One Of The Greatest Motivational Speeches Ever | Les Brown | Motivational Compilation

why is it that most people don't pursue their dreams or don't do better than what they're doing if they're capable of doing it i think that many of us don't go the next step because we don't know what to do yet and i say that that the reason that we don't even explore the possibility of what to do is because subconsciously we don't believe that it can happen for us and we don't believe that we deserve it so here's what i'm suggesting how much time do you spend working on you how much time do you spend every day working on your dream in the last 90 days how many books have you read and the last year what new skill or knowledge have you acquired what kind of investment have you made in you so i'm saying that as you begin to look at where you want to go if you want to make it today and things are changing so fast you have to literally run the stand still i'm saying that you've got to make some conscious effort to begin to work to develop you here's something else most people are not living their dreams because of fear ladies and gentlemen i was in columbus ohio yesterday speaking for a particular ohio department young lady named karen who greeted me who organized the event very talented very skillful and she was talking about she wanted to become involved in the consulting business i say why aren't you doing it i said you have the abilities i said you're not here because they like you you're here because you're doing the job you're making things happen and she came up with all kind of ideas but finally she said i guess i i can't see myself doing it i guess i'm afraid fear limited vision and lack of self-esteem is what keep most people doing things they don't want to do i was flew from columbus ohio to denver colorado to a major communications company and the person that picked me up the airport told me about the fact that the company is planning on having a major downsizing and they offered some of the employees there in early retirement and some of them will earn as much as 300 000 dollars and they said this is the last time that you can take this offer if you don't do it when we have the downsizing you might be among those who will lose their jobs and all you will get is your severance pay and only 50 of the people who were eligible to take the 300 000 took it the others were afraid to take a chance on themselves the others couldn't see themselves beyond that company they couldn't see life after that company the same reason that people stay in relationships where they're abused or they're unhappy or it's unfulfilling they can't see themselves beyond that relationship they can't see themselves enjoying life without that person they think that this is all that they can do the same reason that people get stuck at a certain level in life they can't see things being better for them and they think that this is it and this is all they deserve this is all they've ever seen it's been passed on to them and they think that this is it for them oh no i was looking what dr blanton smiley blanton who is a colleague of dr norman vincent peale what he said about fear he said fear is the most subtle and destructive of all human diseases ladies and gentlemen fear kills dreams fear kills hope fear put people in the hospital fear can aid you fear ladies and gentlemen can hold you back from doing something that you know within yourself that you're capable of doing but it will paralyze you and it seem like you're in a hypnotic spell and i ask you a question what is the benefit what's the benefit of allowing fear to hold you back what's the benefit of giving up on yourself of not stepping out on life and taking life on what is the benefit for you what's the plus in that it's one of the things i had to ask myself so i didn't want to make any mistakes i wanted everybody to like me i wanted to be perfect the first time i did something it's not going to happen you're going to make some mistakes you're going to hurt some folks feelings you're going to create some enemies whenever you decide that you want to begin to take life on you've got to ask yourself how long am i going to allow this to hold me back i like what zig ziglar says he said fear is false evidence appearing real that is an illusion that we create in our mind it is a state of mind that can be changed so let's look at how we can begin to take some steps to restructure that fear to begin to expand our visions of ourselves to begin to increase our self-esteem website said that self-esteem means confidence and satisfaction in one's self look at your life right now whatever you've done up to this point in time your life is working whatever you have produced it came out of you as a result of the kind of person that you have become as a result of your choices it's a result of your consciousness now you have to ask yourself are you satisfied with what you have produced is this what you want would you like for things to be better than this do you believe that you deserve better than this are you content this is it you don't have to do everything anything else that you already resign yourself in life you say well i'm happy are you allowing yourself to get off the hook like that or do you believe somewhere in the back of your mind or in your heart that there is some other great work for you to do there's something else that life has for you and that's why you're here how do we handle this fear factor how do we increase our self-esteem you have to begin to fortify yourself how do we do that i believe that you have to begin to consciously monitor your inner conversation and start talking to yourself start building yourself up sometimes the only good things you will hear about you are the things that you say to you so i'm saying learn to be your own booster start building yourself up start encouraging yourself start saying i can do this i can make this happen when i started thinking about becoming a speaker i said yes i can do this i can make this happen when i start trying to convince myself i can be a businessman after flopping and failing and losing thousands of dollars and feeling stupid and dumb and having people take advantage of me because of what i didn't know i had to talk to myself because people were saying to me that i was dumb and somewhere in the back of my mind i was saying you're right look at what i've done i had to say no no no no no no no less hey hey come on man get yourself together you can handle this you just haven't figured it out yet it's all right this is your training period this is a tuition you have to pay for what you don't know you can do this other people have done it doesn't take an einstein get you some people that can teach you some stuff that you don't know get you some people that have done it successfully and learn from them take some seminars workshops read some books on how to manage a business change the way you see yourself and begin to attend to the personal details understand that nobody's going to take care of your business better than you and when i start changing that kind of mindset of beating myself up because of my mistakes and start looking at the possibility of my doing better of my making the adjustment that would enable me to do what i want to do successfully things begin to change and i say stop beating up on yourself you do do it i know you do it i've done it it's a natural inclination for us to put ourselves down see we are born negative i think in a negative consciousness because we live in a negative world so you don't have to teach children to lie they'll lie automatically did you wet in your pants no i did not well what is that i don't know you don't have to encourage kids to misbehave they will do it by themselves you don't have to encourage them to do the wrong thing they would do it automatically you have to correct their behavior so i'm saying that we have to work through the challenges of life in learning how to begin to work to fortify ourselves begin to guard your mind against negative programming like turn off the television don't watch the news i think that that more people have a sense of hopelessness and anxiety about life if you look at the news you cannot feel good looking at the news you'll be scared to death you're scared to go to sleep i mean it turns your power down you've got to be conscious of that don't pick up the newspaper and read it no no i do just try this just experiment with yourself now if your job depends upon you knowing certain things let somebody tell you just about those things but stop filtering the stuff you allowed to come in your mind you know that song you said i said don't let nobody bring you no bad news i tell my staff look here don't tell me any bad news while i'm on the road let me handle it tomorrow i'm like anybody tell me any bad news at night before i go to sleep i can't do anything about it anyhow why let me go to sleep with that on my consciousness no no and my my staff they know that say let it wait till tomorrow and i have a period of time tell me bad news between 10 o'clock and 12 noon after i prayed and meditated and read my books i'm fortified i'm ready to handle it i deal with it i'm out of there and i'm going on to something else so you've got to guard the kinds of things that you put in your mind see if you don't program your mind your mind will be programmed because human beings are goal oriented that's why we die of broken hearts early that's why we're running through life to early graves we're going through life ladies and gentlemen and i think that henry david thoreau said that most men live in quiet desperation most of us go through life running scared larry d'angie who i think is going to be one of the greatest motivational speakers around today told me a story a true story of a friend of his that every day when he came home from school when he would get to a certain block in his neighborhood there was a neighborhood dog that would chase him and that dog would start after him barking but he would run just running from that dog every day every day finally he just got tired of that dog chasing him every day he said this dog come around here i'm going to take a brick of stuff and bust him in the head so he was walking home that day minding his own business sure enough same area there was that dog there the dog started barking he started running he saw a brick and he stopped and picked up the brick and turn around and the dog got close to him he realized the dog didn't have any teeth he said he put the brick down he said get out of my way and ladies and gentlemen all our lives many of us go through life running from things that ain't got no teeth to do us any harm [Applause] [Music] haven't you been afraid to do something and then after you did it you say whoa if i know it was this easy i would have done it before haven't you ever had that experience raise your hand absolutely so we created this in our minds false evidence appearing real we made it real in our minds that's why churchill said there's nothing to fear but fear itself that's the destructive monster so turn off things that can contribute to your fear turn a deaf ear to people that all they can do is talk about how negative things are because they have bought into the consciousness of the world start attending workshops seminars listening to tapes on a daily basis to begin to recondition your mind to retrain your thinking faith comes by what hearing and hearing and hearing listen to things that can empower you that can enable you to create a new reality for yourself in a new life for yourself you might appear to be strange around most people you know most people think you're strange if you're happy today people say how you doing i said better than good whoa what's wrong with him just go around smiling and watch people look at this a weird guy over here because most people don't smile watch him look at their faces in the morning here we go another monday morning how are you doing haven't had my coffee yet don't ask me see these people have not found their purpose in life that's why they're grumpy that's why they're miserable that's why they're so negative they're hurting and they want to hurt other people so start practicing using programs for your mind seminars books workshops keep a journal record your thoughts what's happening with you every day when you get up have a journal near you i use the jack bowling journal so that i can write down my ideas i keep it by my bed so i can write down my thoughts see ladies and gentlemen we get three to four thoughts a year that if we would act on those thoughts they could change our life don't say well i'll i'll remember that no write that thought down i got a thought today i wrote down a friend of mine is in the hospital his morale is low they're talking about amputating his foot he's got to feel very bad so i said you know i'm gonna i'm not only am i going to see him but i can't be there with him all the time i said i'm going to create a tape for him that that he can listen to that will heighten his level of morale we told him the other night don't go to surgery you are depressed your energy level is down no no tell them not now don't do it now in fact most doctors who have any sense of awareness don't perform surgery on patients that are in a state of fear that don't think they will make it they wait till they're in a different state of mind so i said what about making tapes for people that are facing physical challenges i said that's a good idea all right see there are ideas that can come to you out of things that appear to be negative i have a friend out of chicago just met him he's 23 years old and this guy he went financially bankrupt two years ago ruined his credit guess what he decided to do he found a blessing in it he wanted to restore his credit it was very challenging very difficult and he realized that a lot of other people during these particular times are ruined their credit so now he started a credit repair business last year he earned over a hundred thousand dollars helping people to restore their credit i met a young lady who attends this church that she was at her father's funeral and and she was putting flowers on her father's grave and she looked around and saw the other grave sites they did not look well groomed and they were not attended to on a regular basis she start a gravesite maintenance business out of that tragedy something positive has come out of it and now she's earning more money during that than on her present job what idea are you sitting on write your ideas down and then what idea are you sitting on write your ideas down and then once you get that idea take the leap hello take the leap see a lot of people get the ideas and just walk around with them have you ever had an idea and all of a sudden you looked around and somebody had that idea and gone with it i think you're going to be going with my hospital idea forget that buddy we will be out there together jack [Laughter] take the leaf see it's out here in the universe if you don't take the plunge i guarantee you somebody else will take the plunge go into action and ladies and gentlemen you will be surprised how things will come together you'll be surprised now you're going to have some difficult challenges i can tell you that now be aware of that things are not going to work out exactly right for time they will sometimes and that's when life is just playing a game with you i want you to feel good and relax and then after a while say okay the honeymoon's over now and then life will come over and slap your side of here say what you doing out here well it's my dream life is that right come over here a minute oh you went to the seminar huh come here i can tell you that but ladies and gentlemen go into action with your dream and don't avoid where the fights are get in the midst of the fight and get some hickeys on your head get knocked down so you can learn how to fight so you can hold your position see most people don't get out in the arena of life because they don't want to fight most people don't get out there because they don't want to get knocked down they don't want to be dropped to their knees but see you're going to be dropped whether you're on the field or whether or not you're sitting on the sidelines you're going to be dropped so at least get dropped for something don't get knocked down while you're sitting down see that's how most people are spectators in life you don't want to be a spectator you want to get out in the field where the action is and you will be amazed after the struggle there will be a calm period and things will begin to click for you come out here with what you got you don't have enough money don't worry about it you got the dream you got the idea you don't have enough resources don't worry about it you need some help don't worry about it you get out here in the arena someone will look at you and become inspired and say hey can i help you but if you're sitting up on the bleachers nobody's going to ask you anything you've got to get into the flow of action francis hearth called me from chicago she had been sitting on an idea of a show that she wanted to produce for 10 years called mind body connection so someone saw me speaking in chicago at a sorority convention and said i saw a guy that perhaps can host this show for you who has energy and charisma she called me she was so fired up i said listen on the day of them that you want to do that i'm speaking in chicago i can do it for you and i said by the way i met somebody two weeks ago in baltimore who has an idea of the same kind of show and she's doing it on radio why don't you call her and then she called me back who else would you suggest i say well i know deepak chopra he wrote the book called quantum healing and bernie seagull could you get his number i'll tell you what i have a friend named jack boland at the church of the day he knows how to get in touch with him call him and he will give you the number so you can get in touch with bernie siegel that lady started calling all around did not have the resources but she had this idea and dream and she said the other night when she came before the audience that had gathered in the studio she said i feel like i've been pregnant for 10 years and tonight you're going to witness a beautiful delivery and it was she said i couldn't believe les how things began to happen how it all began to come together when you want something out of life you've got to be willing to go into action don't wait around for things to be just right don't wait for things to be perfect don't wait for the ideal situation it will never be ideal there will always be a reason well as soon as the children grow up as soon as i pay my bills as soon as i get my divorce okay as soon as i get enough money together do what you can where you are with what you have and never be satisfied a lot of people never take a chance in life they don't want to take any chances they want the situation to be ideal see that's not walking by faith that's walking by sight i was born in a poor section of miami florida called liberty city i was born in an abandoned building on a floor with a twin brother and when we were six weeks of age we were adopted and when i was in the fifth grade i was identified as emr labeled educable mentally put back from the fifth grade into the fourth grade and i feel again when i was in eighth grade i don't have any college education but because of my mother and i feel like abraham lincoln who said all that i am and all that i ever hoped to be i owe to my mother i saw a sign once it said that god took me from my biological mother's womb and placed me in the heart of my adopted mother so my first major goal was to buy my mother home to take care of my mother and and i did that took care of her until she passed at 88 but i'll never forget when i met mr washington i was in a class waiting on another student and and he came in and he said young man go to the board and work this problem out for us i said oh sir i can't do that he said why i said i'm not one of your students he said look at me i said yes sir go to the board and work the problem out anyhow i said sir i can't do what you're asking me to do he said why sir because i'm i'm educable mentally sir and as the students erupted in laughter he came from behind his desk he looked at me and he said don't you ever say that again someone's opinion of you does not have to become your reality and 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've found that most people fail in life not because they aim too high and miss most people fail in life because they aim too low and hit and many don't aim at all so raise the bar on yourself and don't ask how you're doing how you're going to do it i'll never forget when i decided that i wanted to become a motivational speaker i saw the the late dr norman vincent peale and and my heart said i can do that but my mind asked the question how and for over 14 years for 14 years i would go see zig ziglar and dr norman vincent peale and jim rohn and different speakers and i would be in the audience and and my heart would pounce and say you can do that you can do that less and then when i would leave i would be going to the parking lot and my mind said how you're going to do it and i spent so many years trying to figure out how i wasted 14 years how many of you ever procrastinated raise your hands please yes see so so as you begin to think about your goals the most important thing is and write this down commit yourself see once you commit yourself the how will come the way will come once you commit yourself you will then figure it out and if you're going in the wrong direction all you have to do is turn around and go the other direction you will figure it out you want to begin to just challenge yourself you want to stretch yourself because you really don't know what you can't do once you think about the goals that you want to achieve and i really want to challenge you to make up your mind that you're going to make that happen for yourself and i hope that it's some goal that that really resonates with who you are when i was a little boy my goal was to to just buy groceries for our family my mother worked on miami beach she was a domestic worker and and my goal was to to really be able to go to the grocery store and purchase groceries ourselves the families knew that my mother had adopted seven children and so they said maybe whatever food is left over after we eat you can take that home to the children they were very kind very very considerate people the mother my mother who when she worked on miami beach the people were very kind i was appreciative of their generosity but as a little boy i said mama one day when i become a big boy i'm gonna be able to buy groceries for us my goal as a little boy was to buy clothes for my brothers and sisters we wore the hand-me-down clothes of the children that mama baby set for when she went over in miami beach and if the clothes were too small she would let them out and if they were too large mama could sew and take them up and i'll never forget um david sadirsky his father was very wealthy mama worked for him but david was my buddy and so his father gave him two gifts for his birthday gave him a brand new boat but he also gave him some motivational tapes earl nightingale i'll never forget so he said david man let me tell you something when when i die you're going to get everything i want you to listen to these tapes and and when his father left the room david threw those tapes in the waste basket i said david can i have those tapes he said yes i said man your father said if you listen to these you you can get more than do more than what he's done he said look i'll get everything anyhow go ahead take him write this down it's not what you leave for your children it's what you leave in them you have something special you have greatness within you and the only reason you're here you're my assignment you can feel me some of you feel me right here in your heart of hearts and my goal and is to get past your mind and into your heart so it's necessary that you you have the mindset that i can do this you've got to begin to believe and to fortify that belief and feed that belief by listening to tapes going to seminars and workshops by challenging yourself by stretching yourself it was osborne who said unless you attempt to do something beyond that which you've already mastered you will never grow and and as you begin to challenge yourself you'll discover some things about yourself that you don't know right now the other thing is you begin to look at yourself look at your dreams and and begin to experiment and stepping in to your greatness one of the things is very important whatever goals and dreams that you have make your move before you're ready chris pritchard who's a great great motivator and and trainer he said make your move before you're ready we're instructed in in life to walk by faith in not by saying see you want to really begin to stretch yourself you want to become a risk taker you want to raise the bar on yourself most people won't do that see most people engage in low life living low risk living this god said if you're not willing to risk you cannot grow and if you cannot grow you cannot become your best and if you cannot become your best you can't be happy and if you can't be happy then what else is there i like what helen keller said life is short and unpredictable eat the dessert first and so you want to begin to take some chances you want to begin to challenge yourself and make it okay to feel and learn from your failures don't allow fear of failure and the the the allure the attractiveness of playing it safe in life to draw you in you can't get out of life alive you've got to die to leave here other thing is you look at yourself look at your dreams detoxify your life write that down see i think that most people never achieve their true goals in life because they're surrounded with too many toxic negative energy draining people you've got to look at the people in your life and ask yourself the question what is this relationship doing to me how is it impacting my life am i a better person sidney porter wrote a book called the measure of a man in there he said when you go for a walk with someone something happens unconsciously it's not spoken either you adjust to their pace or they adjust to your pace whose pace have you adjusted to see you want to surround yourself my my daughter owner brown who's a speaker and coach she says call forth your team but make sure these are people that you can learn from it's it's possible you can live your dream it's necessary that you have a mindset that that i'm going to do this but you've got to take ownership you've got to decide hey i'm going to do this you're going to you've got to take responsibility for your life george bernard shaw said the people that 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've got to decide it's me you've got to say and say this with with conviction i expect to win i think it's important that we say that you know if you ask most people do you want to become successful they will say yes took my older son for a walk my name's sake you know we always expect our children to do far more than what we do said calvin he wants his own identity he's leslie calvin brown jr i stopped him looked him in the eyes and said do you want to be successful son he said yes sir dad very good let's walk son walk further stop them again i said calvin look me in the eye son yes sir dad do you expect to be successful son and he sit there and he looked at me his eyes got glassy he said let's walk and the reason that he said let's walk because my son is very bright of all my children he's perhaps the smartest one but calvin now over 30 calvin now a single parent of two daughters good father calvin now this stage of his life he's behind on his dreams a lot of talent a lot of abilities very conservative one of those people great mind but just he just hasn't developed that oh you know things that we want our kids to have that i wanted calvin calvin you got to kick it up a notch son you never thought you'd be in your 30s you got to kick it up a notch you got to increase your energy in order to to live your dreams you can't be casual about your dreams bill bailey said if you casual about your dream you'll end up a casualty shake someone's hand on your right and left and say kick it up a notch yes yes you got to kick it up a notch what is it you bring and whatever you bring you've got to kick it up a notch what is your signature as you look at where you want to go and what it is you want to do as you look at your product or your services repeat after me please provide more service and you get paid for yeah see that becomes your signature when you look at your goals and look at where you want to go at your products at your services at your industry you want to set some high standards for yourself i like what henry david thoreau said do not go with the path may lead but go where there's no path and leave a trail how is it that your industry will be done differently five years from now 10 years from now what is your reputation in your industry when you come into a room and you leave what's the scuttlebutt about you do people say hey that's a go-to person that's a person if you ask them to do that job you're talking about the job being done it will be done extremely well are you known for that person that that stand out with what you do that stand out with your quality of service with your standards always looking for ways to better your best are you one of those people that believe well if it ain't broke don't fix it japanese believe it ain't perfect keep working on it are you willing to keep working on are you willing are you willing to realize that you have not done your best stuff yet that you can better your best you've got to take responsibility for that and now let's go to the next level not only is it possible that you can live your dream is it necessary that you call forth your team and surround yourself with people that you can learn from and grow from that you must work on yourself and monitor yourself and train yourself that you've got to begin to take total responsibility for the outcomes that you want to produce in your life but let us say together with power and conviction it's hard ladies and gentlemen living a dream changing your life is hard it's hard when you lose all your money when you you you've given it the best that you have when you have some major setback it's hard when a doctor looked at me and said to three horrible words no one wants to hear you have cancer it was hard to mobilize my mind in spirit to listen to tapes and music and read scripture and be around other people and seeking out other prostate cancer conquerors to believe that i could do this it was hard never forget my son said daddy are you going to die why are you asking me that you're not going out much you're not the bubbly personality that i know you to be you're not talking much you're spending a lot of time in the room by yourself dad are you gonna surrender are you giving up are you gonna let that that doctor's opinion become your reality will my daddy see me graduate yes yes son yes yes i'm gonna fight no no i i don't think it's my time yet i'm gonna see you graduate but more than that i've got some other things that i'm gonna do with my life and i thank you for asking me that um but i must tell you that i'm scared i'm scared and i've never been in this situation before it's been easy for me to talk to people and encourage people when they've had challenges in their lives but it's me and i don't feel less than a man in lit and admitting this to you yes i'm scared and i need some help repeat after me please ask for help not because you're weak but because you want to remain strong and ask for help and don't stop until you get it yes see see life is hard and there's some moments in life when you're going to need some help you're going to need somebody to speak to you you're going to need somebody to say something to you i have a friend of mine willie jolly who's a motivational speaker he said a setback is a setup for a comeback i had to listen to willie's tapes i have another friend kevin braces who's a speaker he said les come on man you can do this you can make this happen you can hit a home run it's a done deal you're less brown that cancer's got to get out of your body i said talk to me kevin talk to me that's what i need to hear i needed to hear those words i don't care who you are many people want to allow themselves to ask for help because of a pride pride cometh before fall because of ego ego means edging god out no ask for help not because you're weak but because you want to remain strong and ask for help and don't stop until you get it i'm here because a lot of people help me i'm here because a lot of people believed in me at a time when i was struggling to believe in myself the other thing is let us say together it's worth it you see i think and write this down you got to find five reasons that will make it worth it for you five reasons what will make it worth it for you mine was i want to take care of my mother mine was i want to do something with my life what will make it worth it for you mine is i want to leave a legacy mine is i refuse to die and unlive life what will make it worth it for you repeat after me please you got to be hungry no one could have convinced me that i would be doing what i'm doing right now you know the easiest thing i do every year is go into a sales organization and dramatically increase their sales or go into a prison and enable prisoners to see themselves differently and teach them the methods and techniques of how to plug into the system or motivate young people to begin to to see how they can have a vision of themselves the future and fit that's the easiest thing i do or train a speaker to help them to leverage their experience as a speaker and say look speaking of the projection of who you are not who you think you ought to be and come with power from a platform that's the easiest thing i've ever done let me share with you the most difficult thing i've ever done the most difficult thing i've ever done was to believe that i can do what i'm now doing no one could have convinced me just given my circumstances i earned millions of dollars every year no one could have convinced me if both my parents came up here right now i would not know either one no one could have convinced me being labeled educable mentally born in abandoned building or floor in liberty city poor section of miami florida failing twice in school no college training never worked for major corporation i did not know i can do what i'm doing right now never forget mike williams my mentor one i think a lot of people fail in life because of the fact that they need some mentoring they need some coaching when you begin to understand and acknowledge your 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 in 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 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 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 it was joe frazier 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 throw out the lifeline to help us go across 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 as 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 prove 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 of 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 going to like you excuse me special announcement everybody's not going to like you no that's it's just not that kind of world what but you know 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 everyone i guarantee you that as you begin to give more of yourself in your work give more of yourself in your marriage give more of yourself in your relationships with your families and friends give more of yourself to your talent to your vocation to your job or your business as you begin to set high standards for giving that which you have been given to share in the universe i guarantee you that life takes on a whole new dimension that you'll be happier you have a greater sense of happiness and fulfillment in life now that doesn't mean you're not going to have some challenges that doesn't mean that you're not going to have some problems that you'll be dealing with on a day-to-day basis no that doesn't mean any of that no that will not exempt you from that but what it does mean that now you will begin to take off on some new paths to some newer horizons that you'll begin to see life totally different than most people i think that's what henry david thoreau meant when he said most men live in quiet desperation that most of us go through life because we're not using that which we've been given that we are punished that we're going through life getting up in the morning with no reason to get up see once you find out your purpose in life and once you decide that you're going to live a life of sharing and giving and contributing to life you don't need an alarm clock to get up that you move differently you have more life in you but most people are walking around dead most people are looking lifeless most people find it a hard effort to smile most people abusing themselves with alcohol and drugs and evading their own greatness and and holding back on themselves for years i was cheating myself for years i could have been doing exactly what i'm doing right now but i was afraid i didn't feel i was worthy and i didn't want to recognize that which i had been given i had a limited view of me and i was literally running away from me i mean life sometimes chases and i said no no no we want you to do something great no not me go get somebody else no you're not talking about me no no no you don't know what i've been doing no no no no we want you we can just groom you and train you and and get you ready i mean yeah are you sure me yeah no no not me no i just i'm just i don't know i won't do that see ladies and gentlemen one of the reasons that we should begin to give more is because we owe a debt reading a book john powell who i'm afraid to tell you who i am because you might not like me and that's all i've got lying in there i i love to quote we are made by those who love us and by those who refuse to love us as i talk to you right now you're looking at a lot of people up here ladies and gentlemen it's not just les brown standing here a lot of people have contributed to make me who i am right now none of us are here because of our own doing all of us have had life to contribute to us many times complete strangers so we all have cookie people in our lives what do you mean by cookie people cooking people and chicken soup people as i call them when i do my workshops cookie people are people like miss legging when my mother used to whip me as a kid and i was a bad twin always getting in trouble miss lee would hear me screaming and after mama would get through miss lee would come over to the house and give me some cookies and milk and my you know and my momma said what you do about you know i'm just giving him some cookies maybe and she said here you are leslie even though you're a bad little boy i bought you some cookies so cookie people are people who even when you are bad even when you are not being who you really are they look beyond your thoughts and see your needs even if you're a moody person and curse them out and dog about sometimes these cookie people love you unconditionally how many of you have ever had cookie people in your life all right so we all have had cookie people that the universe has put in our lives to contribute to us the other people are the chicken soup people chicken soup people are people that you can call at two o'clock in the morning and say i got a flat tire will you come help me or my battery is not running would you come give me a jump or i need some help would you come get me out of jail if you don't have some chicken soup people in your life you better get sober but these are people that you can always call on to help you out so i'm encouraging you to give a letter of appreciation to some of the cookie people in your life some of them might have already made their transition write some letters to some people who were a leg up for you some people who contributed to you being who you are and just say i was just thinking over the years i know you know i love you and appreciate everything you've been to me but i just wanted to drop you this letter how do you think they feel if they get that just out of nowhere just want to thank you for how you have enriched my life you might not have thought much of it but because of the help and assistance you gave me on that particular day that was a turning point in my life why should we give well giving creates a vacuum and as we know nature abhors a vacuum see when you give you create a vacuum you are now in a position to receive see if i have my arms closed holding on to everything i've got nothing is available to come in but if i'm open if i created a vacuum there by giving and keeping the flow going the stuff in the universe is going to come back to me ladies and gentlemen it's going to come back whatever you give whenever i go into a room and give a speech to inspire people to help them to develop their greatness if you get 10 of what i get because as box says we teach that which we need most i'm not wearing any crown i need it as much as i'm sharing it i'm still growing i'm still unfolding i'm still seeking to discover my greatness and if you get ten percent of what i get when i walk out of here see there will be a different man walking out of here than who came in here and as i give the more i give to you the more i get most people don't understand that that's the law of life do you know that we can literally eliminate poverty overnight we could eliminate hunger and homelessness overnight if people understood the concept of what giving means and the power in it about the difference that it can make in our lives again if you go to any rundown neighborhood and interview the people there evaluate their lifestyles and what they're doing and what they're contributing to life and then go on a wealthy neighborhood and talk to those people and evaluate them and check out what they're doing with their energy and their time and what they're contributing to life here's what you're going to discover what earl nightingale said he said our success in life is directly related to the quantity and the quality of the service that we give i guarantee you that you will find that people who have more people that are living the abundant life are the contributors to life ladies and gentlemen they are the people that are giving more and the people who are operating out of scarcity and poverty consciousness these are the people that are down and out these are the people that are complaining these are the people that are blaming the world and everybody for where they are but if they took that same energy and began to invest and give something back to life i was in new jersey and i had to give a a political presentation to a group there that we're trying to organize a community to begin to revitalize that particular community and the guy was telling me very proudly as we were walking through a housing project he said the city is about to give 55 million dollars to renovate these housing projects i said what a waste he said why would you say that i said let me ask you something and the person that was standing next to him i said do you live in this building here said yes i said how many families live here he said six families i said we walked in the door and we can smell the stench of urine does it take a genius to go down to the store and perhaps sacrifice buying three packs of cigarettes and buy some tired of soap and water and come back here and wash this stench out of here does it take a genius to get a can of paint and paint over the graffiti and repair the mailbox does it take a genius for that i say to you you pour the money in these housing projects and you don't change the people that are living in the projects before you are completed they'll be right back to where they were before if it is to stand and i'm not saying that there are situations where people need some help and assistance but people must be allowed to contribute here's something else you're going to discover in giving something that's very important give thanks giving thanks creates power give thanks for your house give thanks for your apartment for your car for your family for your health for your relationships for what you have when we focus on something it expands when you're giving thanks when you're showing a spirit of gratitude for what i got now that you're satisfied with it but you're grateful for what you got whatever you focus on that's what you're going to continue to multiply and expand in your life but if you focus on what you don't have if all you can do is point out the negative things in your life whatever you focus on you're going to expand that some people all they can do is complain that's all they can do they can't find anything to say good about life and about anybody else every time they open their mouths that's what their minds are consumed with and that's all they're producing in their lives and these are people that you don't want to be around develop a spirit of gratitude i'm thankful for life i'm thankful to be an american i'm thankful to be on this part of the planet i'm thankful to see another day no things aren't what i want them to be no i don't have all the things i want to have but i'm thankful that i'm still here i have another opportunity another day to live another chance to contribute another chance to make a difference in life so begin to give thanks for what you have whatever you focus on remember now you want to become aligned with the universe if you have scarcity in your life it's because you have a consciousness of scarcity as you begin to become thankful for what you have but the abundance that you now know is coming your way that you're attracting to you for the good relationship that is coming your way right now it will begin to create incredible opportunities for you to begin to improve your life and the quality of life of people around you giving is also ladies and gentlemen forgiving give forgiveness many of us do not realize that we cannot grow that we are blocking ourselves we are blocking our good in the universe we're literally standing in the way of the flow of what life has to us because we haven't learned how to forgive we haven't learned how to let things go so we can get on with our lives when we forgive ladies and gentlemen it's not for the other person oh no it's for you it's not for them not because they deserved it or they earned it you're forgiving other people first of all you've got to forgive yourself but when you forgive other people it is mentally and spiritually healthy to forgive to let that luggage go as paul said forgetting those things which are behind reaching forward to those things which are before oh we hear it but it's hard to do it's hard what you have is enough whatever you have to give and the more you give the more you realize you have to give and we all have to they're people who made the supreme sacrifice for us to enjoy freedoms that we take for granted oh none of us none of us can feel that we have nothing to give back if you do what is easy your life will be hard but if you do what is hard your life will be easy 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 remembering what dr robert anthony said about results when you keep your commitments you're able to produce some different kinds of results in your life so how can we keep our commitments and do we keep all commitments no we don't you will not be at 100 however you will have a greater percentage rate of maintaining your commitments to yourself whatever those things might be if it's going into business if it's if it's changing a habit that you know that works against you if it's overcoming self-destructive behavior if it's retraining your thinking if it's reinventing yourself if it's trying to begin to design your relationship differently all of us have a possibility by focusing and really harnessing our attention and concentrating on it we really have available to us the power to honor our commitments in those particular areas so number one make it priority see you only make things happen your life only counts you only make a difference when you are committed when you make a commitment with your life that's the people that make a commitment with their lives the people that make a commitment to their customers the people that make a commitment to their families to their relationships are the people that make the greatest impact in life what is commitment commitment is the salesman who says look here i'm going to make a thousand dollars today and i'm not going home you can turn the lights out the janitors could be here running the vacuum cleaner i'm not leaving here until i do it i used to be a door-to-door salesman i had x number of tvs i had a minimum amount that i knew i had to sell every day in order to provide for my mother who was ill at the time who had lost a job at the m m cafeteria because of arthritis and i said i'm going to go door-to-door and sometimes i would not come home until one o'clock at night knocking on people door people closing what do you want would you like to buy a nice working month's television set no money down no what about an emerson tv no thank you very much do you know anybody else that would be interested no thank you very kindly knock on another hello would you like to buy a nice working television set no money down no get away from my door thank you very kindly do you know anybody else would be yeah my cousin he lives two doors down thank you very kindly tell them you sent me when i heard your cousin told me that you wanted to buy television said told me to come here and talk to you we got a special discount for you yes come in i'm interested i would just keep right on i would not go home until i did it it's an interesting thing ladies and gentlemen that when we put ourselves in a situation where we say we're going to do it it puts you in another zone where the universe responds to you when you have that kind of consciousness see the universe responds to the man or woman that refuses to be denied because that is your commitment that business that you want that book you want to write that dream that you have of controlling your destiny that is yours that power to create that and to manifest that that is yours that's available to you but you've got to be willing to stand there and face disappointment not have support feel lonely doubt yourself sometimes be rejected again and again and again become bankrupt if necessary again and again and again and refuse to turn around until life gives it up nothing can resist a person that has that kind of commitment the people that have made a difference on the planet when john f kennedy said we will go to the moon and the next decade he spoke it that was a commitment and people shared that vision people bought into that we've had all kind of examples in history where people have made declarations who have committed their lives to bring about a difference their people are taking a stand today against hunger i guarantee you it will be a part of our past at some point in time someone took a stand against polio it no longer plagues us as it once did because someone said it is my commitment to eradicate it from the face of the earth someone made the commitment the reason that we're here and enjoying the democracy that we have someone made a commitment that whatever is required if it means that i die i remember paul robertson here i stand for i can do no other and that's how you must be commitment means standing up for your life it means honoring yourself it means it means beginning to say and to see and recognize your alignment and oneness with the universe and that you are a channel for life to express through and we short-circuited with anger we short-circuit it with fear we short-circuited with with envy we short-circuited by being lazy or apathetic or giving up easily why why why we say oh it's too hard it's too hard we don't challenge our spirit ladies and gentlemen there's nothing as powerful as the human spirit you can't destroy you can pervert it but you can't destroy i was reading man's search for meaning by viktor frankl what a powerful book i'm reading it now for the seventh time and he gives so many graphic examples of of the power of the human spirit and so what are some of the things that can can fortify us and and give us the kind of inner strength that will allow us to forward ourselves into the future by manifesting our commitments number one commitment means in some cases going back to school getting some training setting up in classes with people younger than you putting yourself in a position where you don't know and that is awkward and uncomfortable but because of your commitment to develop yourself or to go back to school to get a high school diploma to get a college degree that it doesn't matter feeling dumb and saying what am i doing here setting up in some boring class commitment can mean a lot of things it could mean that you begin to go back you got to back up sometimes means to back up and not give up to regroup back up and regroup and come back again because life is waylaid you because you got knocked down i know when when i was working on my dream there were times i lost my house at one point i lost my car i was broke my credit was bad i was sleeping at different friends houses on their couch or on the floor there were times months that i slept on the floor of my office and got up early and dressed before my staff got there to give them the impression that i got there early before they did and we all pretend not to know what we knew that the boss was staying in the office so we never talked about it but i refuse i refuse to give up on my dream and what happens they say you know in the prosperous years you put it in your pocket in the lean years you put it in your heart it makes me appreciate it even more even more i i wouldn't trade it i wouldn't trade it for anything the disappointment the pain that i've gone through by keeping the commitment keeping the commitments that you have might mean taking a stand that's that's unpopular something was said one time when you take a position says coward has asked the question is it safe politics asks the question is it popular but conscience or commitment asks the question is it right and see most people rather operate from the first two is it safe for me to take this position i remember when i was a state legislator i saw guys and women who believed in legislation very strongly but because the speaker of the house said we won't go with that they backed down and they felt bad about it they wouldn't take the position because they didn't want the speaker of the house to be angry at them they wanted to be all right with all of the rest of our colleagues see it takes a great deal of strong courage and commitment on your part to step out a line to you know henry david thoreau says the man doesn't keep pace with his companions perhaps he's listening to the beat of a different drama let him dance to the music that he hears however measured or far apart when you are committed you're dancing to the beat of a different drama don't expect people to understand you don't expect it to make sense to anybody why you've got to do this why you have got to go why you leave this is a good job i'm going they pay you well i'm going you just a few years from retirement i'm going why i don't understand you don't have to i'm going for me because i've made a different kind of commitment with my life this is something i have got to do

Channel: Let's Become Successful

Views: 1,033,687

Rating: 4.8591614 out of 5

Keywords: les brown motivational speech, les brown motivational speaker, les brown motivation hungry, les brown motivation 2021, les brown motivation morning, les brown motivation its possible, les brown motivational speech hungry, les brown motivational speech compilation, les brown motivation its not over until i win, les brown motivation getting unstuck, inspiration, best motivational speech, success motivation, success motivational speech, greatest motivational speech

Id: My1OlYiR69Q

Length: 65min 30sec (3930 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 23 2021