basketball player track star harshly
manimals I find out that this Mark Spitz
for an example he’s a world champion but
what made him the world champion was
that he seemed to at the right time when
the pressures down at the last few yards
he can get that lead he’s got enough
left a million I found Ken Norton our
last fight the fight was even up into
the last round but I had something that
he didn’t have all I’m much older that
was the last minute kick what’s that
last minute kick is that something’s the
stamina the strength but more than
training the mental capacity mental
picture realized what’s involved and my
partner is naked by to do something is
really too tired to do your mind made
you do it
Mark Spitz the Seoul Olympic track star
was mentioning he wasn’t that much
greater than all the people in the world
was some time he won by just that much
and so no champion is just one who can
come out at the last minute and the
coals of show as I say the star close to
show a 1415 round fight and there’s even
and that usually this champion you can
depend on him to come to the last few
seconds and find some discipline not
only that it’s mental and physical again
where his body is in physical shape to
do it plus mentally to
he’s got himself a condition where both
fellas maybe sometimes the wheel can
outdo the skill and sometime the fellas
wheel is stronger than the man who is
actually better physically and the
determination and weakens the other man
just to see him so determined hits the
world has been deceived you listen to me
now never told you wrong the man don’t
hit hard he knocked Joe Frazier down six
time he got up six times Joe King Roman
is Tokyo Japan fight the Porto Rican
champion knocked him down three times he
jumped up three times he knocked Kidd
Norton down four times he jumped up four
times one of you ever saw the man say
seven eight nine ten count his man out
when I had started list of saikhan fight
he stayed out for the count of ten saw a
Foley stayed off for the count of ten
Cleveland Williams there for the count
of ten what do I have knocked out stay
down Sugar Ray Robinson knocked him out
for the count of 30 Joel Lewis Marciano
Jack Dempsey Jack Johnson Archie Moore
as a child they knock him out cold so
this man has never knock nobody out cold
he’s a bully he slowed he has no skill
no footwork he’s awkward and I had been
given him a name a name for our
Patterson the rabbit I named Sonny
listening to bear and he shall be known
as officially as The Mummy because he
fights when he’s fighting if you ever
watch him in the rain he he he he drags
[Music]
and how’s the mummy gonna catch me when
you’re fighting the mummy you just keep
a step ahead of the money
mummy I’m over here now are you moving
too fast the mummy don’t move ever do
you ever get frightened before a fight
you’re getting nervous I’m nervous we’re
not frightened I’m nervous because I
have a great insight on I just don’t see
the audience on every camera
I see millions of people like the Fraser
fight was watched by ten hundred million
people which is five times the
population of everybody in the United
States just a picture of Rina with 1
million people I met you couldn’t see
them all and just think about 100
million and ten hundred million and all
those people and everything that makes
me nervous just the idea of me just no
humble fella from Kentucky got lucky in
sports and now here’s the house a fight
was piped in and placed like Thailand to
the government house and Arabian the
government officials took time off to
watch the fight and just about two men
boxing
tracking so many people of all races and
nationalities and how I he understand
they they stopped closed all the
factories and the people they said
televisions on every street corner
people came out watching the fight on
the streets and every bar in America
every every house the traffic was still
doing that fight in Madison Square
Garden 10,000 people couldn’t get in and
just over one man and just imagine all
them people watching you that makes me
nervous until I get started and then
known as go
I’m thinking it’s so superior and what
now it is so popular and my logic and so
wise until it crashes with the mentality
which is down here a number there by me
being so high I can see more see father
knew and you looking at misses and you
want a job making 60 70 pounds a week
[Music]
never been out of the country not known
in his own neighborhood a lethal do it
well I’m in such a high level until I
don’t think with you I’m not like you
I’m not saying you I mean that on your
person
but you’re not but you know why they say
that and thanks for the best possible
reason so they have fear and they are
wearing looks looks dangerous to them
that’s not really the danger to me no
problem this will be the biggest upsets
and Sonny Liston and I think it is
befitting that I go out of boxing just
like I came in defeating a big
monster that nobody could destroy a hard
punch I’m the underdog if he hits me I’m
in trouble like the Sonny Liston fight
when I came back and I shook the world
and I got listed as ten years since
Sonny Liston I’m meeting another big bad
strong monster knockout artist and he
beats everybody something mr. knocked
out Patterson twice and I was opposed
all because you get hard but he couldn’t
find them be it George Foreman dr. Ken
Norton
knocked out Joe Frazier true I didn’t
knock him out I’m so fast and so hard
yet I’m so scientific I’m a totally
different man from Frazier Lord listen
David when I meet this man if you think
the world was surprised when Nixon
I’m telling you David I’m down to two
hundred and fifteen pounds right now
said it went to 15 I’m five weight
already I used to Train six weeks for
fight I’ve trained for months or so I’m
chopping trees I’ve done something
I believe you can tell what a whale out
of handcuffed lightning though Thunder
in jail now you know I’m bad on the last
week I murdered a rock into the stone
hospitalized a brick I’m so mean I make
goes like this people say what’s gonna
happen you meet Joe Frazier again here’s
how the fight sound on the radio for
those who who can’t afford to buy the
expensive theater sinks and the fight
goes like this Dean
Ali comes out to meet Frazier but Frey
just starts to retreat if Frazier goes
back an inch father you’ll wind up in
the rain sad see how these swings are
left all these swings on the right look
at the kids carry the fight Frazer keeps
backing but there’s not enough room it’s
a matter of time there are laws the
bloom now Ali lands on the right
what a beautiful swing and the puzzle is
Fraser still risin but the referee was a
frown for he can start counting till
Fraser comes back now Fraser disappears
from view the crowd is getting frantic
but I raid our station staff picked him
up he summarized over the Atlantic who
would have thought when they came to the
fight that they would have witnessed the
luncheon of a colored satellite I don’t
pay no attention to what they say about
me all I do is just do what I have to do
and get paid and that’s it but I don’t
really pay no attention to the rules of
boxing I don’t pay no attention I defy
all the rules I define I’ve added pages
to the book of boxes I have this game is
such a thing now until boxing promoters
can no longer afford my shows I have
governments like Iran ready to put up 10
million for me to fight Joe Frazier
I have governments like Cairo Egypt we
only put up six million with people like
Ron Lau I have countries all like all
back to your zyre talking to my Bhutto
he wants him back again they put up five
more million for retirement for one when
we talk about 10 million and 6 million
and 4 million this is unbelievable and
they don’t SPECT to get the money back
they’re promoting their countries and
their ideals
so I’ve like sales so in this sport of
boxing until Madison Square Garden is
too small
Yankee Stadium is too small the Houston
Astrodome the biggest promoters in the
wealth is Americans and Englishman’s you
can get for promotions cannot just
promote me no more you understand so
I’ve not only added pages to boxing but
added new sections to the boxing book
goodbye Dan stop talking now attention I
told you all of my critics I told you
all then I was the greatest of all time
be Thunder listen I told you today I’m
still the greatest of all time never
again defeat me never again say that I’m
gonna be defeated never again
that made me then the dog until I’m
about 50 years old then you might get me
but I didn’t dance I didn’t dance for a
reason I wanted to make him lose all his
power I kept telling me yet no punch he
couldn’t hit he’s swinging like a sissy
he’s missing
let me see you box I hadn’t started
dancing yet you can’t say my legs are
going you can tell was tired because
what happened I didn’t dance from the
SAC around old I stayed on the ropes
when I stay on the ropes you think I’m
doing bad but I want all boxers to put
this on the page about to stand on overs
is a beautiful thing with a heavy weight
when you make him shoot his best shots
and you know he’s not hitting here I’m
gonna gave jobs home with two rounds a
steady punching because out today he was
mine I want to say something right here
you all might this might make your old
faith life is not really long let’s say
there is person 30 years old
if you 30 years old you’re not but about
seven years old how can I prove it and
up all the seven eight nine hours you
slept for 30 years
out of 30 years out of all the night
last night when you went to bed and woke
up this morning you don’t remember a
thing you’ve been unconscious for about
eight years if you’re 30 years old you
step out eight years okay how much
traveling have you done in 30 years in
the television station to home to
another country to another city to
school to church you’ve probably
traveled two years your life will spin
just getting back and forth to where you
going so there’s eight years of sleep in
two years of traveling there’s 30 years
that you like before you accomplish
anything
how long do you sit in school in America
we stand school from the 12th grade from
the first grade to 12th grade same here
yeah
virtually six hours a day yeah six hours
a day for 12 years
break it down you set in the classroom
for
three years without leaving okay two
years of traveling eight years of
sleeping three years of school how many
movies if you went to how many rasuluh
matches how much entertainment
how many movie theatres live plays
baseball games probably two years of
entertainment so by the time of man you
older people norm bear with us I’m
saying but the time here have children
by the time you have made a way for your
children by the time you’ve paid for
your home you push in sixty years old so
life is real short you know I’m sure
Henry I’ll tell you anything phyto the
knows what’s happening
you really can’t plan to fight it when
you meet the man you never met before
right you just have to get your tools
ready here’s a car stops on the highway
they called a triple-a or whatever and
said my car’s broke down what is it lady
she don’t know us but well the man comes
with all the tools and he come equipped
to handle whatever the problem is
astronaut goes into space and he
pretends that something happens to just
ship before he take off he gets out and
he works on it he’s not looking for
something happen but it might happen so
I didn’t know I just had everything
ready now after the first round been
here with a top professional a man so
great had so many knockouts never been
defeated never been even scratched I
didn’t know really how good he was so I
had to come in after a little nervous
and with everything ready after one
round of deaths and I found out that
this would tide me out
so I would have to resort the ropes I
figured that out after the first round
so I said I’m gonna go to these ropes
and I’m gonna this man throw everything
he can’t let me tie myself out it might
look like he’s winning
if you don’t hurt him we’ll stay here
but if he should be as great as they say
he is if he hits as hard as they say he
hit when he hit you breaks your arm he
knocked out Joe Frazier I couldn’t do it
knocked out kidding on he was a big bad
job before the fight you remember and
they remember that don’t you
they don’t see that never he was a real
bad catch of the day right don’t forget
that now after I found out he didn’t
have it
I stayed that but if he had had what I
thought he had had or what they said
he’s here I’d have kept running hoping I
wouldn’t get tired whenever people fail
to achieve their goals 99.9% of time you
ask him why they’ll tell you it’s
because of a lack of resources that’s
what all these things are I didn’t have
the support right I didn’t have the
money we didn’t have the time we didn’t
have this we know that there’s a
resource that people believe is missing
and that resource belief structure then
keeps people from ever being able to
really lead because what leaders do is
they find a way to maximize whatever
resources they have has little as they
may be and they don’t believe in limited
resources I’ll give an example take a
business example to start with in 1974 I
gained eumseong Walton had built his
little company up he cable that idea
started with $20,000 and I think 1962 if
I remember right but by 1974 within 12
years he had 78 stores and you know I
did it in the middle of the night he
drive across border and he’d go and
study other people’s stores
he’d buy everything the cheapest he
could in the middle of the night he’d go
to the people’s stores whatever was
working he figured out success leaves
Clues he came back and did in his store
whatever was working in any store in any
competitor anywhere he could do it he
did it so he forgot to maximize the
little resources he had his twenty
thousand build 78 stores and if you read
any of the people following him the
company’s gone public in that year they
were all saying this is it
he’s maximized his resources I mean only
have so much money there’s only so many
cities that are gonna appeal to this
discounting mentality right this is it
this is all he can do and the word on
Wall Street was self
now what’s interesting is at that time
you look at Sears and Kmart and they
were gargantuan companies weren’t that
20 30 40 50 times a hundred times his
size or more probable and at that time
they were the leaders and they knew
what’s gonna happen but two things
change yes or no
did he suddenly get mass amounts of
capital no here’s what they didn’t
understand Sam Walton now or the Walton
organization Walmart is the most
successful retailing operation on earth
and when you talk about Bill Gates being
the richest man in the world that’s only
true because Sam’s fortune has divided
up amongst a bunch of different family
members you put them together they dwarf
Bill Gates Sam Walton did this how did
he do it what people underestimated is
that this guy could go to 4,400 stores
do 250 billion
where’s Kmart today and they’ve been
shrinking all the mature inking and he’s
the dominant force on earth here’s the
thing he understood resources are
interesting but the ultimate resources
are the feelings of emotion that make
you resourceful think of it this way
resourcefulness is the ultimate resource
what do I mean what are the emotions
that make all this possible what’s the
fuel that takes an idea from being in
your head well you intellectually know
what to do how many got an idea for
example was a great idea you’re excited
about it and then you didn’t do anything
one day there you saw it on the Shelf
you saw it somewhere someone stole your
idea how many have this happened say I
the only one seeing you and that person
was not that they had more resources
they were more resourceful when people
are beset with a catastrophe like let’s
say the death of their father that they
are prone to use that as an excuse for
not going about the business that they
should be going about because they can
say to themselves well I would accept
and accept there’s always good reasons I
mean believe me there’s always good
reasons for not doing what you should
that’s for sure the reasons pile up day
after day to not do what you should
especially because you’re you’re aiming
at things in the future you can put them
off and definitely right because of the
demands of the day like there’s no
excuse whatsoever for not getting at
what it is that you should be doing
it’s absolutely reprehensible to justify
your in action with a catastrophe that
extracts mercy from other people right
there’s a tricky tricky game that’s
going well of course I can’t do that
look at the terrible thing that’s just
happened to me and see how okay I
understand you’re absolved of any
necessity to move forward
because of your current catastrophe it’s
like well actually you’re not and it’s
rather rude of you to use it as an
excuse and it’s certainly
counterproductive the bravery and
discipline to say no to you to your many
good opportunities what destroys a great
company is actually opportunity bloating
too many good opportunities so literally
you diffuse your team’s
bandwidth and you get distracted and you
see with so many companies right now
they they sort of found their sweet
pocket and they were absolutely winning
in their marketplace and they decided to
go hmm we’ve got this app that is really
changing the game and owning the
marketplace let’s get into food delivery
let’s get into this let’s get into that
it happened to General Electric as well
and you probably know they decided at
one point if we can’t be one or two in
any market we’re gonna get out of that
market that’s the key point I’m trying
to make no you’re mighty mission no your
monomaniacal focus and then have the
discipline to say no to everything else
so you can lock and load on your finest
opportunity to completely change the
game I was 25 or so I probably weighed
about 138 pounds I smoked like a pack of
cigarettes day I drank tremendous amount
of alcohol I was from northern Alberta
this rough little town up and northern
Alberta called Fairview and you know
there were long winters there and my
friends were heavy drinkers and most of
them dropped out of school by the time
they were 15 or 16 went off to work on
the oil rigs and you know it was a rough
town and we drank a lot I started when I
was 14 and you know and so I was I had a
lot of bad habits let’s say and things
that were and I wasn’t in great shape
physically and I was also still
intellectually obsessed by as I am now
and so that would have been that would
have been in 85 but when I but I decided
around that about 85 84 or something
like that maybe a little earlier that I
was really going to try to get my act
together and so I started doing that I
you know I first of all I quit smoking
well that took a long time because I
eventually had to quit drinking to in
order to quit smoking and I started
working out starting playing sports
which I’d never done I had a fine time
when I was a kid and but I needed really
to get disciplined and I had to do it
because I was working on these hard
problems that you know that I’ve been
discussing with all of you and I’d been
working on them really you know
obsessively since I was probably about
eighteen maybe even earlier than that
got to the point around 25 when I was in
graduate school trying to get my PhDs
doing all my research that guy published
15 papers by the time I graduated with
my PhD which was by I think by a fairly
large measure the most papers that any
graduate student at that time had ever
published at McGill I think that’s right
might have been twice as many or maybe
twice as many maybe even three times as
many and at the same time I wrote maps
of meaning which was a terrible terrible
terribly difficult thing to do because I
was writing about three hours a day
doing that and I couldn’t do all that
and continue with my misbehavior you
know my sort of my what would you say my
why my hedonistic my hedonistic my
massive hedonistic consumption of
alcohol and all of that I just couldn’t
keep it up and also work seriously on
the issues that were at hand so you know
I had to stop now it’s a sacrifice I had
to stop I’m the kind of person that
believes you should always make
decisions with your heart and soul you
can use your brain for math you can use
your brain to look at the fine print in
a contract but when it comes to the
actual feel of the decision you always
want to go inward and check it against
your heart and soul how do you do that
here’s the simple test does the decision
that you’re about to make expand you
expand your future or expand the
possibilities of your life if the answer
is yes then the decision is yes no
matter how terrifying it is if you
conversely look at the choice that you
have to make and the decision will
shrink you will silence you will inhibit
you in some way
then the answer is no no matter how easy
the decision is no matter how safe the
decision is the answer is no now one of
the things I want to point out that when
you start to use this does it expand or
does it shrink me
does it open possibilities or does it
keep things closed does it raise my
voice or does it silence me right is
that there’s always a short-term and a
long-term impact to the decision the
short-term impact to making an expansive
decision a decision that’s based in your
heart your soul sometimes it’s
terrifying
because sometimes it means moving or it
means changing a job or changing a
relationship or having a difficult
conversation or starting something new
and those sorts of things are always
uncomfortable so brace for impact
put the force fields up but make the
decision anyway because the long-term
impact of making a decision from your
heart and soul that is where the best
life comes from because you’re living
for what’s true for you you’re actually
tougher than you think you never knew
that and maybe you didn’t want to take
on the responsibility because you know
people play a role in their own demise
so to speak when you had opportunity to
go out and explore or withdraw because
you were afraid you chose to withdraw
because you were afraid so it’s not only
that you were over protected often it’s
that you were willing to take advantage
of the fact that you were over protected
and run back there whenever you had the
opportunity you know so maybe you’re a
kid in the playground right and you’re
having some trouble with other kids and
you know in the back of your mind I
should deal this with deal with this
myself but you go and tell your mom and
get her to intervene and you know that
that’s not right you know that you’re
breaking the social contract but it’s
easier and so that’s what you do you run
off to an authority figure and hide
behind the Great Father right roughly
speaking well the problem with that is
you don’t learn how to do it yourself
so then you have to relearn it painfully
when you’re 40 so then you take people
out you say well what are you afraid of
rank it from 1 to 10 so 10 is make a
list of 10 things you’re afraid of the
least the thing you’re least afraid of
will call No
10 so we’ll start with that okay well
I’m afraid of elevators ok well let’s
let’s look at a picture of an elevator
let’s have you imagine being in an
elevator let’s go out to an elevator and
let you watch the terrible jaws of death
open because that’s how you’re
responding to it symbolically right and
you’re gonna do that at it at the the
closest proximity you can manage you
find out you go do that it works you’re
nervous as hell especially an from an
anticipatory perspective shaking you go
out you stop you watch it happen and you
actually calm down you do that 10 times
it no longer bothers you well what
you’ve learned that you didn’t die but
more importantly than that you’ve
learned that you could withstand the
threat of death that’s what you’ve
learned and then you move a little
closer and then you move a little closer
and then you move a little closer and
finally you’re back in what’s no longer
the elevator from a symbolic perspective
it’s a tomb right it’s it’s it’s a place
of enclosure and isolation and you learn
hmm turns out I can withstand that and
then you’re met much more together much
more confident and that’s often one of
the things that often happens in
situations like that I’ve seen this
multiple times is that if you run
someone through an exposure training
process like that and and toughen them
up they’ll often start standing up to
people around them in a way they never
did before
well gerbera the guy that wrote the
e-myth you know talks about why so many
businesses young businesses fail and one
of these things he says is most people
are not really entrepreneurs but they
think that’s what they should be they
think that’s the sexy thing that’s the
most attractive thing that’s the best
answer and what I say to you is you’ve
got to separate the vehicle from the
outcome what is it that’s gonna truly
fulfill you what is it that’s gonna give
you that extraordinary life what’s gonna
make things magnificent on your terms
not somebody else’s terms not your
father your mother your background what
is that really separate the vehicle
there’s many ways to get to that vehicle
but I’m saying sometimes you got to
reevaluate what’s gonna really make you
fulfill what is your gift are you an
artist are you the talent can produce
something no one else produces as a
skill or a product
of us or some impact are you incredibly
good at management you really know how
to manage or lead people are you an
extraordinary entrepreneur that has can
take that gigantic gut load of risk and
can create the vision and attract the
talent that you need and the managers
and leaders you may have all three
abilities but which one really fulfills
you the most is gonna be the critical
question because we tend to want to do
them all especially the room like this
because you’re all overachievers right
me too and you say I can do all these
yes you can but what will it do to your
quality of life see again the secrets
gonna be this what is an extraordinary
life on your terms today and remember
being in Soho New York and I walked into
one of the stories that I bought a coat
and I was leaving on an airplane for
home later that day and I asked the
person who was taking care of me I said
is it possible that’s a great respectful
way to ask for something is it possible
to get this coat hemmed and adjust it a
little bit for me and he and and I said
the thing is that I’m leaving later
today and he looked at me and I’ve never
forgotten it because we all have these
people in our lives who say one thing or
show up in a certain way and they stay
with us for the rest of their lives and
he said to me these words he said it I’d
love to do that for you I’d love to do
that for you and again the whole brain
type – I’m trying to deconstruct here is
make your I can larger than your IQ you
know I remember being in Prague and I
asked someone on the other again I spent
a lot of time in hotels and I said is it
possible to do this and here was the
reply on the other end of the phone I
think was someone from the front desk or
maybe it was room service and I try to
eat as clean as possible so probably it
was a request could I have olive oil and
fresh lemon or lemon as the salad
dressing and here’s the reply and just
really lovingly and respectfully and
hopefully fluently and
bringing this leadership inside home to
you I said is this possible and his
reply was anything is possible
so it’s really easy to get seduced and
stuck into a mindset of can’t you know
someone says let’s start a new business
someone says here’s a great poetic
project that if we release it to the
world will help us own our marketplace
and it sounds very obvious again but ask
yourself this is your default reply a
symptom of a mindset of Kant or do you
have a mentality of possibility when
someone says here read this book do you
shift into Kant or can when someone says
hey you know what I’m amped to run a
marathon you go I can’t is that your
default setting in your neurobiological
hardwiring or do you go absolutely or
I’d love to do this you know it’s really
really important and that is one of the
core distinctions of leadership isn’t it
success and failure are not giant events
they don’t just show up you don’t just
suddenly become successful or suddenly
have this cataclysmic event that makes
you fail may look that way but fail your
condiments of all the little things its
failure to make the call its failure to
check the books its failure to say I’m
sorry its failure to push yourself to do
things physically that you don’t want to
do and all those little failures day
after day come together until one day
some cataclysmic event happens you blame
that that event happen because you
missed all the little stuff do you agree
with me and success by the way is not
some overnight event it’s all these
little things success is having a vision
success is making a compelling success
is really seeing it feeling it every day
was strong enough for reasons success he
is feeling the sense that I’m here to
grow and I’m here to give something to
the world more than just myself all the
little stuff that’s where success comes
from in business it comes from
delivering more than anybody could
imagine all those little things add up
people go wow that’s who I want to do
business with very great hero was broken
if you were look at Nelson Mandela he
suffered more than most people if you
look at mother Teresa she went through
incredible adversity over the course of
her journey if you were to study Mahatma
Gandhi Nelson Mandela Rosa Parks
Shakespeare and Tolstoy if you look at
any great artist a Picasso jean-michel
Basquiat if you look at the great world
builders they all suffered let let me
put it to you this way with great love
and respect they all out suffered the
majority and what I’m suggesting to you
is pain can be transformed into power
with the intention to transform pain in
the power you see what most people do is
this is why most good people lose they
stumble and they fall and they become
heartbroken or disappointed by life’s
challenges that happens to every single
one of us I mean just to be very
authentic as I always want to be in
these mastery sessions episodes I’ve
gone through a lot of hardship in my
life when I was you know going through
school very few people believed in me
and I was dismissed and called very very
average and the principal at the school
I was at said you’re not even gonna get
into university and you might know my
backstory on the monk who sold his
Ferrari but that was a self-published
book and I was at the American
Booksellers conference in Chicago with a
cover of one of my books over my around
my neck shaking hands with all the
agents that were coming up the escalator
and when I was a self-published author
and I used to go into bookstores and say
would you take three copies of my book
I’ll sign them could you put it on the
shelf and I was treated rudely and I was
laughed at and I was on radio shows and
I was ridiculed and then I’ve gone
through a lot of personal pain in my own
life and I’ve been on the top of the
mountain of victory and I must tell you
I have walked the lonely path in the
darkness in the valley of darkness
but roomy the great philosopher said it
so beautifully
he said allow your heart to be broken
over and over and over until it opens
and what I’m suggesting to you is really
to dial into this insight all great
heroes have been broken but rather than
blaming 27 years in imprisonment in the
case of Nelson Mandela rather than
blaming his naysayers and his detractors
in the case of a mahathma gandhi rather
than saying life is hard why isn’t isn’t
greatness easy in the case of a mother
Teresa or Martin Luther King jr. rather
than saying why did this happen to me in
the case of Rosa Parks who refused to
give up her seat to someone on a bus
because she was being treated like a
second-class citizen because of the
color of her skin these great ones all
had one thing in common they leveraged
their pain and the power they turned
their tragedies into victories
if you concentrate solely on your career
you can get a long way into your career
and I would say that that’s a strategy
that a minority of men preferentially do
but that’s all they do they worked like
70 80 hours a week they go flat out on
their career they’re staking everything
on small probability of exceptional
status in a narrow domain but it’s it’s
hard on them they don’t have a life it’s
very difficult for them to have a family
they don’t know how to take any leisure
activity like they get very
one-dimension now it may be that that
unit dimensionality is the price you
have to pay to be exceptional at one
thing right because if you’re going to
be something like a genius level
mathematician and you want to do that
for a scientist say it’s like you’re in
your lab you’re in your lab all the time
you’re working 70 hours a week or 80
hours a week you’re smart you’re
dedicated your unit dimensional and
that’s how you get to beat all the other
people who are doing that it’s the only
way but the problem you
you don’t get life now if you love being
a scientist and you have that kind of
focus of mind well first of all you’re a
rare person and second you’re gonna pay
for it but find more power to you but
but it’s a it’s a risky business to do
that you sacrifice a lot for it you know
and I would say most often if you’re
speaking about having a healthy life
that isn’t what you do you spread
yourself out more so you know you have a
family you have some things that you do
outside of work that are meaningful to
you and useful you you have a network of
friends that that those three things
alone are four things alone are plenty
to keep you well oriented and then if
one of those things collapses
you know everything doesn’t go now the
price you pay for that is the more you
strive to optimize that balance the less
likely you are to be fantastically
successful at any single one of them but
you might have a very you know if you
consider your life as a whole that might
be a winning strategy leverage is
critical you know I get so much done
because I don’t just get it done I know
the outcome I know the purpose and I
look for leverage leverage is different
than delegation what’s problem with
delegation delegation is you eivol that
needs to be done so you give it to
someone else and you tell their needs to
be done and when they don’t do it you’re
pissed off leverage says I can move the
biggest Boulder in the world with a
little bit of effort and I get something
I can do it with and I’m still part of
it so leverage is if I’m gonna leverage
something here with Tom I’m gonna make
sure Tom understands the what the
outcome I wanna make sure time
understands the purpose the why and the
action but I might say to Tom if you get
this done without this action or better
actually go for a baby and I want to
talk to you on this date we got a
promise and we’re gonna check in before
it’s needed so there’s no surprises if
you have a problem come back to me cuz
we’re partners on this
now I call leverage and you know what I
do when I have no time there is time I
just got to leverage it now saying say I
have no one to leverage it to you know
Shane over here right I got stuff he
wants to do can’t leverage it but
Shane’s answer was hire somebody then he
thinks about what it’s gonna take and
goes 125,000 dollars can’t do that now
he’s getting caught up in one way to get
the outcome leverage Yoshi was listening
goes what if I got somebody who 20% of
this stuff I got I could spend 20 grand
to get that much freedom I can pay 4
times 10 and if I really productive my
productivity shouldn’t enhance the world
my way my clients and customers but it
should provide jobs for other people and
if there’s anything you hate to do it’s
because you’re either ineffective at it
or you don’t think it’s very important
but it is urgent so you to hire somebody
for those things and ideally somebody
who loves that job you’re never gonna
grow when your time is eaten up for
activities that aren’t that important
activity without high levels of purpose
is the drain of your fortune do it now
and he can’t get her all about you a
part of it now leverage is power it was
the night it was the night before we
were putting drywall in our house we
were redoing a house and he had put in
all the plastic piping you know and I
was gonna test the joints steel are
supposed to be glued together with this
pipe glue right and I said I told him I
had to test the joints and he said well
you don’t have to test my joints they
never leak and I thought yeah that’s
okay
how about if I test them so I went up on
the third floor and filled the pipes
with water capping them in the basement
like you’re supposed to and like half an
hour later had two inches of water in
the basement there were 30 leaking
joints that was the night before the
drywallers were supposed to show up so
well so he wasn’t particularly competent
that’s the point of that story but even
more so he had put a bunch of the
plastic pipe outside where the drywall
would be so it would have been sticking
through the wall so I spent a frenetic
night you know sawing through plastic
pipe and reglue in joints so that my
hope well so that the dry rollers could
come in what’s the point if you’re going
to be a plumber man be a good plumber
because otherwise all you do is go out
there and cause trouble we don’t need
people to cause more trouble we need
people to solve problems you know and so
you can be a tradesman and you can be
can make a lot of money as it trades for
it’s a bloody reliable honorable
forthright productive way of making a
living and there is a hell of a lot of
difference between a working man who
knows what he’s doing and one who
doesn’t both in terms of skill and
ethics right and you work with someone
who knows what they’re doing it’s a
bloody pleasure they tell you what
they’re gonna do they tell you how much
it will cost they go and do it it works
and you pay them perfect everyone’s
happy and that’s what happens when you
have genuine hierarchies of competence
and so you to listen to these panderers
of egalitarian gely egalitarianism and
equity and they fail to recognize
completely that there are differences in
rank between people it’s not such a
terrible thing man maybe you wouldn’t be
a great lawyer
like it’s certainly possible most people
aren’t but that doesn’t mean there isn’t
something you could be great at there’s
lots of hierarchies to attempt to climb
and if you fail in one go try in another
but the point is you’re still trying to
aim for the top and what the hell are
you gonna do if you don’t try to aim for
the top you know flap about uselessly
and whine about your life it’s not
helpful they’ll just make you miserable
you’re not reliable to anyone you can’t
help out in a crisis it’s like so you
tell young people and this is another
message for conservatives like I don’t
care what you’re gonna do but go out
there and make something of yourself for
God’s sake be an honest person and work
and get to the top of whatever it is
that you want to get to the top of you
know and and and and that you stand up
for yourself like a respectable human
being and be a bit of a light on the
world instead of a blight you know and
you can tell young people that and they
haven’t been told that by anyone now and
so the young men are so hungry for that
that it’s it’s painful to watch
they’re so relieved when finally someone
finally comes up and says hey you know
you you get your act together a bit
discipline yourself see if you can learn
to tell the truth concentrate on
something for a year or two you could be
a bloody world beater they think really
that’s possible wow that would be that
would be interesting that might make
life or life worth living it’s like yeah
it might so why don’t you go do it
that’s what the damn universities were
supposed to be teaching people they’ve
forgotten that I went to Harvard month
ago month and a half used to teach there
and I talked to a bunch
students you know what I told them it’s
not easy to get into Harvard you know
like you’re a valedictorian if you’re at
Harvard and not only are you a
valedictorian you’re way better than
most people at at least two other things
or you don’t get in and so that gets I
don’t know what the acceptance rate is
like 5% and believe me not everybody
applies so it’s a very selective school
and so why am I saying that it’s like
these are high quality kids so I told
them what I just told you it’s like here
you are at Harvard like get yourself
educated man read some books learn to
talk learn to think make yourself into
something get the hell out there and
make the world that put you here happy
that you were put there in that great
institution you know and they came up to
me afterwards and said god I wish
someone would have told us that when we
were in our first year it’s like Jesus
why didn’t someone tell them that for
God’s sake it’s supposed to be the
greatest university in the world is it
so difficult to figure that out that’s
what I’ve created from my life and
anyone I know succeeded I’m a 17 year
old kid from Azusa California with no
real education other than self education
with no background with parents that did
their best all of them with no money but
I did one thing I love people and I had
an enormous demand I made it by myself I
sculpted my mind and my emotions to get
me to do whatever it would take to
achieve and to contribute but to do that
I did it by using my body and changing
my focus
I did it by putting myself in a peak
physiology and using what I call
incantations can you train yourself to
believe something yes or no absolutely
how many have ever made the fatal
mistake of going to Disneyland or Disney
World and while you’re there made the
fatal mistake of going to a ride called
it’s a small world after all what
happens for about a week after you’re
out of that damn place you’re still
singing this thing in your hand in 24
languages right let me tell you
something how many of you have things
when you want to achieve them and this
part of your voice goes oh it’s not
gonna happen or forget it I’ve got a
voice that sometimes interrupts that
good pattern say I what you want to do
is train a new one so starting when I
was 17 I started doing incantations not
affirmations affirmation you go on happy
I’m happy
what’s the problem you haven’t changed
your what your what physiology if you
don’t change your physiology you will
get anything so an incantation only you
speak it but you embody what you’re
saying with all the intensity you can
and you do it with enough repetitions
that it sticks in your head like it’s a
small world now the conversation your
head is always the same and it gives you
what you want so use your body and your
voice so 17 years ago I started doing
things I was working for Jim Rohn the
speaker and I was 17 years old I had
long hair minestrone soup acne on my
face and I was trying to call on Bear
Stearns type of people and convince them
why don’t you go to this man seminar be
more successful I was driving a 1968
Volkswagen I’d earned it $40 a week as a
janitor the only way I did it was parked
far from the building and then go in and
I love people I believe but I put myself
in state and I was able to influence
people that were far more successful I
was at the time I will do something that
I still do backstage and have done for
23 years because I don’t hope I’m gonna
be in a good State I demand it so I do
an incantation using my whole body it’s
a now command my subconscious mind to
direct me and helping as many people as
possible live today to better their
lives they gave me the strength the
emotion the persuasion the humor the
brotherly whatever it takes
you surely feel and get these people to
change your lives now
I would do that literally driving in my
Volkswagen to a meeting in LA on a
freeway for 40 minutes people I’m
screaming to flap my lungs they’re going
I know he’s a serial killer I know he is
but by the time I entered that room when
two people meet if there’s rapport the
person who’s most certain I was probably
certain and they were trying to get
revved up to certainty do you agree with
this yes or no I do another one because
I was poor I changed my mindset I kept
doing things but I never got beyond it
I’d say gods wealth is circulating in my
life as well flows to me an avalanche is
of abundance all my needs desires and
goals are met instantaneously by
infinite intelligence or I’m one with
God and God’s everything and I would
imagine the abundance of my life and I
would feel so grateful and healer I went
for making thirty eight thousand dollars
a year to make a million dollars a year
and one year
what did Beckett say I can’t go on I’ll
go on so even if I don’t burn in your
hearts and minds long after this speech
is over even if I don’t inspire you to
reach for the stars and beyond even if I
am erased from your memory after one
glass of wine tonight where am I going
you know I won’t speak of my time here
like some old fisherman you have already
had your time here you have your own
story to tell but I have to say for me
it did start here in Vermont on a very
rainy night it was 1987 and I was a
prospective student the rain was coming
down so hard it was impossible to see
that I was meeting the person who would
later become my greatest friend and
collaborator a freshman who would 17
years later and introduced me to the
woman that became my wife it was late at
night on the road right there near booth
house and despite the dark night and the
heavy rain this place was so alive the
lights pulsed from each of the dorms now
I was a kid from New Jersey who went to
an all-boys Catholic High School I was 4
foot something I mumbled when I spoke
[Music]
there are not shinier more important
people out there your fellow students
your friends sitting around you are as
good as it gets 22 years after my own
graduation I have worked with my rainy
night friend and fellow graduate Sherm
on countless productions
he has written in all stages of
development from living rooms to
off-broadway Brooks Ian Justin breath
John Matthews Jim Shawn Hilah Nikki and
abhi are all classmates
I shared my time with here and still
work with and I’m lucky to call my
friends we are very spoiled here people
always say to me for such a small school
I find that really interesting and I
kind of think that’s perfect we can’t
help it we burn very brightly please
graduates now when I sat where you are
right sitting right now I had so many
dreams of where I wanted to go who I
wanted to be and what I wanted to do
theater companies I wanted to start with
classmates movies I wanted to be in
directors I wanted to work with stories
I weeded to tell it might take a little
time I thought but it would happen when
i sat there excuse me
22 years ago what I didn’t want to think
what I would have to start to do
tomorrow and I graduated in 1991 a great
year a time of resurgence for
independent films in this country a time
of relatively affordable rents in New
York City as he I assumed that I could
make a living writing my plays acting
way off off off Broadway and hopefully
you know one day join the actors I loved
and respected in those independent films
TV Oh what no what are you kidding me no
didn’t even consider that I had much
more class than that much more
self-respect than that so what I didn’t
have was cash a bank account a credit
a big hungry growing larger every moment
dead so as you will tomorrow I had to
leave beautiful Vermont I packed the
life that I knew with socks and a
toothbrush into my backpack and I slept
on couch after couch after couch after
couch at friends apartments in New York
until I wore out their rent paying
roommates welcome I didn’t want a day
job I was an actor I was a writer I was
a Bennington graduate I had to get a day
job I dusted pianos at a piano store on
Ludlow Street for five months I worked
on the property of a Shakespeare scholar
for a year pulling weeds and removing
bees nests I went on unemployment once
but for not for long I couldn’t handle
eventually I was able to pay rent for a
spot on the floor of an apartment on the
Lower East Side but my roommate had a
breakdown and disappeared he later
resurfaced in a religious cult I’m
making this sound romantic
I helped hang paintings at galleries
paintings that inspired inspire you to
and then finally after two years of job
and couchsurfing I got a job in
application processing as a data in
juror at a place called professional
examination services and I stayed for
six years six years longer than my time
at Bennington from the age of 23 to 29
well they loved me there I was funny I
wore black no cape no tights I smoked in
the loading docks with the guys from the
mailroom and we shared how hungover we
all were I called in sick almost every
Friday because I was out late the night
before I hated that job and I clung to
that job because of that job I could
afford my own place my rent was $400 a
my dream of running a theater company
with my friend and fellow Bennington
graduate Ian Bell had died I won’t go
into those details but neither one of us
had any business sense and the theater
we lived in it had no heat or hot water
we didn’t smell very good
but we had our youth that youth gets old
very quickly you’ll see so Ian moved out
to Seattle and I moved up to the street
to my loft and I still didn’t have heat
in 1993 industrial loft meant not legal
to live there see I don’t want this to
sound cool and I feel like it’s sounding
cool adlib but I did have hot water
mm-hmm
hot water in my bathroom which a friend
of mine using said bathroom once shouted
it smells exactly like a summer camp in
here it was true for some reason in the
middle of Brooklyn there was earth in my
actual earth and then look mushrooms
growing from the earth but I was safe
though the ideal fire control company
was right across the street where they
make all the chemicals that put out
chemical fires I did not fear a chemical
fire I would be okay and all those
chemicals in the air were okay too
because up the street we had the spice
factory they made spices and that just
covered everything up in a nice human
scent I had a rat but that was okay
because I got a cat his name was Brian
[Music]
my grandmother had given me a pink
pull-out couch
I had only the one window I myself could
not look out the window
it was it was quite high so I had no
heat no girlfriend what are you kidding
me no thing agent I stayed for ten years
when I was 29 I told myself the next
acting job I get no matter what it pays
I will from now on for better or worse
be a working actor and now I didn’t have
either the internet or a cell phone or a
job but something good happened I got a
low-paying theater job in a play called
imperfect love which led to a film
called 13 moons with the same writer
which led to other roles which led to
other roles
but I didn’t know that would happen at
29 walking away from data processing I
was terrified ten years in a place
without heat
six years at a job I felt stuck in maybe
I was afraid of change
are you my parents didn’t have much
money but they struggled to send me to
the best schools and one of the most
important things they did for me and
graduates maybe you don’t want to hear
this is that once I graduated I was on
my own
financially it was my turn but this made
me very hungry
I couldn’t be lazy now I’m totally lazy
but back then I couldn’t be
and so at 29 and a very long last I was
in the company of the actors and writers
and directors I’d sought out that first
year that first day after school I was I
am by their sides raised the rest of
the moments that define you have already
happened and they will already happen
again
and it passes so quickly so please bring
each other along with you everyone you
need is in this room these are the
you you just get a bit derailed but soon
something starts to happen trust me a
rhythm sets in just like it did after
your first few days here just try not to
wait until like me you’re 29 before you
find it and if you are that’s fine too
some of us never find it but you will I
promise you you are already here that’s
such an enormous step all its own you’ll
find your rhythm or continue the one you
I’ve already found don’t wait until they
tell you you are ready get in there
sing the world might say you are not
allowed to yet I waited a long time out
in the world before I gave myself
please don’t even bother asking don’t
bother telling the world you already
ever tried ever failed no matter
Bennington class of 2012 the world is
yours treat everyone kindly and light up
the night thank you so much for having me here