Transcription
Anything you could think of, if you could actually think of it, it means you can do it. Right? Does that make sense? So if it—so if it pops up in your brain, it means that you have the ability to do it. Why? Because the brain would never think of something that it could not do.
Had this young man come to me the other day. He was kind of discouraged, a little bit, you know. I—I’ve been mentoring him. He comes by my office, and we spend time together, you know. I could tell he was discouraged. I said, “What’s wrong?” He said, he said, “Man, my dreams are too big, ET.” You think my—you think—you think my dreams are too big, ET? I said, “Why you say that?” And I could tell he was talking to a parent, right, or he was talking to a mentor, right? Whoever he was talking to, you know, I—I understood what they were trying to say, but I said to him, “Absolutely not. There is no dream that’s too big. There is nothing that you can think of in your head that you can’t do.” I said, “But here’s the problem though, all right. They shouldn’t have told—told you that, right?”
How many of you guys believe in this room that if you dream it, that if you think of it in your mind, that you actually have the ability someday to make whatever you see in your mind become a reality? Let me see your hands. Good. I love it. I don’t care what it is. You want to play basketball? I don’t care. You want to go to the moon? Like, I don’t care what it is. Your dreams are never too big. Say that with me. My dreams are never too big, because they’re my dreams and I can do it. Come on. I can do it. I can do it. I can be it. I can be it. I can have it. I can have it. Come on. I can do it. I can do it. I can be it. I can be it. I can have it. I can have it. No dreams too big for me. No—to—come on—no dreams too big for me. No dream too big for me. Again. No dream—no dream is too big for me—for me. Come on. No dream is too big for you. All right. But here’s what you got to do.
So I told him, I said, “Do me a favor. Keep dreaming. As a matter of fact, I’m asking you to write for a reason. So you wrote it in your phone, but when you get home, I want you to do me a huge favor. I want you to go write it. Right? I want you to write it. If you have a wall at home, like a whiteboard at home, if you don’t, go buy one. You got a sheet of paper, right? Put the paper up on the wall. I want you to write it. Why? Because when you write it down and your eyes see it, you can do it.” Listen to me. I believe this with all my heart. I literally flew from Detroit to Kansas today. I—L—guys, watch this. 200 years ago, people said only birds could—what? Come on. I’m just being real. 200 years ago, they said only birds could fly. No, a human wasn’t meant to fly. Now, not only are we’re flying, we’re watching TV. We’re watching TV in first class. They—they—they’re making meals, right? In some places you could lay down. I went to um, Dubai a few months ago, and the—in the—in the seat that I sat in, it was like a living room. A big—go—30-something-inch TV. They’re bringing people steak and duck and all wine and all kind of uh, sweets and snacks. Everything you could use your cell phone. Imagine that. Say they said we couldn’t fly. Now we’re texting while we’re flying. So no dream is too big. No—dre—come on—no dream is too big. No dream is too big. Come on. No dream is too big. No dream is—do it. I can do it. I can do it. I can have it. I can have it. Come on. I can do it. I can do it. I can have it. I can have it. I can be it. I can be it. There’s only one person that’s going to stop you, and that’s you. Need you to understand that. It’s only one person that’s going to stop you, all right.
So what I said to the young man was, “Your dreams are not too big, but you got to make different decisions.” Does that make sense? So I want to show y’all something real quick. Can I see the uh, book? I want to show you all something. I know you—you guys at some point you’re going to get the book, all right? At some point you’re going to get the book, all right? Uh, the U—you book, right? At some point we’re going to get it, all right? CJ and I said two years ago, please write this down. This is not even a part of my message, but write this down: Never let a good crisis go to waste. Write that down. Never let a good crisis go to waste. And so when COVID struck, instead of cry and, you know, and get upset, I made a decision, right? I made a decision. I made a—what? Listen to me very closely. In order to make your dreams and goals become a reality, you have to make different decisions. See, the only reason your dreams aren’t happening now is two reasons: It’s—it’s too early, right? It’s too early. What do I mean when I say it’s too early? Okay, so if you’re in high school, you can’t play in the NBA, right? It’s too early. It’s not—it’s not—it’s not—it’s not time yet. And a lot of you struggle with that. A lot of young people, you struggle because you got these big dreams and these big goals, and you want them to happen right now. You want them to happen today, right? Look, you got the rest of your life to live. So what would happen if all your dreams became a reality when you were 15? You got 65 more years to live, 70 more years to live, 80 more years to live. My grandma just passed; they both were in their 90s. So if you’re 15 years old, you got 80 years left. Are you hearing me? You can’t make all your dreams become a reality in one day or in one year, right? So say this with me: It takes 21 years—21 years to be—21 years old—to be 21 years old. You can’t—you can’t—for—you can’t make yourself 21 and 15. I don’t care how much—you know how—how many uh, uh—how much milk you drink, right? How much exercise you do, it doesn’t matter. It takes 21 years to be—21 years old—to be 21 years old. And there’s nothing I can do—there’s nothing I can do to speed up the process—speed up.
So the number one thing I think that kids do wrong is not that you have these big dreams and these big goals, is that you have these big dreams and big goals and you’re rushing it. Take your time. Take your time. Take your time, all right? It’s going to happen, all right? There’s some things that are happening to me—for me right now that I’m grateful it didn’t happen 30 years ago, all right? So number one, the D—the D is for good. So the first thing I need you to do is I need you to be a great decision-maker, and if you’re a great decision-maker, all your dreams are going to become a reality, all right? So—so—so we decided that we were going to write a book during COVID. Why? Because one of the worst things that ever happened to me happened during COVID, but one of the things that you have to learn how to do is not focus on the negative all the time. You’ve got to learn to see the good in everything that could be negative. Say it with me: I will learn—I will learn to see the good—to see the good in every lesson—every lesson. Come on. I will learn—I will learn to see the good—to see the good in every lesson—in every—for every lesson—for every—there’s a blessing—there’s a blessing. Come on. For every lesson—for every less—there’s a blessing. So I got hit hard when COVID hit. I had never heard of the term social distancing. I was like, “What’s that?” It was like, “It’s about to tear up your career. That’s what it is.” I said, “What is it—it mean exactly?” It said that you will never be able to—and we didn’t know for how long—speak and crow. This is how I make my money: Alabama football, Kansas—I work Kansas—all Kansas State. I work with B—I work with Michigan—Michigan State. Like, I go in the locker room. I go to colleges and talk to kids, and for over 18 months I couldn’t go on the road and speak. So I made a decision. I made a—what? Decision. I made a decision to see the blessing in the lesson. Say it: There’s a blessing—there’s a bless—in the lesson. Come on. There’s a blessing—a bless—in the lesson—in the—and so it hit me: You can’t go speak, you can’t go on the road, but now you’ll be at home all day. What can you do while you’re at home all day? I can write a book. I never had time before. I was always on the road, packing, unpacking. I was always on the road, right? And so writing a book is better than speaking. Why? Because in order to make money speaking, you have to be present. When you write a book, it’s passive income. While you’re asleep and people are buying it, you’re making money. So I actually can make more money with a book than I can speaking. And sometimes tragedies strike, not to hurt you, but to elevate you in a way. If the tragedy never happened, you would never be elevated. There is a blessing in every lesson. Come on. There’s a blessing—a bless—in every lesson.
So number one, you got to become a good decision-maker to make your dreams become a reality. So I made a decision: I was going to wake up every single day and I was going to write. I was going to wake up every single day—do me a favor—in your phone right now, I want you to write down: Good decisions, bad decisions. All right? Good decisions, bad decisions. I want you to write that down. Good decisions. Say it with me: Good decisions, bad decisions. So let me just say this to you, and I want to make this clear, right? I remember, you know, years ago we used to say when we was kids, you know, somebody would say, “Well, that person is middle-aged. That person is old,” right? You can’t say that anymore. Why? Because of the decisions that a lot of us are making now. There are kids who are 17 and 18 who are old. Why? Because they’re not going to make it to 19. So they’re seniors. Like, that’s it. They’re 19, 20. They’re making some bad decisions; they’re not going to make it to 21. So they’re actually a senior citizen at 15, ‘cause they don’t have but three or four years left to go. Does that make sense? ‘Cause they made what kind of decisions? Bad decisions. So here’s what I want you to do for me: I want you to ask yourself every single day, “Are the decisions I’m making good?” Because if you’re a good decision-maker, it means you are going to get—you are guaranteed to make your dreams become a reality. I told you my goal was to write a book and make what list? New York Times bestsellers list in week one. We made it. Why? Because—because of the decisions we made. There was a whole lot of decisions that it took to get here. And so in order for you to make your dreams and goals become a reality, you got to be a great decision-maker. Does that make sense? And listen to me: Every—every outcome you get—I had an uncle who died of cirrhosis of the liver. It didn’t happen by accident. It didn’t happen by accident. He died maybe 50, 60—it wasn’t by accidents. How—how do you die of cirrhosis of the liver? What—for the most part, what happens? You—somebody said drink and drinking—what you’re not drinking—water—not—you’re not drinking water. Like, listen to me very closely. You don’t drink a gallon of water a day, and then 15, 20 years later the doctor calls you and says you got cirrhosis of the liver. What happened? You’re drinking too much water. You drank the water, and it just messed up your liver. As a matter of fact, if you drink a gallon of water a day, you’re actually—your organs are going to be cleansed, and your blood is going to be pure. Does that make sense? But when you drink alcohol—I’m not telling you to drink or not to drink—I’m saying it’s a decision, and certain outcomes come with decisions. So I’m not telling you don’t drink. I’m not telling you don’t smoke. You’re grown; you do whatever you want to do. But I’m telling you, with every decision comes a result. With every decision that comes an outcome. You don’t have to eat vegetables if you don’t want to, but I promise you is your body’s going to at some point tell you you’re not eating vegetables. Does that make sense? So number one, we’re—we’re—we’re going to become what kind of decision-makers? Good decision-makers. And then hopefully we’re going to get to a—a time in our lives where we become what kind of decision-makers? Great decision-makers. And then one day I’m hoping that we—elite. So this book—almost 300 pages—the New York Times bestseller, the LA Times bestseller, USA Today—that didn’t happen because I’m a genius. It happened because of some decisions I made. Is that clear? Look, if we don’t do anything else, if you walk out of this room today, you owe it to yourself to make good decisions, because when you make bad decisions, you destroy—you—you’re killing you—you’re destroying you. And I told you, you live in a country that if you make good decisions, you reap the benefits of it. [Music]