17 years old future full of uncertainty
young confused mind caught up in a wrong
crowd with low aspirations behind you
deep down as cliche as it sounds that
rhymes I wanted to be successful but I
didn’t know what success looked like I
just knew they needed to be a big dream
or some type of dreams however living a
life I was living
achieving a big dream was never gonna be
possible I felt stuck I haven’t seen my
mother in six years at this point and a
person I now see is my mother my
grandmother she has passed away and my
father the hardest worker I know was out
creating a life for himself and his new
little family in all honesty I felt so
alone I turn in a dream into reality
felt like million miles away the reason
why is because it was we’ve all heard
those similar sayings it takes years and
years of hard work blood sweat and tears
to turn a dream into reality and become
an overnight success however I had no
choice in my job I see person after
person quitting on their goals and
killing their dreams and I didn’t want
to do that but then there was something
holding me back and this something holds
many people back and that is fear now
put your hands up if fear stopped you
from doing something before put your
hands up okay we’re on the right path my
mentality was if I never tried I could
never fail but I quickly learned that
not trying it’s failing within itself
stop men I had no choice
had to put in 110% into my big dream
whatever that maybe I didn’t want to
have any regrets or any what-ifs now put
your hands up you’ve ever had any
regrets before put your hands up
okay we’re on the right path and the
truth is when my grandmother passed away
I did go down the wrong path
get involved in the wrong activities
with the wrong people I’m not gonna go
into much detail to what we was doing
but I can tell you something it was only
gonna end in two ways
I was only get in trouble I was gonna
get hurt but I mean at that time I
started playing American football
because that was a great way I could
hurt people and not get arrested I loved
it it was like meditation but then over
time I started developing this goal in
this dream of going to America and
getting a scholarship but I meant I had
to turn my life around I had to turn my
education around so I joined the only
American football academy in the UK that
was easy but now I needed to go into
this level free business course and to
go into this level free business course
all you needed was five GCSEs that was
it only five
the problem was I only had four by for
his mone opportunity so I ran up the
head of department I arranged the
interview I mean at this point I was so
naive to interviews normally I’ll see
you got to turn up wearing a shirt tie
kind of look like you’re going to a
wedding but I turn up with jogging
bottoms a baggy t-shirt hopeful she was
gonna take the box and let me go through
but of course I was wrong I remember I
sat down she was there miserable lady to
be fair I’m sorry
but she asked me she say come on
you only have four GCSEs we require five
what do you think about that I mean at
this point forget how rich thieves hello
I didn’t have an answer by for his mone
chance so I just started talking and
talking and digging
I said miss if you let me onto this
course today I promise you I’m gonna be
one of the highest achievers in the
class I’m thinking one might do and I
hate education but I kept talking and
dig in and dig it and so can I said miss
if you let me onto this course today I
promise you I’m gonna get the highest
grade possible which at that time was 18
distinctions out of 18 units like 3h
stars I mean I didn’t know what free a
stars was it just sounded sexy but I
realized the hole I was digging for
myself so I just stopped talking
personally I was ready to walk back out
that room and carry on doing what I was
doing but you see that she was thinking
so for me personally I knew had two
whole years to turn my big dream of
going to America to reality five 10 15
20 years of think how what if I
understand I’m not gonna change
everybody when I do my motivational
sessions but if I can change a small
handful of people then I’ve done my job
someone asked you a question
are you willing to open your mind enough
to allow my words to help and support
you on this roller coaster I call big
dreams and you know what I never went to
America despite certainly my best
friends getting scholarships they got
scholarships
I didn’t I was a grown 19 20 year old
literally crying myself to sleep because
I sacrificed so much I failed but now
personally I’m so glad down not in
America because if I was I couldn’t be
doing what I’m doing and even though I
didn’t go I achieved Sports Awards I
represented Great Britain three times in
American football but most importantly I
got those 18 distinctions of 18 units I
promise a teacher and over time I
realized that this dream of going to
America wasn’t really my big dream this
is quite common because so many of us
think we want something but hand over
time we actually realize really don’t
butt in that poses the question how do I
find my big dream I wish I had an easy
answer but the fact is my big dream
didn’t really just hit me it didn’t
matter too much of this time because I
just started University and it was there
when I felt like a completely outcast
from the way I looked from the way I
sounded plus I was the only individual
who had the vision of graduating and
being fully self employed but in what I
mean at this time I was listening to
motivational speakers I felt like nobody
was doing this in the UK and where I
came from
I felt like we needed it but I known if
it was real and from the heart so I
started to develop this idea of becoming
this individual who inspires people on a
larger scale not just a few Facebook
posts here in there and being a leader
of my sports teams I wanted to think
so I started discover my big dream I’ve
becoming this motivational speaker what
day takes over the UK in the world the
problem was fear realized I lacked a
huge amount of confidence I had no
experience and fear was also fully aware
I was extremely insecure with how I foul
especially when I got stumped with
another obstacle in my first year at
university and it was there I was
seriously struggling I couldn’t
understand any of the work I was saying
class thinking I’m becoming more stupid
maybe I’ve had too many hits in my head
in American foot but I don’t know until
one of my teachers said to me Cameron I
think you may have dyslexia
I said dyslexia I can’t even spell it
wait laughing for and she said no I
really really think you got dyslexia I
said no I really really think you’re
wrong didn’t understand it so I did what
we all do I went home and I google and
you ever got a sore throat not feeling
too well so you type your symptoms in
online and it basically tells you’ve got
24 hours to live in deficit and
everywhere daddy I did this with
dyslexia still didn’t understand it so I
dismissed it until I started becoming
more aware of things I was doing when I
was reading I started to skip over words
my processing was extremely slow and a
list of fees can really go on until one
day I decided to take the test I was
informed that I’m heavily dyslexic and
apparently I got attention deficit
dan you shocked me I did spawn well I
made out to be this huge thing and
because of my growth at that time was
very very limited until I started
looking into you know celebrities who
had dyslexia there was people like
Albert Einstein you had Will Smith
Richard Branson okay interesting maybe
it doesn’t limit me and Richard
Branson’s a successful businessman
so my attention started to shift so how
could I become fully self-employed maybe
I could fulfill my big dream of becoming
this motivational speaker who delivers
impact and value to thousands of people
who need it
nope you fear coming back and I created
the most outrageous business idea ever
well blow every single one of your minds
yes that’s right I created a generic
cloven Braun and when I mean cloven
brand I mean just a design I pull it on
a t-shirt I tried to sell it and in all
fairness it went really well to begin
with but then over time it started to
decline that rhymed again resulting in a
termination of the business I failed
that was embarrassing people expected me
to do Wow but I was partially my own fo
the written wise because on the surface
I made out like everything was going
amazing
but deep down I wasn’t keeping my words
I wasn’t doing what I said I was going
to do I didn’t execute so I failed now
put your hands over you’ve not kept your
word before but you hands up
don’t lie to me okay I’m on the right
path and that wiped all the confidence
from me the combination of my teenaged
years not getting a scholarship to
America dyslexia failed business
terrible relationships and I just got
severe acne and yeah if you look close
enough you can still see the scars on my
face today
to top that off always living in a
freezing cold flat and I had absolutely
no money I was trying to complete my
degree as well as trying to get my
businesses off the ground so I had to
sacrifice something so I sacrifice one
key factor to high-performance and I is
my sleep so I just got a simple job
working on a hotel reception from 10:00
at night to 7:00 in the morning I did
that four to five days a week when I
leave my shift I got five more right
from there straight to my University
class and one morning when I was riding
out of nowhere I was taken off my bike
and yeah this stage I knew two things
number one is that it’s a car and number
two nights going fast but it’s kind of
true right because it really did go in
slow motion I remember hitting the
ground I wrote over and over and I was
just let there waiting for the ambulance
to come but then fast forward a couple
days later I remember waking up in my
own bed I didn’t have no serious
injuries but it was playing on my mind
but I remember waking up and go into my
window and as I looked out I seen people
stuck in traffic and believe it or not
have feeling got to me because I thought
to myself it’s something would have
happened to me a couple days ago these
people will still be stuck in traffic
now and it’d be like I never ever
existed I’m sorry that’s not the most
positive thing but that’s the truth what
made it worse was people was looking up
to me for motivation and positive but
deep down I was struggling I was there
thinking what’s the point putting on a
fake off for everybody else but tending
that I was okay but I wasn’t and I was
in that mindset for about six months but
and when I was in the hospital these
nurses kept saying to me that these road
users really need to think bike think
bike and think bike but a truth is every
single one of us regardless of our age
everyone needs to think life
because you can go into any city center
any town center you see people my age at
25 therefore either 50 the healthy that
live in but then they got nothing inside
every single day they wake up with no
purpose no motivation and no big dream
and to me personally that’s a nightmare
and something I don’t want to change I
want to ask every single one of you
right now what do you really really want
and if you have absolutely no idea my
advice would be go out then experience
as many different things as you can but
if you do know what you want make sure
that you put in a hundred and ten
percent and make sure that you don’t
have any regrets or any what-ifs I’m six
years in to this roller coaster I call
big dreams and on the path I found a
woman of my dreams
I graduated from University being the
first in my family to ever do it and I
also kept my promise graduating and
being fully self-employed now I’m one of
the top motivational speakers in the UK
talking close to a hundred thousand
people every single year and I can
happily say that I found my big dream
and it keeps getting bigger yes I still
have a very long way to go but that’s
what pathways are all about and because
the topic for this TEDx event is
pathways I want to leave you with one
final question do you have the courage
to overcome fear and failure to create your own path big dreams
young confused mind caught up in a wrong
crowd with low aspirations behind you
deep down as cliche as it sounds that
rhymes I wanted to be successful but I
didn’t know what success looked like I
just knew they needed to be a big dream
or some type of dreams however living a
life I was living
achieving a big dream was never gonna be
possible I felt stuck I haven’t seen my
mother in six years at this point and a
person I now see is my mother my
grandmother she has passed away and my
father the hardest worker I know was out
creating a life for himself and his new
little family in all honesty I felt so
alone I turn in a dream into reality
felt like million miles away the reason
why is because it was we’ve all heard
those similar sayings it takes years and
years of hard work blood sweat and tears
to turn a dream into reality and become
an overnight success however I had no
choice in my job I see person after
person quitting on their goals and
killing their dreams and I didn’t want
to do that but then there was something
holding me back and this something holds
many people back and that is fear now
put your hands up if fear stopped you
from doing something before put your
hands up okay we’re on the right path my
mentality was if I never tried I could
never fail but I quickly learned that
not trying it’s failing within itself
stop men I had no choice
had to put in 110% into my big dream
whatever that maybe I didn’t want to
have any regrets or any what-ifs now put
your hands up you’ve ever had any
regrets before put your hands up
okay we’re on the right path and the
truth is when my grandmother passed away
I did go down the wrong path
get involved in the wrong activities
with the wrong people I’m not gonna go
into much detail to what we was doing
but I can tell you something it was only
gonna end in two ways
I was only get in trouble I was gonna
get hurt but I mean at that time I
started playing American football
because that was a great way I could
hurt people and not get arrested I loved
it it was like meditation but then over
time I started developing this goal in
this dream of going to America and
getting a scholarship but I meant I had
to turn my life around I had to turn my
education around so I joined the only
American football academy in the UK that
was easy but now I needed to go into
this level free business course and to
go into this level free business course
all you needed was five GCSEs that was
it only five
the problem was I only had four by for
his mone opportunity so I ran up the
head of department I arranged the
interview I mean at this point I was so
naive to interviews normally I’ll see
you got to turn up wearing a shirt tie
kind of look like you’re going to a
wedding but I turn up with jogging
bottoms a baggy t-shirt hopeful she was
gonna take the box and let me go through
but of course I was wrong I remember I
sat down she was there miserable lady to
be fair I’m sorry
but she asked me she say come on
you only have four GCSEs we require five
what do you think about that I mean at
this point forget how rich thieves hello
I didn’t have an answer by for his mone
chance so I just started talking and
talking and digging
I said miss if you let me onto this
course today I promise you I’m gonna be
one of the highest achievers in the
class I’m thinking one might do and I
hate education but I kept talking and
dig in and dig it and so can I said miss
if you let me onto this course today I
promise you I’m gonna get the highest
grade possible which at that time was 18
distinctions out of 18 units like 3h
stars I mean I didn’t know what free a
stars was it just sounded sexy but I
realized the hole I was digging for
myself so I just stopped talking
personally I was ready to walk back out
that room and carry on doing what I was
doing but you see that she was thinking
so for me personally I knew had two
whole years to turn my big dream of
going to America to reality five 10 15
20 years of think how what if I
understand I’m not gonna change
everybody when I do my motivational
sessions but if I can change a small
handful of people then I’ve done my job
someone asked you a question
are you willing to open your mind enough
to allow my words to help and support
you on this roller coaster I call big
dreams and you know what I never went to
America despite certainly my best
friends getting scholarships they got
scholarships
I didn’t I was a grown 19 20 year old
literally crying myself to sleep because
I sacrificed so much I failed but now
personally I’m so glad down not in
America because if I was I couldn’t be
doing what I’m doing and even though I
didn’t go I achieved Sports Awards I
represented Great Britain three times in
American football but most importantly I
got those 18 distinctions of 18 units I
promise a teacher and over time I
realized that this dream of going to
America wasn’t really my big dream this
is quite common because so many of us
think we want something but hand over
time we actually realize really don’t
butt in that poses the question how do I
find my big dream I wish I had an easy
answer but the fact is my big dream
didn’t really just hit me it didn’t
matter too much of this time because I
just started University and it was there
when I felt like a completely outcast
from the way I looked from the way I
sounded plus I was the only individual
who had the vision of graduating and
being fully self employed but in what I
mean at this time I was listening to
motivational speakers I felt like nobody
was doing this in the UK and where I
came from
I felt like we needed it but I known if
it was real and from the heart so I
started to develop this idea of becoming
this individual who inspires people on a
larger scale not just a few Facebook
posts here in there and being a leader
of my sports teams I wanted to think
so I started discover my big dream I’ve
becoming this motivational speaker what
day takes over the UK in the world the
problem was fear realized I lacked a
huge amount of confidence I had no
experience and fear was also fully aware
I was extremely insecure with how I foul
especially when I got stumped with
another obstacle in my first year at
university and it was there I was
seriously struggling I couldn’t
understand any of the work I was saying
class thinking I’m becoming more stupid
maybe I’ve had too many hits in my head
in American foot but I don’t know until
one of my teachers said to me Cameron I
think you may have dyslexia
I said dyslexia I can’t even spell it
wait laughing for and she said no I
really really think you got dyslexia I
said no I really really think you’re
wrong didn’t understand it so I did what
we all do I went home and I google and
you ever got a sore throat not feeling
too well so you type your symptoms in
online and it basically tells you’ve got
24 hours to live in deficit and
everywhere daddy I did this with
dyslexia still didn’t understand it so I
dismissed it until I started becoming
more aware of things I was doing when I
was reading I started to skip over words
my processing was extremely slow and a
list of fees can really go on until one
day I decided to take the test I was
informed that I’m heavily dyslexic and
apparently I got attention deficit
dan you shocked me I did spawn well I
made out to be this huge thing and
because of my growth at that time was
very very limited until I started
looking into you know celebrities who
had dyslexia there was people like
Albert Einstein you had Will Smith
Richard Branson okay interesting maybe
it doesn’t limit me and Richard
Branson’s a successful businessman
so my attention started to shift so how
could I become fully self-employed maybe
I could fulfill my big dream of becoming
this motivational speaker who delivers
impact and value to thousands of people
who need it
nope you fear coming back and I created
the most outrageous business idea ever
well blow every single one of your minds
yes that’s right I created a generic
cloven Braun and when I mean cloven
brand I mean just a design I pull it on
a t-shirt I tried to sell it and in all
fairness it went really well to begin
with but then over time it started to
decline that rhymed again resulting in a
termination of the business I failed
that was embarrassing people expected me
to do Wow but I was partially my own fo
the written wise because on the surface
I made out like everything was going
amazing
but deep down I wasn’t keeping my words
I wasn’t doing what I said I was going
to do I didn’t execute so I failed now
put your hands over you’ve not kept your
word before but you hands up
don’t lie to me okay I’m on the right
path and that wiped all the confidence
from me the combination of my teenaged
years not getting a scholarship to
America dyslexia failed business
terrible relationships and I just got
severe acne and yeah if you look close
enough you can still see the scars on my
face today
to top that off always living in a
freezing cold flat and I had absolutely
no money I was trying to complete my
degree as well as trying to get my
businesses off the ground so I had to
sacrifice something so I sacrifice one
key factor to high-performance and I is
my sleep so I just got a simple job
working on a hotel reception from 10:00
at night to 7:00 in the morning I did
that four to five days a week when I
leave my shift I got five more right
from there straight to my University
class and one morning when I was riding
out of nowhere I was taken off my bike
and yeah this stage I knew two things
number one is that it’s a car and number
two nights going fast but it’s kind of
true right because it really did go in
slow motion I remember hitting the
ground I wrote over and over and I was
just let there waiting for the ambulance
to come but then fast forward a couple
days later I remember waking up in my
own bed I didn’t have no serious
injuries but it was playing on my mind
but I remember waking up and go into my
window and as I looked out I seen people
stuck in traffic and believe it or not
have feeling got to me because I thought
to myself it’s something would have
happened to me a couple days ago these
people will still be stuck in traffic
now and it’d be like I never ever
existed I’m sorry that’s not the most
positive thing but that’s the truth what
made it worse was people was looking up
to me for motivation and positive but
deep down I was struggling I was there
thinking what’s the point putting on a
fake off for everybody else but tending
that I was okay but I wasn’t and I was
in that mindset for about six months but
and when I was in the hospital these
nurses kept saying to me that these road
users really need to think bike think
bike and think bike but a truth is every
single one of us regardless of our age
everyone needs to think life
because you can go into any city center
any town center you see people my age at
25 therefore either 50 the healthy that
live in but then they got nothing inside
every single day they wake up with no
purpose no motivation and no big dream
and to me personally that’s a nightmare
and something I don’t want to change I
want to ask every single one of you
right now what do you really really want
and if you have absolutely no idea my
advice would be go out then experience
as many different things as you can but
if you do know what you want make sure
that you put in a hundred and ten
percent and make sure that you don’t
have any regrets or any what-ifs I’m six
years in to this roller coaster I call
big dreams and on the path I found a
woman of my dreams
I graduated from University being the
first in my family to ever do it and I
also kept my promise graduating and
being fully self-employed now I’m one of
the top motivational speakers in the UK
talking close to a hundred thousand
people every single year and I can
happily say that I found my big dream
and it keeps getting bigger yes I still
have a very long way to go but that’s
what pathways are all about and because
the topic for this TEDx event is
pathways I want to leave you with one
final question do you have the courage
to overcome fear and failure to create your own path big dreams
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