Translator: Ivana Krivokuća
Reviewer: Denise RQ I'd like to share a story about something
that changed my life with you today. And maybe it'll change yours, too. And while we're at it,
why don't we have some fun? How many of you
were very ambitious young adults? Wow, me too.
I was a very ambitious young man. As a matter of fact, my only goal
when I entered the workforce was to earn as much money as possible. I couldn't earn enough.
I wasn't ashamed of that. I came from a poor family. I remember when I was a little boy,
my dad left home for a pack of cigarettes. He never came back. My sister and I were raised
on government assistance. I vowed that when I was old enough,
I would earn enough money, or I'd never be laughed at for the clothes I wore,
or the house I lived in again. Early on in my career,
I had a very nice job in Los Angeles. I worked for a large company. On this particular day, the company was having
its annual managers' meeting at a very nice hotel. The president of the company
would be there himself, handing out superior performance
achievement awards. I wasn't getting one. Frankly, looking back,
I didn't deserve one either. But that didn't stop
an ambitious young man from wanting attention
and recognition anyway. So I had this plan. I would sit in the the front row, so close to the president
I could almost touch the podium. When he opened up the meeting to Q&A, I had this brilliant question
I was going to ask, this very intelligent question that would just rain attention
and recognition all over me. I couldn't wait, I couldn't wait. But just a few minutes
before the meeting began, my phone began buzzing. I got calls all the time, I though
I would wait until after the meeting, but it kept going off;
it was clearly an important issue. So I thought, I'll step out
of the meeting, take the call, and I'll use the restroom
at the same time. I can be back before Q&A starts. I ended my call about ten minutes later, in the beautiful, gorgeous,
majestic restroom of the San Gabriel Hilton hotel. Gorgeous restroom. But the first thought
that came to my mind was this, "What a cheap hotel San Gabriel Hilton is, they don't even have urinals
in the men's restroom!" (Laughter) And then the next thought that came to me
right after that thought was, "You're in the women's restroom!" (Laughter) Quickly, I panicked, I turned,
I rushed for the door, I flung it open,
but as luck would have it, there was a very nicely dressed
businesswoman standing in the doorway. She had a very confused look on her face. She looked at me, then she looked
at the sign on the door, then she looked at me again
quite differently the second time. (Laughter) I hatched a new plan. I bit down on my lapel, and I said, "It's all clear. Miss, it's all clear,
and you may enter now." She said, "Well, thank you," and I said, "No, thank you
for coming to the San Gabriel Hilton," and I kept talking to my lapel
all the way back to the meeting. (Laughter) You know, out of respect
to the character, if you will. How do we get into these jams? What happens to us, is it multitasking? Is it trying to do more
than one thing at the same time? The answer's, "No." The issue is much deeper than this. It's an issue that makes us want
to do everything at the same time. It's not answering
three simple life questions properly. Who am I? What do I want? How do I get it? Who am I, what do I want, how do I get it? Three simple questions,
but the answers are not so simple. You see, you can't get what you want
if you don't know what it is, and you can't really know what you want
if you don't know who you are. And it's hard to know who you are when you could be three different people
at any point in time. You can inhabit three unique brains. Let me explain using
these very handsome dodgeballs. We're born with a primal brain. This brain is very focused,
highly responsive. We're thrust
into this brain situationally. This brain will allow you to do
amazing things in an emergency. This brain will save you your life. But the problem is this: it's not really the right brain
you want to be in to answer the life question,
"What do I want?" it would be like having
a picnic in a war zone. It's not appropriate. Between the ages
of three and six years old, we complete the formation
of our emotional brain, our limbic system, the vault for all our feelings. This brain is also your default brain. We spend most of our time
in our emotional brain, and some, as you all know, never leave. I mean, you go to work,
you talk to other adults, they speak back to you
in three-syllable words, they're nicely dressed, but they're basically a bunch
of six-year-olds. This might explain a lot
about what happens to us in the workplace. And although this is your default brain,
it's really not the correct brain to be in and to answer the life question,
"What do I want?" It would be like going
grocery shopping if you're hungry. You tend to leave the store
with a lot of junk food. Between the ages of 20 and 25 years old, we complete the formation
of our higher brain, our prefrontal cortex. This brain's something else. It strategizes, it analyzes,
it solves problems, it predicts, it visualizes, it models,
it's got all the tools you need to answer the life question,
"What do I want?" properly. But the problem is this:
how do we get into this brain? It's not your default brain,
and it's not situational. We're not thrust into our higher brain,
you have to want to go there. But I have good news for you today. I brought you a brain app, an application that will allow you
to access your higher brain in seconds. Then we can answer the life question
properly - "What do I want?" - and I'll show you
how to get what you want. Let's do it together. Please, everyone,
close your eyes for a moment. Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Exhale slowly. Now relax your shoulders, your arms, relax your hands. Relax your neck, your jaw. Relax your whole face. Deep breath. Exhale slowly. Now in your hand, visualize a banana. Hold a banana in your hand,
a golden, yellow, ripe banana. Hold it. Feel the skin. Deep breath. Exhale slowly. Now let's peel the banana together,
halfway down, four sides. Side one, peel, side two, side three, now side four. Look at that banana. Deep breath. Exhale. Now take a bite. Taste the banana. Taste that delicious, luscious banana,
the best banana you've ever had. Taste it. Keep your eyes closed,
and breathe normally. Answer this question for me, in one or two words, silently. What do you really want? What do you want? You can open your eyes now. You were just in your prefrontal cortex. And with the answer to that question, I can now show you
how to get what you want. When I was a young man,
I knew exactly what I wanted: money. And I made a lot of money. At one point, I worked
for a very wealthy broker in Beverly Hills. His name was Julian. I never actually met him,
I've seen pictures of him, but I didn't need to. He would call me for jobs, I'd go do them, and then he would send me a big check. On this particular day, he asked me to go
to the port of Long Beach because one of his shipments
had been seized in customs. I drove out there, I met
with a customs agent for about an hour, and I got it released. I called Julian. He was so happy. He said, "Mike, I was going
to send you a big fat check, but I have to meet
the young man that did this. I want you to come down
to my office in Beverly Hills, I have a special reward for you." I'm thinking, "Ka-ching!
What is it, cash, money? Is it a car, is it a boat?
Maybe property!" My mind was racing. I raced down to Beverly Hills,
at Beverly Wilshire. I went up to the ninth floor
in his office building. I was almost running
down the hallway to his office. But in front, there was standing
a very large individual in a three-piece suit. When I approached him,
I saw under his lapel there was a gun. I was scared. He said, "Are you Mike?" I went - (Nodding) He said, "Go in." I walked into the most beautiful office
I've ever seen in my life. It had a panoramic view of Los Angeles. It had a couch, in the office. It had a bar! A bar, in the office! It had a picture of Julian on the wall,
hugging the governor! I thought, 'I've arrived! This is it!" I heard my name, "Mike,
come into the conference room." It was Julian. I walked into the conference room
and set down; he excused another very large individual. He began telling me
about his immense wealth, his two homes in Malibu,
his car collection, his vacations, his business ventures, his investments, and then he abruptly stopped, and he said, "You know, Mike, I didn't call you
down here to tell you about me. I called you down here
to give you a special reward. I was going to write you
a big, huge check today, but after getting to know you
in these last few minutes, you just don't seem
like that kind of guy to me." I'm thinking, "I am
that kind of guy. That's me." He said, "No, instead, I've decided
to give you some advice, and then your freedom. Listen carefully. Sometimes, the money you make isn't worth the price
you have to pay, and you're fired." The large individual came in and dumped me
in the hallway and slam the door. I sat there stunned.
This isn't the way it works. You do amazing things,
you make lots of money, You do wonderful things,
you make lots of money. I don't remember walking to my car. A couple of months later I found out that Julian was involved
in organized crime. That day, he did me a favor. He cut me loose
before I did damage to myself. Maybe even lost my life. I appreciated this, and I had a different answer
to that question that day, because I asked it
from a different perspective, a higher perspective. I'm asking you to do the same thing. With the answer to that question,
with the correct answer to that question, I want to show you now
how to get what you want. Shall we do it together? Tonight, tomorrow, the next day,
on a piece of paper, I'm asking you to write down
all of your tasks. Everything that you're doing,
personal and professional: taking out the garbage,
mowing the grass, doing the dishes - Sir, your wife asked me
to talk about that, I don't know why - vacations, remodeling, the business associations
you're involved in, everything. Write them down and don't enter
them into a computer. Write them, use your muscle memory,
expand your brain. Then use your free brain app. Take a few seconds,
and access your higher brain, and ask that question,
and get your simple answer, one or two words. Then open your eyes
and look at all those tasks. Circle the tasks
that support what you want. They're going to pop
right out at you, believe me. You're going to have
some tasks left behind. I want to help you
dispose of those right now. First, delete all the tasks
that aren't important. Some, you don't even know
why you're doing them. Put a big red X through them. And remember this:
a task deleted is a task completed. (Laughter) Number two: give back, give. Look at all those tasks that you're doing, the work that you're doing
that others should be doing. You all know what I mean. Put an X through those, as well,
and keep this in mind: isn't it always better
to give than receive? (Laughter) Number three: delegate the rest. Transfer that work to others
that can do the work for you. In order to do delegation,
you may have to overcome some blocks. Blocks like fear of failure,
inability to trust others, or obsession with perfection. But do overcome those blocks, because we need to dispose
of all those tasks so that you can get what you want. As you might imagine, if you do
everything I've asked you to do today, you may have some difficult conversations. As a matter of fact, you will,
and I'm asking you to have those. Have those conversations
for yourself and for your future. But I'd like to give you some advice. Some advice that's thousands
and thousands of years old, that will help you. You see, my Native American ancestors
teach that all power comes from within. If we lose our power along the way,
if we've grown weak, it's because we gave it away. But the good news is this:
your power always belongs to you, and you can grab it back,
you can snatch it back. All you have to do is remember who you really are
and remember what you really want. It'll come raining back
on you, believe me. Remember who you are
before you walk into work every morning, while you're still sitting in your car. Remember before an important meeting
or before a difficult conversation. Remember if you're angry or if you're sad,
remember if you're afraid, and remember before you go
to sleep at night and have sweet, sweet dreams. If you remember, like I'm asking, you will find the deep, rich happiness
that you so richly deserve. For me, the answer to the question
"What do I want?" has changed. It's no longer money. Today, it's freedom. But not the freedom to do what's right, what others want me to do,
what others expect, but the freedom to do the right thing; the right thing. On this stage, right here,
right now, I wish the same for you. Just remember. Thank you. (Applause)
