doo-doo-doo doo-doo-doo-doo
good morning belief nation today’s
message is dream big over to you Robert
F Smith the first and foremost important
thing about running your own race is
dreaming big and here I’m called back to
my childhood when I was just starting
elementary school at that point in time
the Capri McCord had just ruled the
public school districts could pursued
the segregation by using forced busing
to achieve racial balance in their
schools in fact I started my own
education as a first grader being bused
to a school across town even though my
father was a principal at a school five
blocks away although I was a live
subject in one of the nation’s most
controversial legal debates I frankly
didn’t know what the big deal was all
about because these kids who didn’t look
like me as sure acted just like me but
desegregation was a big deal to my
parents and leaders of their generations
knew a great knew that great change was
in store and it was the right thing to
do and they often met with resistance
and often violent resistance but because
of this struggle their sacrifice I
received a great gift and that’s the
gift to dream big I knew my history I
remembered the pride of my mother
telling about when she took me and my
brother brought us back to Washington DC
and held me as a nine-month-old during
the march on Washington when Martin
Luther King laid out his dream for equal
and harmonious meritocratic America and
dreaming big to me meant knowing my
history but not being bound by it it
meant harnessing the past to drive me
into the future
it meant grounding myself and who I was
and where I came from so I could soar to
become who I wanted to become so what
you think I think about my own life so
when I was 15 years old I was working at
a Telemark
office downtown and I saw all these
beautiful buildings going up for
construction and these are all luxury
condos and I I mentioned it to one of my
colleague Isaac listen I would really
love to buy a place here in downtown
Toronto it looks a lot of fun and then
he said to me he’s like aw come on you
know how expensive those things are
people like us we can’t afford that so
maybe not and I’m like okay I was like
yeah maybe not because I actually you
know I come from a low-income
neighborhood my parents did not have a
lot of money coming to Canada so maybe
maybe that’s something that I can’t do
and maybe I should go back to living the
way I’ve always lived and not dream
about this condo but I continue to dream
and I continue to believe so I worked
really really hard I worked two jobs I
ate like canned beans and that’s about
that was it it saved a lot of money and
when I was 21 years old I bought a condo
downtown so I got my little little box
in the sky that I eventually sold
recently but that goes to show that
don’t be defined by where you’re from
just because I’m from a low-income
neighborhood working a telemarketing job
that’s not gonna be for me for the rest
of my life I could dream big I could
dream about living in the city and
affording something huge as long as I
work really hard at it but also it’s
important to remember where you’re from
because I’m from a low-income
neighborhood I know how to take really
good care of myself I know how to stand
up for myself I know what it takes to
work really hard but I don’t let that
hinder me and getting my goal but it
allows me to actually you know push
through and use that as motivation and
momentum for me I think it’s really hard
to break free of the chains of your
environment and one thing I love that
Lou said was her friend who said people
like us and I think that’s so common for
the people around you your parents your
friends your teachers everybody around
you and also yourself telling yourself
well I’m this so so people like me can’t
go off
and do that and as long as you continue
to believe that then then you’re gonna
have these moments of ah I could go off
and do that and then right away like
life is gonna smack you back down all
that limiting self-talk is gonna come
back to say people like me people like
us I can’t go off and do that and so I
think it’s really really really
important that if that is your
environment that you need to start
changing it you need to start thinking
about the videos you’re watching the
people are hanging out with and the
events that you’re going to how are you
spending your time and is it an
encouraging motivational environment
that helps you want to play out here or
is it the environment that keeps
bringing you back down to zero and I
think for most people we are just
defined by our environment you are
likely to you know be the same income
bracket as your parents work you adjust
for inflation have the same education
your parents were you know be in the
same life stage as all your friends are
and so it’s really hard to break free
until you start changing the environment
around so the question of the day today
is what is your big dream I love it
leave it down the comments below we’re
gonna join in the discussion thank you
guys so much for watching have an
amazing day we believe in you and hope
you continue to believe in yourself and
whatever your one word is and we’ll see
you again tomorrow morning for another
shot event sprats out
good morning belief nation today’s
message is dream big over to you Robert
F Smith the first and foremost important
thing about running your own race is
dreaming big and here I’m called back to
my childhood when I was just starting
elementary school at that point in time
the Capri McCord had just ruled the
public school districts could pursued
the segregation by using forced busing
to achieve racial balance in their
schools in fact I started my own
education as a first grader being bused
to a school across town even though my
father was a principal at a school five
blocks away although I was a live
subject in one of the nation’s most
controversial legal debates I frankly
didn’t know what the big deal was all
about because these kids who didn’t look
like me as sure acted just like me but
desegregation was a big deal to my
parents and leaders of their generations
knew a great knew that great change was
in store and it was the right thing to
do and they often met with resistance
and often violent resistance but because
of this struggle their sacrifice I
received a great gift and that’s the
gift to dream big I knew my history I
remembered the pride of my mother
telling about when she took me and my
brother brought us back to Washington DC
and held me as a nine-month-old during
the march on Washington when Martin
Luther King laid out his dream for equal
and harmonious meritocratic America and
dreaming big to me meant knowing my
history but not being bound by it it
meant harnessing the past to drive me
into the future
it meant grounding myself and who I was
and where I came from so I could soar to
become who I wanted to become so what
you think I think about my own life so
when I was 15 years old I was working at
a Telemark
office downtown and I saw all these
beautiful buildings going up for
construction and these are all luxury
condos and I I mentioned it to one of my
colleague Isaac listen I would really
love to buy a place here in downtown
Toronto it looks a lot of fun and then
he said to me he’s like aw come on you
know how expensive those things are
people like us we can’t afford that so
maybe not and I’m like okay I was like
yeah maybe not because I actually you
know I come from a low-income
neighborhood my parents did not have a
lot of money coming to Canada so maybe
maybe that’s something that I can’t do
and maybe I should go back to living the
way I’ve always lived and not dream
about this condo but I continue to dream
and I continue to believe so I worked
really really hard I worked two jobs I
ate like canned beans and that’s about
that was it it saved a lot of money and
when I was 21 years old I bought a condo
downtown so I got my little little box
in the sky that I eventually sold
recently but that goes to show that
don’t be defined by where you’re from
just because I’m from a low-income
neighborhood working a telemarketing job
that’s not gonna be for me for the rest
of my life I could dream big I could
dream about living in the city and
affording something huge as long as I
work really hard at it but also it’s
important to remember where you’re from
because I’m from a low-income
neighborhood I know how to take really
good care of myself I know how to stand
up for myself I know what it takes to
work really hard but I don’t let that
hinder me and getting my goal but it
allows me to actually you know push
through and use that as motivation and
momentum for me I think it’s really hard
to break free of the chains of your
environment and one thing I love that
Lou said was her friend who said people
like us and I think that’s so common for
the people around you your parents your
friends your teachers everybody around
you and also yourself telling yourself
well I’m this so so people like me can’t
go off
and do that and as long as you continue
to believe that then then you’re gonna
have these moments of ah I could go off
and do that and then right away like
life is gonna smack you back down all
that limiting self-talk is gonna come
back to say people like me people like
us I can’t go off and do that and so I
think it’s really really really
important that if that is your
environment that you need to start
changing it you need to start thinking
about the videos you’re watching the
people are hanging out with and the
events that you’re going to how are you
spending your time and is it an
encouraging motivational environment
that helps you want to play out here or
is it the environment that keeps
bringing you back down to zero and I
think for most people we are just
defined by our environment you are
likely to you know be the same income
bracket as your parents work you adjust
for inflation have the same education
your parents were you know be in the
same life stage as all your friends are
and so it’s really hard to break free
until you start changing the environment
around so the question of the day today
is what is your big dream I love it
leave it down the comments below we’re
gonna join in the discussion thank you
guys so much for watching have an
amazing day we believe in you and hope
you continue to believe in yourself and
whatever your one word is and we’ll see
you again tomorrow morning for another
shot event sprats out
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