Les Brown - Live Your Dreams (1991)

you can either live your dreams or live your fears so you accept the fact that you are afraid and then you move on anyhow I know that you've got greatness within you I know that you have unlimited potential in you I know that you have something to give to the universe let's browns dreams have brought him a long way today he is a nationally known speaker sought-after by corporations and seminar groups it is not a future anyone would have predicted when Les and his twin brother were adopted at the age of six weeks by Ms Mamie Brown a single woman with a motherly heart les was the fun-loving less serious twin and such a poor student that the local school system mistakenly labeled him mentally but les finished high school anyway and then discovered that he had a talent for connecting with people that made him a major personality on the radio and a prominent community leader he then made a successful bid for the Ohio State Legislature where he served in the House of Representatives for three terms today les spends his time preparing for the 200 speeches he makes each year enjoying every minute he can find to be with his children and developing his new personal growth seminars Les Brown is still working on his dreams [Music] [Applause] [Music] bullhorn I want to talk to you about something that I think all of us can identify with you can either live your dreams or live your fears and I think the majority of people actually are not living their dreams but a living their fears so I want to ask you a question what are your fears what are you afraid of what are you scared of because we all have fears don't we we all have something that's blocking us that's holding us back and as we begin to look at life what we realize is that the reason that most people are not living out their true potential and not doing all of the things that they would really like to do it's because of fear some people called fear false evidence or expectations appearing real I reminded of a story of a guy that was living in an area where he had some new neighbors and these neighbors had a bulldog and when he came home every day this Bulldog used to chase him about a half a block from his house every day he would have to streak home I mean he was just run this bulldog be right on his heels and so he just got tired of that because he would go home and about a half a block away from home he would look around for this Bulldog and he would see and he would go walking casually along and his Bulldog come out of nowhere well it's not chasing him he'd run home so this one day he just got tired and so when the Bulldog was running after him he started running he saw a rock and he stopped to pick it up to throw out the Bulldog and when the Bulldog got up on him he started barking he realized the Bulldog didn't have any teeth it is about that he's not chasing the Bulldog you don't get all the way the most the Bulldog could have done is gum you know I and so you know what most people go through life running scared running scared from things and have no teeth in them because they're false expectations appearing real that's a we're brilliant enough to scare ourselves to death you realize that and there are some people actually who'll get a kick out of scaring themselves to death I remember the last frightening movie I saw it was the Exorcist I will never forget I was so frightened when I came home I'll never forgot drove in the driveway and I had already called my former wife and said listen turn the lights on I was coming in the driveway and I was getting out of the car and all of a sudden I couldn't get out of so I'll blow my horn I said ma'am when they got me there Gabby she came to the kitchen where does ed take your seat belt loose fool I was right out of my wits but there are a lot of people who think you know for that I'm a person not my brother is a paratrooper my twin brother he's in the military career man I would love to jump out of an airplane to pierce you I mean I really admire our brother for that I would really love to be macho man like that what are the things that you fear that's been keeping you from living your dream that's been keeping you from doing some things that you would like to do just think about those things and how do we begin to handle that Abraham Maslow said that the life is about growth and he said you could either go back to your comfort zone and there you won't find any growth or you must Willy be willing to go forward and face your fears again and again and again because you're never going to have a fear free existence I mean some fear is acceptable and legitimate there are some things that you you really should be afraid of now you shouldn't allow it to immobilize you you acknowledge it you take it into account you carry yourself accordingly there are times that we should proceed with caution but it's the difference between being stopped by fear it's the difference between having a fear and the fear having you so what do we do one acknowledging and knowing that it's okay don't condemn yourself for being afraid it's perfectly fine to have some fears you acknowledge your fears you embrace those fears and then you move on you act on whatever it is that you fear because once you embrace it see what you resist will persist what you resist will persist so one of the most important things is is to begin to embrace your fear the fear of bodily harm that's legitimate when I was a disc jockey in Columbus Ohio you know I was young about 2223 thought I was tough and I was on the air and Al Green who was a great performer at that time and still is now now singing gospel music had a record his first hit record was backup train so a guy came in the town and was impersonating Al Green I happened to know al green because I'd already booked him and so when I found out this guy was impersonating algorri I came on the air and did an editorial about it and I exposed him he was rather big fellow and so he had the word out that when I see this guy let's bomb the disc jockey I'm a knockin my mouth for having a big mouth so I was driving down Main Street in Columbus Ohio had my son in a car and I always had this little saying hey if anybody able to put a threat on him on me I'm gonna make him honor it so I saw this guy on the street so I pull around I say excuse me I'll be right back got out of the car as hey man I heard you said that you were looking for me I'm les Brown he said you are say yeah I said what is it I'm the one that said that you are an imposter I said I want to know what you're gonna do about it he open his coat he had a gun there I say but whatever I said to hurt your feelings I want you [Applause] acknowledge your fear scare yourself accordingly and do what makes sense for you well one major fear I've always had is a fear of dentists and this fear had me I didn't have that fear and what really and foot reinforced it you got to watch things that can feed your fear I saw a movie that most people would not remember this movie was starring Dustin Hoffman called the Marathon Man with Laurence Olivier when he's trying to get a confession out of here and he took this drill out let me tell you someone he went in Duffman Hoffman's mouth with that drill I had a dollar where the popcorn that pop go with everyone do you know I could not go to the dentist for five years I had left broadcasting went to the Ohio Legislature had an impacted wisdom tooth now that hurts and I would call and soon as the people would answer the phone I would hang up that's not fighting about dr. Hamlin office boom out here then I got to the point where I could just ask for an appointment hello and I wouldn't give my real name because I knew I wouldn't go keep this I'd give me anybody's name Joe jiggling Jim it is bad but pretty soon I got to the point where I could give my name it was about four years after that you know so my name is les fine then I would call back and say look here due to my legislative agenda I won't be able to make it so the lady finally said it on phone said you're scared aren't you I said no I'm not she said then why don't you come in that's none of your business she said you're not coming in because you're scared I wish you just would not waste our time and she hung up I said you have no right to do that to people like me you know so finally it'll make it along the shorter I was hurting so bad it's a way to man I've got to do something and I said what am I afraid of go there and handle that's it man I said dr. hammer I just can't hear this drill I mean if you can do whatever I just don't I don't need to hear this drill this drill that sound you know that's to what gets me that drill don't pull that drill out on me he said just calm down calm now and it wasn't really bad as I thought it was one of the things you find out that when you face your fears is not as bad as you think it is and when people tell you I just can't do that I can't handle I mean really really I can't have it what they're envisioning is that they're not going to be if they're gonna clock out like you're going to die guess what we all that occasions when we confronted our fears we had to do something we felt uncomfortable with we didn't want to do it and we did not die they didn't come take us and put us in a box somewhere am i right so what we've got to begin to do how do we handle that what's the process because it's all up in here one I think is imagine the worst-case scenario I just imagined that he went in my mouth and with this drill and that I just croaked out then I imagine that's the worst case scenario then I had another technique I used visualize yourself being more than able and capable of handling it but I used to have a tremendous inferiority complex about speaking before people that I felt who had more going for them than I did because I'm not college trained I used to feel that college people were the most intelligent people on the planet and there was nothing I had to say for them and what would what will they listen to me for that's the way I felt and so I had to visualize myself speaking before them speaking before various audiences it had more going for them than I did and realize and appreciate my own value and that I was a worthwhile person even though I didn't have all going for me I didn't have the money I didn't have the education that they had so part of the process is seeing yourself being worthy being capable having what you need to make your worthwhile person and that you're more than able and that you deserve to be listened to or you deserve to have that dream and that passion and whatever it is that you see and envision there you've got to see it in your mind's eye and know that you've got what it takes repeat after me please I must see and my mind's I see myself confronting my fears handling my fears I'm more than able shake somebody's hand on your right and left and say you got the right stuff so deciding as you look at your life as you look into the future and say what fears am i holding on to what fears that I'm a lying to imprison me that's keeping me from breaking out that's keeping me from living up to my true potential that's keeping me from really being happy that's keeping me from having a sense of adventure and excitement in my life what's what's keeping me from controlling my destiny what fears and I'm giving that permission to notice what I said that we must give our permission to fear to immobilize us because whatever discomfort you experience whatever challenges a difficulty that it is you got to handle it got to go up in there and wrestle with it will it be easy no will it be challenging yes friend of mine who's going into recovery he's been addicted to crack cocaine for years and alcohol he was talking about how challenging it was and while he was dreading going on going into cold turkey I said what do you want me to tell you that it's going to be a picnic no it's not it's gonna kick your button yes it is are you gonna want to die yes yes that's a part of it but that's just what you must go through in order to get where you want to go and guess what you are strong enough to do it you're strong enough and your life is worth whatever you have to go through to get past this addiction whatever you have to do this dream you've got whatever you want to do will it be easy to just run out then do it know what'll happen overnight now will it be a struggle yes will there be times when you can't make ends meet yes that's a part of it will there be times you won't know what to do yes that's a part of it will you have some opposition will things go wrong sometimes you will have many visits from Murphy now if you say well whose market don't worry somebody must have told us someplace along the line I don't know where but somebody must have told people Oh life is gonna be real easy if they told you that I've got a special announcement don't forget I had a special piece of legislation I wanted to get past and I said - Oh guys look at can I count on your vote he said yes and look here if I can't count on to let me know there's another guy that owes midship and I can call on that and I want need your vote but I do need it if you say you're going to do it do it you say you can count on it legislation came up he voted against my bill my bill passed I went back to hey I told you I needed the vote but if you couldn't give it up let me know I would get somebody else and why are you telling me he said I lied I was in shock how many of you that life just wore you out that you didn't expect that you thought you go to school get good grades get a job and you came out here you'll be able to get a job a little happily ever after you say they never told me you know that song that mama told me there'd be days like it didn't even tell us that you got something about life is challenging I mean in some stuff you get out of here you didn't read it in a book nowhere didn't nobody warn you that it was gonna come down on you like this that's called life there are kind of challenges like that so what's the next piece is that you accept yourself then you accept the fear as a fact and not a force see when you accept yourself and you accept fear as a fact that means that it's something that happens it's something that you're going to experience but it is not a force to hold you back it doesn't have any special power other than that that you give it so you accept the fact that you are afraid and then you move on anyhow you move on pass it and you do whatever you've got to do I was at a big motivational rally for gentleman by the name of Dexter Jaeger down in the Carolinas I was standing backstage and I had to go out I was the last speaker on the program it's the first time I'd been in a stadium of this size over 10,000 people you couldn't see the people because the lights are just blaring in your eyes called free enterprise day I was afraid my heart was beating fast I'll just pacing back and forth and Dexter said are you all right I said yeah so I say wait a bit just calm down calm yourself well the older it's alright less it's alright alright just be as scared as you can be so after I say embrace that fear just try and see how scared you can really get and sabri the diva so the guy came back and said are you bout to die so I said no five but after I started embracing it and trying to make myself as afraid as I can get and imagine what's the worst thing that I can go out there do my Margo Blake and I played on stage [Applause] what I start laughing at myself I start talking about say you know you scared today I said I just calm myself down and I went I then I cooked and that's what you got to do I had another experience where I was at a major corporation and I was it was one of my first major presentations I was going to do for this corporation and I had four other presenters that had large firms and one of the things that you've got to do is you've got to watch your inner conversation and discipline your thinking and your imagination because if you don't your mind will take you on a wild trip so my mind said hey les said what this guy's gonna wipe you out you can't compete with them because I heard these guys sitting over across from me and they were talking about all that they had going for them and so I started doubting myself and I became afraid and I was taking well maybe I shouldn't go in there and so I knew then and this is what I suggest to you sometimes you got to talk to yourself talking to yourself you know could be a good exercise might be the only intelligent conversation you ever get so I got up and I were in the bathroom and I start talking to myself that last part let me tell you something what do you care about these guys and their firms and all their money you've got six children you've got to feed you got a mama you've got to take care of home you ain't got nothing to lose [Applause] I wouldn't that Roma look to those people I said don't you do nothing tell you hear from me and I got that contract [Applause] so when you have your lower self talking to you telling you what you can't do part of what you've got to do is be your own motivator you can you can't talk casually to yourself you can't stare rot sit down you must calm down now subconscious man will hear that you've got to have a good conversation to you say hey and answer yourself to don't pity people in the attention you answer yourself hey what you're gonna do I'm going there and get off alright very good go and take care of busy you've got to talk to yourself and you build yourself up and you'll feel your energy level coming up and people will feel that around you see now if you go through life being afraid people can sense that they can pick up that fear so that's why you've got to stand up inside yourself I'm reminded of a little boy that was on a bus and and some bigger fellows who were picking out him you know and so he wanted to move from by them they were thumping you on the head and so he stood up just to get from by them and they would push him back down and he would stand up again they'd push him back down and he stood up again they pushed him down held him down he said you might hold me down but I'm standing up inside myself [Applause] see when you are not filling your life with the things that you are capable of doing so we all have some stuff that we've been given and I don't think that it's optional for us to sit on what we have see if you're sitting on what you have what you've been given I think everybody has been given something to bring to the planet that only you can do that only you can perform that only you can initiate that activity and if you don't do that if you're not filling in your life with your life work or your mission then there are gaps in your life and what we do when we're not living out our true identity we begin to fill the gaps we fill the holes with garbage alcohol drugs worry self-destructive behavior so when you begin to look at your life and you know that that you're not doing what you can do because you have allowed yourself to be held captive by your fears now when you don't have a true appreciation and acceptance for who you are and you allow yourself to be immobilized by fear what happens in the process is that you begin to abuse yourself you begin to sabotage your life you begin to sabotage your dreams you begin to unconsciously work against yourself you become your own worst enemy so what do you do about that well you you begin to realize that your dream and your gifts have so much meaning and so much value for you till your hunger for them will begin to push you past the fear your hunger to have them will give you a special drive as you work on yourself as you begin to acknowledge your true identity the true power that you have the true capacity you have to bring about change the miracle-working power that you have within yourself to do the things that you want to do when you take them on I'm reminded of a man who this gentleman was doing a special study of a special tribe in Africa headhunters and he had difficulty in developing a relationship with these tribesmen because of the fact that he had fear yeah fear they take his head a day all fears are bad I was a legitimate fear that's a good for you to give you a headache so he worked there for a long time with no effort no progress in developing relationship and rapport and being able to achieve a level of trust so finally one night while he was in bed he was thinking about said what what is it that you came here to do what is your life work as a missionary said I wanted to study these tribesmen said what's the worst thing that they can do to you kill you and he just decided hey this is what I came here to do I know that there's some risk involved and I'm gonna do it come what may he said I'm not gonna be afraid anymore he went back to the next day and he started doing the work and trying to talk to and interview many of the members of this tribe and they began to respond to him they threw out the welcome mat to him and years later when people came to see what his progress was they asked him how were you able to do this how did you convert the relationship from being hostile to that of being positive and he said something I think has value for all of us he said when life can no longer threaten you with death he said what else is there what else is there and the majority of the fears that we have are not life or death fears and not those kind of fears but through our imagination we blow them out of proportion and we give them more power than they actually have or deserve and we permit them to govern our lives we permit them to determine how far we can stretch out on our dreams and discovering our stuff and as we begin to look at ourselves and and begin to wait a minute Jeff's getting to the point as you assess yourself then and begin to prove yourself and just away whole of men hold a minute I've been sweating this out what can what's the worst thing that can happen to me on this will it kill me will I die why am I going through all of these changes over this how much power does this really have and am I the one that's feeding the power into it said a lot of times we we allow ourselves to be fed and to be programming to to being afraid I mean you watch the news and read the newspaper you'll be scared to come out the house am i right you'll be afraid so what kinds of things what kinds of thoughts are you feeding your consciousness what kind of things are you putting in your mind that will enable you to either move forward or to justify why you're staying where you are another piece that I look at that when I finally decided that I was going to go to the dentist the pain was so great I couldn't hold out any longer all of a sudden defeated matter I can't but take me my some people need fear you know have a friend that that we told him hey man you know you need to lose some weight you gettin overweight and out of shape and at our age we need to have a regular program and bud said man I've been fat since I was little boy oh you know I'm I'm big-boned I've never seen a fat skeleton though yeah well bud became ill how many of you ever see the fest guilting right yeah but became ill passed out and I was there and the doctor was talking to him and but I think was going to go right back to say Moe eating habits and doing everything you know as I look here you are a diabetic and said now here's some of the side effects you know you could go blind you can become an amputee none of that touched him he said you can become impotent he said what did you say lost weight he exercises every day he's in a body sculpt Rick 48 years young he looks great I can't believe for just that one statement made all the difference in the world but is a new man today so what is it that has to happen to you some people don't take corrective measures to improve their health until they get a pronouncement that they're about to die then they're started okay all right I'm ready to do whatever you want me to do but they won't do that they can see people drop it off like flies around then well that's them you got to go from something we go through life really blocking ourselves constantly and fear is one of the the greatest instruments that we could use to stifle our true potential when you begin to to look at your life you can decide to use fear as a blocker or you can decide to use it as building blocks that you decide Hey look here I'm going to move in this direction I'm not going to allow anything to stop me from doing what I want to do we shake somebody's hand on your right and left and say I'm unstoppable see when you begin to understand and acknowledge of fear and you go forth anyhow you go forth in a spirit and a knowing that there's a way that you can begin to handle this there's a way out here somewhere there's a solution what it is that you're seeking that you have the capacity to whatever comes up to handle it to face it and rather than feeling powerless you begin to feel powerful see when all of the major downsizings that are taking place around this country there are a lot of people who are biting their fingers and fear that they might lose their jobs but there are few people who have decided within themselves I'm going to make it some people aren't waiting to be cut some people are moving on their own because they feel within themselves I've got what it takes to make it they're not afraid about tomorrow because of how they see themselves because of what they feel that they deserve because of what they feel that they can create for themselves because these people have decided as they look at the future as they look at themselves there's a way where there's a will there's a way for me to begin to create a way out of no way and when you have that kind of consciousness when you have that kind of spirit nothing can stop you nothing what would your life be like as you look toward the future if you decided I'm not going to allow my fears to stop me what would your life be like what would your future be like if you decided to to want that which you desire so strongly that it prepares you past your fears that you experience the fear as the one book says feel the fear and do it anyway what would your life be like and I'm saying to you that all of us who have been entombed by fear have the capacity to resurrect ourselves and to resurrect our dreams and you have is it easy no it's not easy can I do it yes what's one of the ways to get started some of us need somebody to hold our hands sometimes we need somebody to help us out be willing to say I don't know be willing to reach out be willing to get some assistance to take you to the next level of what great athlete you never expect boxes to make profound statements I think was Joe Frazier who said this one he says all of us are like the blind man at some point in our lives standing on the corner waiting for somebody to lead us across see all of us at some point in our lives need some help need someone to reach out to us to thrive the lifeline to help us go cross some treacherous waters that we couldn't navigate by ourselves none of us do it by ourselves all of us at some point of our lives we need that kind of help we need that kind of assistance because we grow from the people we have in our lives that can enrich our lives personally professionally spiritually and all the dimensions of our lives we don't grow in a vacuum so if you look at yourself whatever fears you have that maybe you need some help and strengthening yourself in that area as you assess your strengths and your weaknesses as you begin to approve yourself and your passions and your dreams and your goals and the things that you want if you decide to experience all of your true potential as you decide to manifest all of your greatness as you decide wait a minute what what else is available to me out here if I decided to experience the fear of rejection the fear of no the fear of failure the fear of standing by myself what else is available of taking a chance of fear of losing it all what else is available to me that will bring some extra meaning and value the fear people not liking me you know how many people do things they don't want to do because they want everybody to like them everybody's not good at like you excuse me special announcement everybody's not going to like you know that's it's just not that kind of world what but you know that a lot of people who won't take positions on issues who won't take a stand for things they believe in who won't speak up for themselves because they don't want to make anybody mad oh it was Bill Cosby he said I don't know what the secret of success is he said but here's what I know what the secret of failures he said trying to please everybody you can't please everybody but they're people who have the fear of rocking the boat so they just go alone in life just go along well no how do you feel well I don't really want to say how many of you know people like that raise your head these people are living life they're not truly experiencing life what do you really want to do well I don't like this but I guess I'll go ahead on and do know the life is too short for that too short and unpredictable moseying through not trying to disturb anything not trying to shake anything up not trying to make any waves you see there are some people who who come through the universe in their level of contribution and the level of energy they manifest is so small so inconspicuous that when they go you won't even know they left I mean they're people who died on jobs and and you say where's John Oh jumping dead six months you're kidding I guess we did miss it but there's some people because of their personality because of their contribution because of their the investment of their time and their energy and the impact they have their that when they go everybody will miss them so when Mother Teresa checks out everybody will know when Rosa Parks everybody will know Nelson Mandela everybody will know what because of their contribution si but there's some people because their contribution is so small no one will care some saying before you are boxed and Barrett decide that you're going to box and bury your fears decide that you're going to begin to live life on a new level seeking out new horizons that you're gonna find more love and more joy and more ways to give more to life God said something I love this he says everything a man does for himself guess what he takes with him but everything he does for others he leaves behind so when you begin to say what is it that I want to leave what contribution that I want to begin to make what difference do I want to make in life what is it that I want to do with the rest of the life that I have left what what chances I need to take what risks do I need to begin to embrace what fears do I need to step on what areas of my life and my dad right now what dream you can even live your dreams or live your fears you have got to get to a point where you say I'm sick and tired of living like this there's got to be more let's see that's when people go out and strike out on their dreams that's when people get out of relationships where they're dying together rather than growing together that's where they leave job so where you going away from here [Applause] do you have another job no I don't well how are you going to make it I don't know but I will say you will when you put yourself in that kind of situation I'm reminded of two frogs that that were huffing down the road and they fell into a bottle of milk and one was hopping up and down for a while and he drowned he just gave up but his other frog just kept on kicking he wouldn't give up he just kept on kicking and pretty soon he churned that milk into butter and he walked off [Applause] some saying when light catches you by the neck and blind slap your weapon to knock you down I said just keep on kicking you know and you can kick on out of those circumstances whatever they are not be intimidated by them repeat after me please I'm going to keep on kicking I'm gonna cut them off is never going to give up keep check somebody's hand on your right and left and say keep on keep it off I tell you you know what are the exciting things about life is you got to keep the child in you little children tree we used to go to work with my mama we'll be riding across Miami Beach my brother that we argue that's my car no that's your car over there but then as we become adults light slap inside ahead of your dad's and then you don't dream anymore bigger Thomas in the book I'm the Invisible Man I think it was he said the impulse to dream has been slowly beaten out of me through the experience of life and most people ladies and gentlemen have stopped living their dreams because of the lessons they've learned from life or things they've picked up because we've only been born with two fears the fear of a loud sound of the fear falling and all the other fears of fears we learn fears we pick up whatever you're scared of no life the value you brought to the planet far more important and what have you freed up you're stronger so as we begin to look toward the future and look at what will it take for us to break through those fears one acknowledging the fear knowing it's all right some fears healthy beginning to know that your dreams your passions your drive to achieve whatever it is you want as it has more power and meaning it will move you past your fears as you begin to feel that you deserve it your passion and goal is so strong the fears won't matter you begin to trust yourself and put yourself in the situation where you have to make it happen you will make it happen ladies and gentlemen I don't believe this I know this from my own life experience I know that you've got greatness within you I know that you have unlimited potential in you I know that you have something to give to the universe that was out here before you showed up somebody said that life is God's gift to us and how we live our lives is our gift to God what kind of gift are you giving and what kind of gift could you give if fear wasn't an issue and I'm saying you could have fears but don't surrender don't let your fears have you you're more than capable of making this your decade this is mrs. Mamie Brown's baby boy Lesley Calvin Brown saying it's been a plum pleasing pleasure and well of the privilege thank y'all here [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you

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Length: 43min 41sec (2621 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 12 2019