The fact that you're still alive,
still on this earth even though it's been
challenging and rough and sometimes you get discouraged
and uninspired to keep going God has a plan. You will grow through what you go through. Don't be sad, be grateful. Don't dwell, do. Don't complain, create. We got this. As long as there's breath in my lungs,
there's hope in our hearts and giving up is not an option. You and I and we
no matter what your unique situation, your storm, your struggle, your trauma, your abuse, your wounds, your scars. No matter what they are
you are not a product of your past. You are not a product of your environment
or your current unique situation. But you are always a product
of how do we navigate through our storm. And so we're all waiting for perfect.
It's an illusion that will never come true. It's an excuse to never show up and play. Your story is not meant
to be your fortress, your story is meant to be your fuel. You cannot win the war against the world if you can't win the war
against your own mind. That dream is not going to wait and say take a breather. It's going to say come catch me. Catch me if you can You got to block out
all the noise around you that's going to tell you, you can't do it. Just believe that you can. Tell yourself,
"I am more than my circumstances." "I am more than my demons." "I am great and I will
give my gift to the world because this is what I was born to do." Go get it son, go get it. Be sweet. Go get it.
Be sweet. Go get it. Be sweet. Go get it.
Be sweet. Go get it son. If you're going to see it,
if you're going to see breakthrough then you are going to have to be okay
with the process that is required. The one thing you need to do to go where you've never gone before, to have what you've never had before is to change the way you think. You're at the edge
watching someone else live, wondering what it's going to be like
when you jump without ever jumping and I'm just here to tell you jump. Believe that you can. Believe it's possible for you to have it. Don't lay on your back. Anything that comes your way you've got to be prepared to
accept the challenge and go through it. And stop thinking about the negative,
stop talking about the negative Ask yourself,
what would amazing look like for you? As long as that heart is pumping blood you're not dead yet. They haven't put rose petals
on your box yet. Make sure every breath you take
counts for something. Continue to pursue purpose and we all got a purpose. Every one of you here in this room
were born to not just exist but to experience life. Every one of you in this room were born
to leave your fingerprints on history 9 years ago, man, I... I did this and I would
encourage some of you to. I took a piece of paper
and I wrote down my dreams and my goals and I slapped it on a bathroom mirror. And every single day
I would wake up and I would look at it. And I said, every choice that I make,
every decision that I make I'm going to bounce it off. Is that going to help
my dream become real? Or is it going to help destroy my dream? And if the choices that I'm making
are helping my dream that's the choice for me. But if the choices we're making
are destroying our dreams that's not the choice for you. You have to learn to become
mission, goal, dream oriented and not in the moment impulsive oriented. It's like when you look
in a rear view mirror when you look in the rear view mirror the words read "things in the mirror
are closer than they appear" And I need every one of you
young men and young ladies to understand that your dreams and your goals,
they're right there in front of you. They are closer than you can imagine
or even- even think about a dream. They're right there. I don't care if you're in the seventh grade or
up to the senior right now. What you want to become and what
you want to achieve, it's right there things in the mirror
are closer than they appear. And the doctor, the teacher, the scientist, the cardiologist, the cosmetologist,
the athlete, the entertainer, the musician whatever it is that you want to become
it's right there in front of you. But the choices and the decisions
that we make are going to matter and we've got to stop letting the opinions
of people that don't really value you and what they think about you
hold you back from breaking free and running at this thing
with everything that you've got man. Because the dreams, all of those things
they're right there in front of you. But it's the choices
and the decisions that we make. These are the currencies
that are going to purchase that dream. Decisions are currency
that purchases those dreams. Prioritizing your life is the currency that purchases those dreams. What you do is what's going to matter. Some of you got to stop playing and start recognizing
that this is your moment. Don't you dare give yourself away
for something that you're not because you want to fit in. Don't do it. Don't you dare do it. I know these are real issues
and you're wrestling through life, man and you're trying to figure out,
up and down and left and right and where am I going?
I'm telling you guys you're at a place right now on this day and this month, in this school that I'm talking to you, that you can realize something this is your moment to change. This is your moment to realize you don't have to do or be
what anybody else thinks that you want or anybody else expects you to be. You can be you and you can become
what you want to become. So those dreams and goals
that some of you have that may seem larger than life Good. That's what I want you to go after. And don't let the fear of the failure,
don't let the fear of perfection hold you back.
You won't be perfect. You will make mistakes But I promise you this you're never going to know
if you can sink or if you can swim unless you jump in the water. Somebody that says
that something is impossible has not tapped into
the power of their will. You can't do what everybody else is doing and think you're going to do something great. You gotta do something different,
You gotta do something extra. Listen to me,
you have to think it all the time You got to think about it
when you're sleeping, you have to breathe it all the time. You have to visualize it all the time. You have to be transforming all the time. But now is not the time to give in. Now is not the time to give up. Now is the time to double down. You get yourself in a position
where you start to doubt yourself, you have no faith. You don't trust what's coming next. But there is nothing
that could come out of this if you don't have the faith
and the capabilities of pushing forward. Impossibility versus possible
is a matter of will. People that get the job done,
they have a will to get it done. So many of us are so focused on the how and we say the how
is so cumbersome, it is so daunting, it is so hard, so challenging that I don't want to do it
because- because that how is too crazy. The how doesn't matter it's- it's the why. If it don't challenge you,
it won't change you if it won't challenge you,
it won't change you. People ask me,
would you let success change you? Listen to me, people got it twisted It ain't about, will success change you? You got to change in order to get success. The change happens first. If you want the impossible
to become possible for you, you got to believe in yourself. You got to go make it happen. No more waiting for it to happen.
Not more blaming, no more excuses. No more accepting mediocrity. Stop blaming your mama,
stop blaming your daddy, stop blaming your neighborhood, stop blaming your husband,
stop blaming your wife, stop blaming people, start grinding. And the only difference between
people who lose and people who achieve is the person who achieved,
tried one more time. You must understand that
you are a unique individual and you have all the things
that you need within you I need you to go and find a mirror
right now and tell yourself I'm possible. I'm possible. I'm possible. What is impossible is possible for those who believe. Stop thinking about they and start thinking about you. Everything is not going to go
the way you want it to go. You have to understand that
the struggle must happen. Weakness will come and all of these things that
you are enduring right now in your life is just going to teach you
rather than necessarily break you. You don't have to give in
to these circumstances but you can learn from them. You can give it what it needs but don't give in to the weakness
and the satisfaction of giving up. There is nothing that could come of this, there is nothing that
you can achieve of this. Don't satisfy the misery, instead satisfy the hunger
to be more than what you are today. Turn the impossible to the possibility How long does it take for you to respond? And get back to you,
back to your grind, back to your dreams. Adversity hit last time and you quit? Adversity hit last time
and you threw in the towel? Not this time. No, no, no, because you're stronger. Not this time, because you're smarter. Not this time,
because you're more determined. When was the last time
you believed in you? You believed in everybody else you bled this long, you've cried this long,
you have suffered this long. The moment that you accept the fact
that if you will shift your perspective that your perspective
is no longer your present but it is your passport, it is your plane. You've got to have the grit
and the tenacity to push forth and give it a little bit more
than what you have, right now. You got to sacrifice your feelings. You got to sacrifice your emotions. You got to sacrifice your sleep. You got to sacrifice
your old way of thinking. You got to sacrifice
your old way of doing. You got to sacrifice
your old way of being. You got to sacrifice the old you
so you can become the new you. You got to make sacrifices. If you ever want the impossible to become possible for you you have to work diligently. You have to believe that there's
more work that has to be done day in and day out. Sometimes you may even feel defeated but just because you feel defeated
doesn't mean that you are. You may be depleted
but you're not defeated and you have to have the will to carry on. This message is for everybody and anybody that has enough guts to believe that they were born to make a difference,
that they were born to make history. I refuse to be average,
I'm allergic to average. I was born to leave a mark. Impossible is possible. So continue to fight forward. Continue to believe in yourself. Hold on to the possibilities. Get away from the negativity. Push yourself, believe in yourself. And go as far as you can. Your world, this journey is- is a beautiful picture. Every one of you are drawing
a picture with your life. You're the artists, your hands and your feet
are the paint brushes, and the choices and decisions
you're making, right now are the paint strokes. You can, you can paint
whatever picture you want to paint. You can become whatever
you want to become. But your choices and decisions
that you're making right now matter. If I could slow down and make choices
that build and don't destroy. If I could make choices
that grow and don't tear down. If I could learn to feed positivity
and starve negativity, man my life could change
because hard work works. Make good choices, great things happen. Hard work. I'm sorry.
There's no way around it. Hard work works.
We can't cut corners. Every A isn't an A and I say that and what I mean is, you can jump on Google
if you want to just to get the answer but you're not robbing your teachers,
you're not robbing your parents, you're not robbing the school,
the only person that you're robbing is you because you're trying
to take the shortcuts. Not every A is an A. Hard work works. And the great thing about hard work,
especially in our culture, our world is lazy. Everybody will talk about it,
everybody will post about it but not too many people want to do it. And if you will just find the courage
to begin to chase your dream, to make choices that build,
to put in the work by default instantly because most people are lazy, you separate yourself from the crowd because everybody talks and posts but not too many people
want to roll up and go. Hard work will always
outwork talented people that don't want to work hard. You can control you. You can't control what they think of you,
you can't control what they're doing but you can control you. And hard work will always outwork talented people
that really don't want to work hard. Every one of you, no matter where you're at
on the spectrum of this journey of life You can absolutely take your life
with full authority and become whatever
you want to become, man. Diamonds, diamonds are made beautifully. Diamonds are from coal
and from pressure and from heat and it takes an immense amount of stuff and from that dirt
and from those coal mines and from all the dangers
of that struggle and that stress gives us something amazing happen, man. Some of you have been going through a lot. Some things have been intentional, some things are just things that you were dealt
with in life that you had no control over But what I'm telling you,
regardless of what the circumstance is and what you've been going through,
there is beauty in the ashes, man. Remember the time when you wanted more. Remember the time when there were people in
your life that did not believe in you. Remember the time when you honestly gave up on the possibilities of the uniqueness that you had inside. Remember there was a time
that you complained so much but yet did so little. There comes to a point in your life that you must recognize
that there is a little bit more that has to be done than just complaining about it. You have to realize that you don't have
any other opportunities waiting for you if you're not willing to work for the first
opportunity that's been given to you. You don't have a lot of time left so there's no reason to complain. You're not even in
the position to complain. You have to figure out that there
has to be another idea about you and you have to understand that
there has to be something even greater and more challenging waiting for you. And if you're not willing to step
outside of your comfort zone If you're not willing to understand the principles and the possibilities
that you have within yourself then everything that you are thriving for,
everything that you are hungry for will soon come to an end. Now I'm not here to
preach to you about this, I'm here to let you know that there are things that are
going on around you right now that are far greater
than your complaining. You complaining about so much but yet, you show no action. If you could trade places
with someone right now and the person that
you're trading places with may have it just a little bit tougher than you have it going on
in your life right now. So many people are suffering
from so many things in this world, at this moment but yet you're complaining. So many people in this world right now
wish they could trade places with you but yet you're still complaining. You don't have that right to just give up. You don't have that right to just throw in the towel
and say that it's over for you. Ladies and gentlemen,
you've got to understand that the reason that you are existing
in this world right now is because you have things
that must be done and only certain people are qualified to take it to the level
that it needs to be taken to. For there should never be a limitation to wherever it is that you are seeking
and how far you are willing to travel and how far you are willing to go. Sometimes people tend
to get a little lazy. Sometimes people like to put
themselves in this little bitty box and just say that
they are okay with where they are. There can never just be an okay
to anything when it comes to that life. There should never just be
a complacent mindset. How do we evolve? How do you evolve? How do you grow? One thing about success, there are going to be many struggles, there are going to be many challenges and there are going to be a lot of things
that you may not even understand but you got to go back to where it started. Remember when you wanted more because you cannot satisfy your hunger
with negative energy. Being negative doesn't help you to grow. Being doubtful doesn't give you the power that you need. You have to come to a point in your life that you must realize that there are things that are going on that is testing you. And maybe you may be in a position
where you feel that you are broken or you're feeling
that you're going to be broken. But I'm here to let you know,
ladies and gentlemen, that you are built to last. I'm here to let you know, that you
don't have the right to complain anymore. I'm here to let you know, that you've got
to keep on living and living on strong. I dare you to take a trip to your local hospital. And if you have an opportunity
to walk down those corridors and witness so many different people, different age groups,
different ethnicities. And each one of these individuals
are fighting something. They're dealing with
some type of sickness. And some of these sicknesses,
they may not be able to recover from. I dare you to walk down a neighborhood where there are many people
that are homeless and have no place to go, no food to eat, barely even have clothes on their backs. I dare you to realize that maybe you just don't have it so bad after all. Maybe it's time for you
to realize and recognize that your troubles are not that bad. Maybe it's time that you realize that you need to get away
from the drama that's in your life. Maybe it's time for you
to stop chasing misery and start chasing your dreams. Reconnect with yourself because this is not
the time for you to be wasting, putting yourself back instead of pushing yourself forward. Ladies and gentlemen, you have so much, so much to offer, so much to give, so much to do but doing it and sitting around
waiting for it to happen it's just going to stay in neutral. You have to electrify
the desire that you have, that you once had. So the next time you feel like complaining, you feel like worrying and you're so concerned about other things
that doesn't necessarily concern you ask yourself, Is it making you better? Is it taking you higher? Are you going further? Or are you just being complacent complacent and complaining and worrying and doing things
that are not better for you. Are you going to realize that
maybe just going up that mountain does take a little bit more work then just having something handed to you. Are you going to be
that person that realizes that if and when you get
to the top of the mountain it don't just stop there? You got to figure out
another way to go even higher. You have to electrify and get all
the things that are necessary within you to start doing the things
that you need to do. So when the time comes you can kick down that door
and move towards the possibilities of being the best of who you really are. Don't lose yourself and the things that's not
going to give you the strength and the capacity of understanding
that you matter for something. Don't lose yourself in fear. Don't lose yourself in doubt. Dare yourself to be better. Dare yourself to be unique. Dare yourself to be the best possibility that the world has yet to see.
