Les Brown – You’ve gotta be hungry – motivation (to Interstellar soundtrack)
I like to talk with you this evening
about being hungry
somebody said I’m hungry
it is something I’d like to share some
ideas and thoughts with you I’m not
asking that you believe anything that I
say I’m not asking that you agree with
me I’m merely asking that you stand on
and in the conversation that we share
with you this evening and if there’s
something that I say that can fit and
work for you I say use it if not discard
it and let it be is that Alright say
that’s fair enough
very good all right one of the things I
have realized and many of us have that
if you want something out of life if you
want to change yourself if you want to
acquire something if there’s some goal
that you want to reach that is really
not easy as some people will make us
feel but living a dream
changing your behaviors overcoming
negative habits it’s challenging it’s
hard but living alone is just very
difficult and once we begin to come to
grips with the fact that living is
difficult life is very challenging I
heard a song once by a guy named dimples
call if it ain’t one thing it’s another
I say to you banane one thing is twelve
of us always something you will never
ever have a problem free moment in life
somebody says I like this and you either
in a problem or just left one or hit it
toward words anybody found that to be so
raise your hand if you don’t have talked
a lot I mean there’s always something so
how do we begin to nurture that hunger
what are the characteristics or the
qualities of people that are hungry what
will it take for me to get some of the
things that I want being hungry for
those things number one you’ve got to
work on yourself it’s very important
that you engage in an ongoing process to
develop you spend more time on yourself
than what you’ve been spending it’s very
important you owe that to yourself I was
reading a book by augmentee no-call the
University of success read one line gave
me a chill I didn’t have to read
anything else in the book it said many
of us never realize our greatness
because we become sidetracked by
secondary activity we spread ourselves
too thin don’t know how to say no and we
find ourselves doing all kinds of things
and never ever have time to do those
things that we need to do to work on
ourselves and then there goes a second
that goes another second that goes
another second and we can’t stop it
whole time and before you know it you
wake up one day and you’re behind in
your dreams and your bills
[Laughter]
so decide that you’re going to take some
time to work on you that you deserve
that from yourself that your life
deserves some prime time because you are
creating your own production as Michael
Todd would say you are the star of your
show you are the director you’re writing
the script and you will determine
whether your life is a smash
office hit or flop you determine that
working on yourself talking to yourself
that’s so very important overcoming the
negative conversation that inner
dialogue is going on all the time all
the time even when you don’t want it to
be there you can’t stop yourself right
now from thinking you can’t do it it’s
going on and so learning how to empower
yourself part of doing that is standing
up to yourself you got to stand up
inside yourself sometimes and say shut
up
[Music]
you’ve got to do this I was going to
give a presentation and this voice
inside of me think you can’t do this you
don’t have everything it takes us shut
up I’m behind on my bills and you’re
telling me what I can’t do I have got to
do it
you get scared sometimes your mind will
go blink on you
some people will you will allow to
unnerve you and you wonder what’s wrong
with me I’m not crazy that’s why you’ve
got to learn to make a conscious
deliberate determined effort to stand up
inside yourself working on yourself
watching that inner dialogue it will
determine the quality of your life I
don’t believe this I know this I’ve had
a challenge of losing weight I’m walking
through therefore this voice say why
don’t you have some M&M peanuts no well
just one then after you eat that well
you might as well have a snicker now you
sucker
I mean it’s challenging
my mother fix the counter sweet potato
pie you can’t eat with your shoes on
have to take your shoes off so you can
wiggle your toes and six on my finger if
that’s eaten one little bite won’t hurt
that voice constantly little demons from
Colonel Sanders driving my Chi in there
I said no no no no I’ll diet tomorrow
I saw skinny man get hit by truck had I
had a little bit more weight he might
have lived you know some of you know
what I’m talking about reach and if you
don’t that voice is awesome so you have
got to stand up to that voice when
you’re working on something you want to
achieve you have got to stand up to that
voice you’ve got to sell yourself every
day on your abilities on what you’re
doing on the goal that you want to reach
you’ve got to sell yourself every day
every day every day according to your
level of belief it will manifest itself
and what you’re doing whatever we have
right now whatever we’re demonstrating
in our lives is result of what we
believe subconsciously that we deserve
and part of increasing that belief level
is that you have got to convince
yourself every day you’ve got to sell
yourself I I do a lot of training for
many corporations and I conduct sales
seminars and I’ve heard all kind of guys
doing techniques and training people
techniques of how to close sales and how
to work with them and begin to control
the sale and how to ask for the clothes
let me share something with you you can
learn all the techniques of the world if
you don’t believe in yourself and what
happened for you I learned all of it so
that’s why I do a training called focus
on the seller you’ve got to focus on you
and as you convince you as you sell
yourself every day every day every day
you will begin to see a difference in
the things that you’re doing selling
yourself on your ability to perform a
job to achieve a certain objective
telling yourself every day here go again
and I got what a case this is my day and
nothing out here is going to stop me and
when you go out there life it come over
here
say it again well I’ll be back tomorrow
I bring you to the next thing it takes
courage to act part of being hungry when
you’ve been defeated it takes courage to
start over again I used to do
door-to-door sales and I was working
with another friend of mine and
door-to-door sales
I mean it’s punishing it’s cruel and
unusual punishment
and I was a little boy knocking on door
hello would you like to buy a nice
working television set no money down no
damn it slammed the door in your face
and the friend of mine I was working
with me they slammed the door in his
face and I looked back and he was gone
to the car he said I can’t do this
and he sat down in the car and he said
you go ahead I’ll be here when you get
back now he had a mother and father to
take care of him my mother was ill I’m a
doctor
I was hungry I had to go on I learned
something about myself that when you
step into your fears somebody said it
was Winston Churchill he said that
courage is going from failure to failure
without losing enthusiasm when you step
into your fears and continue to push
yourself to go on something happens for
you it will enable you to transcend
yourself I went to the next door
we’d like to buy a nice work until no
BAM went to the next no bell after a
while I no longer took it personal and I
begin to play a game I say well I know
there’s a yes out here somewhere and I’m
going to keep on until I find it and I’m
not going home until I do and I continue
to knock on doors and then somebody
eventually would say yes and I said are
you sure
and I would go in there I would get to
sell when you when you have something
you want to do if you don’t develop the
courage to do that which has been given
you to do and you spend a lot of time
going around trying to convince other
people are trying to get their approval
what will happen is that you will lose
your nerve and other people will
convince you that what you’re doing
doesn’t have any value and you give up
on your dream it’s an interesting thing
about life I’ve also found that if you
don’t have the courage to act sometimes
and particularly if you have something
special to do life will move on you I if
it were not for life I would still be a
disc jockey I didn’t just leave
voluntarily to go to the state
legislature I was fired
I was working on a job and I came home
one day I was married at the time I told
my former wife I said that guy bird I
work for is stupid
she said if he’s so stupid why does he
sign your paycheck now you see why the
Worcester right I couldn’t stand her
that night I could not sleep well here
was a guy that was controlling my life I
was going through all kind of changes
because this man controlled my paycheck
and it was Carlyle who said she was
crushed to earth shall rise again
Winston Churchill said the truth is
incontrovertible malice mere tacit
ignorant may divide it but at the end
there is and we know scripture that says
ye shall know the truth and the truth
shall set you free and the truth that I
had to come to grips with that I wasn’t
in charge of my destiny the truth was
that I wasn’t giving all that I had the
truth was that there are some things
that I wanted to do but I didn’t have
the courage to act on those things and
the truth was that virchow’s was a
blessing to me he made life so miserable
for me I had to start looking at my life
differently I started going to work
earlier I started being the last one to
leave it I started working harder than
anybody else the other guys could not
why would you work so hard less I said
I’m not working for them I have been
cheating Burt I thought I’ve been
cheating myself in my family wherever
you are whatever you’re doing do it with
everything that you have developed a
habit
of giving more than what you paid for
develop the habit of setting standards
as others will be measured by someone
said do not go where the path may lead
but go where there is no path and leave
a trail all right it is easy to be
negative today it is easy to have low
morale today I was at a corporation in
there they’re going to downsizing and
going to lay off some 1,500 people over
the next few weeks it’s very depressing
there and those people that stay there
nine times out of ten they are just
going to do just enough to keep from
getting fired anybody can do that but if
you can begin to harness yourself and
say that where I am I’m going to do the
best I can with what I got because that
is an expression of Who I am if you get
into the habit of just being mediocre it
will become a part of your consciousness
if you get in a habit of giving less
than what you have it within you to give
it will begin to reflect itself in your
personality it will begin to damage you
psychologically and you don’t want to be
a part of that kind of self-destructive
behavior and so you want to set some
high standards for yourself
the next thing part of what feeds that
hunger you’ve got to develop a sense of
urgency aralia said stop living your
life like you have a thousand years to
live and life you either here today and
you’re gone today if there’s something
that you want to do and you can’t do it
all at one time do just a little bit of
it I like what Robert Schuller said he
said by the yard it’s hard but inch by
inch anything is a session
do just a little bit of it a friend of
mine Bobby Kerr used to be a roommate
Bobby wanted to go into the area of
public relations he loved working with
the public young lady you are to marry
named Clarice Bobby was a great
procrastinator pretty soon the job where
Bobby worked they transferred him to
another location he went out to
celebrate with the people on that new
jobsite and Bobby suffered a massive
heart attack and died Bobby didn’t drink
and in smoke was under 40 and he died
ask your question how much time do you
have left how much time do you have left
when you start thinking about that we
don’t know we don’t know Bobby took all
the greatness and all of the talent and
all of his abilities to his grave with E
one other thing they could have put in
parentheses under his name he didn’t use
all his stuff most of most of us do that
most of us don’t use the stuff that we
have brought into the universe and we
want to make a conscious deliberate
determined effort to start living life
with a sense of urgency and using what
we’ve got using ourselves up sharing
what we brought into the universe to
share because if we don’t nobody else
will stop wasting valuable time knowing
that if we begin to live our lives as if
each day where our last our lives will
take off take on a whole new meaning
take on a whole new expression
valuing each moment that we are blessed
with the next thing that begins to
nurture that hunger out of yourself as
your word don’t give your word out
lightly when you throw your word out
there and you don’t honor it it makes a
statement about you if you decide to
maintain a sense of integrity with
yourself that if I speak it I’m going to
live it it’s Who I am
and I’m going to be very cautious and
how I give my word to others and most of
all were the commitments that I make to
myself because I want my life to reflect
my words and honoring Who I am and what
I expressed another challenging area in
terms of nurturing and developing that
hunger and yourself is learning the art
of becoming single-minded learning how
to concentrate learning how to focus in
and you’ll be surprised of the things
that you’re able to do when you learn
how to block things out when you learn
how to keep our eyes single you’ll be
surprised that the ideas that will come
to you of the people that you’ll be able
to attract of the opportunities that
you’ll be able to see you begin to see
things that’s been staying there looking
you in the faces I can’t believe this
has been here all this time
here’s a habit that I do maybe it might
be of some value to you I get up in the
morning and I start writing what great
ideas that I can think of today that can
improve me and that will enable me to
reach my goal and I just let my mind
flow sometimes I write 15 20 ideas some
days it’s more difficult than others one
idea can change your life one idea can
turn your life around deciding but you
gotta focus to develop your skills the
guy was was the new owner of a team a
team a baseball team that was in the
basement of the lead when he took it
over he went to the picture and he says
what is your best throw he said well I
got a good curveball and I’ve got a good
fastball he went on talking about his
different throws he said but tell me
this what is your best throw he thought
for a moment is that I’ve got a good
fastball he said that’s all I want you
to work on nothing else just develop
your fastball the next year they went to
the World Series most people don’t know
what their fastball is most people go
through life never discovering what
their talents are most people never
develop their talents they have skills
and abilities but if you don’t nurture
them if you don’t develop them they will
never serve you your gifts can take you
many places if you develop your gifts
most of us don’t like to do those things
that come too easy to us I’ve always
loved to talk to people I decided taking
this advice to develop my skills as a
seeker and my gift has developed and
developed and has taken me many places
you have something that you brought to
the universe and that if you decide that
my life deserves my developing this what
I do well
and becoming the best at it in mastering
myself and seeing what I have within me
if you decide to drop your buckets where
you are and develop your gifts I grant
you you will never ever be without I
grant you that your gifts will take you
places that will literally amaze you I
grant you that if you begin to work to
develop your gifts you develop a strong
sense of happiness you’ll get a larger
vision of yourself because part of
beginning to get a larger vision of
yourself all of us meet some area of our
lives
where we can have a feeling of
competence that people know when they
think about this area that’s something
you do that you eat and sleep that and
that you do that you do that people know
it and you know it and you know that you
know that you know this if you don’t
know anything else you know this can you
tell I know I know what I’m doing oh
hello you know this so you’ve got to
work on it when other folks are having a
good time you got to have this disguise
of character to concentrate to read to
digest information if you decide
any particular area that your concern
about to make a conscious deliberate
determined effort to read one book a
month in that area in five years you’ll
be among the top 5% experts in the world
I read a minimum of two books a week the
average American reads only one book a
year if you decide that area that you
love that you are going to master that
particular area in this era of
accelerated change overwhelming
complexity and tremendous competition as
you begin to develop and expand your
skills and your talents and your vision
of yourself you will always be in
control of your destiny
the next thing is whatever it is that
you want to do you want to do it
massively have a friend who was telling
me that his sales were down I said well
how many phone calls you make a day
he said 25 I said double them make 50 or
75 or 100 hits they’re all man that’s
just too much what do you mean too much
you behind on your bills you’re talking
about too much you know one way to get
back on your feet real quick is to miss
two car payments
you talk about your time there’s no
competition out here decide that you’re
going to push yourself most people won’t
do that most people give up on
themselves easily you know the human
spirit is powerful this nothing is
powerful it’s hard to kill the human
spirit
there’s Benjamin Disraeli a man who
became the head of a country at a time
when Jews were not allowed out after ten
o’clock is it hard to do it how do you
even give such great odds is that
nothing can resist the will of a people
that will stake even their existence on
the extent of their purpose for good but
when you have a made up mind when you
decide that you want to do something I
was reading something the other day he
said the power to hold on in spite of
everything the power to endure this is
the winners quality the hunger the
ability to face defeat again and again
without giving up this is a winner’s
quality you have that quality within you
when you’re hungry you don’t care about
the facts you don’t care about the odds
Doug Williams played for the Washington
Redskins quarterback John Elway of the
Denver Broncos and the Superbowl
everybody was talking about Elway Elway
after the Superbowl when Doug Williams
made a historic passing game asked him
said how are you able in spite of all of
that negative publicity saying that you
couldn’t win how did how did you do it
he said I ignored my critics I just
didn’t pay any attention to them I
ignored myself because they kept on
saying it so much there were times I
doubted whether or not I can do what I
needed to do there’s a Doug Williams and
everybody here there’s greatness in you
and you’ve got to learn how to tune out
the critics outside and the critic
inside
and since I’m going to do this I’m going
to harness my will and I’m not going to
let anything stop me I deserve this
I’m going to do it until and this way I
told him to start increasing your calls
I thought make a hundred calls a day I
got a countless in my ear my ear counted
doc you can’t see it but it’s there
[Applause]
his sales of increases he’s working
harder now the other thing is that if
you want something you have got to be
relentless you’ve got to learn how to
become resourceful you’ve got to learn
how to become creative when crises
strike in your life and in the Chinese
language crises mean danger but it also
means opportunity and this is an
opportunity for you to grow and you’ve
got to be so ridiculous regardless of
what comes down the pike that you’re
always looking for ways to get over
always looking for a way that you can
break through always looking for a way
that you can win always looking for ways
that you can strike a killing blow and
pretty soon I think there’s some people
watching us in the universe to say wait
let’s call a meeting over here you know
that guy Mustafa look hey man he won’t
stop just that fool don’t know you can’t
get over look look
look look look here why don’t we do this
let him go and let’s make mess with
somebody off yes
let him go life will just get cat or
whooping you sometimes and yes they left
just let this one go I believe this I
know what it told me this but I just
kept on kicking I didn’t have sense
enough to stop
I was intelligently ignorant I didn’t
know what I couldn’t do so I just tried
anything and the fascinating thing about
life because you can’t get out of it
alive you might as well have a good time
[Laughter]
have a good
[Music]
live your life with passion with some
Drive I was giving a seminar the other
day and I mentioned that I was going to
do some training in August with some
young teenagers who take about a hundred
away to a two or three day camp and wipe
them out I’ve been working on this so
after the speech what our parents walked
up to me at this mr. Brown I’d like to
you to do something for my son he’s not
motivated
[Laughter]
I said I wonder why
[Music]
I wonder what’s wrong with him
he had no fun whatsoever see what
what you do speaks are loudly PO can
hear what you say and so you don’t have
any fire you know you’ve got to watch
the people the relationships that you
develop have people of kindred mindsets
if you’re round folk who are dead and
negative all the time they will affect
you you want people that around you that
have smiles on their faces looking good
I was telling a group last week Abraham
Lincoln refused to hire guys because of
its faith if the guy can’t help but he
said anybody over 30 is responsible for
their faith if you have some depressing
face looking at you every day it affects
your blood pressure keep these dead
faces away from you it’s contagious
this is serious so you’ve got to watch
your countenance watch your faiths have
an uplifted expression watch your body
posture all of these things affect you
psychically you’ve got to be the kind of
person that you are fearless fearless
folk lead fearless people alone
now some people walk to a neighborhood
and every dog in the neighborhood would
walk out
but there some people come through ain’t
nobody gonna mess with this you are
unstoppable
and because you aren’t stoppable because
you’ve got power that you haven’t even
began to use yet you are to yourself to
release your brakes how many of you have
experienced pulling out of your drive
when your mashed on accelerator and the
car will just move and you mesh hard and
it couldn’t move and then you discovered
you had your emergency brakes on and
then you release those emergency brakes
the goals – have you ever had that
experience before most of us go through
life without brakes on calling back not
giving all that we have not sharing all
of ourselves most of us go to our grave
still holding on rather than releasing
it what are some of those things that
that keep us from releasing it because
of past experiences past Appice past
pain
we look back well it didn’t work out
then it probably won’t work out now many
people get confused their performances
with who they are they are I was reading
Pat Riley the coach of the Los Angeles
Lakers
[Music]
but you’re going to lock this quote here
after the Trail Blazers had blown them
out of the water and I’m sure he said
this last night they asked him says how
do you feel he said tonight we were
exposed for what we are right now you
see that if my speech tonight doesn’t
work it doesn’t mean that I’m a bad
speaker it means that what I did didn’t
work tonight and I’ve got to separate
what I do from Who I am and I’ve got
another shot see the last chapter to
your life has not been written yet and
it doesn’t matter about what happened
yesterday it doesn’t matter about the
things that you’ve done that you feel
guilty about if you wouldn’t do it today
you’re convicting an innocent person
you’ve been reborn to a new state of
consciousness and as they say if we knew
better we would do better and so you
would begin to decide I’m not going to
be tonight I remember and I was telling
someone and they asked me would you
repeat that again I was interested in
going into broadcasting I’m adopted and
that was my key out I wanted to make my
mama proud of me I was a proud I was
very much appreciative of what she has
done for my brother and sister and I and
that was my way out and I went over to
the radio station asked the guy that and
told him that I was interested in
broadcasting he looked at me and my
straw hat in my overalls
you said you have any broadcasting
background I said no sorry don’t what do
you do I cut glass young ladies after
what kind of work I do and I was working
on a garbage truck and say well I’m a
sanitary technician he said we don’t
have any job for you I decided that that
was something I was going to do I
decided I want to stop the book I’m
going to go up in here I’m going to do
this I started going to the radio
station every day developing a
relationship with the people that were
doing what I wanted to do and that’s
what I encourage you to do where
whatever area you want to go and find
people that are doing it the way you
want to do it and develop a relationship
with them when I decided to go on this
area I wrote letters to dr. norman
vincent peale
– Zig Ziglar – Denis Waitley all of the
Giants in this area and I said this is
something I wanted – I’ve been following
your career what you helped me dr.
norman vincent peale answered my letter
did an article on me wrote about me in
the most recent book that he issued and
done many broadcasts about me I’d wanted
to develop a relationship and rapport
with those people that were achieving
those things that I wanted to achieve by
the same token I would go to the radio
station and I developed a relationship
with the guys and they used me as the
errand boy they needed some food or
someone to go pick up entertainers that
came into town temptation singing my
girl Jerry Butler singing for your
precious love Sam Cooke singing darling
you send me I would pick up the
entertainers at the airport and driving
around in the disc jockeys big Cadillacs
didn’t have any driver’s license but I
was acting like a hat sir
[Music]
every day I used to go home and work on
my communication skills developing
myself it was Whitney Young he said it’s
better to be prepared for an opportunity
and not have one than to have an
opportunity and not be prepared start
working and developing yourself not and
prepare yourself for what it is that you
want because you expect to get it and
when the disk jockeys were in the
control room I would go in and watch
them and develop a trust level and they
would let me stay and I would watch and
observe them working the controls when
you want something out of life don’t
worry about how you’re going to get it
how is none of your business
the most difficult thing that is it’s
the whole division it’s the whole love
issue so there I was at the radio
station a guy was on there and he
started to drink by the name of rock I
was outside the window looking at him
and watch him hungry
and ready send ray kroc trained pretty
soon the phone rang it was a general
manager I said hello
he left this was mr. client I said I
know if that rock can’t finish his
program he’s slurring his words I said I
know can you work the controls until one
of the other disk jockeys come in would
you call them I said yes sir I hung the
phone up
I said now he must be think I’m crazy I
call my mom and my girlfriend Cassandra
said y’all come out on the front porch
and turn up the radio I about to come on
the air
[Music]
I waited by 15 minutes I call him back
as if it’s the climb I can’t find nobody
he said well why don’t you go and then
work your controls until they get there
and don’t say nothing here I said yes
sir I couldn’t wait to sit down at that
turntable Mustapha I said look out this
is me I’ll be trouble P Les Brown a plan
a plan Papa there will number for me and
there will be none after me therefore
that makes me the one and only
you’re insane don’t love Domingo
certified bonafide then DubLi qualified
to bring you satisfaction and a whole
lot of action look out baby I’m your
love man I was already
shake somebody’s hand on your right 11
state you’ve got to be hungry
where are y’all somebody else you want
to be persistent about what it is that
you want to achieve Alexander Graham
Bell said what this power is I cannot
say all I know is that it exists and it
becomes available only when a man or
woman is in that state of mind in which
he or she knows exactly what he or she
wants and is fully determined not to
quit until they find it when our
children are learning how to walk how
many times will your baby attempt to
walk and fall and you just think shuts
it down don’t try anymore you call it 20
times
just sit down somewhere busting your lip
and everything get them folks wait when
will the baby walk it will walk when it
was that’s when it will walk that’s
where will you be known nationally as
the motivator I will be known when I
know that’s what I’ll be known don’t get
caught up in well I’ve tried it four or
five times and things didn’t work out if
there’s something that you want and you
have home report you’ve got to do
whatever is necessary until and when you
give the best you can and that’s not
enough you must do what is required and
don’t give up on yourself don’t throw
the towel in so quickly many people give
up on the one-yard line we if they have
the determination just to keep on market
it’s a funny thing about life if you’re
home one day and someone is knocking on
the door and you say I don’t want to be
bothered today and if that person just
keep on knocking can you believe that
fool still knockin
pretty soon you say what is it what do
you want and that’s how you’ve got to be
about your dream
