Gift Of Daily Motivational Messages
hello my name is les brown today I want
to talk to you about your goals and your
dreams what do you think about something
that’s important to you maybe it’s a
personal goal I know in my own personal
experience my goal was to be able to buy
my mother a home I’m adopted and so I
wanted to be able to do something
special for my adopted mother she was a
domestic worker for wealthy families on
Miami Beach it she cooked for these
families and who ate the food left over
from the families that she cooked for
and she kept the children and we won a
hand-me-down clothes of the children
that she kept it you could imagine as a
kid I used to save my mom on the way
home on the bus from Miami Beach back to
Liberty City and over town I said when I
become a man I’m gonna be able to buy
clothes for us and buy groceries for us
but not only that i’ma buy you a big
beautiful home just like the homes that
you’d clean every day and she said
Leslie you don’t have to do that I said
I know what I’m going to and and you
know what the reason that I I said that
I believed that it was possible see the
family that that mama worked for but mr.
sidarsky used to listen to motivational
messages every day and I was very
fortunate to have to take care of the
needs that mr. sidarsky had to shine his
shoes and dust his office and he was
very rude to me he said Leslie
especially had guests did you clean this
yes I did sir look at it how can you say
that I do apologize sir and this guest
rooms they don’t talk to him like that
that’s not nice but the truth of the
matter is I didn’t clean the office as
good as I could have and the reason I
did not is because I wanted him to call
me into the office so I can spend time
doing it over again as I listened to the
motivational messages that he listened
to every day by Earl Nightingale I can
remember as if it were yesterday we
become what we think
all of us is self-made but only the
successful will admit it I can hear the
voice of dr. norman vincent peale who
wrote the power positive thinking
don’t allow your negative thoughts to
hold you back you are greater than your
circumstances I can remember when he was
listening to Zig Ziglar if you give
enough people what they want they will
give you what you want I can remember as
he is listening to Jim Ron when the
incomes for you let it find you
conquering a new mountain not sliding
down and old and unbeknownst to me those
messages your programming my mind and it
helped me to begin to develop a mindset
of possibility won’t you think about
your goals and dreams of what you want
to achieve what a personal level mine
was to buy my mother home to take care
of her what is your goal what’s your
dream what is something that you want to
do with your life and I can say to you
based upon my own experience I don’t
even know you that it’s possible
actually have the ability to do more
than you can ever begin to imagine and
and your your mindset is crucial as you
look at your goals in your dreams
and having a spirit of optimism I had a
friend who went to New York City to
apply for a job and she came back and I
said hey how did things go she said I
didn’t get the job
I said what happened she said they
turned me down but I didn’t think I was
gonna get it anyhow and I thought after
I left her presence why did she go the
first place good boy she went there with
the mindset that she was not going to
get the job I believe that we have an
energy and a spirit about us that people
Telegraph that but I believe that had
she gone there’s no guarantee that hey
with a sense of expectation I’m gonna
get this job I think a preparation her
attitude and her behavior and her energy
would have been totally different I
reminded of two little boys who were in
Philadelphia and they’re playing on
Timaeus and they got out two four and
one fell through the ice and and
the thrashing trying to get out and
obviously his friend looked at him and
panicked that he couldn’t reach him he
couldn’t pull him out and so he saw him
going under the ice and it was very hot
and he couldn’t break through and so
this little frail fellow ran he saw a
tree in the distance and he scampered up
this tree and he broke off a big branch
it came back and savagely began to beat
the ice if he broke it and miraculously
he saved his friend and when the
paramedics came people looking at him he
had a blanket around him his little puny
dude about 12 years old and and people
start asking the question as they looked
at him and they looked at the branch how
could this little small fellow break
this branch off it and beat this ice and
break it save his friend huh how could
he have done that as small as he was and
and as they were scratching their heads
a gentleman who was there said I could
tell you how he did it
and everybody said how and he said there
was no one here to tell him that he
couldn’t do it see a lot of people are
not really living their dreams and
living the kind of life that they are
capable living because of the fact that
they have been inundated with so many
negative conversations have you ever had
a golden dream of something you want to
achieve and you shared it with people
that you love and thought they’ll be
excited for you and they said to you you
can’t do that you know MIT did a study
and the study indicated if I tell you
you can’t do that somebody else has to
come alone and say you can do it you can
do it don’t listen to him Ruby you can’t
do it John don’t listen to les you can
do it they have to say that 17 times
before they can neutralize that one
that’s why my favorite book says faith
comes by hearing and hearing and hearing
and so by listening to those
motivational messages every day when my
mother went to do domestic work on Miami
Beach it began to give me a sense of
optimism of the possibilities of the
kind of life that I can live and I’m
saying to you as you listen on a regular
basis as you begin to program your mind
deliberately the reason that most people
don’t achieve their goals is because
they are thinking like everybody else
sixteen revolutionary words be not
conformed to this world be transformed
by the renewing of your mind
that’s an on-going process what are your
goals what are your dreams ro
Nightingale was right you don’t get in
life what you want you get in life what
you are and so you want to take the time
every day to listen to things that can
help to program your mind positively
because I begin dove the day if you
don’t program your mind it’s going to be
programmed trust me it’s going to be
bombarded with all kind of hair trash
commercials I was at a service station
pumping gas and a commercial came up at
me you get on the elevator and
commercials are there you look at
billboards their messages is coming in
over 5,000 10,000 messages on a regular
basis and so as you look at your goals
and dreams it’s very important that you
are intentional about controlling what
goes on in your mind because everything
gets in through the eyes and through the
ears so what do you want what do you
want for yourself what I’m doing right
now I didn’t do it for 14 years you know
why because I was suffering from
possibility blindness have you thought
about doing something and you you looked
at what you wanted to do and your heart
said I could do that and then your mind
asked how
and then you start thinking well I can’t
do that I don’t have a college education
I can’t do that I don’t have an MBA or a
PhD I can’t do that I’ve never worked
for a major corporation about why would
corporations reach over people with PhDs
and MBAs and years of experience and pay
me to come in to do something I’ve never
done I thought about doing this for
years and I talked myself out of it yes
an African proverb that says if there’s
no enemy within the enemy outside can do
us no harm Shakespeare says the four
dear Brutus it’s not or not stars but in
ourselves that we Honda legs and so as
you look at yourself and look at your
goals and look at your dreams I’m saying
to you that it’s possible because if
anybody at any point in time had a goal
had a dream of what they wanted to
achieve and they made it happen then
it’s possible that you can do it too
you’ve got to be intentional about
programming your mind so there’s some
things that’s very important I want you
to hold it in mind what it is you want
to do in your personal life what is it
that you’d like to do maybe you want to
do something for someone you care about
I was the gold and dream that I had and
I purchased four different homes for my
mother then I want you think about your
financial goal you know people say money
won’t make you happy
but everybody want to find out for
themselves I have a friend a Rita
Davenport and Rita said you know but it
can’t make you happy you know but it’s
right up there with oxygen so you look
at your goals and dreams I want you to
think about you’ll find out your freedom
number what does that look like that
once you achieve that it will alleviate
a lot of stress once you achieve that
let you have more time for yourself and
for your family you can go on that dream
vacation you have been thinking about Oh
buy that dream car or home that you
desire once you earn that amount of
money it would be like becoming
debt-free I want you to think about
you’ll find out your freedom number and
then once you come up with that number
and I want you to write it down as you
come up with that number I want you to
multiply it a hundred times yes a
hundred times
read my lips a hundred times why because
I found that most people fail in life
not because they aim too high and miss
now most people fail in life because
they do what I did for a major part of
my life aim too low and hit and most
people don’t aim at all that’s why this
is saying that if you don’t know where
you’re going and end up someplace else
and so you are serious about your goals
and dreams I can say to you that you’ve
got to affirm yourself you’ve got to
tell yourself you’ve got to encourage
yourself that it’s possible that you’ve
got to talk to yourself on a regular
basis I’d never forget I had to speak in
in the Georgia Dome for a friend of mine
Dexter Jaeger and Dex CJ here is a
multi-millionaire makes
for a million dollars every 17 hours in
this organization that I spoke for and
he invited me to be his guest speaker
the headliner
before 80,000 people in the Georgia Dome
I panic and the first thing happens when
I become afraid I have to go to bathroom
and they keep knocking on door last the
ban is stalling you need to come out and
I said okay okay okay okay and I was
talking to myself saying I can do this I
can do this my mind went blank because I
became overwhelmed when I peeked out
front and saw 80,000 people in this
stadium if the largest gathering I’d
ever seen like this I’ve seen it for
sporting events but for speaking event
I’ve never been in that kind of
environment before the most people I’ve
ever spoken for up to that time was
maybe about 500 or maybe a thousand but
85,000 I went to the bathroom 7-7 kids
my social security numbers two six seven
my phone number is 702 did I tell you my
favorite number is seven God made the
world in seven days mainland dipped
himself in the river Jordan seven time
Joshua marched around the walls of
Jericho seven times did I tell you I
wouldn’t bathroom sabotage because seven
is my favorite level well finally they
got Mike Williams my mentor and he came
and he’d knocked on a door of his
portable restroom he said brownie and I
said yes he said come out I said Mike
I’m scared I can’t think he said are you
afraid admit it I said yes I am
I’m nervous I just can’t do it my god
I’m scared
he said brawny I said yes he said are
you listening to me
I said yes he said they came to see you
you didn’t come to see them you got this
problem you can do this
Wow let me tell you what he did one of
the things I do is train speakers how to
change lives what he did was he
distracted me I was caught up in how big
the crowd was I was caught up with
saying what can I say to them I was
breathing hard I was feeling overwhelmed
being in that setting and when he spoke
I knew that he believed in me when he
spoke it’s like he saw me on stage
speaking and and he convinced me that I
could do it see sometimes it’s very
important for you to hear this sometimes
you have to believe and somebody’s
belief in you until your belief kicks in
and so when I looked at myself and I
looked at where I was what I said to
myself Mike believes in me he believes
that I can do this and I’m saying to you
as you look at your goals and look at
your dreams one of the things that’s
important in and maintaining of an
achievement driven mindset and a spirit
of optimism is having someone in your
corner having someone who believes in
you having someone who can see what you
can’t see see sometimes you can’t see
the picture when you’re in the frame
that’s why it’s very important for us
and have coaches people who can
encourage us who can inspire us you know
Muhammad Ali said I’m the greatest but
he never won a championship without
Angelo Dundee in his corner people say
that Michael Jordan what are the
greatest basketball players of all times
but he never won a championship without
Phil Jackson as his coach
and so as you work on yourself and work
on your dreams I’m suggesting that you
get someone in your life that you can
partner with someone that can see what
you can’t see someone that when you feel
you can’t make it someone when you feel
I can’t do this and they can give you a
word of encouragement and will make all
the difference in the world
and I finally came out and as we were
walking toward the stage I stopped and I
said well y’all pray for me I grabbed
Dexter’s hand and put it on my head I
don’t know why he is that okay and I
finally went up and I did it and the
speech was called it’s not over until I
win and what I really meant about that
it’s not over until you win over that
inner conversation that you have with
yourself see there’s some things that
you can do that you don’t know right now
and just because you can’t see it
doesn’t mean that it’s not available to
you my favorite book says eye has not
seen ear has not heard nor is in a heart
of mankind what God has in store for you
there’s some things that you can do that
the heart can feel it can experience it
but the mind can’t get itself wrapped
around it and that’s why I’m saying what
are your goals what are your personal
goals what are your financial goals and
what’s your social contribution I
believe we live in the greatest country
in the world that gives us an
opportunity to leave a legacy
harsman said we should be ashamed to die
until we’ve made some major contribution
to humankind one of the goals I have as
a 17 year cancer Conqueror is to let
people know you are more powerful than
cancer one of those I have this is to
reduce the number of women who die from
breast cancer my mother was a 22-year
breast cancer Conqueror one of the goals
I have is to teach people everyday
average people outside of the church and
outside of politics both of which I
believe polarize and divide people but
ordinary people who want to live an
extraordinary life how to use their
story how to use their voice to make a
difference or use their knowledge to to
create a financial empire for themselves
what’s your goal what’s your dream what
will your legacy be at the end of the
day when you leave here what are three
things that you want said about you when
you check out because we’re gonna all go
nobody’s figured out how to get out of
life alive a lot of people go through
life not attempting to do anything big
or major with their lives because they
are trying to play it safe hello listen
to me
hello there’s no safe position in life
hello
there’s no safe position you can’t get
out of here a lot you got to die anyhow
and people who believe that it’s
possible they can have their dreams
these are people that are daring Helen
Keller said life is either a daring
adventure or boring decide
but you’re gonna make your life a daring
adventure decide to become a risk-taker
this God said if you’re not willing to
risk you cannot grow and if he cannot
grow you cannot become your best and if
you can’t become your best you can’t be
happy and if you can’t be happy then
what else is there
listen I don’t know you but here’s what
I know about you based upon my own
experience you have something special
you have greatness within you I don’t
give you of going through some tough
times right now you are greater than
your circumstances what you are growing
through not going through what you are
growing through will help you to become
a better person the periods in life and
you have to realize that you have to
come to a place within yourself when you
say I’m not going down like this I’m not
going out like this you’ve got to get to
a place where you say I’ve had it I was
working on a job and they didn’t like me
and I didn’t like them they paid me just
enough to keep me from quitting and I
work just hard enough to keep from
getting fired it was a contract of
mediocrity and and I got to the point
and this is when people change their
lives I got to a point where I said hey
I’ve had it I’m out of here where are
you going I don’t know but I’m out of
here
you bout to make me lose my mind up in
here up in here you bout to make me act
our fool up in here up in here come on I
can say to you as you look at yourself
look at your goals
look at your dreams what do you want to
do it you buy
it’s possible if anybody at any point in
time in history had a goal had a dream
and made it happen then it’s possible
that you could have you go it’s possible
that you can have your dream and as you
look at yourself work on yourself every
day well less what about those negative
thoughts you can’t kill them they’re
like little weeds they keep falling
coming back you can’t kill weeds they’re
grow through the cracks of sidewalks and
and so you can overpower those negative
voices by listening to motivational
programs by tuning in on a regular basis
to hear my voice by reading 10 to 15
pages of something positive every day by
going to seminars and workshops and
member mesmerizing yourself with
material that can help you to begin to
get a different vision of yourself to
change your whole approach of how you
see life and it will help you to get to
that next level it help you to get
unstuck and how does that happen less
it’s process I wish I could just tell
you all you have to just think positive
and be enthusiastic in everything it’s
gonna work out all right no no you can
have a positive mental attitude and life
put some nuts on your head life is like
a box of chocolates you never know what
you are going to get when you have goals
and dreams make it not strange that your
face The Fiery Furnaces
of this world you will not you might you
will have tribulations but in the midst
of it all you’ve got to believe it’s
possible
it’s possible friend of mine he was he
was facing a life-threatening disease
dinner said and he fell it was possible
even though his body was wracked with
pain even though he was diagnosed with
cancer at 18 even though the doctors
called his family and and said he’s not
going to make it
he held on because he believed it was
possible he was not just a statistic it
was possible that if he had the faith
that he had the drive if he had the
determination he could come through this
he said to himself this too shall pass
and so it’s possible you can live your
dreams and you have to work at that it’s
a moment a moment effort that you have
to work to train your mind and to serve
you
The Temptations had a song years ago
just by imagination running away with me
in the absence of information our
imagination will run away with us tell
us that we can’t do things begin to
panic and we make decisions based upon
our fears as opposed to our faith Zig
Ziglar said that fears false evidence
appearing real faith is finding answers
in the heart we heart is there your
treasure is also what do you love what
turns you on what do you really want in
your life for your life how do you want
to show up in the world how do you want
to use this gift call life has been said
that life is is God’s gift to us and how
we live our lives is our gift to God
whatever your goals are your personal
goal your financial goal or this social
contribution your legacy your mark what
you think about it here’s what I know
that it’s possible he is what I know and
if you think about it what you think
about you bring about if you’re willing
to put in the work it’s possible if you
continue to encourage yourself continue
to fall forward I’ve got to sing when
life knocks you down try and land on
your back because if you can look up you
can’t get up you have something special
you have greatness within you your dream
is possible that’s my story
you
