- Hello, Believe Nation,
I'm Evan Carmichael. My one word is believe, and I believe that entrepreneurs are going to solve all of the world's major problems. I started the Mentor
Me series with the goal to try to learn from people who've done a lot more than us, people
who have done amazing things, that by spending a little
bit more time with them, hopefully some of their
values, their belief systems, their way of thinking
seeps into us to help us become the best version of ourselves. So today we're going to
learn from Bishop T.D. Jakes and some of his best motivation. Mentor me, Bishop Jakes. Rule number one is my personal favorite, and I'd love to know which
one you guys like the best. And as always, guys, as you're watching, if you hear something that
really resonates with you, please leave it down in the comments below and put quotes around
it so other people can be inspired as well, and
when you write it down, it's much more likely to stick
with yourself too, enjoy. (dramatic music) - Life demands that you pick up the pace. If you don't pick up the pace,
you're going to be left behind. I'm amazed at the people
that lack the flexibility to pick up the pace,
they just get in a rut. I stroll down here and
I'm going to stroll back. I'm going to stroll over here,
I'm going to stroll over there. One of the most amazing
things about the disaster at Malaysia is that when it happened, everybody had to pick up the pace. All the news media had
to pick up the pace. They were booking night
flights and flying over here and flying over there. Somebody had to work overtime. Won't be home for three
days, typing in the middle of the night, research going on. Because when something happens, everybody got to pick up the pace. That's why I can't deal with people who cannot pick up the pace. Don't be strollin' when
I got a 9-1-1 on you. I need people who can pick up the pace. (cheers and applause) Slap your neighbor and
say pick up the pace! - [Audience] Pick up the pace! - Something's about to
happen, pick up the pace, something is about to
happen, pick up the pace, something is about to
happen, pick up the pace, something is about to
happen, pick up the pace, something is about to
happen, pick up the pace, something is about to happen. I came to tell the young
people, pick up the pace, pick up the pace, pick up the pace! Something is about to happen! The danger of low expectations. (groans and applause) I would rather aim for
the stars and not hit them than to not aim at all. I would rather go after it and not get it, than not go after it at all. I'd rather try and fail,
than not try at all. I don't want to live with the idea, wonder what would have happened had I done more with my life. I'm going to go for it,
come hell or high water. I'm going after my destiny. Touch your neighbor and say run! - [Audience] Run! - You got to run after your destiny. You can't stroll after your destiny. You can't walk after your
destiny, you got to run! Somebody holler run! - [Audience] Run! - You got to run, you got
to run, you got to run. You can't just wake up in the morning, let me see what's going to happen today. I don't know what I'ma do, I don't know what I'ma wear, I don't
know what I'm going to cook, I don't know where I'm
going to go, I just woke up. Oh, you should stay in the bed. Give the day to somebody
who's going to run after their destiny. Give the day to somebody who has a plan, who has a strategy, because
success is never an accident. And if you don't want
it, get out of my way. Because there are some people
who want to do something with their life who will run. Paul writes to Timothy and says, "I fought a good fight." Letting him know, "Being me is not easy." It's not for the faint of heart. It's not in my suits. You can get suits like me, but they won't make you stand like me. I fought a good fight, baby. I fought one hell of a fight. Are there any fighters in here? (cheers and applause) Slap somebody and tell
them, I fought a good fight. - [Audience] I fought a good fight! - I fought my way up,
I fought to get work. I fought to get up on my feet. I fought to stand, I fought to carry on. I fought to love, I fought to live. I fought to get out the bed. I fought with my fears,
my doubts, my anxieties, my insecurities, I fought
with haters, liars, back biters and betrayers. I even had to fight with family. And many times I laid in the
bed, I couldn't go to sleep because I was fighting
with myself, I fought! I know I put in it what it takes to withstand the pressure. Slap your neighbor and say,
you don't know what you got. You don't know what you've got until all hell breaks loose. You don't know what you can take until the pressure is
applied to your life. You don't know what you can endure until people stab you in the
back and walk away from you. You don't know how much courage you have until you've been under
fire and under struggle and under tribulation. You can't learn what's in you sitting back in the Lazy-Boy chair
hitting the remote control watching HBO and Cinemax. But when all hell breaks loose, (cheers and applause) that's when you get to see what you got. Touch your neighbor and
say, I'm made of something. - [Audience] I'm made of something. - I didn't get to see the design, I didn't get to see the
architectural plans, but I know I'm made of some good stuff. I can tell by the burdens I bear and the load I carry
and the stuff I endure. I shock myself at what I'm able to take. It's not just that I shock
my enemies, I shock myself. They said I was going to
die, and I believed it. But through hell and high
water, I'm still here. To be anxious is to have
anxiety about something that hasn't even happened yet. Some of you are so worried
by the threat of trouble. You're not in trouble,
it's just that trouble has threatened you, and the threat of what might happen, what could happen, is wearing you down. Half of the things that you
thought were going to happen never did happen, but if
you allow those thoughts to dwell in your mind, it will succeed at robbing you of your peace,
robbing you of your joy, robbing you of your life just
because you thought yourself into a nervous breakdown,
you thought yourself into depression, you thought
yourself into defeatism. The mind is a battleground. The fight is in your mind. So I want to challenge you
to waste no more effort wrestling with other people. (cheers and applause) Oh, I lost you, I lost you,
you were doing real good, I lost you.
(cheers and applause) Your destiny, your
future is not predicated on the decision of someone else. You wasted too much of your life trying to change other people's mind about you. It doesn't matter what
they think about you. God is not going to bless
you by their opinion. God is going to bless you
by how you see yourself. (cheers and applause) Touch somebody and say I
believe I'm coming out. - [Audience] I believe I'm coming out. - I don't know long it's going to take. I don't know what I'm going
to have to go through. I don't know what I'm going
to lose along the way, but I still believe that I'm coming out. I've been broke, I've
been busted and disgusted, but I still believe that I'm coming out. I'm locked up in prison,
they say I'll never get out, but I still believe that I'm coming out. I'm coming out if I don't
have nowhere to stay. I'm coming out if my husband
marries somebody else. I'm coming out if I don't have no job. I'm coming out, oh oh! I lost a lot of stuff,
I lost a lot of friends, I lost a lot of strength,
I lost a lot of courage, I lost a lot of time,
I lost a lot of money, but I kept down on me knees,
I was still believing. Broke I was believing. Lonely I was believing. Betrayed I was... (cheers and applause) Touch three people and
tell them keep the faith, keep the faith. - [Audience] Keep the faith. - If you lose your job, keep the faith. If you lose your spouse, keep the faith. If you bury your child, keep the faith. If you have to downsize, keep the faith. If you have to move in with
your mama, keep the faith. If you're at your wit's
end, keep the faith. If you have to catch
the bus, keep the faith. If you have to thumb, keep the faith. If you get sick, keep the faith. If you lose your kidneys, keep the faith. If you got heart trouble, keep the faith. You might not get a new heart, but you got to keep your faith. Have you ever noticed that when
your faith is the strongest you come up under the greatest attack? Because every time the devil
senses that you're about to walk into who you'll be, he knows next you're going to do
something, and he's trying to stop you from doing it. Slap somebody, say just do it! - [Audience] Just do it. - The enemy's trying to
stop you from doing it, because every time you
have a being moment, he tries to detour you,
because as soon as you figure out who you are,
you're going to do exploits. Slap somebody and say
I got something to do. - [Audience] I got something to do. - That's why all hell is
breaking loose in my life. I got something to do. That's why I keep going
through storms and setbacks. I got something to do. That's why I keep getting sick in my body. I got something to do. That's why the devil
keeps bring up my past. Because I got something to do. That's why he's trying to break my heart. Because I got something. Oh, do you hear what I'm
teaching this morning? (cheers) Shake your neighbors hand and
say I got something to do. To be planted is destiny concealed. To have increase is destiny revealed. (applause) So when you plant a
seed, you don't plant it as if the planting were
the final destination. You plant it and you can't see it anymore. Its destiny is concealed, in the hopes that ultimately it will
become a stalk of corn or an apple tree or
whatever it was you planted. And in between the destiny concealed and the destiny revealed is
something we call watering. And I thought, as dynamic
as the text may be, to grapple with the
notion of being planted, and to grapple with the
notion of having increase seems totally irrelevant, if we don't stop by the station of watering. Because watering is the
last step before increase. It is the transition point
between what is concealed and what is revealed. And without the benefit of watering, the destiny will die in the ground, never reaching its
potential simply because it has never been watered. And I thought I would
ask you this morning, have you ever been watered? I'm reading somebody's mail right now. (laughter) You cannot embrace what
I'm about to teach, if you don't understand
that you have been planted. You didn't grow wild,
you didn't just happen, you weren't just an afterthought, you didn't just come to
be, you were planted. The sperm cell that created you out swam all of the
millions of other cells before you had a Bible. (applause) Before you had a Bible,
before you had a hymn book, you were already in a fight, and that cell out swam all the rest because you have been planted. (cheers and applause) I want to make the distinction
about being planted, because the act of
planting can be confusing to the student who has not watched. Because planting looks
no different from burial. (applause) In order to do either one of them, you got to do some digging. And once you dig down in the ground, both of them are concealed. But one of them has a destiny, and the other one does not. You bury the dead to get rid of the body, but you plant a seed so that it can go through a transformation of coming back up greater than it was when it went down. Oh good God of mercy. That's so good I'm going to
come over here and say it again. (cheers and applause) When you plant a seed,
you're not burying it to get rid of it, you're planting it so that it can go through a metamorphosis and come back up better than
it was when it went down. How many people in this
room have come up better than you were? (cheers and applause) I'm better, I'm better. I'm better than I was when I went down. It was good for me that
I've been afflicted. For had I not been afflicted, I would have never known the glory of God. I'm better for it, I didn't like it, but I'm better for it. I couldn't see down there,
but I'm better for it. You see, I was planted in a dark place where my sight didn't work
for me, but I'm better for it. Every time you go through something hard and you can't see your way out, remember you've been
planted, not been buried. And when you come up. (cheers and applause) I'm coming up, I'm coming up. Brother right here on the come up. I said brother right here on the come up. Is there any sisters
in here on the come up? (cheers) Are there any families
in here on the come up? (cheers) Are there any preachers
in here on the come up? (cheers) You already been through hell, already been through high water, already been planted,
already been in a dark place, but just because I'm in a dark place, don't expect me to stay in a dark place. Brother right here on the... (cheers and applause) Write yourself a note,
I have not been buried, I have been planted. I may be underground, but
I'm not buried in this mess, I'm planted in it, I'm planted in it. And if I'm planted in it,
expect me to come back up again. And when I come back up,
you won't recognize me because I'm going to be
transformed by the experiences that I have endured. When you talk to women about birth, they immediately think
about being mothers, but I didn't come to
talk to you as mothers. I came to talk to you as babies who have outgrown the parameters of the womb that you live in. I came to talk to you as living creatures who have found restrictions in the place that you once found
nurture and nourishment and found yourself imprisoned
by narrow thinking people and narrow thinking circumstances and narrow evolving predicaments. I came to tell you that you
cannot feed in one realm and stay in that realm. That if you get enough
on the inside of you, you will find a discomfort in staying in the dimension that you once lived in. And I came to prepare
your hearts and minds. If you're not prepared to
go through some bloody stuff and some dirty stuff
and some stinky stuff, you don't want to keep
feeding on this kind of word. Because if you feed on this kind of word, it will open up your mind
and open up your thinking and open up your ideas
and open up your concepts until all of a sudden
you are uncomfortable in what you were once comfortable in. (applause) Some of you have already
began to experience it. You're thinking on another level, and it's causing a separation. Some of you have already
begin to experience it because what used to be
funny isn't funny anymore. And what you used to enjoy
you don't enjoy anymore. And what you used to be satisfied with, you're not satisfied with anymore. And all of a sudden you don't fit in the places you used to fit in. And you don't even
understand it and they think you're acting funny and they
think you're acting strange and they say things like, "You
forgot where you came from." I didn't forget it, I
just can't stay in it. (cheers and applause) Tweet that, tweet that,
I got to get out of here. I got to get out of here,
I got to get out of here, I got to get out of here,
I got to get out of here, I got to get out of here,
I've got to get out of here. You tell your twin, you can
stay in there if you want to. This might be okay for you,
but I got to get out of here. Even if I have to fight my
way out like Jacob and Esau, I've got to get out there. If I've got to pull and
tug, I've got to get out. I've got too much vision
to stay in this rut. The hardest thing to do, the
hardest thing to deal with, the hardest thing to
manage, the hardest thing to put up with is transition. The thing we hate the most is transition. We hate it because it takes
us out of our element, it takes us out of our comfort zone, it takes us out of the
place where we are secure and sure and we've learned how to manage and control everything. You cannot control everything
when you are in transition. It is what it is, it
happens like it happens. I can't get my hair done and do it. I can't be pretty about it. I got to come out any way
I can, I'm in transition. I can't meet with the board
or talk to the committee or get everybody to approve it. When my water breaks,
get ready, here I come. If it's under a tree,
if it's under a bush, if it's against the wall, when the water breaks,
that's my sign, here I come. Touch your neighbor and say move! - [Audience] Move! - Move, I've grown out of this spot. Move, I'm coming into another dimension. Move, I see a door opening for me. Move, I see divine permission to step. Move, I see the glory
of God calling me, move. If enough people like me, then I am. How many people following you on Twitter? I got to get my following up. I got to get my friends up. Because if I have popularity, ooh, you all got quiet again. (laughter) Let me show you how many people follow me. Do you know Bishop started following, girl, Bishop following me! (laughter) So I am because of who
follows me, who likes me. Popularity-based identity. Ooh, performance-based identity. If you do this, you'll be the son of God. If they like you, you'll
be the son of God. If I give you enough
possessions, you'll be. Now, let me show you something. I'm teaching just do it, okay? And yet I'm criticizing doing it to define who you are. Well, I'm confused, should
I do it or not do it? You just said, "Just do it,"
and then you turned around and said not to define
myself by what I do. Can I critique my own text? Which way is it, Reverend? Do I do it or not do it? The problem is not about doing it, it is why you do it. (applause) What I am criticizing is putting the doing before the being so that you think that if I do this, I will be somebody. If I buy this, I will be somebody. If they like me, I will
be, you got it backwards. The people that know their God shall be and then do. (applause) And because you're doing doesn't come from the deeper place of being, it hasn't worked for you. Because you are who you are, you can do what you can do. But if you're trying
to find out who you are by doing things, you will
never find out who are you by doing, you have to start with being. I want you to see this, I
don't want to lose you in this. Because the difference
between the two determines the direction of your destiny. If you're always seeking a certain status to validate who you are, you're
never going to have peace. You have to know who you are, and then you can climb to the status. You can't climb up to find yourself. You have to find yourself
so you can climb up. You can't climb up to find yourself. You have to find yourself
so you can climb up. So you can be who you are before anybody knows who you are. So that means you could be rich while you're broke. (applause) (cheers and applause) You could be healed while you're sick. (cheers and applause) You could be loose while you're bound. It does not yet appear what you shall be. It hasn't showed up what you shall be. But you got to be it
before you can get it. Women, thou art
- Loosed! - I know it looks like you're tied up. I know you been bowed over for 18 years. I know your conditions don't validate you. But let me tell you about who you are. You are loosed, not going to be loosed, not shall be loosed,
you're loosed on the inside before you're loosed on the outside! (cheers and applause) I'm delivered right now,
I'm whole right now! I am it, so I can do it! I can do it! I came to deliver a message
to every person in this room who's had a struggle,
who's had some pains, who's had some tests, who's
got some creative ideas but you've gone through
some really tough stuff. Let me tell you something,
the stuff you've been through, don't pay it any attention. It is just a sign that the baby is coming. You're on the verge of birthing. You're on the verge of birthing. You're on the verge of birthing. You're about to give birth. I want you to touch
everybody you can reach and tell them the baby is
coming, the baby is coming, the baby is coming, the baby is coming, the baby is coming, the baby is coming, the baby is coming, the baby is coming. You don't want to leave me
now, the baby is coming. You don't want to walk out on
me now, the baby is coming. I haven't had my best idea yet. I haven't had my most creative moment yet. I haven't produced my dream yet. I don't care whether
you're 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, there's something down inside
of you that's still kicking inside of you that wants to
get out and it wants to live! (cheers and applause) It wants to live! The whole reason you're
here today is because there's something in you
that needs to be fed, that needs to be stirred,
that needs to be electrified, that needs to be illuminated. There's something down inside
of you crying, "Let me out!" (cheers and applause) Let me out, make some noise in this place! (cheers and applause) Yes, yes, yes! We are waiting on your water to break and for you to give birth
to the greatest idea you have ever had, make
some noise in this place! (cheers and applause) Anybody who left you is going to miss it. They're going to miss
it, they're going to miss the greatest part of you, the
greatest part of your destiny, the greatest part of your creativity. It took everything you
went through yesterday to get you ready for what
you are about to do today. You are standing on the
verge of a great awakening or you wouldn't be here. If I'm talking to you, make
some noise in this place. (cheers and applause) I can't hear you! (cheers and applause) I believe there are businesses in you, companies in you, concepts in you, books to be written,
paintings to be drawn, concepts to be birthed,
ideas, creative concepts. There's something that you
could do, that you could think in your life that would
radically change your life. Somebody could take the
hand you've been dealt and win with it, same
circumstances, same ideas, they would do it through what
they thought about your life. But we don't need somebody,
because we got you. We got you, you're the one. You are the one.
(applause) I want you to join hands with
somebody for just a minute. I'm telling you right
now, if you are going to birth your dream, your calling, your passion and the
second half of your life, you can't draw back when life gets tough. You've got to stand up to it and push. Get that person by the hand, because there's something inside of them that is about to happen. Squeeze their hand. And when I count to
three, I want every man and every woman that's got a
concept, that's got an idea, I want you to push with all of your might until dreams and concepts and ideas start to birth out of you
in the middle of the night. You going to need pens and
pads by your bed tonight because you're going to
have to get up in the middle of the night and starting writing down all the stuff that's going to
start coming out of your spirit when this day is ready, are you ready? (cheers) One, two, three. (cheers) If you push it, you can
have it, God bless you! It's yours for the taking! (cheers and applause) - Thank you guys so much for
watching, I hope you enjoyed. I'd love to know what did
you take from this video that you're going to
immediately apply somehow to your life or to your business. Leave it down in the comments below. I'm super curious to find out. I also want to give a quick
shout out to Surge Wisdom. Thank you so much for
picking up a copy of my book, Your One Word, and doing
that animated chapter review on your YouTube channel, I really, really, really appreciate your support, man. And I'm so glad that you enjoyed the read. Thank you guys again for
watching, I believe in you I hope you continue to
believe in yourself. And whatever your one word is, much love. I'll see you soon. - Always go to something
bigger than yourself. I'm wondering if you've been defeated because you have been
giving yourself wholly to something that was
too small to hold you. (cheers) Have you thrust yourself
into a glass of water? Have you leaped off the diving board into a cereal bowl person? Are you not guilty of immersing yourself into things that were too
small to hold your vision? Oh my God, this so good I'm
going to get the CD myself. (laughter) Jesus sent him to throw
himself into something that was bigger than his condition. And he had to go to get to it. He had to get out of his comfort zone. My problem is, so many times
you've thrown big ideas at small people, you've
given big commitment to cereal bowl people. And you're trying to get your sight back from a source that's too small to support what you're willing to put in. Is your investment bigger than the bank? (laughing) You should see
the way you're looking at me. Is the reason you keep
being disappointed by people is that you have wholly thrown yourself into something that was too small? Jesus sends him to something
that is bigger than himself so he can wash his eyes. Are you trying to take a bath in a bowl?
