Les Brown - Take Charge of Your Life

[Music] i think that there are some things that we need to begin to do to take charge of our destiny how many of you like to take charge of your destiny raise your hand please very good all right so we're going to do that and you know one of the things that really stimulated this house with a friend of mine we were writing back after i'd spoken to her company and they had a major downsizing now they call it right sizing when companies reduce the workforce for economic reasons well at any rate when we were on the plane and she said um you know i'm no longer going to be with the company and i said no i said why she said well my division has been eliminated i said well you do have another plan don't you and she said no i said but didn't they have something of this nature about a year ago she said yes i said but did you start thinking that maybe perhaps you need to prepare to do that which you really wanted to do because this person that i've known for a long time always wanted to be involved in fashion design so i said haven't you been doing something on your fashion designing career she said no i said but what have you been doing she says hoping that nothing happened to me i said but hoping is not a process it's not a method uh you know you know a lot of people go through life like that now that wasn't really what she wanted to do but i do a training seminar on one of the things we ask what would you do if the unthinkable happens to you what would you do if you had an accident or you lost your job or you were laid off or you became ill how would you provide for yourself if the unthinkable happens to you and it doesn't always happen to the other person it can happen to me it can happen to you but most of us go through life thinking that well just maybe it won't happen to me that we'll just read about somebody else that will happen to us talking to a friend of mine by the name of maria who is wheelchair-bound and she said that she had an experience in her life that taught her that she's not immune from life because she was diagnosed as having muscular dystrophy at age 15 and she figured that was tragic enough but two years ago because of a malfunctioning wheelchair she fell out of a van struck her head and suffered a closed head injury had blood on the brain and they said that she perhaps might go blind or she have loss of memory or concentration and i said how did you handle that she said les was the best thing that could have happened to me i said why she said because on that day i woke up and i realized that life is about today living today that whatever i want to do i do it right now she said i enjoy getting up in the morning looking out of the window just looking at the grass she said because i could have lost my vision she said i'm appreciative of just the little things shake somebody's hand on your right and left and say be thankful for the little things isn't that important but we've got to begin to learn how to become thankful for the little things and living life right now so i want you to think about your ideas all of us have ideas and things that we have not acted on i want you this think about them right now um e.l simpson said that an idea should be like a pin you know that a pin that you sit on and and you jump up right away to do something with it so i don't want you to just think about it i want when you leave here i want you to jump and do something with it all right now so think about this idea what does it take to to be in charge of your destiny well you got to begin to develop some skills and you got to ask yourself a question what do you have going for you what is it that you have going for you right now that's a real plus for you what is it that you have going against you what kind of training training do you require what is it that you need to learn see you you make money only one of three ways in an economy of this nature you have to have a skill like i've developed the skill to become a speaker or have some specialized knowledge or have a particular product that or service that you can provide for the public john h johnson of ebony magazine said something very important he says there is no defense against an excellence that meets a pressing public need so any idea that you have it must fulfill a need for somebody once you think about it now here's the next step don't worry about the fact that you don't have all the things you need in order to make it happen decide that you're going to do something about it become an active force in your life see you've got some talents and abilities right now you have that if you don't challenge yourself to use those talents and abilities you'll never ever discover the full effect that they can have on achieving all the things that you want to achieve most people go through life never using the power they have you have enormous power to begin to create all the things that you want in your life experience that most people go through life never using i travel a lot speaking around the country and i was out of detroit for around two months i came back to the airport went in the parking lot put my key in the ignition tourney key can anybody tell me what happened can you tell me why the car did not get started the battery was dead why was it dead i had not been using it repeat after me please if you don't use it you lose it see ladies and gentlemen if you don't use your talents if you don't use this power this force that you have within you you're going to lose it if you have the ability to write and if you don't write you're going to lose the ability to write as well as you do right now if you have the ability to play an instrument the world's greatest piano set that if i miss a week of practice i know it and if i miss two weeks the critics know it enough i miss three weeks my audience knows it if you have the ability to to draw well and if you don't use that talent eventually you're going to lose it if i don't speak often and i one time at one point in my life i missed speaking for around six months and when i came up before an audience i was rusty i could not get my thoughts together i could not have the power this the kind of confidence that i need in order to make it happen so whatever you want to do whatever idea that you have the longer that you're sitting on that idea you're either creating or you are disintegrating if you're not using it your skills are diminishing every day and there goes the second there goes another second and life is happening right now but last what do you mean get your butt out of the way so many people have gone to their graves never discovered their true potentials because they allow their butts to stop them but i don't know what to do no that's not really true i was on a television program the other day lady called in and she said um there's something i like to ask you and i said what is it she said well i have this this thing i want to do but i've been unemployed i lost my job for two years i haven't been able to find a job i don't have the money and i don't have the contacts and i really don't know what to do i said excuse me i said the fact that you don't have the money or the contacts really is not the issue i say what's the real issue she said what do you mean i said what's stopping you from doing what you want to do she said well i i don't know i said but if you did know what would your answer be she said well i think maybe i'm afraid i said what are you afraid of maybe i might fail see a lot of people allow fear to stop them from living their dream answer your calling whatever you're called to do don't count yourself out don't say i can't do that many of us go through life saying no and you don't even know what you're saying no to you don't know what you cannot do if you're not willing to challenge yourself whatever it is that you don't know how to do right now you can learn i did not know how to speak for major corporations i didn't know how to do that but i decided to become a student if you do your research if you do your homework if you make the commitment that i'm going to learn when you look at what do i have going for me and drop your buckets where you are decide i'm going to work and get myself together a guy named jim rohn said if you develop your gifts your gifts will take you places that you'll never begin to imagine and i decided to do one thing all my life i've been a jack of all trades that asked him done i mean i did a little of everything i was in this jockey i was a state representative i used to be an mc i used to do public relations work i used to do door-to-door sales i did a whole lot of things but i decided that i was going to do one thing and i would master that and after mastering the art of speaking then i would become a trainer and after doing that then i said i must become a businessman just find one thing and just decide that you're going to work with it until it gives you the blessing that you want and don't let up on it just keep right on working at it working it and working it and knowing that whatever you do you can better your best you can get better at it that whatever you are achieving right now it's only a tip of the iceberg of what's possible for you now here's something else that you do when you start working on this dream give it everything you got see put your heart in it most people when they're working on dreams they don't give it everything they have i i heard a guy say in the book the title of it was all you can do is all you can do and all you can do is enough well see most people don't do all they can do most people go through life holding back have you ever had the experience of starting your car and you mash down on the accelerator and the car wait a minute a whole event started mashing again and it was not moving it was very hard and all of a sudden you realize that you had the emergency brakes on how many have you ever had that experience right yet all right then you release the emergency brakes and then a car move whom unencumbered most of us go through life with our emergency brakes on well it might not work out people might talk about me i don't have enough money i don't have enough edumacation i'm too ugly [Music] shake somebody's hand on your right and left and say what you have is enough see you know there are two kinds of people's people in life they're winners and whiners you know most people go through life just whining i didn't have a dog buddy i didn't have good credit they didn't like me you know no life is not about that see the major key to your taking charge of your destiny is you i mean if you have the credit of ross parole that will help all right if you got somebody to co-sign for you that will help if you happen to be handsome that will help you know um if you have people who will support you that will help but all of those things are secondary the major key to your taking charge of your destiny is you it's you and even though you might not have all the things going for you that you would like you have the power within you as you begin to develop your consciousness as you hold the vision of what it is that you want to do as you decide to enter this small voice within you because as you respond to this voice that's telling you you ought to do this the way will come ideas will come to you you will begin to attract things you need and things that you don't even know that you need right now you will develop the skills in the process as you look at yourself finding out what is it you need to do what kind of adjustments you need to make what new strategies that you need to begin to implement to make it happen but if you don't put yourself out here if you don't become actively involved in life if you hold back on yourself and continue to procrastinate when i saw a speaker who i said i know if this guy can do this i know i could do that that was years after i had made the decision to do it i was holding back on myself i kept building up all kind of reasons and excuses to justify why i wasn't acting on my dream most people go through life as volunteer victims they go through life volunteering to be victims giving excuses on why they're not pursuing their greatness giving excuses on why they're not doing the things that they want to do putting it off again and again and again wasting valuable time life is very valuable ladies and gentlemen time is very valuable and it's very fragile you've got to decide to do what you can right now and don't delay live you're living your life like a sense of urgency repeat this please and tell somebody in your right and left live your life now be happy now this is not a dress rehearsal do that please this is your super bowl do you know there are people who put more emphasis and more energy into a sporting event or dancing or entertainment than they do on their dreams they have more interest in who won a particular game than where they are in relationship to their goals and their ambitions and developing themselves so you want to begin to get your priorities in order ask yourself the question the people in my life right now are they contributing to my growth and development are they making me a better person what i'm doing right now is it nourishing me does it empower me is it giving me what i need out of my life right now is it challenging to me is it making me stretch mentally and emotionally and spiritually is it getting the best out of me see this is the only life you've got so you don't want to squander it doing something you don't want to do feeling you can't do any better you can do better you should do better you deserve to do better you're entitled to that that is your right to do better so resolve that within yourself make it something in your life that you just won't compromise on see it is important to me that i'll be able to provide for my mother that is not optional to be able to provide for my children there's a standard of living that i'm going to enjoy it is not optional it's not something that i would like to see happen it's not something that it'll be okay it's something that i value and as you begin to look at your life draw the line and say hey what is it that i need that can give me a sense of fulfillment what is it that i need right now that i would enjoy that will give my life some music and some power decide that because you deserve that but if you don't decide that and decide to make that happen it will never happen for you it will never happen for you i did a training years ago and after this particular seminar never forget a lady who was 85 years old she stood up and we asked a question anybody has anything brave to share and she said yes she said this was a very enriching seminar for me it really opened my eyes she said i'm 85 years old she said all my life she said i sacrificed my dreams for everybody else for my family for my husband for my children she said i've really not never done anything for me of value of the things that i really find important she said i say to you young people you won't be in my situation right now if you decide to live your life now she said if i had my life to live over i would do things differently she said but i don't have it to live over and when i go home i got news for my husband [Music] so repeat after me please i'm going to live my life down i deserve that okay now here's something else i want you to realize things are going to happen you've just got to handle it my god daughter nico williams who lives in columbus ohio just this past week three children in her neighborhood that she went to school with were sitting in a car talking an intoxicated driver lost control of his vehicle and ran into that car and killed those three kids the children that they went to school with experienced pain and grief and shock but they came became actively involved in putting together the funeral services and i talked with her i said how you doing and because she said i miss them she said but there's something that i realize that many of the relationships we have in life we take casually and we don't say all the things that we really should say and do all the things with people that mean something to us that we really should do and she said i'm going to miss them what has really alerted me about how unpredictable life is and so now she's going to become a very sharing person more so than ever before and all of the other young people that were involved but they were handling it and as you begin to look at your life decide to handle things when you decide that you want to begin to take control of your destiny they're going to be some sacrifices that you're going to have to make there'll be things that you're going to have to decide i got to give this up i've got to let this go many times you will have problems in your personal relationships when i decided to become a motivational speaker i was gone sometimes for weeks when i left home before coming back and i'll never forget i did a big major rally for a guy by the name of dexter yeager a big amway rally called free enterprise day and after speaking people were chanting we want the motivator we want the motivator well i was excited so i ran back to the phone after i came off stage and i called the young lady that i was dating then i said look i said i wiped them out they love me they're saying we want the motivator listen they're saying we want the motivator we want the motivator so she said les i need to tell you something i said what and i heard a voice in the background said hurry up and tell him i said who's that she said les you've been going so long i said yes yes i've been working on a dream and i'm sorry the relationship is oh what you gotta be kidding me i said hang up i say wait and they said mr motivator come on i said hold on wait they said mr motivated cop now i said okay okay i went outside i looked at the people i said you got to have a dream that's real big i say sometimes things will happen to you that will catch you on the blind side and bring you to your knees i went back to the hotel but they had to pull me off stage i was out there saying you got to have a larger vision you got to be hungry they pulled me off i said and you got to stay motivated they said come on motivator they were turning the lights off the janitors wanted to go home i wanted to keep all for me so they took me to the hospital i was walking the room trying to find the gideon bible and lonely was sitting on the bed saying how is your positive attitude how's your larger vision now i'm telling you when this happens think it not strange you are going to cry people are going to get bad with you people going to start working against you your mate is going to get upset with you where are you going i'm working on the dream uh-huh i got your dream you're going to know it people are gonna start going crazy on you becoming jealous and envious that's a part of the program understand that see that's why a lot of people say no that's all i pass on the dream that's all i just keep on buying my nails hope nothing don't happen but it's it's an experience that that opposition those obstacles that you will encounter that's how you grow that's how you become stronger [Music] now will there be some tight moments will there be some times that you want to give up yes here's something i was reading that that harriet beat your store said she said when you get into a tight spot and everything goes against you until it seems that you cannot hold on for a minute longer never give up then for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn never give up then and that is so important when you're working on doing the things you want to do and fulfilling your dream and things happen there are times when your energy feels so depleted that you want to give up that it looks just totally impossible and i can tell you from my own personal experience don't give up then that's when you've got to fall forward when life is kicking dirt in your face don't give up then that's when most people turn back most people will tuck their tails between their legs and they will run in the opposite direction and say that's all right life i don't want this all right no no no if you've decided that this is what you want to do you've got to become courageous to stand up within yourself to face it and step forward and ladies and gentlemen that is what gives your life meaning that those things will begin to strengthen you like you can never begin to imagine and i tell you one of the most painful experiences i had in my life was also one of the most enriching because they say that pain opens the space in the heart for joy and because i did not buy into something because i caught myself at a critical point and was able to back up and look at it i was able to become free of the effects of what could have been a tragic situation for me and move on and do something about it but i learned in the process that i had to learn to surrender and give certain things up see in life everything that happens to you there's a lesson in it there's a lesson in it for you if you look at it whatever happens to you just look at and view life that you're a student of the universe and say what's in here for me to learn one of the most tragic things that that happened to me that could have been a tragedy was when i wanted to buy my mother home and i did that and in my haste and it was the first major purchase of property that ever made in my life and so i was naive and so when we were sitting there at the closing the attorney said have you done a title search and i said what's a title search and she said well that's when you check to see whether or not there are any liens against the property before you purchase it so that you don't inherit any financial obligations of the previous owner so the guy interrupted said look here he said the only reason that i'm selling you this house and i'm doing it at a loss i can actually make more money but the only reason that i flew here from philadelphia to sell you the house specifically is because i admire the fact that you are adopted and you want to buy this home for your mother and he said there are no liens on the property i just want to help you so i looked at my attorney i said i believe him she said les this is business i'm not questioning his integrity but i advise you not to sign the contract now i looked at him he said if you're not going to do it man i'll just go ahead on and make the money that i was going to make i said okay no no no no i want to do it i said i'll do it so she said okay she said this is not the last house in the world i signed the contract after being in the house for around two months i received a notice that i had to pay a lien of 25 000 or i had to get out of the house i called the attorney i said look here sir i said my name is les brown i'm the new owner of this property i said i bought this home for my mother i said she's 80 years old i said she has a bad heart a serious condition i said and i just cannot give up this home and i just exhausted all of my resources to buy the house that's all i have i said can we work out some kind of monthly payments i don't know how much i can get but if you can work with me i guarantee i'll give you my word i want to keep this home i'll pay you back he said we want the money in six weeks or you have to get out of the house it's going to go on an auction bar i said oh i said but i borrowed everywhere i could just to get the 12 000 to put down on it he said mister that's not my problem you should have had a title search done so i went back home and i worried for weeks i lost around 23 pounds i would go home to catch the mail so my mother wouldn't get it they put a listing in the newspaper people were driving around wanting to come in the house to look at it so i put a a sign out front saying that the newspaper article was an error saying the house was up for sale and finally when they were coming for the day they were going to auction it on the courthouse steps i knew the moment of truth had come i had to tell my mother so i walked all night that night around two o'clock in the morning the children were asleep my mother would sleep i said lord i said why did this have to happen to me i said i'm trying to do the right thing i want to provide for mom i'm not out stealing and robbing i want to provide for my children i said why did this have to happen to me i was personalizing not feeling like a victim and so finally i i had to go and then i had to tell my mama so i kneeled by the bed i said mama i got something to tell you she said what i said we've got to move out the house she said why i said well because of the fact that i made a mistake and i signed a contract when i should have had a title search done and i can't pay the 25 000 outstanding lien against it she said good i don't like this house anyway i said but you told me you did she said i just said that for you because you liked it so much she said this two-story baby and the arthritis i can't climb the steps but you told me you could mama oh i just did that for you i walked up the steps and i was in the room saying that food crazy this house i said oh mama so i'll never forget when we had to pack up and go back to the old house we had moved out on in liberty city right down the street from miami northwestern high school and the neighbors were out looking isn't that maybe boy they're coming back i was so embarrassed i mean i was you know i turned red but could nobody see it you know what so my sister came over she didn't make it any better she wanted mixed it big time won't get no job going around running your mouth yeah you got a dream to get mama home now you're back where you belong here we came in the house of the rich the roaches are playing bid wits they say y'all come on in we miss y'all and as i was taking furniture off the truck i was so hurt and humiliated i felt beaten and i began to cry and i held my head down and my mama said hold your head up i said mama i just i just can't mama she said hold your head up and have nothing to be shamed did the best you could hold your head up so i said yes ma'am so i was hair in the first year and i had to give a lecture that week on forgiveness and i can't talk about anything unless i'm doing it myself and i had to forgive and forget let it go so that i could grow it took me time to work through that but i did and i was able to give the lecture and to this day i can't even remember the guy's name but because i let it go and i begin to focus my energy in the now later i got a bigger and better home for my mama [Music] here's what i learned from that that was not the last home in the world there are other homes uh if i had just been willing to just let it go he who cares less wins and the guy called and say you got to get out of there if this is what happened i could have i mean through worry and stress i could have had a heart attack over a house that my mama didn't even like do you follow what i'm saying so i and i realized hey it's only things and it's okay they are replaceable i lost everything except my spirit and except the love of my mother and her respect and the respect of my children sure people talked about me did they laugh yes did i feel humiliated for a while yes i did embarrassed yes and that's a part of it but i didn't stay there see sometimes you just you can wallow in it you don't don't want to get you somebody pull you out feeling good oh i want to go back again don't wallow in self-pity and there are people who will help you you call them up and they'll give you a pity party all right no i talked the other night about some explorers that were in africa and they saw these two little boys who were playing with some what appeared to be marbles and they went up to these little guys and say here let me give you some candy for that little fellas ate the candy like this can we have some more said yes but would you give me what you were playing with i said yes and they gave these shiny little rocks so to speak to the explorers and the explorers taking them back and examining them discovered they were large sized uncut diamonds they had a fortune the little boys had a fortune in their hands but they didn't know they did not know repeat after me please if we knew better we would do better see there are many of us we work for for people and sometimes put in 60 and 70 hours a week why because we have the ability the talents and the skills to contribute to the long-term growth and development and profitability of the company do we do that for ourselves oh no why well we said well i've got security there's no such thing it's an illusion in your mind we go through life creating these illusions for ourselves but doesn't mean that you can't strategically work on something else on the side develop some hobby of passion and find ways that you can begin to create some alternative methods of providing wealth for yourself see you know money is not important to me like but rita davenport said it's right up there with oxygen [Applause] but it is important to me that it not be important i got that from real steel that's important it is important to me that it not be important make it important to you to live your dream see how many of you fly airplanes you've been an airplane raise your hand right how many of you ever lost your luggage raise your hand please raise your hand all right very good now how many of you if you knew your chances of getting to your next destination were as good as your luggage would you still get an airplane no no hands went up you know why you know why you could get on the airplane where your luggage is supposed to go and you show up and your luggage does not show up because the airline has made human cargo getting to the destination important more important than the luggage aren't you glad she said yeah i go first no more so as you begin to look at life as you begin to look at the things you want to do decide that you're going to become the active force in your life decide that you're not going to go through life feeling like a victim decide that when things become challenging and they are that you're not going to personalize it that you're going to look at it and you do whatever you must do in order to work things out and learn from it learn from it that's the key i like what charles udall said he says in life you will always be faced with a series of god-ordained opportunities brilliantly disguised as problems and challenges if you've lost your job don't say that i've been laid off just say i've been given an opportunity by the universe to find my life work so as you view all of the things that happened to you as an opportunity now you're taking it from a different perspective now you become an active force in your life now you are the one rather than running from things as they begin to change you become a change driver because you know that you've got the power within you to make the difference this force this power this energy that you have that's more powerful than anything that can ever happen to you you're more powerful than your circumstances or anything that you can experience right now decide that you're going to commit yourself to act on your ideas to become happy commit yourself to live your dream commit yourself to become the architect of your future there's something that i heard that girder wrote that i love very much and and it really as you begin to to operate out of this consciousness you begin to experience a different level of living in terms of commitment he says until one is committed there is hesitancy the chance to draw back always ineffectiveness see until you are willing to jump out there somebody asked me how do i do that i said no no no no you don't need any answers now you need to make the commitment once you make a commitment then life will give you some answers you can't decide just going to sit on the side of the pool and just stick your toe in no you've got to be willing to make the leap most people don't want to do that they want to sit on the side and say tell me is it cold out there is it rough out there come on out and see see no you want to decide to make that commitment because then that's when you begin to become involved in the learning process he said concerning all acts of initiative and creation there's one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans that the moment one commits one's self then providence moves too all sorts of things occur to help one that would never have otherwise occurred he said whatever you can do or dream you can do begin it boldness has genius power magic in it begin it now i read a book by dr johnny coleman that says it works if you work it and as you begin to look at your life decide that you're going to start working on that dream you're going to work and nurture that idea now there will be people that will criticize you there will be people that won't see it for you but i say to you don't let them turn you around shake somebody's hand on your right and left and say don't let nobody turn you around that's key because people will try and turn you around hello people will try and turn you around but when i heard bob mays out of chicago sing that song don't let nobody turn you around that's real because that's why most people don't act on their dreams and ideas that's why most people when i'm talking with kids that are in institutions and i said what happened why did you give up working hard and making good grades well they started teasing me and they allowed that peer pressure to cause them to scale down their dreams and their ambitions they started following the crowd that's why many people don't do the things they want to do friend of mine he wanted to become an actor all his life he let someone convince him you can't become an actor you go out to hollywood they'll swallow you up it's too competitive thousands of unemployed people out there but then another friend of mine sheila hall and she decided at age 42 i'm going to live my dream my son graduated from high school she decided to make the plunge to go to hollywood quiet person never had any experience in the area and because she decided to make the commitment she is now working on a one-woman show and she's been getting support from everywhere because she was willing to make the commitment this other guy is far more talented and skillful but he wasn't willing to make the commitment so he goes to work every day to a job that's making him sick because he doesn't have the guts or the boldness to stand up in life and say i'm going to live my dream i'm going to commit myself to live out what's in me i heard dr johnny youngblood say i must live what's in me i said why do you do this he said i got to do it i got to do it i'm saying find something in your life that you say hey it might not work out but i got to do this why hey it's the one thing i love it's my peace it's my thing you don't understand it it's all right it's all right you don't need anybody to understand it you don't need anybody to approve you you don't need anybody to say go ahead on and do it if you get that that's fantastic if you get that encouragement that's great but i say stand up within yourself boldly and say this is my life i'm controlling my destiny this is mrs maybe brown's baby boy leslie calvin brown saying it's been a plum pleasing pleasure as well as a privilege thank you all here [Music] they can't handle the moves you may be seated thank you very much it's a pleasure to be here with you to share a few moments with you and let's let's give a round of applause to a man who's been empowering people to help them to live their dreams to go to the next level eight major break now hello y'all should have an ever-ready battery you know okay let's try this again thank you so much thank you this is even better microphone here anyhow as i was saying eric has been helping people to live their dreams for a very long time that has been his passion that's who he is giving people the tools the mindset the attitude of what it takes to really control your future let's give him a tremendous round of applause if you please yes indeed yes this is who he is yes [Music] [Applause] that's my brother from another mother how many have major goals you'd like to achieve raise your hands please very good i like seeing that i always like to ask that question how many of you have major goals you like to achieve then i follow up with another question because this is a crucial place in my life just came from memorial services yesterday in plano texas of zig ziglar i remember when i first saw him speak i i knew i was looking at my destiny i love helping people then and my goal was to be on stage with zig and dr norman vincent peale and jim rohn these guys have gone on to the next level but that was my goal and dream and i was very fortunate to achieve that at a very crucial point in my life this industry has really contributed a great deal to me i go way back in multi-level marketing from the days of a company called best line products a guy named bill bailey he was one of the mentors of jim rohn one of the greatest speakers on the planet and holiday magic this stage of my life and i think about all of the things that i've done i can tell you unequivocally to dreamers there's no business that will contribute to your growth and development more than this industry there are several power strategies i'd like to share with you but with the limited time that i have i want to drill deeply on three of those that you will have as a result of being a part of this industry because what this industry allows you to do and i want you to write this down number one it secures your future it secures your future number two it will stretch you you develop some new skills people skills you're a dreamer you can't make your dream happen without building people as i reflect on my life 15 years ago i was diagnosed with prostate cancer given a two to three year prognosis and the skill set that i developed in multi-level marketing allowed me to generate enough income that i could focus on my health take care of my mother i'm adopted i was born in a poor section of miami florida called liberty city the other thing it did it expanded my vision of myself this a time that as you look at yourself there's no such thing as job security how many of you know that raise your hands please and it instilled me a sense of confidence a strong sense of self you have strong sense of self that that gives your life a sense of purpose your life has a sense of purpose and gives your life a sense of direction and the economy has changed we have switched i remember reading a book by alvin toffler called future shock and the things that he talked about what he predicted we're living that right now the 40 40 plan is gone where you can go to college and graduate and get a job and work 40 hours a week doing the same thing for 40 years that's gone 73 of the college graduates when they graduate unable to find a job they move back home with their parents what multi-level marketing does it empowers you and gives you the ability to create your own job it gives you ability to create your own destiny i remember seeing zig on stage if you give enough people what they want they will give you what you want i remember dr norman vincent peale change your thinking and you will change your life i remember jim rohn when the end comes for you let it find you conquering a new mountain not sliding down an old one i remember earl nightingale all of us are self-made but only the successful will admit it i remember listening to those recordings over and over and over and over again to change my mental blueprint i was born in a poor section of miami florida called liberty city with a twin brother and an abandoned building on a floor and when we were six weeks of age we were adopted by mrs mamie brown whenever i speak i always say all that i am and all that ever hoped to be i owe to my mother so i signed once i said god took me out of my biological mother's womb and placed me in the heart of my adopted brother mama was a domestic worker she worked on miami beach she made up beds and clean homes she cooked for families wait the food left over from the families that she cooked for my mother could bake too mama could bake a sweet potato pie so good you couldn't eat it with your shoes on can't take your shoes off so you can wiggle your toes we wore the hand-me-down clothes of the children that mama kept these families are kind and generous they would say maybe whatever food is left over you can pack it up and take it home to those children that you have adopted when i ask you how many have big goals and dreams i want to ask you to think about your goals and dreams in three areas number one what's some personal goal that you have for someone that you love my first major goal was to buy my mother a home that's what i wanted to do i remember walking around these big beautiful mansions before catching the bus going back to liberty city and over town in miami said mama she said what is it leslie when i become a man i'm going to buy you a big beautiful home just like this let me have somebody that you like to do something for that's personal to you raise your hands please very good i want you to think about that i'm gonna share with you some strategies how you can make that happen next thing is i want you to think about your financial freedom number that when you reach that number when you earn that amount of money that you will feel a sense of relief you take a lot of stress out of your life it gives you more time for yourself and for your family and what that number is if you wrote it down or if you're thinking about it i want you to multiply it 100 times and the reason that i want you to do that i have found in my own life that most people feel in life not because they aim too high and miss most people fail in life because they have done what i did for the first part of my life aim too low and hit and then i want you to think about your social contribution i believe that we live in the greatest country in the world that allows us to live a life of contribution hora's man said we should be ashamed to die until we've made some major contribution to humankind one of the goals i have is reduce the number of women who die from breast cancer my mother was a 22 year breast cancer conqueror one of the goals i have every time i get on stage i tell men that i was diagnosed 15 years ago with prostate cancer given a two to three year prognosis one of the things i believe they should never tell doctors should never tell someone they're terminally ill what they should say is that my ability to help you has terminated so i encourage men to get their psa test which stands for prostate specific antigen and the digital rectal examination and i'll be glad when they can check our prostate by looking in our ears can you feel the brother of it here up it here i was at this medical convention a friend of mine said hey les let me give you a free rectal it's nobody you too motivated homie don't roll like that you know i was in florida hospital guy came in new doctor didn't say hello good morning anything goes get some gloves and some petroleum jelly i say hey buddy this is our first date hey you got to bring me some potato chips some imminent peanuts we got to sit down and talk i got to get relaxed what's your mama name i can't believe i'm telling y'all this i'm turning red but y'all can't see it [Applause] oh my god one of the girls i have is the train my gifting is in the area of helping you to discover your power voice how to become a powerful presenter that's what multi-level marketing does the money's in the front of the room the money's in 101 small groups on the telephone your ability to present yourself a gentleman changed my life mr leroy washington he's in his 90s now he's blind from glaucoma i never forget the first day we met i went in his class he said young man go to board worked his problem out for us i said oh i can't do that seriously why not i said i'm not one of your students he said look at me yes sir go to the board and work the problem out anyhow i said i can't do that sir and the other students started laughing saying he's leslie he's dt he's got a twin brother's twin brother wesley is smart he's dt he said what does dt stand for he's the dumb twin and many of the kids laughed just like some of you did and i said i am sir and he came from behind his desk and he looked at me he said don't you ever say that again someone's opinion of you does not have to become your reality that was a turning point in my life on one hand i was humiliated but on the other hand i was liberated because he looked at me with the eyes of girder who said look at a man the way that he is he only becomes worse but look at him as if he were what he could be then he becomes what he should be i want you to shake someone's hand on your right and left look up in the eyes and say you have something special do that right now so ladies and gentlemen you have something special i don't know you but here's what i know about you based upon my own experience you have something special you have greatness within you you have the ability to do more than you can ever begin to imagine just the fact that you showed up the fact that you said yes to this industry it says a lot about you you're uncommon because it means that you have a sense of taking responsibility for your own life george bernard shaw said the people that will make it in this life they look around for the circumstances that they want and if they can't find them they create them you have something special you have greatness within you you've experienced setbacks and disappointments like everybody else in the economy but you're operating out of the thinking of one elsie robinson who said things to happen around you and things to happen to you but the only things that really count are the things that happen in you you have something special for some of you it was a struggle to get here you couldn't afford to be here but there's something in you that said i can't afford not to be here you have something special you are uncommon one great american said i choose not to be a common man it's my right to be uncommon if i can i seek opportunity not security i don't wish to be a kept citizen humbled and dulled by having the state look after me i want to take the calculated risk to dreaming to build to fail and to succeed i refuse to live from hand to mouth i prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence the thrill of fulfillment to the still calm of utopia i will never cower before a master nor bend to any thread it's my heritage to stand direct proud and unafraid to face the world boldly and say this i have done that's what it means to be a part of multi-level marketing an uncommon desire to live your dream and controlled your [Music] destiny there's something in you it says that you're not sitting back waiting to see what politicians will do for you there's something in you that says i'm not going to focus on the general economy i want to focus on my personal economy there's something in you that says the most dependable hand in the world is the one at the end of your risk there's something in you that says always strive to get on top in life because it's the bottom that's overcrowded you are different you have greatness within you dr howard thurman come forth here's a man that after having 238 radiation seed implants then my psa continued to increase in fact last year this time was over 1 500 and the little c cancer eaten forty percent of my t1 vertebrae and i was reading his words that night after leaving florida hospital and doctors had told me that cancer had re reappeared and metastasized in eight areas of my body and i began to laugh as the doctor spoke to me and he was looking real serious he said while you're laughing i said i feel like mother teresa he said what do you mean she said lord i know you know how much i can bear i wish you didn't have so much confidence in me and now my psa is 0.0 i'm debt-free cancer-free yes indeed i stand before you because of god's grace and mercy and trust me it's better to be seen than to be viewed but dr thurman was called upon by dr martin luther king senior he said how would i want you to mentor my boy mlk he was a member of an elite group of orators and mystics and philosophers in his day he he was an advisor to mahatma gandhi and to albert schweitzer he wrote deep as to hunger the voice of the genuine the sinnering moment he wrote some words that i was reading around three o'clock in the morning that grabbed me he said the ideal situation for a man or woman to die is to have family members praying with them as they cross over he said but imagine being on your deathbed and standing around your bed the ghost of the dreams the ideas the abilities the talents given to you by life but you for whatever reason you never pursue those dreams you never use those talents you never use those gifts you never use those abilities and there they are standing around your bed looking at you with large angry eyes saying we came to you and only you could have given us life and now we must die with you forever the question is if you died today what dreams what ideas what books what leadership what voice what story will die with you miles monroe great speak out of the bahamas said the wealthiest place on the planet it's not in the four east where there's oil in the ground it's not in south africa where they're diamond mines he said the wealthiest place on the planet is there you'll find potential never realize there you find books never written there you find abilities and skills and talents and gifts the world never had exposure to maybe that's why henry david thoreau asked in a moment of anguish what if you live your whole life only to discover that it was wrong that was wrong god had so much more in mind for you maybe that's that's that's why he said oh god to reach the point of death only to realize that you've never lived only to realize that you've never scraped the surface of your potential everybody let us say together live full die empty and the people in this room have decided to live full the people in this room have decided to die empty the people in this room have decided to live life on their terms and not to be a volunteer victim when you say yes to this industry you're saying yes for a bigger life you're saying yes i'm tired of playing small you're saying yes i'm really too ready to be empowered to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat you're saying yes to providing for yourself and your family there's something that's in you that says i'm not mentally fit to work for somebody for the rest of my life you saying yes to your life yes to your dreams yes to your unfolding future give yourselves a round of applause give yourself a round of applause i didn't do this for years i would go in the balcony of auditoriums and watch jim rohn and dr dennis waitley and zig zigler and my heart would beat so fast because i love helping people how many love helping people raise your hands i love helping people and my heart said i can do that but then when i would leave there and as i was walking to the car my mental conditioning began to speak and it would say les brown you can't do that you don't have a college education les brown you can't do that what makes you think that you have something to say that somebody would listen to you les brown you can't do that what makes you think that you can speak for att procter gamble mcdonald's corporation ibm you've never worked for a major corporation les brown you can't do that you were adopted you don't even know who your parents are how many of you ever thought about something you wanted to do you felt it in your heart and then your mind talked you out of it raise your hands please i convinced myself that i couldn't do it i learned something from that experience whenever there's an argument between your heart and your mind follow your heart the things that the heart can understand and feel that the mind cannot relate to maybe that's why my favorite book says lead not unto thine own understanding and all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy path there are things that you feel that you know in your heart of hearts that's not logical it's not practical it's not realistic but there's something in you that says i can do this i can do this after facing defeats and disappointments and failures again and again and again there's still something in you that says i can do this operating out of a thinking when life knocks you down try and land on your back because when you can look up you can get up i can do this i can do this when you're presenting and people say oh yes i'd like to be a part of that yes they have the personality and they need it and they don't show up you end up being a babysitter you have to be a counselor and a psychologist and a minister they challenge you to pray to jesus and yahweh and melchizedek and buddha they'll get on your last nerve have you chanting nomi yoho renge kyo it's interesting when you talk to people about securing their future and you can't help them to become actively engaged in their own life a friend of mine named lorraine had me to come to do an intervention with her brother that was addicted to drugs and and he told us to get out of his house and as we were going down the steps i said i'm sorry i failed i i i'm so disappointed and she said something that i'll never forget i want you to remember she said les most people won't participate in their own rescue wow most people won't participate in their own rescue you have a a vehicle that will allow them to create their own job you have products that people need you have training and coaching where they'll be in business for themselves but not by themselves you have leadership of people who've proven that it's possible you can live your dreams it's possible you got a shot at creating a fortune everybody's not going to do it we can't predict performance and all you are saying hey listen here's an opportunity and don't take it personal when people say no to you they're not saying no to you they're saying no to themselves they're saying no to living a bigger life they're saying no to what's going on in their head because they're suffering from possibility blindness they can't see themselves doing more they don't want to do that extra work so they're saving you sometimes they know they're trifling and don't want to work don't try and convince them to say yes a person convinced against their will is of the same opinion still this is hard work h-a-r-d and h-e-a-r-t hard work and hard work you got to gut this out you've got to make know your vitamin you've got to fail your way to success you've got to be unstoppable you have to operate like willie jolly who said a setback is a setup for a comeback you've got to be relentless when you're building a business you got to be able to have courage after you face rejection and again and again and again after somebody tell you they're going to show up and then they don't come they don't return your calls it takes courage you go out and start talking to people takes courage when creditors are billed are breathing down your neck and family members saying oh there he goes again with another pyramid scheme am i making sense to you what i'm doing i didn't do this for 14 years because i didn't have the courage i was afraid of being rejected because i don't have a college education i had a tremendous inferiority complex and something else in order to make this business successful to go from a nine to five to five until you faint it's a different mindset it requires a radical change how many of you know that it's hard building a thriving residual income on a monthly basis raise your hands please yeah that's why most people won't say yes it's much easier to complain about the economy it's much easier to complain about our elected officials it's much easier to talk about the recession that's much easier to come up with excuses why you can't do it that's where i was that's why i set up station for a long time my mentor said something to me mike williams i want you to write this down he said anybody can complain he said if you do what is easy that's complaining if you do what is easy your life will be hard but if you do what is hard your life will be easy come on now that's strong on medicine if you do what is easy complain about your situation your circumstances if you do what is easy stand around and be a volunteer victim like everybody else if you do what is easy surrender and give up on your dreams become depressed and bitter and angry anybody can do that if you do what is easy your life will be hard but if you do what is hard keep coming back again and again and again if you do what is hard approaching strangers talking to people in shopping malls get up dressed every day going out prospecting knowing some way somehow with a spirit of expectation somebody's out here looking for an opportunity you can go outside right now and see some pigeons but you're out hunting for eagles and they're not common and if you do that over and over and over again somebody's going to show up somebody's going to say i'm the one dr thurman i love him so much what a great writer he said there's something in each and every one of you that waits and listens to the voice of the genuine in yourself it will be perhaps the only guide you will ever have and if you cannot hear it all of your life your days will be spent on the ends of strings that somebody else pulls and i submit to you that you invested the time and money to go to the airport to fly across country i suggest to you some of you drove here i suggest to you you showed up because you said i'm gonna pull my own strings i'm gonna control my own life nobody will ever pull my strings again give yourselves a round of applause [Applause] i want you to write this down choosing your future it's a it's a it's a a program that we've created that's designed to put in place for you to work on yourself a systematic processes changes your mindset it's possible it's necessary it's you it's hard it's worth it it's done it's six cds repeat after me please it's possible yes see the easiest thing that i do now is come up on stage and speak to you that's that's easy but the most difficult thing that i've ever done and it took me years to do was to believe that i can do it to believe that i could stand up and not be afraid and speak from my heart and think and be able to present to believe that that was possible for me for 14 years i didn't do it mike williams said les you can do more than what you're now doing but i didn't believe it i just couldn't see myself doing it i'm saying to you there's some things that you can accomplish that you can't see right now my favorite book says eye has not seen ear has not heard noise enter the heart of mankind what god has in store for you when you're willing to say yes when you're willing to move forward you're willing to come back again and again and again in pursuit of your dream life will respond to you you'll just some discover some things about yourself mindset transformation is very important be not conformed to this world be transformed by the renewing of your mind you don't want to think like everybody else you want uncommon thinking here's the other thing expand your skill sets this is the age of what the late peter drucker calls the era of the three seeds accelerated change overwhelming complexity and tremendous competition so you have to expand your skill set to stay ahead of technology and cheap labor abroad when i was a kid you got an elevator i was an elevator boy what floor please we operated elevators manually then we're going through creative destruction somebody created an elevator that didn't require a person being there employed to close the door and take the people to the designated floor when i was a kid girls would say what do you want to do when you become an adult i want to be an operator a long distance operator years ago when you made a long distance call you had to call a long distance operator then somebody created technology that you can dial direct am i making this up anybody remember use that call a long distance operator it's called creative destruction somebody created technology that we don't have to do that anymore so today what multi-level marketing does allow you to secure your future to stay ahead of technology and cheap labor abroad you can hire a phd or nba in the philippines or india for two dollars and 60 cents an hour so what you're doing is you're staying ahead of the game because we're going through continuously creative destruction i think about mr washington young man yes sir what do you want to do with your life uh i i want to buy my mother home sir i want to take care of my mother you do yes sir i want to make my mother proud how can you say you want to make your brother proud and you were in the dean's office the other day for fighting sir they call me dt the dumb twin so you're going to fight them yes sir why brown why anger is the wind that blows out the lamp of the mind how do i get even sir tell me they pick on me all the time because it takes me longer to learn things than others i'm not like my sister at the university of miami i'm not like my brother they always compare me to him mr brown you want to get even yes sir he said you have a good memory young man yes i do yes i do sir remember these words by frank sinatra the best revenge is massive success [Applause] become massively successful that's how you become even thank you sir mr brown yes sir why did you sign those papers what are you talking about you're the first student in special education that was labeled educable mental put back from the fifth grade to the fourth grade you failed in the eighth grade i fought for you i saw something in you you've got greatness in you i know you're not as fast as your brother i know you're not like margaret and your sister but there's a hunger in you sir and i fought for you to get that and i saw your name i couldn't believe it but you signed it to somebody else why did you do that several teachers met with me and said that you wouldn't be with me at florida university to help me [Music] mr washington he said if i didn't make the honor roll at booker t washington high school i would not make it at florida you've been like a father to me i never would want to bring embarrassment to your name mr brown i i know it's harder for you but once you learn something because of your hunger you got it you master it he said i don't care what they said but did you believe that you could go there and graduate to be honest with you sir no sir not without you sir mr brown yes sir listen to me yes sir sometimes you have to believe in somebody's belief in you until your belief kicks in sometimes you have to believe in somebody's belief in you until your belief kicks in whoever recruited you to become involved in their organization they saw something in you whoever asked you to be a part of their team they saw greatness in you see you need people in your life who can see things that you can't see you want to find whoever got you in the business and say to them thank you i told robert boyd who recruited me for best line products thank you bob i don't know what you saw but i'm not going to disappoint you you find whoever recruited you because you are looking for eagles in this business you're not looking for people who need more you're looking for people who want more [Applause] let us say together it's possible everybody together it's possible i can live my dreams i will work on myself every day i will retrain my thinking every day i will listen to audio programs i would read 10 to 15 pages of something positive every day i will turn off my television and turn on my life let us say together it's necessary to detoxify your life ladies and gentlemen how many of you serious about reaching goals raise your hands please very good jim rohan asked this question look at the people in your life and ask the question what is this relationship doing to me see in order for you to go to the next level there are some people you need to let go let us say together let go or be dragged there's some people because of their negativity they're emotional vampires they will drain you you want to be around people that you can learn from that you can grow from dr dennis kimball out of atlanta said if you're the smartest one in your group you need to get a new group bless can i change them no it's a full-time job changing yourself there's some people that's comfortable being negative comfortable being a volunteer victim there's some people that's so negative they can walk into a dark room and begin to develop oh behave my medication wear it off now you're talking about earning more money you got to be serious one sickness can wipe out a fortune 95 percent of the people who filed bankruptcy last year did so because of medical expenses people say money won't make you happy but everybody want to find out for themselves of mine rita davenport said money ain't important but it's right up there with oxygen and let me say yourself fellas even if you're as homeless i am you got some money women will find something cute on you oh he's got elo's like tom cruise he's got a walk like denzel washington i used to be so broke i walked past the bank and tripped me along creditors to call the house of our children would answer the phone and say my daddy say he ain't whole [Laughter] and sometimes they will catch me on the phone may i speak to les brown please sorry but he's not here you sound like les brown don't you go there big boy [Laughter] oh my god red fox said money can't buy your happiness but it can make a big down pay this thing called life here's something else write this down you're going to fail your way to success there are people who look promising they're going to disappoint you hurt your feelings there are people who who should be there to encourage you to motivate you they're going to be the number one members of the discouragement club before things get better for you they're gonna get real bad well you have a dream thinking not strangers you'll face the fiery furnaces of this world you will not you might you will have tribulations how many you know that's true raise your hands for you things are gonna happen to you and don't complain don't go around telling everybody eighty percent don't care twenty percent glad it's you suck it up and keep on prospecting and make it happen life is happening to everybody everybody let us sit together lead and grow your wings on the way down see in order to control your destiny you've got to be a risk taker you got to be willing to risk people talking about you you got to be willing to risk someone saying no you got to be willing to fail again and again and again you're different you're an entrepreneur you're strange you're not like everybody else we live in a world where we talk more about our limitations rather than our potential and so most people just can't see themselves doing better but you're different you see some things they can't see and i encourage you every one of you in this room right now you're here for a reason how many of you know people who should be here raise your hands please yes but you know what they're in their rightful place they're rightful places where their thoughts have brought them their true place is where their thoughts can take them everybody is in their rightful place here's something else seek out positive information i want you to write this down my facebook page is brown dot less every day we post a positive message there every day at brown.less because you're in this room i want you to write this down because we're going to send you we're going to do something called presentation pile you're going to get a chance to to view some videos that will give you some directions but more importantly tables i'm gonna send you seven power strategies of how to be a powerful storyteller so email me at yes at lesbrown.com and say send me the seven principles mention that you were at this convention we'll send that to you free it will give you a guideline how to tell your story when i started off this presentation i started off telling my story i was born in a poor section of miami florida in liberty city born an abandoned building with a twin brother do you remember i told you that my mother worked on miami beach as a domestic worker making up beds cooking for families remember i told you that see your story is your power how many of you have gone through some things raise your hands please how many of you are experiencing things in your life raise your hands please how many of you have periods of your life like me where you're temporarily insane raise your athlete your story the presentation we'll tell you how to tell your story i've given lectures at harvard yale spoken around the world telling my story you got a story too here's what the power of the story does and why it's important in your presentation and building your organization and why it's going to give you the upper hand and how to recruit people and how many like to get a players raise your hands please good here's what your story does write this down distract see how people live their lives as a result of the story they believe about themselves when you're presenting one-on-one or small group or in a large group when you tell your story you are creating an interruption when you're telling your story about the business of being on a path of creating financial independence you're in interrupting their story what psychologists call their self-explanatory style so distract let us stay together distract here's the other one say dispute when you are going through your presentation and we're going to teach you how to do this you're dismantling their limited belief system where they've been programmed to believe only in having a job the journey of the broke where they're miserable they go to work where they pay them just enough to keep them from quitting and they work just hard enough to keep from getting fired that's what you call mixed emotions seeing somebody you hate drive off a cliff in your car you're glad they're gone but not in my car can you feel me over here over here you feel me people go to jobs that they hate 87 percent of americans and guess what and they pray they don't get fired that's that's that's that's no way to live that's why you're here you just said you know what no i ain't going out like this i'm telling you and people think you're crazy and you are you got to be crazy today you got to be out of your mind my favorite book said let that mind be in you you got to have another mind in you that says i got this this is my life i own this i'm going to call the shots here nobody's going to tell me how much i'm worth what time i can take a lunch break i'm not going to anybody and ask for permission to take my family on vacation no no i got this i've got a vehicle that can take me to another place that's why you said yes give yourselves a round of applause [Applause] mr washington mr brown transform your mindset number two he said practice let us say together oqp write this down only quality people only quality people you don't want everybody in your organization you want only quality people here's something else he said mr brown yes sir and this is what we're going to do in this presentation that's called presentation power he said develop your communication skills how you present yourself how you sell yourself he said once you open your mouth you tell the world who you are and then he said something else let us say together with conviction i want everybody to join me on this let us say together you got to be hungry say it again you got to be hungry he said what do you want to do with your life young man i said sir i want to buy my mother home he said you got to be hungry i said what do you mean by that he said people that are hungry are willing to do the things today others won't do in order to have the things tomorrow others won't have he said people that are hungry are relentless people that are hungry are unstoppable people that are hungry refuse to give up people that are hungry no excuse is acceptable for not making their dream become a reality i said i'm hungry sir i'm hungry to take care of my mother i'm hungry to make her proud i told my mother that she'll never have to pay another bill once i turn 18 and she hasn't mr washington hungry sir for another life i'm not going to die here in liberty city i want to travel sir i want to see the world he said you can do that sir he said practice oqp only quality people if you run around with nine broke people he said i guarantee you you'll become number ten he said work on your mindset listen to these audio programs i'm giving you every day lynn turner dare to be great every day dr norman vincent field jim rohn every day zig ziglar program your mind mr brown he said how do you plan to buy your mother home i said sir i want to become a disc jockey he says that right yes sir he said it's good he said work on your mind hear my car keys what what what do you want me to do with this at lunchtime go in my car turn on the radio and listen to paul harvey why he's the world's greatest communicator you want to be successful yes sir he says listen and study people that are great communicators that's the key to controlling your future i said but that's at lunch time in order to be successful you got to be hungry you got to be willing to do the things the day others won't do are you willing to do that to be successful to buy your mother home yes sir yes sir and that's what you have done you've got some goals that you want to achieve there's some things that you want to do and you've said to yourself i'm willing to face the nose you said to yourself i'm willing for people to laugh at me you said to yourself i'm willing to gut this out you said yourself i'm willing to make this happen you said to yourself i'm going to do whatever it takes to build this business i can do it if anybody's ever done it any point in time in history then what's possible for one it's possible for me and i'm gonna do it that's what you said to yourself he said listen to paul harvey every day so you want to be a disc jockey yes sir he said i want you to create your format what will your personality be what style are you going to have i said wait a minute so i want to be a disc jockey but i don't have a job yet and then he said something he said it's better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one than to have an opportunity and not be prepared he said you got to expect to become successful let us say together i expect to win i expect to increase my recruitment i expect to be a great presenter i expect to become a millionaire it's my time it's possible it's necessary it's me it's hard it's worth it nietzsche said if you know the why for living you can endure almost anyhow your homework assignment and write down five reasons that will make it worth it for you so when the tough times come and they're going to come when you feel like you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel and that's a part of the process your reasons will be your rod and staff to comfort you to take you through the storms of life he told me you want to be a disc jockey practice on your communication skills visualize yourself talking to thousands of people mr brown see yourself on stage presenting be willing to invest in yourself warren buffett was being interviewed by financial analysts on cnn he said what's the most important investment a person can make today warren buffett a billionaire has billions of dollars in the stock market billions of dollars in real estate he looked at the reporter and said the most important investment you can make is in yourself the reason you're here the reason you invested your money your time and energy and transportation and the room and all the costs in a so-called tough economy because you have the mindset of a billionaire you know investing in yourself you are your most treasured asset give yourselves a round of applause come on bring energy level up so he said mr brown i've done all that i can do for you you've got to go out and face the music you go with the things i've taught you and make it happen i went to wnbm radio station on miami beach milton butterball smith was the program director hello mr butterball my name is lesbron sir i like to be a disc jockey you said young man you have any journalism in your background no sir i don't you have any experience in broadcasting no sir i don't but i practice every day let me audition for you let me show you how good i am he says no we don't have any job for you how many have been rejected raise your hands please i was devastated with rejection i went back mr washington i said mr washington they said no he said don't take it personally most people are so negative they have to say no seven times before they say yes he said you got to be hungry go back again i said yes sir i went back again hello mr butterball how are you sir and i mean it's les brown sir i like to be a disc jockey he said i know what your name is weren't you here yesterday yes sir didn't i tell you no yesterday yes sir he said then why are you back today i said well sir i didn't know whether or not somebody was laid off or somebody was fired sir i don't want to laid off a fight now get on out of here i came back the next day talking loud looking happy like i was seeing you for the first time i said hello mr butterfall how are you my name is les frost sir i like to be a disc jock he said i know what your name is weren't you here the last two days i said yes sir then i tell you no the last two days i said yes sir he said then why are you back today i said sir i didn't know whether that someone got sick or someone died sir he said no one got sick or died no one was laid off a fire now don't you come back here again i came back the next day talking loud looking happy like i was singing for the first time i said hello listen i'm enraged he said go get me some coffee i said yes sir my favorite book said the greatest among you will be your servant so i became the errand boy for the disc jockeys i was serving them i'll go get their lunch and their dinner and i come in the control room watching them working the control room knobs and switches knowing my time will come let us say together my time will come when i'll be a top producer when i'll come up on stage and they call my name because of my accomplishment my time will come because i'm going to put forth the effort and so on the weekends when the disc jockeys would come out to the parking lot the cars would be clean the inside out they said hey who did this i did sir how much do you charge young man oh nothing sir i just wanted to help out write this down build relationships build relationships give before you ask people to come into your business find some way to complement them talk to them ask them questions find out what's important to them what's stressing them out what keeps them up at night what drives them what they value don't advance with the business people do business with people they know like and trust that's why you want to tell the story and ask key questions you want to be strategic and experiential write this down you have an energy signature people are feeling you out they're listening to you they're watching you and so it said look here are my car keys young man donald ross and the supremes are coming to town the four tops and the temptations i want you to pick them up at the airport and take them to the fountain blue hotel on miami beach it is my pleasure to serve you sir i will drive these entertainers all over miami beach in the discharges big long cadillacs i didn't have any driver's license but i'll drive it like i had so [Laughter] [Applause] then one day is a saturday afternoon a disc jockey by the name of rockin roger was drinking while he was on the air rock and roger got so drunk he could not complete the show he began to stir his words he's about to fall off the chair this is a saturday afternoon and i was the only one there looking at him through the control room window walking back and forth young ready and hungry i was saying drink rock drink drink rock how to go and get him some more if he'd asked me to then pretty soon the phone rang it was a general manager i said hello he said young boy this is mr clyde i said i know you say rock can't finish the program i said i know he said will you call one of the other djs in i said yes sir i hung the phone up and said now he must be thinking i'm crazy [Applause] i called my mama and my girlfriend cassandra i said y'all come out on the front porch turn up the radio i'm about to come on the air [Applause] i waited for about 20 minutes and i called him back i said mr klein i can't find nobody he said young boy united were the controls i said yes sir he said go on there and segway the records but don't you say nothing here i said yes sir i couldn't wait to get old rock out of the way i put on a fast record i said look out this is me lb triple p les brown your platter playing papa there were none before me and there will be none after me therefore that makes me the one and only young and single and love dominguez certified bonafide dudely qualified to bring you satisfaction and a whole lot of action look out baby i'm your loved man i was hungry give the old man a round of applause i was hungry i was hungry i was hungry you got to be hungry shake someone's hand on your right and left and say you got to be hungry do that right now shake somebody else's hand say you got to be hungry [Applause] people that are hungry believe if you do what is easy your life will be hard but if you do what is hard your life will be easy people that are hungry believe what ziggs said when he said if you give enough people what they want they will give you what you want people that are hungry believe always strive to get on top in life because it's the bottom it's overcrowded people that are hungry are uncommon people they are say yes to their dreams they say yes to an opportunity where they can develop their entrepreneurial skills where they can develop their mind and their leadership skills where they can become versatile and flexible and create and build a business they can be proud of people that are hungry have a vision of themselves when they leave here leaving a legacy and not liabilities people that are hungry understand that most people die at age 25 and don't get buried till they're 65 because they're not willing to take a chance on themselves people that are hungry are rare breed they're risk takers i don't know what you want to do seem like yesterday when i was the new kid on the block now at 68 i'm the old timer i used to think people in their 40s were all now i'm 68 i feel like i served at the lord's suffering and i know i look young for 68 because i use mascara to cover my gray hair [Laughter] i was over there asking maria marina can you have it in this mascara she said oh you look just fine i can't say daddy you look distinguished with your gray hair i said 68 i'm not trying to look distinguished i'm trying to look yo i got to tell you this story don't tell anybody please i gave this speech at the georgia dome and uh after i finish it's called it's not over till i win and after i finish somebody came back saying said mr brown i know you're tired and and i'll i'll speaker cancel do you have enough energy to do another program i said no i'm tired say we can pay your full fear 25 thousand dollars i said the lord is able so they took me over to the georgia world congress center it was an intimate setting people were very close to the stage so i looked in the room and then i went in a restroom and got my little mademoiselle mascara out to cover the grain you know it would mush dash and everything so i came in room the lady wanted everybody to know that she knew me so she said there he is les brown i came up on the stage she holds a cheek out for me to kiss it i kissed her on the cheek and left this big black smudge on her face [Applause] i said oh my god so i didn't know what to do so i just sat down so the people down front started saying there's something on your face she looks at me she said what are they saying i said i don't know then one nosy lady went over there over to her pocketbook and gave her a mirror now nobody asked her to do that getting in the kool-aid don't know the flavor she looks and see the big black sponge on her face she said how did this get here i said i don't know you think maybe some of this rubs off well the reason i'm telling you this don't worry if i kiss you today because maurice said you don't need it you'll be just fine you look distinguished whatever how many of you like to learn how to improve your presentation skills raise your hand we're going to do a webinar that will walk you through a process and and teach you how to tell your story so you can speak in your community on a volunteer basis and and be able to make a difference i like many of you like to make a difference with your story raise your hands very good we will show you how to do this i've been doing this now for 40 years i love and admire eric worre for who he is me as a friend but the passion that he has in giving you the tools that you need not just the mindset but the skill set of what it takes to build a strong multi-level marketing business i can tell you based upon my experience and he's not paying me to be here he's got a blue light special going on up in here this is my friend that i love him there are a few people who can call me and i'll get on a flight i only had four hours of sleep to come in and speak i was very subdued and conservative today but i love and admire him but if you're serious about your story make sure you email me put in there the seven story principles put that in there and we will email this to you free at yes yes at lestbrown.com i'd like to leave this with you after leaving ziggs memorial yesterday who was a great man who contributed so much to so many people i said god let me touch and change millions of people's lives like zig has done let me make my mom like he made an incredible mom let me touch hearts and minds like he touched me when i first saw him and i drove many miles four and five hundred miles to see him and jim rohn and dr norman vincent peale and charlie tremendous jones let me be an instrument to give people hope to inspire them to expand their skill set to encourage them to create collaborative achievement-driven supportive relationships god let me live a life that counts that means something to people god help me to be able to inspire people like mr washington inspired me like mike williams my mentor for the past 43 years who saw something in me i could not see in myself who believed in me when i didn't believe in myself please let me live a life that matters i want to leave this with you this stage of my life my goal is to train one hundred thousand speakers who will have one message hope skill set and collaborative relationships that will change how people think how they feel and how they act 100 000 people outside of religion and outside of politics both of which i believe polarize and divide people 100 000 ordinary people who want to live an extraordinary life god give me the stamina and the vision to use my gift that you have given me to work with people who are hungry to make their lives count i want to leave this with you that my mother used to love to say to me when she was in pain leslie yes ma'am come in here guess not mama what is it baby [Music] say that thing for me boy that makes me feel good yes ma'am my mother's dream was to raise seven children she didn't have to make sure we had a roof over her head and food on the table and she never failed we never went to sleep hungry she's a hard worker and she had faith i remember the first home i bought her in this home she saw i said mama how you like that she said if i lived in something like that i would feel like mrs rockefeller she didn't know i had planned to get that home for i purchased the home and i said mama i think i know the people who live there you do i said yes ma'am i said i'm going to stop in and say hello and i drove there and i opened the door and she got out of mama at that time around 76 she held my arm and we were walking toward the house she looked at how beautiful this house was she said leslie are you sure you know these people yes ma'am mama i do and we got to the door and i i couldn't hold it anymore i reached my pocket i took the key out and i put it in the door i said mrs rockefeller this is your home um you

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Keywords: motivation quotes, motivation speaker, motivation, motivation quotation, motivational video, self motivation, les brown, les brown invest in yourself, self investment, les brown speeches

Id: F2mwo4uRCMw

Length: 112min 4sec (6724 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 07 2020