[Applause] oh y'all look good i want you to look at something right now think of some major goal you want or maybe it's one you're already working on and you have experienced a lot of setbacks a lot of defeats you've experienced a lot of disappointment maybe you've already given up and maybe you just need a little fire a little encouragement to get back in the game again here's what i want you to look at they're winners they're losers and there are people who have not discovered how to win and all they need is some coaching all they need is some help and assistance just a little support all they need is some insight or different strategy or plan of action to make some adjustments that will open up the key to a whole new future for them that will give them access to the unlimited power that they have within themselves that's all that they need so what i want you to do is think about something you want for you that's real for you that's important for you that will give your life some special meaning and power and i don't even want you to say i can do that i don't want you to assume that see five years ago when i started out in this area i would not have been able to make the mental leap that i would be up to where i am right now i don't want you to begin to just psych yourself out no no i want you to be able to say something to yourself that will enable you to maintain a level of integrity with yourself that when you say this even when you face tremendous setbacks it will be a benchmark to keep you in the game to keep you moving forward and experimenting and readjusting your strategy and your plan of action continuously looking for ways to win so what is that something when you got an idea you want to move on you might not have the money you might not have the education you might not have the support of resources you need what is that something that can keep us going that will enable us to act on our dream what's one of those keys that will begin to help us to discover the secrets to our dream here's what i want you to repeat after me please with power and conviction say it's possible that's all i want you to do when you look at your dream you say to yourself every day it's possible you say that every day to yourself it's possible because what does that do see it begins to change your belief system see the way in which we operate ladies and gentlemen it's a manifestation of what we believe what's possible for us whatever you've done up to this point all that it really is is a duplication it's a reproduction of what you believe subconsciously that you deserve and what's possible for your life most people operate out of their personal history out of their memory things they've done things have experienced things they've seen things that they have observed what i'm suggesting that you operate out of a larger vision of yourself i want you to see yourself doing what you want to do experiencing what you want to experience it having what you want to have doing what it is that gives your life some meaning and value operate out of your imagination not your memory because whenever you look at where you want to go i wanted to warn you you will have some conversation back here after you go through the data that you've experienced in life saying you can't do it and so what you want to begin to do is ignore that inner conversation well most people ladies and gentlemen when something happens to them what they do is they begin to believe that that's the way it is that's the way it's always been and they can't see the possibility of it being any different example before april 1954 the common belief the universal belief because it had been tried again and again and again and people that fail the belief was that man was not physically capable of breaking the four-minute barrier that he could not run a mile in less than four minutes that was the belief on the planet it had never been done but here's what happened ladies and gentlemen roger bannister came along and he broke the four-minute barrier now here's what's significant about that since that time up to this day over 20 000 people have done it including high school kids what changed 20 000 people what changed here's what happened when they got on the track they knew it had been done and because they knew it had been done there was a new belief about this barrier about this goal that was unreachable and those 20 000 people got in the race believing knowing in their heart that someone had done it that it's possible that they could do it and i'm saying that if you know anybody that had some goal some dream something they wanted to do and they did it the nice thing that you know in your heart that if someone has done it then you can do it it's possible and that if someone can make that dream become a reality that it's it's possible that you can make your dream become reality and so as you begin to look at where you want to go beginning to embrace that it's possible i'm blessed and highly favored i've got a lot going for me i got some good stuff in me and it's possible that i can bring my greatness out here in the universe that i can do what i want to do it's possible i can write my own book i can have my own business i i can take the trip and travel around the world it's possible i can bounce back from adversity and reinvent my life it's possible regardless of where i am the things can get better for me it's possible i'm thinking about two men right here in chicago who are fairly successful similar background educated they work for corporation for many years and they were among many people that were laid off two guys who were very good friends one went out looking for a job for several weeks along with the other one and they faced disappointment and rejection again and again and again they couldn't find any work which is the story of many people across this country one guy stopped he became discouraged he stopped going he stayed home looking at television became very argumentative and toxic with his wife drinking beer getting on the phone talking to his other negative unemployed friends and he just gave up the other guy kept looking for a job everywhere he could go every time he could get an opportunity kept asking people networking checking the newspapers every day kept going everywhere he could trying to find a job you have too much education you're overqualified you won't be here long enough he kept going he kept going he went to a place and said look here i tell you what if you can't hire me and i know you can use my talents abilities and skills i don't want to sit home and do nothing just just let me do some volunteer work you don't have to give me anything all right i just want to work i want to be busy guys said okay it's on you now but don't don't expect me to give you anything it's okay this guy came in and worked he was the first one there the last one to leave was the best employee there about four weeks later one of the top managers quit they were looking for a replacement guess who they selected this other guy this guy who was volunteering his time he got the job what was the difference between the two men eyesight and mind sight eyesight is judging on what you see judging according to appearances but mindsight is how you interpret what you see one guy said it's not possible it's over i'm finished i can't do it i can't make it he surrendered i've faced rejection again and again i'm not going anymore there are no jobs out there but this other guy he felt that in spite of the no's and rejections in spite of how bad the economy is in spite of what the newspapers are saying that it's possible that somebody somewhere will give me a job he just kept going thinking it was possible and guess what ladies and gentlemen that's what we have to do with our dreams because things happen to you in life that you can never ever anticipate and many times when those things happen you want to give up i remember when i was in broadcasting when i was a disc jockey i became very controversial not only being a disc jockey but i felt that radio was something that you not only entertain people with but you also empower them you educate them and i got fired i didn't just leave they fired me that was a shock i said wait a minute they took my microphone i thought that was who i was no no ladies and gentlemen it wasn't i had to do something else and i didn't know what else i could do see here's what i'm looking at what are the uses for your life right now that you haven't even reached for yet see i believe that when you don't have enough encouragement to act on your dreams or ideas or you're not enlightened enough that life will act on you see life had moved on me and said les brown you have outgrown this it's time for you to do something else well i wasn't enlightened enough i organized some disc jockeys and got my job back so they had to find me again i got fired twice here's what i did i had to think of something else and so a guy suggested to me he said les why don't why don't you run for office i said man i've never known anything about how to operate in the political arena i've heard encourage people to register to vote and get out to vote but i don't know anything about politics he said neither do the people who run for office all the time [Applause] [Music] so i ran now here's what i'm suggesting i ran you got to do what you can where you are with what you have i didn't have any money i didn't know anything about the political process i didn't even have any support but here's what the guy told me it's possible you could win that's all i had i was running against an endorsed candidate he was an incumbent he had the newspaper support all of the leadership in the community and i was challenging this guy so i had a saying when i was on radio stand up for what you believe in because you can fall for anything and i would go door-to-door i have my kids on one side of the street i would be on the other night i'd knock on doors hello my name is les brown tell everybody i'm still standing they get on the phone child left rivals to my house today you know they bought the radio with the big mouth yeah they found him honey so he's still standing see i'm saying just just keep moving don't start feeling sorry for yourself don't spend time blaming and talking about what happened to you see whatever you talk about that's what you multiply and expand in your life experience so don't talk about stuff unless you wanted to keep on happening to you all right so i got in that kind of action [Music] as i continue to do that had my children with me were going door-to-door didn't have enough money eventually we got close to the election and something happened that really surprised me guys who i thought were going to either support me or stay out of it various powerful community leaders they became involved in it and they endorsed my opponent i felt devastated now that's going to happen to you when you're working on your dream things are going to happen that's going to catch you on the blind side that was shocking to me they didn't have to do that all they do just stay out of it but here they go come up and they're messing with me now that's gonna happen you've got some people who believe it's their personal business to stop you from living your dream all [Music] right but i didn't deal with that you want to make your dream come true you got to stay focused some people rather get even then get ahead stay focused on where you want to go i just kept on doing what i was supposed to do and so i was driving to the radio station my opponent had over twenty thousand dollars i had less than eight hundred dollars as i was in the radio station the guy said you're gonna make a commercial i said yes he said it better be a good one because that money can't go pretty far here and i sat there in the middle control room and i was thinking and here's what happens when you get still stuff will start coming something said call your mama you used to talk about your mother on the air all the time ask her to say a few words for you that'll be a different kind of political spa so i called my mama and i had a gospel record playing in the background and then i had my mother say hello this is mrs maybe brown when i raised my sons i raised them to be good children when they got out of hand i beat their behind and made them go right please vote for my son he's a good boy [Music] [Applause] usually in the state representative race maybe three or four thousand people will come out to vote in a primary in that primary race over 27 000 people came out and voted said i'm voting for les brown because his mama said he's a good boy i won ladies and gentlemen i won [Applause] [Music] so you've got to be willing to stay focused to be creative to be relentless because things are going to happen to you when you're working on your dream when you get on track i remember when i first got involved in speaking one of the main things that speakers like to do is fake to speak to a certain association that they have over 10 000 of their sales reps had come to this convention and i was relentless i kept saying it's possible it's possible see what i want to let you know and set you up for because you say it's possible don't mean that you're not gonna have any problems that murphy's law he gonna come and slap you inside the head old virgin gonna come visit you he's waiting for some of y'all out in the parking lot oh you say it's possible okay it's possible to get out well i was working i kept saying it's possible they got other speakers on this program i can be on that program too i kept selling myself i got all fired up and i was calling him every day every day and the lady finally said mr brown i tell you what we want you to come in and talk to our sales executives you got the kind of fire and guts that they want that will motivate them and let me tell you something else we want you to bring your motivational tapes you're gonna need at least fifty thousand dollars worth of tapes is that right yes because they want to keep that drive alive i said all right i'll call the guy to duplicate my tapes i said don how you doing this is less let me tell you i got a major speaking engagement say man it's a speaker's dream i need over 50 000 worth of product he said les you don't have that kind of credit i said i know but don i can sell that just just right after speaking engagement i'll give you money in four days he said are you sure les i said yes but i got a major speaking engagement and they told me to do it he said man that that's a big oddly let me talk with the lady with you i said hold on just a minute man call lady back hello evelyn how you doing this is les brown i got down on the phone what did you say do i have the speaking engagement yes you do and and what else you suggest less uh our people they buy a lot of tapes your takes are very popular among them i'm saying bring at least fifty thousand dollars worth of tapes less you'll sell everything you got and more i said did you hear that don he said yes i said now if anybody else has to make a decision are you the final person she said i'm the final person i will send you the contract i want you i said you heard that down he said yes i said oh yeah of little faith i said duplicate the tapes man hung the photo well he duplicate the tapes one week came by i'm checking the mail every day no contract i said come on murphy don't start nothing man come on come on man give me a break come on you know you say fair come on man get your boy break come on i talked to myself you know i didn't want to call him right now two weeks passed by murphy said don't you think you ought to call who i say okay i call i say hello um this is les brown calling how you doing leslie said fine i said um evelyn hasn't sent my contract out yet any additional information you need so unless you haven't heard i said no evelyn died i said she died i said did she say anything about me [Applause] when i got home i was so wiped out and murphy was in the house waiting on me murphy said is it possible you want to listen to some of your tapes [Applause] but ladies and gentlemen here's what i had to do i had to begin to focus on what was the solution that this was not the only place that i'll be able to sell those products and as i began to challenge myself and got some help and support and some other input i eventually did it took longer but it was challenging but i did it repeat after me please no matter how bad it is or how bad it gets i'm going to make it i'm going to make it shake somebody's hand on your right and left and say you got that right [Applause] [Music] repeat after me please it's possible i can have my dream i can get what i want i must be creative and never give up now let me share something else with you ladies and gentlemen when you know within yourself that there's something you want to do and i believe that all of us were born with a purpose that all of us have something that we are supposed to do that all of us have some goodness within us and that goodness gives us a responsibility to manifest our greatness and when you know that you can feel it in your guts and you know that you're deliberately operating below your potential you've gotten comfortable you stop expanding you stop stretching you stop challenging yourself let me share something else with you not only is it possible for you to have your dream but it's necessary it's necessary that you have it that you work on it that you develop yourself that you go for what is yours in the universe i have a friend that at the beginning of the year i was in los angeles giving a speech and and i do a seminar teaching people how to become involved in the speaking business and and also one called speaking with power teaching people how to begin to develop their communication skills and this friend i said i want you to work with me i called her up she said les are you sure i could do it sure you can you have a phd in communications i don't have that if i can do it sure you can do it in fact i'm going to give you the support that you need here's what i realized ladies and gentlemen we only have enough energy to take us to a certain level but it's necessary that we assemble ourselves with other people who share our vision other people that can see it for us to give ourselves a home court advantage [Music] so it's necessary that you seek out other people who think like you who are growing who've decided that they are not satisfied with where they are see i don't believe that the necessity that necessity is the mother invention of invention no necessity in my opinion is not the mother of invention refusing to accept things the way that they are is the mother of invention [Applause] [Music] when you decide i'm not going to settle for this this is not going to be it for my life i deserve more than this see that will start making you do some stuff see a lot of people go to work every day miserable and all they do is just talk about how miserable they are but they don't do anything about it so i was telling her that i knew she hated a job with a passion i said you can do this you got more going for you than i have going for me and we've been going through this for years ladies and gentlemen she'd been to my seminar speaking for a living she brought her husband and that was one of the major problems that i realized that happened in her life he couldn't see it for her so you got to make sure that you have people in your life that can see it for you that will encourage you non-affirming relationships can hurt you [Music] and i talked to him i said you know i don't have anything to do with with your marriage i said you and i are good friends and she and i are good friends and i'm not taking sides i said but if you can't see it for it don't tell her that just give her some support what if you're wrong it's possible man that that if i'm doing it she can do well you're different how are you going to tell me that you've seen her speak she's got great speaking skills don't underestimate her you don't know you've got a great woman here but you see people who can't see it for themselves can't see for you he was happy [Music] so i said will you do it with me i said i'm going to give you the support you need you can't do it by yourself i will stand with you she said you will i said yes i'm going to make you part of my seminar you'll do a part of it and i'll do a part of it speaking with power she said okay three days later ladies and gentlemen i got an emergency call at my office it was from my husband he called and said tell les brown that marion is dead i said oh no when i was flying there to go to the funeral and i remember the last time that i saw her and i had some of her papers that i had gotten inadvertently confused with mine and i took them home and i was searching through these papers to do one of her work she was a prolific writer and what got me what was so sad that made me begin to cry was that there were poems that she had started that were profound poems great thoughts that she didn't complete plays that she had started that she didn't completely that poem was given to her i can't finish that for her nor can you that play whatever the outcome that she had envisioned that she had imagined was given to her only her and that she's the channel that that was going to come through you are here and you are the vessel you are the outlet for the universe that you've been selected there's something for you to do i believe all of us have some purpose for being here and as i was going to the funeral and i was reading a newspaper that said that that millions of people are dying because of of what they're eating talking about their diet and i'm sure that it was marion talking to me whispering saying less the next time you speak say that even more are dying because of what's eating them [Music] when the challenges of life come your way you've got to find ways to increase your sense of self-appreciation because if you don't you're bombarded with negative stuff every day that beats you down and you will find yourself unconsciously engaged in self-destructive behavior if you don't program yourself life will program you [Applause] [Music] [Applause] so you want to have an agenda for your life it's necessary that you have some direction for your life a friend at the national speakers convention gave us presentation and it really struck me he was talking about when he was traveling across europe warren breson and he said at different points soldiers would wake them up on their journey and ask him the question and i posed this to you the question was where have you been why are you here and where are you going and that's what i ask you where have you been where have you been up to this port you look at your life you look at what you produce is it giving you what you want are you living on purpose are you living your dream are you acting on your ideas are you doing all you can do have you gotten comfortable are you procrastinating are you invading your own greatness are you surrounding yourself with people that can encourage you are you challenging yourself are you experimenting are you learning something different is your life an adventure or is it boring where have you been why are you here what brought you here investing the time the money what brought you here and where are you going what is it that you can get out of this session out of this lecture like when you leave here rather than this just being a spectator event that you've got some ideas some dream that you might have to go back and brush it off and look at it again and say i've got to do this this is my stuff this is what i'm supposed to do this is why i showed up where are you going with your life what decisions are you making right now as you look into the future are you experimenting to find out what other talents and abilities that you have see we're in the time right now the day is gone where you could just go to college and get out and and get a job and work 30 or 40 years with job security and retire with a gold watch the gold watch days are gone brand new day party's over so now you have got to be multi-talented and multi-skilled you've got to use all your stuff you don't know what else you can do i don't know i can do what i'm doing right now it's necessary that you stretch and challenge yourself and say let me see i start out as a trainer i'm a trainer that's what i am that's what my expertise was in and then i decided let me see can i speak and then i discovered hey i can do that what if i hadn't tried to do than just been satisfied with just being a trainer with a limited vision of myself and then after training and then i said well maybe i go into business for myself and i started speaking going into business for myself well maybe i could train other speakers and teach them how to go into business for themselves so you want to have a backup plan you want to have other strategies for yourself in case this doesn't work out you got something else going over here you don't want to ever put yourself in a vis in a situation where you have a limited vision and you're only using a limited amount of your talents of your skills and of your abilities and i'm saying to you it's possible you've got some talents some ideas in you your ability to do some stuff that you haven't even discovered yet and i'm suggesting that it's necessary that you get outside of your comfort zone it's necessary that you develop some new relationships where you can learn from people it's necessary that you do reading that you do research it's necessary if you're already involved in some business that you don't be satisfied with where you are if you want to make it today it's necessary for you to constantly look at ways of getting better not all is it possible for you to have your dream and it's necessary for you to challenge yourself to go after and get better and leverage relationships that can help you get to where you want to go but it's you the major key to your reaching your dream you're living up to your greatness you're making your contribution is you if the economy is good fantastic if the banks are loaning money that's great if people are positive that's great you don't have any opposition that's great but the major key to your making things happen in your life is you when i wanted to get on public television you know they told me you can't do that so wait a minute i've seen these other people on it's possible i can get off leo biscaya john bradshaw it's possible wait let's just hold me hold time out let's be realistic come on be logical i said well wait a minute why can't i do it let's look here think about god who have credentials all kind of credentials you don't have any college training i'm not gonna put you on television give me a break i said it now thank you for that god love you and i'm trying and went on about my business you hear me let me tell you something what people think about you and the possibilities for your dream is none of your business that's their business they have no imagination ladies and gentlemen they're living out of the past out of their memory the attitude is it can't be done because they haven't seen it they're judging according to appearances the people that are going to make it in the future the people that are making it today let me share something with you history is being read but it's also being written by people with imagination [Applause] [Music] [Applause] so i went to the next morning necessary to start talking to people in seeking and asking for what i wanted and leveraging relationships and trying to find out how do the people do it that went ahead of me how do they do it and then what is it i need to do how is it i need to train myself to develop myself what's the resources that will be required in order to make it happen and as i start seeking out and asking questions i started running into people said i know someone who can help you do that and they help me get connected with those people remember we have so much energy that can take us so far it's necessary that you hook up with some other energy that can take you to the next level i hooked up with them they said let's let's go i said away we go [Applause] and guess what here we are i love it you want your stuff it's necessary you take responsibility for it that you make it happen that you don't give up that you don't take any objection or disappointment or defeats personally that you keep on keeping on that you don't decide that i can't make it because you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel that you realize that's a part of the program and here's something you've got to resolve say this to yourself every day see as long as you're breathing you got a shot at your dream that's the way i resolve say this please it's not over until i win you've got that right [Applause] it's not over till i win not over till i get through it's not over till i get over not over till i get what i want don't can't open the day look out i'm going to come back and take the hinges off that's how you got to do that you've got to have that kind of courage that type of determination if you want to make it happen it's you that you've got to take personal responsibility to make it happen that you have got to to own what it is that you want to do if it's taking care of your well-being if it's making a difference in our school system if it's working with senior citizens if it's to protect our ecology if it's to create an economic renaissance if it's just to take yourself to another level it's you you've got to make that happen we can point out many things that can make it inconvenient or can slow us down but ultimately it's on us next step is not only is it possible and necessary and it's you to live your dream to make this this greatness that you have within you become a reality but what i've come to appreciate when you're working on changing your life changing some bad habit getting out of addictive situations or relationships or working to build a dream or making a difference in our society or learning something that's very challenging here's what i i realize ladies and gentlemen and develop a great deal of respect for it's hard easy is not an option it's hard living life is hard see it's hard when when you are 49 years old been working on a job for 17 years and they come in and tell you you're finished and give you one week severance pay and you got to start all over again it's hard when you're married in raising children and your children are crawling and your husband dies unexpectedly it's hard handling just the tragedies of life it's hard when you're working on something and and you put everything you have in it and it doesn't work out you lose your money and other people's money it's hard it was rough when i lost my job and i could not find a job it was humiliating and embarrassing borrowing money and then i couldn't pay the money back when i told them i would that's rough how people look at you how they respond to you it's very hard it's humiliating here's what i discovered that happens to you in life that you will go through things and while you're going through them you can't understand why it's happening to you but after you go through it you get back and you look at it and you say oh now i understand why i needed that lesson have you ever happened to you raise your hand it ever happened to you that that i did i couldn't understand it there but after i got through it then i saw that that was preparing me for bigger and better things [Applause] [Music] [Applause] that as you go through the challenges of life and you look at it and embrace whatever comes to you don't run from it step toward it don't try and duck it like most people do see most people want it easy see easy calm easy what easy go see but when you go at what you're going to deal with and you deal with the difficult difficulties of it when you handle those hard things close at hand making those hard decisions right now that you don't want to make learning those things that you don't like to do but you know that in order for you to get where you want to go this is one of the hoops that you have to flip through and i'm saying to you whatever you got to do do it because if you don't life is going to whoop you until you surrender and say okay all right all right all right all right i cooperate okay i learned okay it had to wear me out a long time so if it's hard then do it hard now what do you how do you hang in there during the hard difficult times less you must have faith you've got to believe in yourself you've got to believe in your abilities you got to believe in your service your company your ideas unquestionably you got to have faith and that faith gives you patience that is not going to happen as quickly as you want it to happen a lot of things are going to happen that will catch you off guard and so therefore you've got to deal with and handle it as it comes and not only that but that faith and patience drives you into action you got to keep moving and keep plugging away i can see people coming out talking to a guy out there watering and fertilizing the ground that's not showing anything hey what you doing you've been out here a long time man and the conversation in the neighborhood is you growing a chinese bamboo tree is that right yeah that's right well um even ray charles and stephen wonder can see ain't nothing showing you know that's how people are gonna do you so how long have you been working on this how long have you been working on your dreams and you have nothing to show this is all you got to show people going to do that to you and some people ladies and gentlemen they stop because they don't see instant results it doesn't happen quickly they stop oh no no no no you got to keep on watering your dreams and when it began to happen they stopped laughing they said look whoa look look here it's look hey man you know i know you could do it look at you got a job here see during those hard times we didn't know how you're going to make payroll during those times when you fail and and things didn't work out they were they were nowhere to be found but you know what i discovered when you were working at your dream somebody said the harder the battle the sweeter the victory oh it's sweet to you it's good to you why see when you when it's hard and there's a struggle see what you become in the process is more important in the dream that's far more important the kind of person you become the character that you built the courage that you develop the faith that you're manifesting oh it's it's something that you get up in the morning you look yourself in the mirror you're a different kind of person you walk with a different kind of spirit and people know that you know what life is that you have embraced life you know it was hard but you did it hard [Music] [Applause] [Music] now it takes us to the next level if it's hard why do people do it you ask people who do things why do they do it people who climb mountains just for the sake of it nobody paying to do it just do it somebody said i'm gonna run around the world he said well why would somebody want to do that i'm gonna swim the atlantic channel why why don't people do that i wondered why why would a nelson mandela give up 26 years of his life why do people do that here's what i discovered in high school high school i decided i wanted to go out for football never forget this and i discovered why people do things you know why ladies and gentlemen even though it's hard it's worth it it's worth it see one day we had coach elkin hepburn had this plaque down there and um there's wood on the floor on on the ground he said brown come over here had my suit on say yes sir he said i'm gonna have a little larry littles down there hold big larry that's a big fat sorry larry yes sir brown i want you to get down bull neck yourself he said i want you running larry i want you to put your helmet right in his pit right up in here in his chest and knock him off that board you hear me brown you can do that yes sir can you do that yes i said i said he said brown i want you to knock him over you're gonna make the team i know you can get him all right look at him how sorry he is knees knocking and everything i said yes sir they went down larry larry littles who played 12 years for the miami dolphins all pro for 12 years this is a bad big dude 250 pounds strength agile and all muscle he said larry he said man you know brown down there he's down here talking about your mama and everything [Applause] he talked about how fat and sorry you are and how he's going to knock you off this boy larry not spitting fire and growling and forming at the mouth and i'm looking at larry saying oh i'm a hover he said look at that fool down there growling he told me he's gonna scare you that you're gonna leave are you gonna leave no coach i ain't gonna leave go down and knock him out the park boy coach got back he winked at me go get him brown i went hard i ran into the ladder with my helmet last night i don't know where i landed [Applause] when they woke me up i said can y'all take this helmet off me for a minute [Applause] i said y'all got any more positions out here they say like where i said don't y'all need an announcer they say brian where you going i was crying they said man some girl's over here i said i don't care man i'm hurting see that fool almost killed me man he said bro you quit marriage a year i said what i said it ain't worth it man no ain't worth y'all going y'all crazy i'll be your announcer man i was calling again i was up there in the booth called good games too because the pain wasn't worth it to me and i'm saying to you you know why people do what they do the people who go after this stuff what makes it worth it it's got to be your passion you got to love it ladies and gentlemen you got to love it it's got to be what you are supposed to do you want to sing even though they want to invite you to carnegie hall you're going to sing to anybody that'll listen to you including singing to yourself i used to talk to my plants when nobody else would listen to me you gotta write even if no one published your book right because that was given to you to do you do what it is you supposedly you're supposed to build something you're supposed to create something i don't know how to do it learn do whatever is required just go out there it's possible you can get what you want it's necessary if you want it you got to go into action you got to be willing to experiment you got to be willing to fail and to succeed you got to be willing to form and develop new relationships it's you it's on you you gotta make that happen nobody's gonna bring it to you on a silver platter said here's your dream manifested no it's hard yes it's hard it's difficult yes right and it's worth it [Applause] [Music] [Applause] people ask hey man you know it's you know these kids man it's rough dealing with them that's right that's right you think peer pressure happened overnight we went through peer pressure i remember as a kid some guys say hey les me and another fellow named willie lower we were going home hey man we're going down the ghouls man in knock off a grocery store say look here i want no part of that i'll see you all later so y'all chicken i said that's all right you say whatever you want little stuff i'm not chicken man don't call me chicken and why don't you come we didn't even ask you to come into place man all you do just drive the car so i don't know how to drive that good well we're trying to get less to come he's chicken hey i'm not driving nothing all right willie don't care about what they say man leave them alone you want to go do it you find somebody else to drive you drive yourself come on willie man pull him you stop all right chicken all i got to do is drive yeah i said well that sounds simple man don't go man he went and the next day we read the newspaper where when they robbed the store robert came when they came out running to a car the merchant the man who owned the store came out just shooting wildly and he hit the driver in the head so peer pressure didn't just start in the 90s or the 80s it's difficult it's challenging for kids right now and it's going to take some easy simple methods to help bring them out of this madness this insanity no is it hard yes let's look at what we've been doing what has worked what has not worked let's look at where we want to go what is it that we want to produce what is it that we want to create for our young people and as we think about that start experimenting with different methods and techniques to create and to produce that and begin to believe that it's possible through our commitment through our vision through our determination our relentlessness because of our belief it's possible that we can reduce the teenage homicide rate the teenage pregnancy rate the dropout rate that it's possible looking at what kind of world are they going to be in as we look at the global economy that as we begin to use our collective will and genius and resources it's possible that we can create an educational system that not only will test their minds with with information and facts and figures but we teach them how to think and be creative what does it mean to be a human being and to value human life and how do you make relationships work how do you bounce back from adversity it's possible that we can give them a curriculum that will give their lives a sense of purpose and direction and meaning and teach them how to begin to know and operate on a higher level of being where they become assets to our society rather than liabilities what if we leave here with that kind of consciousness that it's possible as opposed to saying we have to write this generation off that it's possible that we were born for such a time as this and that that maybe someone here has the idea of a method or some plan of action or an approach that can resolve many of the problems that we're facing with young people today whatever we have to do to save our children it's worth it [Music] so that brings me to the final step that it's necessary for us to begin to look at the future know that it's possible that we can have our dream yes it is other people have done it then we can do it we fail a lot of times well a lot of other folks fail and eventually they came back and they succeeded so it's possible we can have what we want and we know that we want to get it it's necessary that we align ourselves with people that think like we do it's necessary we get negative do-nothing people out of our lives it's necessary we never stop learning and growing and developing ourselves it's necessary that we never give up we know that it's you it's me it's being responsible for our stuff and deciding that we're going to keep on keeping on that we're going to find a way to win or find a way to make it happen and we know it's hard it's not going to be a picnic yes it's hard it's hard and we will do it hard and once it's we do it hard and we go through it we realize it was worth it and once you discover it's was worth it it is done it's done [Music] it's done ladies and gentlemen before it happens well here's what i'm suggesting to you that when you're working you have a wall to break through let's say a friend of mine who walks he runs a marathon he says when he's running the 26 mile marathon he said let's say that hypothetically that 18th mile is the wall he said les when you get there you're running he says everything in you is telling you to stop to give up every muscle is aching and you're saying to yourself i can't do it i can't do it and you just keep on and you keep on and you keep on it seems like you're moving at slow motion and then eventually when you break through that 18-mile wall then you know it's like done and you're on automatic and you glide on in and you know it's there you know you're going to get to the finish line and we've all had experiences where we were working on something and we knew it was possible and we did those things that were necessary to bring it into reality we took the responsibility to make it happen other people couldn't see it a lot of people didn't believe it you were attacked you were criticized people were opposing you but you kept on doing it it was hard it was rough it was difficult but to you it was worth it and eventually you got to a level you know can nothing stop me now i'm on the move i'm on the move finally i'm thinking about a friend of mine who is no longer operating on this dimension his name was jack boland he had this vision of a of a church that would serve various types of needs for people their supportive needs and helping them and recovery from drugs and alcohol and and whatever addictions that they might be involved in and he was known for bringing in different kinds of speakers and over a year ago he was diagnosed as having cancer and he announced his congregation that he's going to be taking chemotherapy and that was a possibility that the cancer would go in remission and he was optimistic about that and sure enough he did for a year and one of the things jack always talked about is that he wanted to have his funeral while he lived and so he invited a few friends wayne dyer myself and a few other speakers he didn't tell us why we were there but once we gathered there the church they told us in the room that jack is going to announce to the congregation he's bringing his doctor up the doctor is going to say that we felt we could get keep it in remission it's out of remission and he doesn't have much time left and whatever words you want to say to jack that you would say if he had made his transition speak those words now well we were shocked and and we were somewhat stunned until jack got there they brought him in in a wheelchair and boy was he courageous and and he had a strong smile and they helped him up the steps and he sat behind the podium and each of us got up and we said a few things about jack and the impact that he made on our lives and he said the doctor after announcing that jack didn't have long he says doctor he said i accept what you say but it's possible that that does not have to be the case but if it is i will enjoy life to the very last breath i take even the chemotherapy i will enjoy that and jack did ladies and gentlemen and when they said that all of his vital organs were failing they called his family and his close church staff to the hospital and said he's dying and so they came and they all gathered in the room and jack at that time was unconscious and he gained consciousness and he looked at them and he said well what strength he had he said i want to thank you all for being here you've been a great staff to me he looked at his sons your daughter said you've been a great family say don't feel sorry for me he said i'm i'm ready to go i'm i'm looking forward to the next adventure and he sat there for a little while laid there and he closed his eyes and he lost consciousness about an hour and a half later he opened his eyes and he looked at them he said this is embarrassing i'm not dead yet they were laughing through their tears they said jack you are a character he said hey i hate giving up this kind of control so they predicted that jack would die at the end of february and then on the second they said he won't see the light of day he will be dead by morning ladies and gentlemen jack died on march 4. and we believe that even in his dying jack sent his congregation a message that i want to give to you with his permission march 4th is the day he died and we believe jack was saying march 4. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so i say as you look into the future while the people are giving up feeling like victims feeling powerless becoming negative turning on each other rather than to each other feeling that they can't make it be ye not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind with the mindset of that it's possible that we can save this generation it's possible that we can create new industries a new economy it's possible that i can find a new profession a new job it's possible i can create a new life and it's necessary that i become actively involved in becoming a positive force in my life and on the planet and it's me yes it's you it's all of us pulling together working together to create this brand new future and it's going to be hard easy it's not an option but if it's hard we will do it hard whatever is required to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and it's worth it yes it's worth whatever we have to do and once we know that it is done it is done it is done it is done [Music] so i say to you whatever your dreams are whatever you want to do in the spirit of jack march 4. this is mrs mamie brown's baby boy leslie calvin brown saying it's been a plum pleasing pleasure as well as a privilege thank you all here thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you very much you're very kind thank you [Music] thank you very much thank you