Transcription
[Applause]
oh y'all look good
i want you to look at something right
now think of some major goal you want or
maybe it's one you're already working on
and you have experienced a lot of
setbacks a lot of defeats
you've experienced a lot of
disappointment maybe you've already
given up
and maybe you just need a little fire a
little encouragement to get back in the
game again here's what i want you to
look at
they're winners
they're losers
and there are people who have not
discovered how to win
and all they need is some coaching
all they need is some help and
assistance just a little support
all they need is some insight or
different strategy or plan of action to
make some adjustments
that will open up the key to a whole new
future for them that will give them
access to the unlimited power that they
have within themselves that's all that
they need
so what i want you to do is think about
something you want for you
that's real for you
that's important for you that will give
your life some special meaning and power
and i don't even want you to say i can
do that
i don't want you to assume that
see five years ago when i started out in
this area
i would not have been able to make the
mental leap that i would be up to where
i am right now
i don't want you to begin to just psych
yourself out
no no i want you to be able to say
something to yourself that will enable
you to maintain a level of integrity
with yourself that when you say this
even when you face tremendous setbacks
it will be a benchmark to keep you in
the game to keep you
moving forward and experimenting and
readjusting your strategy and your plan
of action continuously looking for ways
to win
so what is that something
when you got an idea you want to move on
you might not have the money you might
not have the education
you might not have the support of
resources you need what is that
something
that can keep us going that will enable
us to act on our dream what's one of
those keys
that will begin to help us to discover
the secrets to our dream here's what i
want you to repeat after me please with
power and conviction say it's possible
that's all i want you to do when you
look at your dream
you say to yourself every day
it's possible
you say that every day to yourself it's
possible
because what does that do see
it begins to change your belief system
see the way in which we operate ladies
and gentlemen
it's a manifestation of what we believe
what's possible for us
whatever you've done up to this point
all that it really is
is a duplication it's a reproduction of
what you believe subconsciously that you
deserve and what's possible for your
life
most people operate out of their
personal history out of their memory
things they've done things have
experienced things they've seen
things that they have observed
what i'm suggesting that you operate out
of a larger vision of yourself i want
you to see yourself doing what you want
to do experiencing what you want to
experience it having what you want to
have doing what it is that gives your
life some meaning and value operate out
of your imagination not your memory
because whenever you look at where you
want to go i wanted to warn you you will
have some conversation back here after
you go through the data that you've
experienced in life saying you can't do
it
and so what you want to begin to do is
ignore that inner conversation
well most people ladies and gentlemen
when something happens to them what they
do is they begin to believe that that's
the way it is that's the way it's always
been and they can't see the possibility
of it being any different
example
before april 1954
the common belief the universal belief
because it had been tried
again and again and again and people
that fail
the belief was that man was not
physically capable
of breaking the four-minute barrier that
he could not run a mile
in less than four minutes that was the
belief
on the planet it had never been done
but here's what happened ladies and
gentlemen
roger bannister came along
and he broke the four-minute barrier
now here's what's significant about that
since that time
up to this day
over 20 000 people have done it
including high school kids
what changed
20 000 people what changed here's what
happened when they got on the track they
knew it had been done
and because they knew it had been done
there was a new belief about this
barrier about this goal that was
unreachable
and those 20 000 people got in the race
believing
knowing in their heart that someone had
done it that it's possible that they
could do it
and i'm saying that if you know anybody
that had some goal some dream something
they wanted to do
and they did it the nice thing that you
know in your heart that if someone has
done it then you can do it it's possible
and that if someone can make that dream
become a reality that it's it's possible
that you can make your dream become
reality
and so as you begin to look at where you
want to go
beginning to embrace that
it's possible
i'm blessed and highly favored i've got
a lot going for me i got some good stuff
in me
and it's possible that i can bring my
greatness out here in the universe
that i can do what i want to do it's
possible i can write my own book i can
have my own business i i can take the
trip and travel around the world it's
possible i can bounce back from
adversity and reinvent my life it's
possible regardless of where i am the
things
can get better for me
it's possible
i'm thinking about two men right here in
chicago who are fairly successful
similar background
educated
they work for corporation for many years
and they were among many people that
were laid off two guys who were very
good friends
one went out looking for a job for
several weeks along with the other one
and they faced disappointment
and rejection again and again and again
they couldn't find any work
which is the story of many people across
this country
one guy stopped
he became discouraged
he stopped going
he stayed home looking at television
became very argumentative and toxic with
his wife
drinking beer getting on the phone
talking to his other negative unemployed
friends
and he just gave up
the other guy kept looking for a job
everywhere he could go every time he
could get an opportunity kept asking
people networking checking the
newspapers every day kept going
everywhere he could trying to find a job
you have too much education you're
overqualified you won't be here long
enough he kept going he kept going
he went to a place and said look here i
tell you what if you can't hire me and i
know you can use my talents abilities
and skills
i don't want to sit home and do nothing
just just let me do some volunteer work
you don't have to give me anything all
right i just want to work i want to be
busy
guys said okay it's on you now but don't
don't expect me to give you anything
it's okay
this guy came in and worked he was the
first one there the last one to leave
was the best employee there
about four weeks later
one of the top managers quit
they were looking for a replacement
guess who they selected
this other guy
this guy who was volunteering his time
he got the job
what was the difference between the two
men
eyesight and mind sight eyesight is
judging on what you see
judging according to appearances
but
mindsight is how you interpret what you
see
one guy said it's not possible it's over
i'm finished
i can't do it
i can't make it he surrendered
i've faced rejection again and again i'm
not going anymore there are no jobs out
there
but this other guy
he felt
that in spite of the no's and rejections
in spite of how bad the economy is in
spite of what the newspapers are saying
that it's possible
that somebody somewhere
will give me a job he just kept going
thinking it was possible and guess what
ladies and gentlemen
that's what we have to do with our
dreams
because things happen to you in life
that you can never ever anticipate
and many times when those things happen
you want to give up i remember when i
was in broadcasting when i was a disc
jockey i became very controversial not
only being a disc jockey but i felt that
radio was something that you not only
entertain people with but you also
empower them you educate them
and i got fired i didn't just leave they
fired me
that was a shock
i said wait a minute
they took my microphone i thought that
was who i was
no no ladies and gentlemen it wasn't
i had to do something else
and i didn't know what else i could do
see here's what i'm looking at what are
the uses for your life right now that
you haven't even reached for yet see i
believe that when you don't have enough
encouragement to act on your dreams or
ideas or you're not enlightened enough
that life will act on you
see life had moved on me and said les
brown you have outgrown this it's time
for you to do something else
well i wasn't enlightened enough i
organized some disc jockeys and got my
job back
so they had to find me again
i got fired twice
here's what i did i had to think of
something else
and so a guy suggested to me he said les
why don't why don't you run for office
i said man
i've never known anything about
how to operate in the political arena
i've heard encourage people to register
to vote and get out to vote but i don't
know anything about politics he said
neither do the people who run for office
all the time
[Applause]
[Music]
so i ran now here's what i'm suggesting
i ran
you got to do what you can where you are
with what you have
i didn't have any money
i didn't know anything about the
political process
i didn't even have any support
but here's what the guy told me
it's possible you could win
that's all i had
i was running against an endorsed
candidate
he was an incumbent he had the newspaper
support all of the leadership in the
community
and i was challenging this guy
so i had a saying when i was on radio
stand up for what you believe in because
you can fall for anything
and i would go door-to-door i have my
kids on one side of the street i would
be on the other night i'd knock on doors
hello my name is les brown tell
everybody i'm still standing
they get on the phone child left rivals
to my house today you know they bought
the radio with the big mouth yeah they
found him honey
so he's still standing
see i'm saying just just keep moving
don't start feeling sorry for yourself
don't spend time blaming and talking
about what happened to you see whatever
you talk about that's what you multiply
and expand in your life experience so
don't talk about stuff unless you wanted
to keep on happening to you all right
so
i got in that kind of action
[Music]
as i continue to do that
had my children with me were going
door-to-door didn't have enough money
eventually we got close to the election
and something happened that really
surprised me guys who i thought were
going to either support me or stay out
of it various powerful community leaders
they became involved in it and they
endorsed my opponent
i felt devastated now that's going to
happen to you when you're working on
your dream things are going to happen
that's going to catch you on the blind
side that was shocking to me they didn't
have to do that all they do just stay
out of it
but here they go come up and they're
messing with me
now that's gonna happen you've got some
people who believe it's their personal
business to stop you from living your
dream all
[Music]
right but i didn't deal with that you
want to make your dream come true you
got to stay focused some people rather
get even then get ahead stay focused on
where you want to go
i just kept on doing what i was supposed
to do
and so i was driving to the radio
station my opponent had over twenty
thousand dollars
i had less than eight hundred dollars
as i was in the radio station the guy
said you're gonna make a commercial i
said yes he said it better be a good one
because that money can't go pretty far
here
and i sat there in the middle control
room and i was thinking
and here's what happens when you get
still
stuff will start coming
something said
call your mama you used to talk about
your mother on the air all the time ask
her to say a few words for you that'll
be a different kind of political spa
so i called my mama
and i had a
gospel record playing in the background
and then i had my mother say hello this
is mrs maybe brown
when i raised my sons i raised them to
be good children when they got out of
hand i beat their behind and made them
go right please vote for my son he's a
good boy
[Music]
[Applause]
usually in the state representative race
maybe three or four thousand people will
come out to vote in a primary in that
primary race over 27 000 people came out
and voted said i'm voting for les brown
because his mama said he's a good boy
i won ladies and gentlemen
i won
[Applause]
[Music]
so you've got to be willing to stay
focused to be creative to be relentless
because things are going to happen to
you when you're working on your dream
when you get on track i remember when i
first got involved in speaking one of
the main things that speakers like to do
is fake to speak to a certain
association that they have over
10 000 of their sales reps had come to
this convention
and i was relentless i kept saying it's
possible it's possible see what i want
to let you know and set you up for
because you say it's possible don't mean
that you're not gonna have any problems
that murphy's law he gonna come and slap
you inside the head
old virgin gonna come visit you
he's waiting for some of y'all out in
the parking lot
oh you say it's possible okay it's
possible to get out
well
i was working i kept saying it's
possible
they got other speakers on this program
i can be on that program too i kept
selling myself i got all fired up and i
was calling him every day every day and
the lady finally said mr brown i tell
you what we want you to come in and talk
to our sales executives you got the kind
of fire and guts that they want that
will motivate them and let me tell you
something else we want you to bring your
motivational tapes you're gonna need at
least fifty thousand dollars worth of
tapes is that right yes because they
want to keep that drive alive i said all
right i'll call the guy to duplicate my
tapes i said don how you doing this is
less let me tell you i got a major
speaking engagement say man it's a
speaker's dream i need over 50 000 worth
of product he said les you don't have
that kind of credit
i said i know but don i can sell that
just just right after speaking
engagement i'll give you money in four
days he said are you sure les i said yes
but i got a major speaking engagement
and they told me to do it he said man
that that's a big oddly let me talk with
the lady with you i said hold on just a
minute man call lady back hello evelyn
how you doing this is les brown i got
down on the phone what did you say do i
have the speaking engagement yes you do
and and what else you suggest less uh
our people they buy a lot of tapes your
takes are very popular among them i'm
saying bring at least fifty thousand
dollars worth of tapes less you'll sell
everything you got and more i said did
you hear that don he said yes i said now
if anybody else has to make a decision
are you the final person she said i'm
the final person i will send you the
contract i want you i said you heard
that down he said yes i said oh yeah of
little faith
i said duplicate the tapes man hung the
photo
well
he duplicate the tapes
one week came by
i'm checking the mail every day
no contract
i said come on murphy don't start
nothing man come on
come on man give me a break come on you
know
you say fair come on man
get your boy break come on i talked to
myself you know
i didn't want to call him right now
two weeks passed by
murphy said don't you think you ought to
call who
i say okay
i call i say hello um
this is les brown calling how you doing
leslie said fine i said um
evelyn hasn't sent my contract out yet
any additional information you need
so unless you haven't heard i said no
evelyn died
i said she died
i said
did she say anything about me
[Applause]
when i got home
i was so wiped out
and murphy was in the house waiting on
me
murphy said is it possible you want to
listen to some of your tapes
[Applause]
but ladies and gentlemen here's what i
had to do
i had to begin to focus on what was the
solution
that this was not the only place that
i'll be able to sell those products
and as i began to challenge myself and
got some help and support and some other
input
i eventually did it took longer but it
was challenging
but i did it repeat after me please no
matter how bad it is
or how bad it gets
i'm going to make it
i'm going to make it
shake somebody's hand on your right and
left and say you got that right
[Applause]
[Music]
repeat after me please it's possible
i can have my dream
i can get what i want
i must be creative
and never give up
now let me share something else with you
ladies and gentlemen when you know
within yourself that there's something
you want to do and i believe that all of
us were born with a purpose
that all of us have something that we
are supposed to do
that all of us have some goodness within
us and that goodness gives us a
responsibility
to manifest our greatness
and when you know that you can feel it
in your guts and you know that you're
deliberately operating below your
potential you've gotten comfortable
you stop expanding you stop stretching
you stop challenging yourself let me
share something else with you not only
is it possible for you to have your
dream but it's necessary
it's necessary
that you have it that you work on it
that you develop yourself that you go
for what is yours in the universe
i have a friend that
at the beginning of the year i was in
los angeles giving a speech and and i do
a seminar teaching people how to become
involved in the speaking business and
and also one called speaking with power
teaching people how to begin to develop
their communication skills and this
friend i said i want you to work with me
i called her up
she said les are you sure i could do it
sure you can
you have a phd in communications i don't
have that if i can do it
sure you can do it in fact i'm going to
give you the support
that you need here's what i realized
ladies and gentlemen we only have enough
energy to take us to a certain level
but it's necessary that we assemble
ourselves with other people who share
our vision other people that can see it
for us to give ourselves a home court
advantage
[Music]
so it's necessary that you seek out
other people who think like you who are
growing who've decided that they are not
satisfied with where they are see i
don't believe that the necessity that
necessity is the mother invention of
invention no necessity in my opinion is
not the mother of invention refusing to
accept things the way that they are is
the mother of invention
[Applause]
[Music]
when you decide i'm not going to settle
for this
this is not going to be it for my life
i deserve more than this
see that will start making you do some
stuff
see a lot of people go to work every day
miserable and all they do is just talk
about how miserable they are
but they don't do anything about it
so i was telling her
that i knew she hated a job with a
passion i said you can do this you got
more going for you than i have going for
me
and we've been going through this for
years ladies and gentlemen she'd been to
my seminar speaking for a living she
brought her husband and that was one of
the major problems that i realized that
happened in her life he couldn't see it
for her so you got to make sure
that you have people in your life that
can see it for you
that will encourage you non-affirming
relationships can hurt you
[Music]
and i talked to him i said you know i
don't have anything to do with with your
marriage i said you and i are good
friends and she and i are good friends
and i'm not taking sides i said but if
you can't see it for it don't tell her
that
just give her some support what if
you're wrong
it's possible man that that if i'm doing
it she can do well you're different how
are you going to tell me that you've
seen her speak she's got great speaking
skills don't underestimate her you don't
know you've got a great woman here
but you see people who can't see it for
themselves
can't see for you
he was happy
[Music]
so i said will you do it with me i said
i'm going to give you the support you
need you can't do it by yourself i will
stand with you she said you will i said
yes i'm going to make you part of my
seminar you'll do a part of it and i'll
do a part of it speaking with power
she said okay
three days later ladies and gentlemen
i got an emergency call at my office it
was from my husband
he called and said tell les brown
that marion
is dead
i said oh no
when i was flying there to go to the
funeral
and i remember the last time that i saw
her
and i had some of her papers that i had
gotten inadvertently confused with mine
and i took them home
and i was searching through these papers
to do one of her work she was a prolific
writer
and what got me what was so sad that
made me begin to cry was that there were
poems that she had started that were
profound poems great thoughts
that she didn't complete
plays that she had started that she
didn't completely that poem was given to
her i can't finish that for her nor can
you that play whatever the outcome that
she had envisioned that she had imagined
was given to her
only her and that she's the channel that
that was going to come through you are
here
and you are the vessel you are the
outlet for the universe that you've been
selected there's something for you to do
i believe all of us have some purpose
for being here
and as i was going to the funeral
and i was reading a newspaper that said
that that millions of people are dying
because of of what they're eating
talking about their diet
and i'm sure that it was marion talking
to me
whispering saying less the next time you
speak
say that even more are dying because of
what's eating them
[Music]
when the challenges of life come your
way
you've got to find ways to increase your
sense of self-appreciation because if
you don't
you're bombarded with negative stuff
every day that beats you down and you
will find yourself unconsciously engaged
in self-destructive behavior if you
don't program yourself life will program
you
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
so you want to have an agenda for your
life it's necessary that you have some
direction for your life a friend at the
national speakers convention gave us
presentation and it really struck me he
was talking about when he was traveling
across europe warren breson and he said
at different points soldiers would wake
them up on their journey and ask him the
question and i posed this to you the
question was
where have you been
why are you here
and where are you going
and that's what i ask you where have you
been where have you been up to this port
you look at your life you look at what
you produce
is it giving you what you want are you
living on purpose are you living your
dream are you acting on your ideas are
you doing all you can do have you gotten
comfortable are you procrastinating are
you invading your own greatness are you
surrounding yourself with people that
can encourage you are you challenging
yourself are you experimenting are you
learning something different is your
life an adventure or is it boring
where have you been
why are you here what brought you here
investing the time the money
what brought you here and where are you
going what is it that you can get out of
this session out of this lecture
like when you leave here rather than
this just being a spectator event that
you've got some ideas some dream that
you might have to go back and brush it
off and look at it again and say i've
got to do this this is my stuff this is
what i'm supposed to do this is why i
showed up where are you going with your
life what decisions are you making right
now as you look into the future
are you experimenting to find out what
other talents and abilities that you
have see we're in the time right now the
day is gone where you could just go to
college and get out and and get a job
and work 30 or 40 years with job
security
and retire with a gold watch
the gold watch days are gone
brand new day party's over
so now you have got to be multi-talented
and multi-skilled
you've got to use all your stuff you
don't know what else you can do i don't
know i can do what i'm doing right now
it's necessary that you stretch and
challenge yourself and say let me see i
start out as a trainer i'm a trainer
that's what i am that's what my
expertise was in
and then i decided let me see can i
speak
and then i discovered hey i can do that
what if i hadn't tried to do than just
been satisfied with just being a trainer
with a limited vision of myself and then
after training and then i said well
maybe i go into business for myself and
i started speaking going into business
for myself well maybe i could train
other speakers and teach them how to go
into business for themselves so you want
to have a backup plan you want to have
other strategies for yourself in case
this doesn't work out you got something
else going over here
you don't want to ever put yourself in a
vis in a situation where you have a
limited vision and you're only using a
limited amount of your talents of your
skills and of your abilities and i'm
saying to you
it's possible you've got some talents
some ideas in you your ability to do
some stuff that you haven't even
discovered yet and i'm suggesting that
it's necessary that you get outside of
your comfort zone it's necessary that
you develop some new relationships where
you can learn from people it's necessary
that you do reading that you do research
it's necessary if you're already
involved in some business that you don't
be satisfied with where you are if you
want to make it today it's necessary for
you to constantly look at ways of
getting better not all is it possible
for you to have your dream
and it's necessary for you to challenge
yourself to go after and get better and
leverage relationships that can help you
get to where you want to go
but it's
you the major key
to your reaching your dream you're
living up to your greatness you're
making your contribution
is you
if the economy is good fantastic if the
banks are loaning money that's great
if people are positive that's great you
don't have any opposition that's great
but the major key
to your making things happen in your
life
is you
when i wanted to get on public
television you know they told me you
can't do that
so wait a minute i've seen these other
people on
it's possible i can get off
leo biscaya john bradshaw
it's possible wait let's just hold me
hold time out
let's be realistic come on be logical i
said well wait a minute why can't i do
it let's look here
think about god who have credentials all
kind of credentials you don't have any
college training i'm not gonna put you
on television give me a break
i said it now thank you for that
god love you and i'm trying
and went on about my business you hear
me
let me tell you something
what people think about you and the
possibilities for your dream is none of
your business
that's their business
they have no imagination ladies and
gentlemen
they're living out of the past out of
their memory
the attitude is it can't be done because
they haven't seen it
they're judging according to appearances
the people that are going to make it in
the future the people that are making it
today let me share something with you
history is being read but it's also
being written by people with imagination
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
so i went to the next morning necessary
to start talking to people in seeking
and asking for what i wanted and
leveraging relationships and trying to
find out how do the people do it that
went ahead of me how do they do it and
then what is it i need to do how is it i
need to train myself to develop myself
what's the resources that will be
required in order to make it happen and
as i start seeking out and asking
questions i started running into people
said i know someone who can help you do
that
and they help me get connected with
those people remember we have so much
energy that can take us so far it's
necessary that you hook up with some
other energy that can take you to the
next level i hooked up with them they
said let's let's go i said away we go
[Applause]
and guess what here we are
i love it
you want your stuff it's necessary you
take responsibility for it that you make
it happen that you don't give up that
you don't take any objection or
disappointment or defeats personally
that you keep on keeping on that you
don't decide that i can't make it
because you can't see the light at the
end of the tunnel that you realize
that's a part of the program and here's
something you've got to resolve say this
to yourself every day see as long as
you're breathing you got a shot at your
dream that's the way i resolve say this
please
it's not over
until i win
you've got that right
[Applause]
it's not over till i win
not over till i get through
it's not over till i get over not over
till i get what i want don't can't open
the day look out i'm going to come back
and take the hinges off
that's how you got to do that
you've got to have that kind of courage
that type of determination if you want
to make it happen
it's you
that you've got to take personal
responsibility to make it happen that
you have got to to own what it is
that you want to do if it's taking care
of your well-being if it's making a
difference in our school system if it's
working with senior citizens if it's to
protect our ecology
if it's to create an economic
renaissance
if it's just to take yourself to another
level
it's you
you've got to make that happen we can
point out many things that can make it
inconvenient or can slow us down but
ultimately
it's on us
next step is not only is it possible
and necessary
and it's you to live your dream to make
this this greatness that you have within
you become a reality
but what i've come to appreciate
when you're working on changing your
life
changing some bad habit getting out of
addictive situations or relationships or
working to build a dream or making a
difference in our society
or learning something that's very
challenging here's what i i realize
ladies and gentlemen
and develop a great deal of respect for
it's hard
easy
is not an option
it's hard living
life is hard
see it's hard when
when you are 49 years old been working
on a job for 17 years and they come in
and tell you you're finished and give
you one week severance pay
and you got to start all over again
it's hard
when you're married in raising children
and your children are crawling and your
husband dies
unexpectedly
it's hard handling just the tragedies of
life
it's hard
when you're working on something and and
you put everything you have in it
and it doesn't work out you lose your
money and other people's money
it's hard
it was rough when i lost my job
and i could not find a job it was
humiliating and embarrassing
borrowing money
and then i couldn't pay the money back
when i told them i would
that's rough
how people look at you
how they respond to you
it's very hard
it's humiliating
here's what i discovered that happens to
you in life that you will go through
things and while you're going through
them you can't understand why it's
happening to you
but after you go through it you get back
and you look at it and you say oh
now i understand why i needed that
lesson have you ever happened to you
raise your hand it ever happened to you
that that i did i couldn't understand it
there
but after i got through it
then i saw that that was preparing me
for bigger and better things
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
that as you go through the challenges of
life
and you look at it and embrace whatever
comes to you don't run from it
step toward it don't try and duck it
like most people do see most people want
it easy
see easy calm easy what easy go
see but when you
go at what you're going to deal with and
you deal with the difficult difficulties
of it when you handle those hard things
close at hand
making those hard decisions right now
that you don't want to make
learning those things that you don't
like to do
but you know that in order for you to
get where you want to go
this is one of the hoops that you have
to flip through
and i'm saying to you whatever you got
to do do it because if you don't life is
going to whoop you until you surrender
and say okay all right all right all
right all right i cooperate okay i
learned okay
it had to wear me out a long time
so if it's hard then do it hard
now
what do you how do you hang in there
during the hard difficult times less you
must have faith
you've got to believe in yourself
you've got to believe in your abilities
you got to believe in your service your
company your ideas
unquestionably
you got to have faith
and that faith gives you patience
that is not going to happen as quickly
as you want it to happen a lot of things
are going to happen that will catch you
off guard
and so therefore you've got to deal with
and handle it as it comes
and not only that
but that faith and patience
drives you into action
you got to keep moving and keep plugging
away
i can see people coming out talking to a
guy out there watering and fertilizing
the ground that's not showing anything
hey
what you doing
you've been out here a long time man
and the conversation in the neighborhood
is
you growing a chinese bamboo tree is
that
right yeah that's right
well um
even ray charles and stephen wonder can
see ain't nothing showing
you know that's how people are gonna do
you so how long have you been working on
this
how long have you been working on your
dreams
and you have nothing to show this is all
you got to show
people going to do that to you and some
people ladies and gentlemen they stop
because they don't see instant results
it doesn't happen quickly they stop oh
no no no no you got to keep on watering
your dreams
and when it began to happen
they stopped laughing they said look
whoa look look here it's
look
hey man you know i know you could do it
look at you got a job here
see during those hard times
we didn't know how you're going to make
payroll during those times when you fail
and and things didn't work out they were
they were nowhere to be found
but you know what i discovered
when you were working at your dream
somebody said the harder the battle the
sweeter the victory
oh it's sweet to you it's good to you
why see when you when it's hard and
there's a struggle see what you become
in the process is more important in the
dream
that's far more important the kind of
person you become the character that you
built the courage that you develop the
faith that you're manifesting
oh it's it's something that you get up
in the morning you look yourself in the
mirror you're a different kind of person
you walk with a different kind of spirit
and people know
that you know what life is that you have
embraced life
you know it was hard
but you did it hard
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
now it takes us to the next level
if it's hard why do people do it
you ask people who do things
why do they do it people who climb
mountains just for the sake of it nobody
paying to do it just do it somebody said
i'm gonna run around the world he said
well why would somebody want to do that
i'm gonna swim the atlantic channel why
why don't people do that
i wondered why why would a nelson
mandela give up 26 years of his life why
do people do that
here's what i discovered in high school
high school
i decided i wanted to go out for
football
never forget this
and
i discovered why people do things you
know why ladies and gentlemen even
though it's hard
it's worth it
it's worth it
see
one day we had coach elkin hepburn had
this plaque down there
and um there's wood on the floor on on
the ground he said brown come over here
had my suit on say yes sir he said i'm
gonna have a little larry littles down
there hold big larry that's a big fat
sorry larry yes sir
brown i want you to get down bull neck
yourself he said i want you running
larry i want you to put your helmet
right in his pit right up in here in his
chest and knock him off that board you
hear me brown you can do that
yes sir can you do that yes i said i
said
he said brown i want you to knock him
over you're gonna make the team i know
you can get him all right look at him
how sorry he is knees knocking and
everything i said yes sir they went down
larry
larry littles who played 12 years for
the miami dolphins all pro for 12 years
this is a bad big dude 250 pounds
strength agile and all muscle he said
larry
he said man you know brown down there
he's down here talking about your mama
and everything
[Applause]
he talked about how fat and sorry you
are
and how he's going to knock you off this
boy
larry not spitting fire
and growling and forming at the mouth
and i'm looking at larry saying oh
i'm a hover
he said look at that fool down there
growling
he told me he's gonna scare you that
you're gonna leave are you gonna leave
no coach i ain't gonna leave go down and
knock him out the park
boy coach got back he winked at me go
get him brown i went hard i ran into the
ladder with my helmet last night
i don't know where i landed
[Applause]
when they woke me up i said
can y'all take this helmet off me for a
minute
[Applause]
i said y'all got any more positions out
here
they say like where i said don't y'all
need an announcer
they say brian where you going i was
crying they said man some girl's over
here i said i don't care man i'm hurting
see that fool almost killed me man
he said bro you quit marriage a year i
said what
i said it ain't worth it man no ain't
worth y'all going y'all crazy i'll be
your announcer man i was calling again
i was up there in the booth called good
games too
because the pain wasn't worth it to me
and i'm saying to you you know why
people do what they do
the people who go after this stuff what
makes it worth it it's got to be your
passion
you got to love it ladies and gentlemen
you got to love it it's got to be what
you are supposed to do
you want to sing even though they want
to invite you to carnegie hall you're
going to sing to anybody that'll listen
to you including singing to yourself i
used to talk to my plants when nobody
else would listen to me
you gotta write even if no one published
your book right because that was given
to you to do
you do what it is you supposedly you're
supposed to build something you're
supposed to create something i don't
know how to do it learn
do whatever is required
just go out there
it's possible you can get what you want
it's necessary if you want it you got to
go into action you got to be willing to
experiment you got to be willing to fail
and to succeed you got to be willing to
form and develop new relationships
it's you it's on you you gotta make that
happen nobody's gonna bring it to you on
a silver platter said here's your dream
manifested no it's hard yes it's hard
it's difficult yes right
and it's worth it
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
people ask hey man
you know it's you know these kids man
it's rough dealing with them that's
right
that's right you think peer pressure
happened overnight we went through peer
pressure i remember as a kid some guys
say hey les me and another fellow named
willie
lower we were going home hey man we're
going down the ghouls man in knock off a
grocery store say look here i want no
part of that i'll see you all later so
y'all chicken i said that's all right
you say whatever you want little stuff
i'm not chicken man don't call me
chicken
and why don't you come
we didn't even ask you to come into
place man all you do just drive the car
so
i don't know how to drive that good well
we're trying to get less to come he's
chicken
hey i'm not driving nothing all right
willie don't care about what they say
man leave them alone you want to go do
it you find somebody else to drive you
drive yourself come on willie man pull
him you stop
all right chicken
all i got to do is drive yeah i said
well that sounds simple man don't go man
he went
and the next day we read the newspaper
where when they robbed the store robert
came when they came out running to a car
the merchant the man who owned the store
came out just shooting wildly and he hit
the driver in the head
so peer pressure didn't just start in
the 90s or the 80s it's difficult it's
challenging for kids right now and it's
going to take
some easy simple methods to help bring
them out of this madness this insanity
no is it hard yes let's look at what
we've been doing
what has worked what has not worked
let's look at where we want to go what
is it that we want to produce what is it
that we want to create for our young
people
and as we think about that
start experimenting with different
methods and techniques to create and to
produce that
and begin to believe that it's possible
through our commitment through our
vision through our determination our
relentlessness
because of our belief it's possible that
we can
reduce
the teenage homicide rate
the teenage pregnancy rate the dropout
rate that it's possible looking at what
kind of world are they going to be in
as we look at the global economy that as
we begin to use our collective will and
genius and resources it's possible that
we can create an educational system that
not only will test their minds with with
information and facts and figures but we
teach them how to think and be creative
what does it mean to be a human being
and to value human life and how do you
make relationships work how do you
bounce back from adversity
it's possible that we can give them a
curriculum that will give their lives a
sense of purpose and direction and
meaning and teach them how to begin
to know and operate on a higher level of
being
where they become assets to our society
rather than liabilities what if we leave
here with that kind of consciousness
that it's possible as opposed to saying
we have to write this generation off
that it's possible that we were born for
such a time as this and that that maybe
someone here has the idea of a method or
some plan of action or an approach that
can resolve many of the problems that
we're facing with young people today
whatever we have to do
to save our children it's worth it
[Music]
so that brings me to the final step
that it's necessary
for us to begin to look at the future
know that it's possible that we can have
our dream yes it is other people have
done it then we can do it we fail a lot
of times well a lot of other folks fail
and eventually they came back and they
succeeded so it's possible we can have
what we want and we know that we want to
get it it's necessary that we align
ourselves with people that think like we
do it's necessary we get negative
do-nothing people out of our lives it's
necessary we never stop learning and
growing and developing ourselves it's
necessary that we never give up we know
that it's you it's me it's being
responsible for our stuff and deciding
that we're going to keep on keeping on
that we're going to find a way to win or
find a way to make it happen and we know
it's hard it's not going to be a picnic
yes it's hard it's hard and we will do
it hard and once it's we do it hard and
we go through it we realize it was worth
it and once you discover it's was worth
it
it is done
it's done
[Music]
it's done ladies and gentlemen before it
happens
well here's what i'm suggesting to you
that when you're working you have a wall
to break through let's say a friend of
mine who walks he runs a marathon he
says when he's running the 26 mile
marathon he said let's say that
hypothetically that 18th mile is the
wall
he said les when you get there you're
running he says everything in you is
telling you to stop to give up every
muscle is aching and you're saying to
yourself i can't do it i can't do it and
you just keep on and you keep on and you
keep on it seems like you're moving at
slow motion and then eventually when you
break through
that 18-mile wall
then you know it's like done and you're
on automatic and you glide on in and you
know it's there you know you're going to
get to the finish line and we've all had
experiences where we were working on
something and we knew it was possible
and we did those things that were
necessary to bring it into reality we
took the responsibility to make it
happen other people couldn't see it a
lot of people didn't believe it you were
attacked you were criticized people were
opposing you but you kept on doing it it
was hard it was rough it was difficult
but to you it was worth it and
eventually you got to a level you know
can nothing stop me now i'm on the move
i'm on the move
finally i'm thinking about a friend of
mine who is no longer operating on this
dimension
his name
was jack boland
he had this vision of a
of a church
that would serve various types of
needs for people their supportive needs
and helping them and recovery from drugs
and alcohol and and whatever addictions
that they might be involved in and he
was known for bringing in different
kinds of speakers
and over a year ago he was diagnosed as
having cancer
and
he announced his congregation
that he's going to be taking
chemotherapy and that was a possibility
that the cancer would go in remission
and he was optimistic about that
and sure enough he did for a year
and one of the things jack always talked
about is that he wanted to have his
funeral while he lived
and so he invited a few friends wayne
dyer myself and a few other speakers
he didn't tell us why we were there but
once we gathered there the church
they told us in the room
that jack is going to announce to the
congregation he's bringing his doctor up
the doctor
is going to say that
we felt we could get keep it in
remission it's out of remission
and he doesn't have much time left
and whatever words you want to say to
jack that you would say if he had made
his transition speak those words now
well we were shocked and
and we were somewhat stunned
until jack got there
they brought him in in a wheelchair and
boy was he courageous and
and he had a strong smile and they
helped him up the steps and he sat
behind the podium
and each of us got up and we said a few
things about jack and the impact that he
made on our lives
and he said
the doctor after announcing that jack
didn't have long he says doctor he said
i accept what you say but it's possible
that that does not have to be the case
but if it is
i will enjoy life to the very last
breath i take even the chemotherapy
i will enjoy that
and jack did ladies and gentlemen
and when they
said that all of his vital organs were
failing they called his family and his
close church staff to the hospital
and said he's dying and so they came and
they all gathered in the room
and jack at that time was unconscious
and he gained consciousness
and he looked at them and he said well
what strength he had he said i want to
thank you all
for being here
you've been a great staff to me he
looked at his sons
your daughter said you've been a great
family
say don't feel sorry for me he said i'm
i'm ready to go i'm i'm looking forward
to the next adventure
and he sat there for a little while laid
there and he closed his eyes and
he lost consciousness
about an hour and a half later he opened
his eyes
and he looked at them he said
this is embarrassing i'm not dead yet
they were laughing through their tears
they said jack
you are a character he said hey i hate
giving up this kind of control
so they predicted that jack would die at
the end of february
and then on the second they said
he won't see the light of day he will be
dead by morning
ladies and gentlemen
jack died
on march 4.
and we believe
that even in his dying
jack sent his congregation a message
that i want to give to you with his
permission
march 4th is the day he died and we
believe jack was saying
march
4.
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
so i say as you look into the future
while the people are giving up
feeling like victims
feeling powerless
becoming negative turning on each other
rather than to each other
feeling that they can't make it
be ye not conformed to this world but be
ye transformed by the renewing of your
mind with the mindset of that it's
possible
that we can save this generation it's
possible that we can create new
industries a new economy it's possible
that i can find a new profession a new
job it's possible i can create a new
life and it's necessary that i become
actively involved in becoming a positive
force in my life and on the planet and
it's me yes it's you it's all of us
pulling together working together to
create this brand new future and it's
going to be hard easy it's not an option
but if it's hard we will do it hard
whatever is required to snatch victory
from the jaws of defeat and it's worth
it yes it's worth whatever we have to do
and once we know that it is done it is
done it is done it is done
[Music]
so i say to you whatever your dreams are
whatever you want to do
in the spirit of jack
march 4.
this is mrs mamie brown's baby boy
leslie calvin brown saying it's been a
plum pleasing pleasure as well as a
privilege thank you all here
thank you
thank you
thank you
thank you
thank you very much
you're very kind
thank you
[Music]
thank you very
much
thank you