see it until you’re willing to be
committed to it when I didn’t have
anything
Church in having any members I’d get off
work we’re working a car back and drive
up the rules and work on the church till
didn’t have any clothes suits was
falling off me bland and warmer clothes
could send him to the cleaners had to
wash my suit and the washing machine
they blasted me look like old raggedy
preacher
[Music]
to me they said that boys lost his mind
it’s not going to be easy
it was hard laying on the floor of the
Penobscot building looking out of the
window daydreaming saying les can you do
this can you make this happen I used to
listen to tapes day in and day out about
see you at the top don’t let nobody
steal your dream I used to ask myself
can I do this and something said within
me you’re the one you’re the one now let
me tell you something ladies and
gentlemen
while you here and before you go back
home to your respective cities and
communities write down at least five
reasons on why you deserve your dream
and why you won’t give up what’s going
to make you unstoppable why you must be
unreasonable because logical practical
thinking says you can’t do it today but
if you want to produced unreasonable
results in your life like living a dream
and taking charge of your destiny you’ve
got to be an unreasonable person you’ve
got to be an uncommon person
why do you want the workout what is your
the most important thing is that you
have a vision did you have a corn
because without that vision and without
that core again you’re drifting around
people don’t become successful just by
accident you know I mean maybe the guy
that found gold in California and
started the gold rush but don’t count on
that that’s the one in in a lifetime
kind of a situation so you got to really
have a specific order to me to have that
vision that I want to be mr. universe
they didn’t want to be the greatest
bodybuilder of all time that was a great
vision and that specifically to look
like reg Park and to be up there on that
stage and to lift the trophy overhead
and to win the championship
over and over and over again so that was
a great core you have to have a coroner
it doesn’t have to be that specific code
but it has to have some coal this is why
I always recommend to people sit down
take your time it’s a thinking about why
do you want to work out what is your
core and it can’t be as crazy as this it
could be you know I want to impress
girls if that’s your call
so be it but it motivates you it could
be that you’re emulating a certain you
know bodybuilder or a certain football
player a certain box or whatever it is
half those pictures put all over the
wall like I did when I was a kid I put
pictures of rich pocket of Sonny Liston
of the boxers and of Ali and of power
lifters and weight lifters all over my
bedroom you know a wall so that every
day when I go to sleep every day when I
wake up and look at those pictures and
they motivate me you need that
motivation and then therefore you have
this kind of imprint in front of you all
the time and you know exactly what
people always came up to mrs. why are
you smiling you’re working out five
hours a day you’re doing the same as the
other guys but the other guys have a
sour face they’re pissed off that they
have to do another rep or another set or
something I looked forward to I looked
forward to another thousand celery reps
of sit-ups I looked forward to another
500 pounds of leg press o squad I looked
forward to a more and more curls until
my arms fall off
why because I knew that every rep that I
did and every set that I did and more
weights that are lifted I get one step
closer to turning that vision into
reality so I was turned on by that I was
excited I couldn’t wait to get to the
I remember that when I weighed 245
pounds and Bob Rafelson the director of
stay hungry said to me that I’m
interested in having you come in for
reading and broken you’re acting in
orders because I mean it’s not having
you in a movie to start with the Jeff
Bridges and meet Sally Fields I was
delighted about that I was excited that
the pumping of one boy and then he said
but I don’t want it away more than two
hundred and ten pounds he want me to be
in the movie but I’m waiting to 45 to 46
I say I just want the Olympia I say in
1970 was 1974 and I was really at my
biggest and but he demanded that and he
says look it’s very simple and the day
we start surely he says I’m gonna put
you on the scale and if you don’t make
the to turn you out because I have
someone else in mind and I worked on it
I said that visualizing myself very
clearly as a lean athlete because that’s
the only way I could lose that weight
and all of a sudden get interested in
running more because up until the point
I ran like three miles after training or
before training or whatever but now I
said it was five miles 6-7 miles 8 miles
and their even ran mini marathons in
order to lose the weight and I did
everything in high reps that was
watching my diet but I ate notice kind
of things and by the day the day before
I remember we went Birmingham Alabama
the day before was at the YMCA with Bob
Rafelson
he was swimming and I was working out
and it was running there was a track
there that was running he says let’s
step on a scale and I stepped on the
scale and away 209 so it just shows fear
what is possible if you visualize
exactly what you want to look like
and there was no room for any kind of
like about I can get my act together
anything is because there’s only a
certain amount of time but the key thing
again is have the clear vision have the
specific core of what you want to
accomplish because then you never come
to the gym and you say the day I fell
down a little bit I don’t know what it
is all about I don’t know my life I’m
confused
no I tell you that I was a perfect
example of someone that was not
confident at all I mean when I was a kid
that was just like any other kid that
had hangups
and problems and orders but when I
joined the weightlifting Club and I won
my first little trophy because they did
the best clean jerk and then we went to
another meet and they won another little
but the bottom line is everyone can use
the same method because I used it in
politics are used it in making money I
used it in everything that I’ve done in
the movie business when you have one
little victory little victories add up
and that is what gives you then
ultimately confidence well for me the
most important thing always to have a
deadline so when I for instance had a
competition and let’s say the
competition was in the middle of
September and it was now beginning of
summer so there was no more time to
screw around so there was the time now
to get going on a diet to get going with
the training to not slack off at all
because it was a deadline there the day
of the competition I had to be in the
best shape possible and I knew that if I
come to the competition and then lose
because I did not schedule my training
the proper way or I didn’t have the
right frame of mind oh I didn’t give
everything delivery worked my butt off I
will be just so angry so I never wanted
to be in that situation so this is why
it was very important to pick that time
and to say this is when I have to be in
top shape then the work towards that but
it’s not just with the competition I
mean they’re always the same in the
movie business I mean to me was always a
big advantage when I said okay my movie
starts in April 1 and I have now three
months so I have to get really in great
shape so he picked those times he could
also be that there is no movie and you
have no mr. Lampe are no beast America
no mr. universe coming up on any of
those things but you say to yourself the
summer starts in June
I’m gonna go to the beach in June and at
that time I want to be in great shape so
that creates an urgency that makes you
really start to training I’ve been
taking it seriously because if you don’t
have a specific plan then you wander
around I mean you can have as I’ve told
you many times the best ship or the best
plane in the world but if you don’t have
a specific goal where you want to go and
when you want to get there you just
drift around and you never get anywhere
so this is why this is important to
create the urgency of a specific time
when you want to be in shape well I mean
look everyone has a problem with time
but today is 24 hours and we sleep six I
know there’s some out there that say oh
oh oh oh oh
I need eight what I say to sleep a
little faster because the bottom line is
we have six hours of sleep 24 hours are
available so if 18 hours now available
to your work your family your hobbies
and also to learn something new or to do
something new which could easily be that
you want to learn a new language or that
you want to read and as a you have a new
year’s resolution have to read a book
every week but where you say I’m gonna
go and reshape my body so you’re gonna
go and take this hour out of your
schedule and say I’m gonna train an hour
every day so this is for most people if
you a huge challenge but it is totally
doable I can tell them because the kind
of things that I did when I came to this
country I mean I went to school I was
working on construction I was working
out my five hours a day I was taking
acting classes from 8 o’clock at night
to 12 midnight I was doing all of those
things
I wanted to make sure that out of the 24
hours of the day that I don’t waste one
single hour those hours were too
precious and so they’ll just want to
tell people don’t give me this thing I
have a difficult time with the time and
I don’t have time for this none of that
you have time you make the time no
retreat no surrender we live when we die
people don’t burn out because of what
they do people burn out because life
makes them forget why they do it the
super cities talent every day of the
week at a certain point
don’t let your actions betray your words
no person that you’re striving to become
it’s stronger than any opposition any
adversity any challenge that you will
ever face you know I’ve been playing a
game of football since I was seven the
second game in my junior year fourth
quarter a little bit over two minutes
left in the game we were playing against
air force I went to make a tackle and I
hit the guy my body went completely limp
I fell to the ground I blacked out I
almost lost my life and ultimately it
left me with a paralyzed right on in him
I couldn’t blame any I couldn’t blame
the game of football I couldn’t blame
the guy that I hit I couldn’t blame life
instead it made me question myself in
such a way that I said Inc is this it
you know there’s one bad chapter define
the book now you see life or what is
really worth like is that it if you just
want to make it to the NFL that was
gonna be here just because it’s never
been done doesn’t mean it can’t be done
my number one competition is me it’s
always you versus you I just had a
paralyzed white woman hand my mentality
was a paralyzed my spirit was impaired
that my drive was impaired my dedication
wasn’t my commitment wasn’t I was the
same man I just had an extra boost of
energy but while I live my life I wear
this as a badge of honor every single
day they have mercy the opposition that
life set to break me I wear it as a
badge of honor because I understand
every day of my life
I represent something do we already know
what time it is we know they still try
to break us we already know anything
we’ve done them we already know that we
know they coming at us we know they
gonna throw everything they got at us so
here’s how we gonna beat it what we
working for is greater than me and you
it so we gotta press forward and we
you got to be the one to get up every
morning beat discipline put in the
consistent daily hard work because that
gained success no coach no trainer no
mentor no boss can do it you versus you
I want to be forever proud of who I was
as a man and change who I used to be the
liar the insecure guy the guy who can
whatever I want to be proud but if I die
now if I die at 80 for diet 90 100 I
want to look at myself a city proud of
myself we don’t know how much we have
left the future we don’t know the past
it’s gone now the only thing you can
deal with is what’s right here right now
and if you look the sand is always
moving you’re gonna fail and you’re
gonna be in your head you could be
saying I’m not good enough and it’s how
you get through that it’s how you get
through that on a daily basis you’re sad
and down and out and you ask yourself
it’s in this moment that you find out
who you really are and what you’re
really about you aren’t handed anything
all of us have greatness within us but
greatness is a choice it’s not our
you think about this person that you now
see I did not know that he existed I was
born in a poor section of Miami Florida
called Liberty City an abandoned
building on a floor let’s go chill let’s
go check see some people listen
but when you really want to change you
must here at 43 I’m still putting
hundred-mile weeks still doing thousands
of pull-ups do two thousand two push-ups
because I’m not allowing myself to
become civilized the difference between
great the worse thing could happen to a
man’s become civilized you are the
uncommon and most uncommon people you
start putting yourself in situations as
suck you’ll find yourself
what’s up listen
is this time now so we must readjust our
don’t look for those don’t know them
nothing spectacular become out the sky
we must shake the only way to change its
make sure you ain’t doing the same thing
every day of your life if an alarm clock
is waking you up every morning we might
Sam to readjust comfort zones it’s time
to figure out whatever majority is doing
none of us wake up and say today is the
day I destroy my life you can run into a
trap and you you you set up a life that
you didn’t really want what we do is we
kind of check out because it feels
overwhelming or we check out because
we’re afraid or we check out because we
start listening to self-doubt and then
we make these teeny tiny decisions all
day long we don’t even realize it
decision to not get up on time a
decision to not eat the right thing a
decision to snap at your kids a decision
to not speak in a meeting a decision to
not look for a job a decision to not
deal with your finances a decision to
not call your parrot is all day long
these tiny decisions that take you so
far off track and then you wake up like
I didn’t and you you look at your life
and you think how the hell did I get
here
you’re alone with your thoughts you get
an idea of what your thoughts actually
are and he run into the abutment of a
bridge and his life was snuffed there if
you could ask the amount half hour
before how much sand you had left he
would have said at least a half a
see the trick is we don’t know how much
this is all we’ve got right here right
now we don’t know how much we have left
in the future but we do know what we’ve
got now and I have found that people
that win are the people who make up
their mind then I’m going to waste the
meds they’re going to be productive
they’re gonna make it happen every
oftentimes people make the mistake of
getting stuck and it is just a tactical
mistake just like it would be a mistake
if you got stuck on a video game
truly living chasing a dream and truly
living is hard you knew that there was
more in store freedom but you couldn’t
figure out how you closed that gap
how do you find the power that’s in how
do you discover your greatness honey
solve these problems
tooken chances navigated their way what
did they do differently than you what
what objectivity do they have that maybe
you lack what insight into their own
mistakes are they willing to delve into
that you’re not that you step back and
good you know I don’ts don’t I just
don’t want to look at myself that
closely but the person who’s able to
look at themselves the closest it’s
gonna get the more rational results is
that we’re living our lives in these
very unfulfilled ways or you’re going to
this office with artificial light and
you’re doing something you don’t want to
do all day long and then you get home
you’re tired just go hike up to the top
of a mountain and look out you know
there’s a reward that you get from that
that is intensely like soul filling
we’re all taught that life is tough
life’s a bitch life is hard but it’s not
it’s pretty easy right it’s pretty easy
to skate by and go through life right we
wake up every day most of us in the
world with the roof over our heads a big
comfy bed under our butts fridge full of
food most of us in the world especially
here in America never have to worry
about starvation or homelessness we have
friends and family that will help us out
when those things come those are the
things that made life dangerous a
hundred years ago now we complain if
life isn’t convenient this isn’t a
statement on modern society this is a
statement about motivation life is easy
easy to skate by you think about this
person that you now see I did not know
that he existed I was born in a poor
section of Miami Florida called Liberty
City an abandoned building on a floor
with a twin brother
and we were adopted by mrs. Mamie Brown
she was 46 third grade education weight
– food leftover from the families that
she cooked for on Miami Beach kind and
generous people we wore the hand-me-down
clothes of the children that she kept
when I was in fifth grade I was labeled
to Ted Jacobo victory thought it put
back from the fifth grade to the fourth
grade fell again when I was in the
eighth grade and with that limited and
diminished sense of self Robert Boyd
gave me a chin roll and speech and
because he spoke how people in their
lives as result of the story they
believe about themselves he interrupted
the story that I believed about myself
you have to be the hero of your own
story and you can do that 90% of is just
showing up get there and start working
like you’re not gonna feel perfect every
it’s got to be those days you push
through and there they’re probably gonna
be more numerous than the days you don’t
and so the benefit of discipline in my
eyes has always been that through
discipline I get things done write down
everything you want to do this is what I
want you to do write down what you would
like to fix about your life and then
just if you’re 30 pounds overweight you
want to lose 30 pounds do it the right
way
go start eating vegetables monitor your
calories write down what you eat
exercise every day force yourself to do
it the brain is a general the troops of
the body and you get up and you do it
and then you get to write it down our
bodies for whatever reason most people
their associations are to avoid anything
it’s so illogical because when you look
at comfort and you look at success and
progress and eventual the feelings of
accomplishment and of getting past
certain hurdles and in terms of like how
you feel about life a lot of those are
connected to discomfort like discomfort
is your friend
it really is big discomfort and and not
being happy and content with certain
situations in life or certain feelings
in life one of the big problems is
sitting down and doing the work and he
labels it like an enemy calls it
resistance you know and that you have to
sit down you have to overcome resistance
in that the pro goes to work and it
doesn’t matter if you’re sick doesn’t
matter if you have kids it doesn’t
matter what you you’re a pro and you go
to work and that and that just it puts
it in your head that this is what I do
they have pride in that and then when
you are in front of that keyboard and
you’re you got you look down the count
it’s epitaphs more than you yeah you’d
you’re doing the work and out of that
work gems blossom and it’s about
resistance that people feel when you
know you should write or you know you
should paint or whatever used to sculpt
whatever these things are that you
pursue and that there’s this thing that
comes up that tries to keep you from
doing that this resistance
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you’re not a hero in your own eyes
you’re not you’re not someone who you
respect you know you’re doing what you
got to do to get by but ultimately
you’re not respecting yourself and I
think we all have a certain amount of
appreciation and respect for hero
figures you know like we all look at
like the guy who never lies and it
always does the right thing and fucking
helps everybody out and that’s the John
Wayne character you know that’s that’s
the ultimate hero and he’s like this is
a battle that you will fight for the
rest of your life but the key is to
fight it not to give in don’t give in to
that resistance to fight just to fight
that resistance and in doing so every
day you do so you have won the battle
for that day and you will continue to
fight that battle and when you look at
your own life and you don’t stack up
you’re a thief you stole money from your
wife’s purse and you know you don’t want
to smoke cigarettes but you fucking have
to you can’t deal with the stress and
smoke you devalue yourself you slowly
start devaluing yourself you look at
yourself you realize that if you were
judging yourself you would judge
yourself unfavorably so no matter who
you you can’t pretend you’re the the
you can be the hero of your own story
that woke up today you could be the hero
of your own story that at forty years of
age stopped got out of bed and said I’m
only by my instincts and only by my
morals and my ideals and my mind and I’m
gonna be dead honest with myself because
I’m realizing this is not gonna last
forever and I’m gonna get myself in
shape but I’m gonna eat healthy and I’m
gonna do this because this is me this is
[Music]
and people have to realize that you are
not your past you are not all the times
you fucked up they’re not all the times
you were drunk that’s not you what you
you are the person who’s learned from a
great deal of experience when you’re
alone with your thoughts you get an idea
of what your thoughts actually are you
live your life just acting constantly on
the momentum of other people’s
expectations of you wanting to be liked
by these other people you can run into a
trap
and you you you set up a life that you
didn’t really want your life is
certainly some sort of a journey it’s
you’re trapped in this situation where
you have a mortgage
you’ve got credit-card bills you’ve got
student loans you have to pay you have a
bunch of shit going on you have to
continue to feed and all that and
especially if you have a family and you
have to feed them oh my goodness then
you’re fully locked in you can’t take
any chances whatsoever and oftentimes
people make the mistake of getting stuck
and it is just a tactical mistake just
like it would be a mistake if you got
stuck on a video game just like it would
be a mistake if you followed a map
incorrectly and you get stuck in the
woods your life is certainly some sort
of a journey it’s certainly some sort of
a journey and we have to all be aware
that when we’re making journeys we’re
not going to always make the right steps
and sometimes you have to back up and
try again and if you’re in a position
where you can’t back up and try again
you’ve trapped yourself as people define
themselves by the past instead of
thinking about who they are now instead
of they still look back at a mistake
they made and don’t just get past that
mistake grow and learn
but dwell on think it defines them
I mean there’s definitely pitfalls in
life you’re gonna run into him we all
are know you can learn and grow if you
survive somewhere along the line they
didn’t face enough of the adversity to
realize that there’s sometimes you just
got to get up and get shit done there’s
sometimes we have to fucking pull
yourself up and you have to push forward
even if you want to stay in bed having
that safety net just provided him with a
way to stay in bed kept him weak have an
opportunity every time things go wrong
every time things feel terrible you have
an opportunity to learn from whatever
makes you feel terrible and never allow
it to happen again
push forward the system will set out
honey pots for people to get trapped in
the system will set out the ideas of
retirement the ideas of the Golden Ears
providing you benefits providing you a
healthy work environment why well
because they want people to work for
them they don’t want people to realize
their own dreams and escape they want to
set it up so that you stick around stick
around some sort of an unsatisfying
world it’s up to you to see that video
game problem to see that issue as it
comes up on the map known I think this
is a right turn to see all the problems
that could potentially lay in front of
you and calculate your your future and
then also look around all the people
that didn’t do it and look at the misery
that they’re in and learn that you don’t
and most people get stuck in these
patterns or they define themselves on
the pursue doesn’t follow through on
their ideas or a person who doesn’t
pursue the real interests and loves you
define yourself by that well you know I
guess when I start things and I quit no
you don’t know you have started things
and you quit and it gives you a horrible
sense of regret that’s made you define
yourself by that you don’t have to do
that I look back on anything I’ve ever
done mistakes ever made a paths that I
you know what’s something I put out that
I didn’t quite yeah maybe I waited three
months before I released that or maybe I
should have you know re-edited that blog
post a couple more times for I put it
online or things that I’ve done have
driven me crazy but yelling it’s
something I didn’t have to yell at them
for whatever but the most important
thing is always for all people to
recognize that you’re not who you were a
year ago you’re not who you were five
years ago you’re not who you were last
week
[Music]
so you gotta regulate how much you dwell
on regrets of the past you really got to
it’s also directly proportionate to the
amount of hardships that people face in
life their ability to face hardships you
know and there’s a lot of folks that
live life on a cushy cloud of
marshmallows and bullshit and then one
day something goes wrong and then look
at the people that are have kind of
taken chances and navigated their way
what insight into their own mistakes are
they willing to delve into that you’re
not that you step back and you could you
know I don’ts don’t I just don’t want to
look at myself that closely but the
person who’s able to look at themselves
the closest it’s gonna get the more
rational results seize the day
winning isn’t everything it’s the only
thing do not wait for your ship to come
in swim out to it when the going gets
tough the tough get going you miss on
our percent of the shots you know take
if you can dream it you can do it
wherever you go go with all your heart
if man has done its best what else is
there success is going from failure to
fair without losing your enthusiam for
you don’t succeed try try again
genius is 1% inspiration 99%
perspiration I think I can I think I can
I think I can there’s no substitute for
hard work willing is not enough we must
do live the life you imagine do or do
not there is no try
action is foundational key to all
success discouragement fair the two of
the share of stepping stones success
that cures not to dream less but the
dream or dream a all the time if you
don’t know where you’re going you’ll
heard those quotes growing up all the
time when I first heard some I memorized
him others I wrote down but not one of
them motivated me for more than a day or
two it was a much less inspirational
quote that inspired me from a much less
famous person it was a doctor at UCLA he
said Steve you’ve got inoperable tumors
worst-case scenario you have five years
to live and I can’t control the cards
today’s talk is not about death it’s
about life and how to live specifically
about childhood dreams and about how you
dreams will come to you if you live
and I was dreaming always dreaming it
was an easy time the dream when you turn
on your television set and men are
landing on the moon anything is possible
and we should never lose that spirit
okay bad news I cancer I was dying but I
and what are you dying to do don’t skate
forward any further in your life without
answering that question
but I basically just given you all the
same diagnosis I was given your time is
limited and that’s a real diagnosis so
what now
okay like most people when they’re told
they’re dying you’re probably going
through the five stages of grief the
first stage is denial I’m not dying I’m
healthy stage 2 is anger stage 3 is
bargaining okay we’re all dying stage 4
is depression stage 5 the final stage is
acceptance
[Music]
so what now but let me tell you what I
did when I was told I might only have
five years first of all I got a lot of
advice a lot of friends want to help
Brenda my wife told me that maybe this
this news would give me a whole new
perspective
[Music]
someone else told me that I should live
so what were my childhood dreams being
in the national football news this is
one of the childhood dreams I didn’t
achieve all right and it’s very
important to know that if you don’t
achieve your dreams you can still again
a lot by trying for it there’s an
expression I love experience is what you
get when you don’t get what you want the
most wonderfully my parents did was they
let me paint my bedroom I said one day I
want to paint stuff on the walls and
they said okay I had a rocket ship and
we lived in a ranch so I wanted an
elevator I wasn’t sure where it would go
[Music]
but the great thing is that they let me
do it and they felt that letting me
express my creativity with more
important than the pristine nature of
the brick walls that are in our way are
there for a reason they are not there to
keep us out they are there to give us a
but what I kept coming back to when I
had time by myself and no one was giving
me advice was my dreams the dreams I had
put aside the ones that I thought I had
plenty of time to reach but now that I
realized I had a finite amount of time I
had asked myself what did I want to
accomplish I’m not a worst-case scenario
value but if I really only had five
years to live what was it that I wanted
to make sure happen for me as a comedian
it was a dream I had since I was 12
years old it was from for my comedy on
The Late Show with David Letterman so
let me be clear before I move on I was a
comedian already okay I was making a
living in no day job full-time comedian
making a good living in comedy clubs
colleges corporate events around the
world that was a pretty big feat in
itself but six years into my comedy
career I kind of stopped chasing the
Letterman dream I was waiting for it to
come to me I was waiting for some day
not chasing it anyway that’s a very
important lesson for all of us mortals
here today some day isn’t on the
calendar
Friday Saturday Sunday that’s on there
about four times a month no someday but
when it comes to our dreams it’s
probably the busiest day of the week cuz
someday right so learning that lesson I
just try it decided that I was gonna
refocus my attention back on that dream
I was going to pull out all the stops
and I gave myself a goal of getting on
Letterman within one year I was gonna
make someday happen I started yelling my
dream to anyone who would listen started
calling in every favor I was over I
found out everyone who worked on the
show and begged them to help me get an
audition I even started asking people at
comedy clubs after they see me to email
and guess what I didn’t make it
my ironically named deadline came and
went but I was so renewed about my dream
and my newfound passion for it I decided
to get myself in an extension one more
year to get on letter didn’t happen and
then another nope sounds like bad news
right well it was I would have loved to
get on the show in that first year but
something great happened over the year
those years those three years weren’t
spent dying
they were spent living living a dream
and let me tell you there is something
if you’ve ever chased a dream you know
that it lights a fire in your heart that
whether you reach it or not it warms
everyone around you and everything
around you so I decided you know what
I’m gonna keep going is that dream is so
important you can’t wait can’t wait for
some day to happen you need to make
wouldn’t the world be a better place if
if we’re all inspired if if the world
wasn’t full of uninspired people I know
I felt better when I was inspired why do
people stop chasing their dreams I don’t
think people choose to be uninspired
why do you think people stop chasing
their dreams everyone wants to achieve
them why do people leave him behind it
was a tough question to answer I want to
give her an honest answer not some
cliche response or a motivational line
so I thought about it for a long time
I knew that cancer it motivated me to
pick my dream up again but why did I
stop chasing it in the first place why
does anyone stop well when the answer
came to me was hard to swallow let alone
spit out and say it loud but I told her
we’re all taught that life is tough
life’s a bitch life is hard but it’s not
pretty easy right pretty easy to skate
by and go through life right we wake up
every day most of us in the world but
the roof over our heads a big comfy bed
under our butts
fridge full of food most of us in the
world especially here in America never
have to worry about starvation or
homelessness we have friends and family
that will help us out when those things
come those are the things that made life
dangerous 100 years ago now we complain
hips lie physics and beans this isn’t a
statement on modern society this is a
statement about motivation light and
easy easy to stay fine
it’s pretty easy to grow up put your
dreams aside leave your passions behind
take a job that you read you don’t even
really mind raise some kids who will
most likely be inspired to do the exact
same thing go from point A to point B to
Point C until you end up at point Z
where you pass away and there’s a line
of people waiting to get up and tell
everyone else who knew you what a good
life get nothing bad about that nothing
wrong with that but nothing great about
it nothing inspiring about that it’s
easy to look at a dream as something way
off in the distance something that might
or might not be accomplished a thing an
object of goal thought that runs through
our mind every now and then a noun a
has to be lived it has to be done has to
be further – has to be acted about it
needs to be chased it’s not just a idea
or a result to dream encompasses every
so I’m gonna give you all a challenge
here figure out the answer to that
question what are you dying to do
don’t stay forward any further in your
life without answering that question but
if you don’t know the answer don’t go to
sleep tonight without answering that
question
don’t wait till someday to answer that
question there’s nothing more important
in your life than figuring that out when
you do figure it out then when you go to
sleep sleep like a kid again because
then you’ll be going to sleep not to
dream but with the dream and
waking up
[Music]
I told you about my dream I didn’t reach
my I Letterman tree and by my deadline
or my extended deadline nope
it took me five years ladies gentlemen
please welcome Steve Maison five years
five of the years of living for that
dream and I was very lucky my tumors
here in that time they didn’t grow i
stayed healthy but I had that wake-up
call and I’m giving you all the same
wake-up call we’re all dying but if
you’re not chasing your dream you’re
already dead
I don’t think complaining and whining
really solves the problem this is Jackie
Robinson first black major leaguer had
it in his contract not to complain if
people spit on him now I don’t care if
you’re Jackie Robinson or if you’re a
guy like me who’s only got a couple of
months to live you can choose to take
your finite time and energy and effort
and you can spend it complaining or you
can spend it playing the game hard which
is probably going to be more helpful to
you in the long run
[Music]
the talk isn’t just about how to achieve
your childhood dreams it’s much broader
than that it’s about how to live your
life because if you lead your life the
right way the Karma will take care of
that we all have people that we don’t
like that have done things we don’t like
and what I found is no one is pure evil
if you wait long enough they will show
you their good side you can’t make them
he said when life can no longer threaten
what else is
and the majority of the fears that we
have are not life or death fears and not
if you want to begin to move you’ve got
to clear your mind of all the
unnecessary luggage and baggage that’s
weighing us down I couldn’t move I
couldn’t fit about what am I going to do
to get out of this situation because I
was so concerned about what happened and
what he did to me and how bad it was I
was so stuck in that I couldn’t even
focus on what I should have done
so what’s the worst thing that they can
do to you kill you and he just decided
hey this is what I came here to do I
know that there’s some risk involved and
I’m gonna do it
come what may he said I’m not gonna be
afraid anymore feeling sorry for myself
and angry none of that was taking me
anywhere
so pretty soon ah I learned through
effort made it conscious deliberate
determined effort I had to let it go I
had to forgive it let it go and begin to
focus on developing myself and I say to
you you’re gonna have people to do
things to you things are going to happen
to you and the most important thing to
do is to harness your will and let it go
move so you can grow so you can get on
with your life
it doesn’t matter about what happens to
you what matters is what are you going
to do about it
what are you going to do now les this is
the instinct that says you’ve had enough
this is the instinct that says you
you’ve given it your best shot you can
you can stand down you can back off you
can take a knee this is the instinct
that says you can rest now do not listen
to that instinct do not listen that
instinct is a liar and wants to bring
you down that that’s the instinct that’s
a defense mechanism but to give you an
a lot of people never get to where they
want to be because they’ll never stop
complaining about where they’re at
i’ma say it again a lot of people will
never get to where they want to be
because they will never stop complaining
the word complain means to remain or to
stay overnight so if you want to stay
right where you’re at
just keep complaining about it and I can
pretty much guarantee you that you’ll
still be there and they’ll tell you you
did the best you could now they’ll say
the DAC the deck the deck was stacked
against you and they’ll say it’s not
your
[Music]
and they’ll tell you it’s okay to stop
and that is the instinct you need to
fight you need to push back to smash
into the ground do not take the easy way
out
do not give up based on instinct if you
are forced to stand down to retreat so
that you can build and we attack
[Music]
but make that decision based on logic
not on the instinct of surrender and
defeat get up go fight on my history of
I’ve been sort of on all sides of my
journey you know I didn’t I didn’t have
success very early and I went through
some very dark times and you know the
main one thing I kept doing is you know
inspiring myself looking for inspiration
and growing and and it hasn’t stopped
and I want to keep doing that and I also
want to inspire others you know there
were millions of me sitting at home
right now and they don’t know it and
it’s just good to be able to get any
sort of platform tests or to say come on
man go for it so listen man no sir yes I
don’t do things for money and I’ve been
broke most of my life so because of that
I can’t sort of suddenly go I need to do
a job just to get some cash you know I
mean I know that a lot of times it is
people’s motivations because people need
to eat but in my position I’ve been poor
I think I think my imaginations always
you know just imagine myself collecting
awards just imagine myself you know I
mean getting big parts imagine myself
working with the greatest actors my
imagination was the one I know I mean
like I’ve known you’re not overthinking
but you just kind of like yeah man I see
myself driving that car one day but I
[Music]
actually if I can see myself doing it
she can’t fold up and sell it to someone
you can do it or you can’t but everybody
can imagine themselves you know
I’m innocent poor like to give yourself
boundaries which we can do quite easily
okay people talk about aiming for the
skies
sometimes even aiming for the skies is
intimidating just don’t give yourself
boundaries your sky and my sky might be
different I mean but neither of us will
touch the sky if we give ourselves
boundaries and I mean whatever your sky
is whatever your biggest dream is I
might I’ve already touched that you know
so in other words what sky where does
the sky end I’d rather people go you
know what I’m not gonna restrict myself
to the guy and I can only do this so I
can only do that oh I have to do it this
the first step before anybody else in
the world believes it is you have to
believe it there’s no reason to have a
plan because it distracts from plan a it
was 16 tons of planet being an actor I
was in sound systems DJ and I mean and
you know it was like that or this so I
always go back to Tina I always have a
been doing that a long time in animating
there was a there was a drive to be
famous to be you know that that pinnacle
to be that guy and I’m not not that not
it’s not it’s not my ambition happier
than that as much you know I mean good
work keep working so it’s very hard for
me to sort of glice unli be like you
know I’m lifted up by this wonderful
life that I have I love it but you know
I my feet you’re on the ground you know
achievement achievement is inspirational
to me you know people doing it someone
that on Monday didn’t know how to do
this by Friday can do it that is an
inspiration to me
I’m not afraid to fail I’m not afraid to
fall over make a mistake that often time
cripples people on the onset of getting
too into anything that first time ever
picked up the DJed eggs was horrible
horrible now but I’m not afraid of that
I’m not afraid of that feeling it
actually propels me works quite the
but I really loved to do it so I just
said I want to do what I love you know I
[Music]
it’s definitely one of those components
to me as a human being my makeup my
genetics that allows me to actually keep
I’m a veteran at being able to look at
an opportunity and go is that gonna take
me further or not you know some people
don’t have that you won’t is something
you develop you know that’s why most
times out of 10 any head of a company
has been doing it for a long time
because they inherently can make a
decision and the blink of an eye but you
the other thing that’s important I think
is to keep your head down you know keep
your head down like when I swim 25 laps
came in tune if I look up and start
counting those laps
I’m petered out by 15 if I put my head
down I keep walking away and work a
technique work it internal rhythm work
it ooh I hit that for length I don’t
even know what Lin come on guarantee you
I look happy to be 20 and to more free
more to go and that’s a very simple
device but I think people find
themselves incremental each icahn how
far they’ve gone and now you know when
you compare it to anybody else or
whatever it’s just a it’s a recipe for
disaster just keep banging on you know
[Music]
mountain climbers would probably tell
you the same thing you know there’s no
point looking at the difference between
climbing a hundred feet and climbing
five hundred free it’s a point of view
you don’t know you’re at the top until
you get there pal and that’s what you
[Music]
the more I grow you know in 43 is point
now considered a middle-aged man and
happiness is without a doubt the best
thing that I I strive for health and
happiness kid you know I couldn’t any of
it means nothing if I’m not happy about
it my breakthrough was actually decided
I wanted to be an actor and go into a
drama college not a drama college I did
a performing arts course they changed my
life it turns my dreams into a reality
it gave me an actual tangible target to
go oh actually I could do this that was
my breakthrough because it was a
that was my biggest break from of course
they’ve been numerous breakthroughs over
my career in my life which I’m all proud
of but none so much is that realization
that I want to be an actor to thrive in
whatever you to please understand your
terrain know what your target is don’t
guess it because Crudup is the next man
because that’s that’s that’s your petrol
that’s your fuel to get you moving if
you don’t know where you’re going what
your targets are you’re never gonna get
there period work hard sleepless