a blessing to be here now.
I'm walking I'm healthy.
- Still making an impact.
- I just tell people I don't know how long
whoever's going to play but I will say enjoy every moment.
Don't rush too fast.
Let your years take care of your years but
go year by year,
go day by day,
go hour by hour,
go minute by minute.
If you ever research something
I want everybody to do one favor,
I want you to research the story of David and Goliath.
I want you to understand what the King told David
when he put on the armor on David and he said
I want you to fight Goliath with this armor
because he's huge.
He's nine foot tall!
And David said something that was very key to the King
he said King I can't fight your fight.
I got to fight my fight.
It's about fighting our fight!
2005 I had one of the most tragic injuries ever
and I couldn't help my team.
The leader was took away so there could be doubt
but what if you still have a leader
in Joe Flacco you got to rally around him!
You got to get behind him and it ain't about
wins or losses it's about loyalty!
It's about understanding I'ma make the play
or I'ma watch the play be made.
It's if I can tell my safety you cover this
'cause I'm going this time!
It's a man on a man every time you play the game!
It'll never change!
It's about winning one on one battles.
Fight your fight!
It's our fight to fight!
One and six doesn't define who you are!
What defines who you are is what you do
when you one and six!
What the man in you'll fight for!
Give everything you got today not because of the scoreboard
but because when this game ends
you will have a brother to call for life
knowing you gave everything you have.
That's why you play as a Raven!
That's why you fight as a Raven!
That's why no matter what nobody on the outside says,
fight your fight!
David found a way to fight his fight.
Ravens Joe Flacco
lead your team.
It's your fight!
It's our fight.
Let's see if somebody can give them really who we are.
I started training because my father left me.
The only way I can get through the pain sometimes
was just through push-ups and sit-ups until I passed out.
- [Speaker] For the next decade Ray's father was barely
a part of his life.
Then in 1990,
his sophomore year in high school,
a coach looking to motivate Ray handed him a
yearbook from 1975 that listed
the school's athletic records.
- When he handed me the book he said
you'll know what to do with this.
I looked at the first picture I said,
that's my father!
That's my daddy
and I flipped the next page
and saw that his name
was number one in every record.
I was so pissed off I said I got it.
I said I got it.
I'm finna go through these books and I will train so hard
that I will never stop until his name is erased ever.
Day after day after day after day.
I mastered it.
Every time his record would fall
I would go in my garage and I would scratch.
Scratch and throw it away.
Say there's one down.
That's one down.
Making the right decisions is a one on one battle.
Whatever majority of the crowd is doing
find your way doing the opposite
and see nine times out of 10
how right you turn out to be.
How many of you,
a show of hands,
how many of you
have found out a way
to not waste time?
Show of hands.
So it's simple.
God gives us a lot of things in life
but it's a couple things He don't give us
and time is something he gives nobody.
That's the one thing,
no matter if you looked at your watch
or looked at my watch,
you looked at your clock,
I looked at my clock,
you look at your phone,
I look at my phone,
time slows down for no man.
So the question is how much time you gon' waste?
I gave up on trying to make money years ago.
I gave up on entertaining clubs years ago.
14 years since I even
thought about taking a step in anything
that doesn't reflect where I'm trying to go.
That's what you got to put in your head.
Every decision you make.
Does this decision influence where I'm
ultimately trying to go?
Because if it does you got to get rid of it.
These conversations that I came to have today,
I can go all day 'cause I love sharing the reason why
people don't realize what you got to give up
to become great.
What sacrifices you got to make to become great.
What promises you got to make to yourself
to become great.
Grievance ain't a thought process.
Grievance is a lifestyle.
It's what you live like.
It's what you get every day breathing.
- Why is it important for you to give back?
- It's not a secret.
We didn't have much
but she showed me a model
and I've vowed to follow that model
and that model is
I don't need to give you everything you want
I have to make sure you have everything you need.
My mom gave more to people when we didn't have
and all she did was give give give give give.
I'm telling you we were completely broke growing up
and to see her giving,
to see what she was built from.
- In that state she still was a giver.
So she was your model right from the start.
- From the start.
I've had a lot of people that I admire
but my greatest role model on this earth is my mom
because what she taught me no man could ever give me.
Don't ever stop giving.
The Good Book says giving to the poor is like
lending to God Himself.
When you start to understand the Scripture
and you start to really add it to your life,
it becomes a purpose.
So my purpose of giving became a purpose
the rest of my life
to figure out different ways to give.
Different ways to help.
Different ways to encourage.
Different ways to speak life into people.
That's when my whole vision starts to open up and say
wow you know what?
The game was great but the game is actually a platform
for me to really be able to use what God has given me
which is my ability to give.
My infrastructure on what I wanted to see myself,
I write everything down and I see everything.
I got books and books and books from years
that now I go back and pull out and I'm like,
wow you said this in '09!
And now you're living it.
- You wrote the vision and you make it plain.
- And you see it.
That's one thing that I share with guys.
I'm like listen,
write down your vision.
Let your subconscious mind be the leader of you
you know what I'm saying?
Trust it because what you think in your
subconscious mind ultimately what your going to live.
That's when God says write the vision.
He said make it plain.
He didn't say write a 5 thousand word essay.
He just said write it.
Make it plain so you can see it.
So you can visually see where you want to go
on your next steps.
For me I did that a lot and I still do it.
If life was to end right now
how would you be remembered?
How will somebody
think about you?
Every foot step that's ever tooken while you've
been on this earth is accounted for
and will be counted one day.
We all got to face judgment day one day
so I found out very early in life
there are no breaks in life.
My greatest pain I've ever had in my entire life,
I'm 39 years old.
I'll be 40 in three weeks.
For the first time in my life,
33 years old 39 33,
and the first time I actually
had a chance to meet my father.
It bothered me so much because I used to look
at myself in the mirror sometimes and say
I know I'm who I am.
Now the question remains
on why inside of me
there was a burn
that has never stopped burning.
There was a grind that I made up in my mind.
The first time I fell on my knees,
I'll never forget it,
I'm praying as I fall on my knees
and I was a junior deacon early and I fell on my knees
and the first time I heard God's voice He said,
can you hear me now?
But I'm asking to hear daddy's voice.
Every Christmas I'm sending Christmas's with a bag packed.
I got a T-shirt in the bag and one pair of jeans.
I got a toothbrush but no toothpaste!
And I'm saying daddy got to come today.
Daddy got to come this Christmas.
Daddy never came.
I had a decision to make at a very early age.
Would I fold or would I make up my mind
to be remembered forever.
I made up my mind to be remembered forever.
I did it.
And you know what I did?
I did it my way.
And today I need a young man
to change their attitude
of life and do it their way.
There is somebody sitting in this audience
that has one thing to do.
The moment you leave here
make up in your mind that I'm a different person.
Make up in your mind that there is something
way greater than me.
Everybody in this room,
this day can have a real change on somebody's life
by the way you live your own life.
No pain lasts always.
I can do all things
through Christ who strengthens me.
- [Announcer] At middle linebacker from Miami.
Number 52 Ray Lewis.
- [Ray] What time is it?
What time is it?
Dogs in the house?
Any dogs in the house?
Boy we are finna play a football game tonight boys.
It's gon' be a great night tonight.
If you run out of energy or get tired look at me.
I got too much.
Being a champion is not easy!
♫ Shhhh be quiet
♫ Tonight is the night we ride
♫ 30 camouflage Hummers with brothers inside
Here we come!
When that whistle blow we unleash hell today!
When that whistle blow we unleash hell!
It's a man's game tonight now you know that.
It's a man's game tonight.
Here we come!
It's a man's game now!
(whistle)
Don't get nervous 'cause I'm here now!
Don't get nervous 'cause I'm here.
It's gon' be a football game tonight now!
It's gon' be a football game.
- I done been here before. - Alright let's go baby.
Oh you all thought you all was gettin' out of here easy.
Get off the field!
They can not move the ball on us!
You can't hurt this!
I'm a machine jerk!
You carry my jock!
Man I love this kind of game!
And you know why?
'Cause defense stood up!
That's what wins championships!
You can't run from this!
They can't let them hide from me tonight.
They got to see me!
Let's see if they can run without nobody touching them.
You know what I'm talkin' about?
Let's become great.
You know how we do our thing.
Everybody watching tonight!
So I tell you what,
if you can't find energy tonight you in the wrong business!
We control this!
We run this
and anybody come in our house they get dealt with!
- Thank you guys so much for watching.
- [Nina] We make this video because Marc asked us to.
If there's anyone that you would like us to feature
please leave the comment below.
- I'd also love to know which of Ray Lewis's
top 10 rules meant the most to you.
Leave in the comments and we'll join in the discussion.
Thank you guys so much for watching.
Continue to believe.
It's this hand.
No no this hand.
- We'll meet together.
(laughter)
- And we'll see you soon.
(swooshing)