This Is Why You DON'T SUCCEED! (Don't Let This HOLD YOU BACK From Success) | Les Brown

Summary

Motivational speaker Les Brown details his inspiring life story, overcoming labels like 'educable mentally retarded' and adversity like growing up in poverty with a single mother. He discusses critical mentors like his high school teacher who saw potential in him and pivotal mindset shifts like realizing your thinking creates your reality. Brown stresses having hunger to better yourself, surrounding yourself with 'only quality people', developing communication skills, and maintaining self-awareness and self-approval. He advocates tuning out cultural programming and finding your unique interests and talents. Brown aims to inspire audiences worldwide, driven by his selfless mother's example and commitment to contribute to humanity.

Takeaways

• 😀 To achieve your goals, surround yourself with supportive, high-quality people and mentors who believe in you
• 😧 Overcome challenges and setbacks with faith, determination and an unstoppable attitude
• 🙏 Live a life of contribution that positively impacts others
• 👩‍🏫 Continuously work on yourself through learning and new experiences to discover your full potential
• 💪🏾 Defy limiting labels and opinions others have placed on you
• 😤 Be relentlessly driven by your hunger and passion
• 📚 Read books and listen to messages that inspire you and expand your thinking
• 👥 Build relationships that challenge you to reach higher
• 🌟 Set bold dreams that stretch you outside your comfort zone
• 💡 Transform your mindset to see possibilities beyond your circumstances

Q & A

What was the defining moment in Les Brown's childhood that showed him the injustice that existed at that time?

When Les Brown was 5 years old, he drank from a "whites only" water fountain in public. His mother severely beat him out of fear of what would happen if authorities saw him break racist laws that existed at the time.

How did Les Brown's adopted mother, Mamie, demonstrate determination and resilience in raising her children?

As a single mother with limited education and resources, Mamie did whatever it took to provide for her children - including working multiple jobs, selling moonshine when she lost work, and going to jail. She always found a way to keep food on the table, a roof over their heads, and raise her children with love.

What core advice did Les Brown's high school teacher give him that had a major impact on the rest of his life?

His teacher told him that 1) he needed to change his mindset and realize he could achieve anything he set his mind to 2) surround himself with high quality, positive people and 3) develop strong communication skills.

How does Les Brown recommend dealing with negative self-talk and limiting beliefs?

He says you need to have a maintenance program to continually renew your thinking. This includes activities like reading inspirational materials, attending seminars, spending quiet time in self-reflection, and surrounding yourself with positive mentors/coaches.

What was the key thing that allowed Les Brown to eventually view himself as capable of being a professional speaker?

Over time, through experiences like attending personal development seminars and having positive mentors/coaches, he began to peel back the layers of negative conditioning and self-doubt instilled in him earlier in life. This allowed him to connect with his innate talents and potential.

What is Les Brown's viewpoint regarding making money from speaking engagements?

Unlike others, Les says his priority is using his speaking ability to change lives rather than viewing it chiefly as a way to get rich. He speaks from genuine passion because someone spoke words that transformed his life early on.

What does it mean to live a heart-centered life according to Les Brown?

It means pursuing goals and activities that align with your authentic passion and purpose rather than being overly swayed by societal programming or expectations.

Why does Les Brown believe we must live lives that outlive us?

Because the positive impact we have can continue changing lives for generations after we die. He wants his life's work to be a major contribution to humankind.

What was the key trait Les Brown learned from his relentless door-to-door sales experience?

The hunger and determination to keep pushing himself outside his comfort zone to achieve his goals, no matter how many times he faced rejection or adversity.

What is Les Brown's life philosophy he aims to fulfill daily?

"Aspire to inspire, until I expire."

Outlines

00:00

😊 Overcoming Life's Challenges

This paragraph discusses how to overcome life's challenges by having goals outside your comfort zone, surrounding yourself with supportive mentors, and continuously fighting for what you want in life.

05:04

😤 Battling Cancer with Defiance

This paragraph describes Les Brown's experience being diagnosed with cancer, his defiant mindset to beat it, and how he endured significant pain but did not let fear consume him.

10:06

😎 Using Speaking to Impact Lives

This paragraph explains how Les Brown uses storytelling in his speaking to distract people from limiting beliefs, dispute assumptions, and inspire them to rewrite their life's story and reach their potential.

15:06

😞 Overcoming Cultural Biases

This paragraph discusses how marginalized groups face cultural messaging designed to destroy their self-belief, and the need to escape limiting inner conversations by discovering your best self.

20:07

😍 The Power of Relationships

This paragraph emphasizes the importance of supportive relationships with coaches and mentors who see your potential and push you to places you can't reach alone.

25:09

🌟 Leaving a Lasting Legacy

This paragraph encourages leaving a lasting, world-changing legacy by living a heart-centered life of contribution that builds on your unique talents and passion.

30:10

📚 Recommended Reading List

This paragraph recommends books like The Road to Your Best Stuff, Live Your Dreams, The Secret of the Ages, and As a Man Thinketh to transform limiting mindsets.

35:13

😤 Refusing to Quit

This paragraph tells a powerful story highlighting Les Brown's relentless determination to provide for his family no matter the obstacles or time required.

40:13

😊 The Power of a Mother's Love

This paragraph explores how Les Brown's adoptive mother deeply impacted him through her unconditional love, determination, faith and sacrifice.

45:15

🔥 Staying Hungry

This closing paragraph encourages staying fiercely determined to improve yourself, contribute value, and make a difference during challenging times of economic uncertainty.

Keywords

💡Toxic Relationships

Toxic relationships refer to connections with people who negatively impact one's energy, motivation, or ability to achieve their goals. In the context of the video, it emphasizes the importance of removing or distancing oneself from such relationships to pursue personal growth and success. The script highlights that having too many toxic, negative, energy-draining people in one's life can be a significant barrier to achieving goals.

💡Comfort Zone

A comfort zone is a behavioral state within which a person operates in an anxiety-neutral condition, using a limited set of behaviors to deliver a steady level of performance. The video script discusses the necessity of setting goals outside of one's comfort zone as a means to challenge oneself and foster personal development. It asserts that growth and achievement require becoming someone you've never been, which involves stepping out of your comfort zone.

💡Mentorship

Mentorship is the guidance provided by a mentor, especially an experienced person in a company or educational institution. The script underscores the value of having a mentor who has been through similar journeys and achieved goals, likening this to famous partnerships such as Muhammad Ali and Angelo Dundee, and Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson. It illustrates that mentorship is crucial for seeing and reaching potentials one cannot see in themselves.

💡Self-Transformation

Self-transformation refers to a comprehensive, significant change in an individual, encompassing personal attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions. The video script addresses this concept by highlighting the journey from recognizing one's current limitations to achieving a state of greater personal development. It mentions the need for an individual to become someone they've never been to achieve things they've never done, indicating a transformative process.

💡Limitations

Limitations are constraints or restrictions that prevent individuals from achieving their full potential. In the video, the speaker discusses overcoming externally and internally imposed limitations, such as societal labels or self-doubt. The narrative showcases individuals who refused to accept the limitations placed on them by others, illustrating how overcoming these barriers is key to personal and professional success.

💡Power Voice

The concept of a 'power voice' in the video script symbolizes the discovery and use of one's unique and influential voice to make an impact and inspire others. It refers to the moment an individual finds their confidence and style in communication, allowing them to effectively convey their messages and make a difference. The script recounts the speaker's journey to finding his power voice, highlighting its importance in achieving success and becoming a renowned orator.

💡Adversity

Adversity refers to difficulties or misfortune that one encounters. The script is replete with examples of individuals facing and overcoming adversity, including personal challenges, health issues, and societal obstacles. It conveys the message that facing adversity with resilience can lead to significant personal growth and success, emphasizing the importance of perseverance and a positive mindset.

💡Motivational Influence

Motivational influence involves impacting others in a way that inspires them to take action towards their goals or improve their lives. The video script highlights how listening to motivational tapes and speeches can change one's outlook on life, sparking a realization that with enough effort, they can turn their life around. It demonstrates the power of words and encouragement in motivating individuals to pursue their dreams and overcome obstacles.

💡Self-Discovery

Self-discovery is the process of gaining insight into one's character, feelings, and motives. It's about understanding who you are beyond societal labels or constraints. The video emphasizes the importance of self-discovery in personal growth, suggesting that knowing oneself is essential for setting and achieving meaningful goals. It portrays self-discovery as a journey that is both challenging and rewarding, leading to greater self-awareness and fulfillment.

💡Resilience

Resilience is the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; it's about toughness and the ability to persevere through challenges. The script delves into the resilience demonstrated by individuals who, despite facing significant obstacles and setbacks, continue to fight for their dreams and aspirations. It showcases resilience as a critical attribute for overcoming adversity, achieving success, and transforming one's life.

Highlights

Life is a fight for territory, and once you stop fighting for what you want, what you don't want will automatically take over

When something happens to you you don't deny it you defy it

You have to have a program that will increase your sense of self reading, doing good work, volunteering constantly looking for ways in which you can improve all the dimensions of your life

If your achievements outgrow your sense of self you will unconsciously engage in self-destructive behavior

I believe that we're taught be not conformed to this world be transformed by the renewing of your mind

Have a strategy to continuously find ourselves reaching higher

You earn within two to three thousand dollars of your closest friends

Someone's opinion of you does not have to become your reality

You have to work on yourself and you have to have an unstoppable attitude and no excuse is acceptable

You will fail your way to success

As life knocks you down trying to land on your back because if you can look up you can get up

We should be ashamed to die until we've made some major contribution to humankind

When you go for a walk with someone, something happens without being spoken. Either you adjust to their pace, or they adjust to your pace. Whose pace have you adjusted to?

If information could change people everybody would be skinny rich and happy

I aspire to inspire until I expire

Transcripts

[Music]

many people never achieve their goals

because they have too many toxic

negative energy draining people in their

lives and you have to have goals outside

of your comfort zone that will challenge

you because in order to do something

you've never done you've got to become

someone you've never been and you've got

to have a mentor who's experienced who

who's been there done that and and as a

result of that relationship because you

can't see the picture when you're in the

frame muhammad ali said i'm the greatest

but he never won a championship without

angelo dundee and michael jordan never

won a championship without phil jackson

so you've got to have someone that can

see something in you that you can't see

that that that can take you to a place

within yourself that you can't go by

yourself

[Music]

[Music]

hey everyone welcome to impact theory

today's guest is a best-selling author

and one of the most lauded and

sought-after speakers on the planet but

nobody would have predicted that given

where he started born on the dirty floor

of an abandoned building he and his twin

brother were later adopted and raised as

two of seven children to a single mother

who struggled to make ends meet he was

deemed teachable but mentally [ __ ]

when he was a kid and classmates

referred to him as the dumb twin despite

all of this however one day while

shining shoes he paid attention to the

powerful words of the motivational tapes

one of his most successful customers was

listening to the message made him

realize that with enough effort he could

turn his life around he began reading

and drinking in as much wisdom as

humanly possible and after years of

relentlessly improving his skill set and

receiving encouragement from mentors he

stepped into what he now calls his power

voice

since then he has hosted popular

national tv and radio talk shows won a

chicago area emmy spoke into crowds as

large as 80 000 people written

best-selling books and received the

national speakers association's most

prestigious award the golden gavel he

was named by toastmasters international

as one of the top five outstanding

speakers in the world and he's been

featured by nbc success magazine inc and

the washington post to name but a few

so please

help me in welcoming the man who refused

to accept the limitations placed on him

by others the multiple term state

representative for ohio who can count at

t disney and ibm among his staggering

client roster one of the most powerful

orators and teachers of our time

les brown

[Applause]

man great thank you thank you it's a

pleasure to be here dude it is so good

to have you you are

an unparalleled motivational preacher

and and i use that word very

intentionally you have a way of

conveying a message with such

chills inspiring goosebump giving power

it's really really extraordinary to

witness and becomes all that much more

powerful knowing that you didn't start

there

that that wasn't sort of naturally you

know your your beginning and you've

called life a a battle for territory

yeah what do you mean by that

that the things that you get in life you

know frederick douglass said we might

not get everything that we fight for but

everything we get it will be a

fight so

and i love the quote that life is a

fight for territory and once you stop

fighting for what you want what you

don't want will automatically take over

like getting ready to come here to see

you

i want to just first of all thank you

for the great work that you're doing i

watch you and i study you and

you have had some incredible guests

impacted my life and and preparing to

come here i'm being treated

by

cancer centers of america for fourth

stage cancer which i've been kicking

cancer's butt for 27 years and i've been

working on getting a six-pack before

getting here i still got one pack

and i've been working to get some

muscles so i could wear my t-shirt but

they weren't large enough so i wore a

long sleeve

that's amazing man talk to me about

cancer you've had such an upbeat

attitude about it it's really pretty

extraordinary

was that your initial reaction did you

go through a trough of despair when you

first got diagnosed like how have you

framed that

doctor

alfred golson

who since passed

was a very unusual guy and he told me

that mr brown

you have cancer i said can you give him

a second opinion he said yes and you're

ugly too

i said oh my god

so

i didn't have a chance to have fear

because

those three words you have cancer three

of the most feared words

in seven different languages i saw it as

a fight and and and from that time to

this time you know my psa was

four 2400

and that stands for prostate specific

androgen and and now it's below zero and

metastasized in seven areas of my body

which was a good thing because seven is

my lucky number okay so it no i i never

was fearful that i was gonna die from it

and and i think

that i read something by

dr norman cousins he wrote a book called

the biology of hope

and he talked about the fact that when

something happens to you you don't deny

it you defy it and i was defiant that

i'm going to beat this i'm going to

handle this that there are people who

many times when something happens to

them that they embrace it from a place

of fear and it takes them out and

elsie robinson said things may happen to

you and things will happen around you

but the most important things the things

that happen in you and you have to stand

up inside yourself and deal with it and

handle it so fortunately

that never bothered me but i had

cytokine pain

that had me speaking in unknown thugs

and i was in a wheelchair for several

months speaking from the milk a

wheelchair and it was something that i

dealt with that frightened me will this

ever end it was 24 hours i lost a lot of

sleep

it was exhausting going from all types

of specialists in and out of the country

and just one day

it stopped

and i'm glad that i'm past that you know

i just i i feel like

when when you go through some stuff you

just there's some certain things

that you don't want ever to see or get

it that's what i ought to ever see again

but

fear has not been the biggest challenge

that i've faced with the things that

i've been dealing with in terms of my

health well talk to me about the process

that you go through mentally so there

have been a few times in your life in

getting to know your story where

they seem like really key inflection

points um being told that you were

teachable but mentally [ __ ] that for

sure is something that would define most

people and they would have a hard time

escaping that um being told that you

have cancer that it's stage four

that um they don't know how to treat it

like that's something that consumes most

people

how do you

build that resilience so maybe by the

time you get to cancer you've already

done so much work so i get maybe how

that when you're you're protected by the

mechanisms you've built but in the

beginning how did you crawl out from

under the labels that people were

putting on you the easiest thing i've

done was to get out from under the

labels and to live the life that i live

the most difficult thing i've ever done

was to believe

that i can do it what's the difference

the difference is that when you don't

know what's impacting you

and it's it's something that that's

holding you down and you're not aware of

it the great anthropologist margaret

mead was in a restaurant in london

and and a guy was serving her and said

there's several americans here tonight

and she said is that right yes let me

know when you serve them dessert i'll

tell you exactly how many are here he

said oh you couldn't possibly

and so he came back and said okay i've

done it and

she got up and she walked around

and she came back and she said

they're around

25 here

and he looked at the roster how did you

know that say in america

we eat differently from you when we eat

a dessert you eat it from the crust

toward the tip we eat it from the tip

toward the crust when you eat a slice of

pie how do you eat yours i definitely

yeah from the the tip back to the crust

for sure yeah okay and so so there are

things that when you

in my situation you live in a dominant

culture that is designed to destroy your

sense of self and your belief in

yourself and

and you have to learn ways in which you

can begin to connect with this power

that you have within yourself to handle

where you are

the key is to be

constantly in a perpetual process

of discovering the truth of who you are

and

fighting constantly to

look for ways in which you can escape

the inner conversation i speak to

audiences around the world and i and i

train speakers as well and i i tell them

that

when you speak

that there's a there's an objective that

you want to achieve when you speak to an

audience because how people live their

lives as a result of the story

they believe about themselves so

you as a speaker when you speak in this

program when people see you

what you do is distract dispute and

inspire you distract people from their

current story with your guests and the

questions that you ask through the

process of the ongoing questioning and

the way in which they respond and the

things they have learned you dismantle

their current belief system and inspire

them to to create a new chapter with

their lives and so but that's an ongoing

process of of constantly interrupting

that conversation what psychologists

call your self-explanatory style because

life is going to beat up on you in so

many ways and many things they come back

you know negative thoughts and and how

you feel about yourself

they don't die they they come back once

you stop doing the maintenance work on

your mind

listening to motivational messages going

to seminars and workshops spending time

quietly listening to the still small

voice within who am i really is this

really me am i giving my best

am i just reflecting what's around me

because all of these various things

affect how we show up in life and so

having a strategy to continuously

find ourselves reaching higher or robert

schuller had a book is not very popular

but i loved it it's called peak to peak

you p-e-a-k

to p-e-e-k

because you're constantly reaching

higher to find out and discover your

your better self yeah i want to talk

about that difference between so you

have the notion of figuring out who you

really are and i assume you mean beneath

the labels so people are telling me that

i'm not smart but that's not necessarily

true so i want to get down to that layer

of what i'm really capable of but you

also talk about we have this profound

ability to change and you talk about

people needing to be relentless like to

relentlessly pursue that growth i i find

that juxtaposition incredibly

interesting where you've got there is a

real you which maybe you would call

potential

and then there is the actualized

potential is that how you see it or is

there something else absolutely there's

a real you you know richard wright said

it best he said the impulse to dream

has slowly been beaten out of me through

the experiences of life so when you live

in a culture that

is designed to destroy your sense of

self to where you are marginalized where

you you have a feeling of being hopeless

and powerless

and you're terrorized i remember going

downtown with my mother and

i saw water fountain i think i was about

five years old and i ran and i drank

from the water fountain all of a sudden

she grabbed me by the neck and said

don't you ever do that again and start

punching me in the back of my head and

my face and and got me down on ground

was punching me relentlessly

relentlessly and i said mama please it's

me mama it's me with this crazed look in

her eyes

and then a white policeman came and he

had a

nightstick in his hand he was hitting it

in his left hand

he said okay

all right

you beat that little [ __ ] boy enough

now

i won't have to beat him with this night

stick and he walked away laughing

and my mother broke down and started

crying and saying leslie i'm so sorry

i'm so sorry

i said mama why'd you beat me like that

she said this water fountains are for

white only son

and if that carpet hit me with his

nightstick

he would have to kill me

i'd have fought him till he killed me

and i left you and your brothers and

sisters by

themselves to raise themselves i'm so

sorry

and

the book called learned optimism

sillaman talk about the fact that

between ages

0 and 5 we determine what's available to

us

and what's not available to us and so

that was a defining moment i knew

there are certain things i could not do

certain places i could not go they used

to have signs on miami beach that said

jews

dogs and cullets not allowed and so now

you have to operate within

the constraints of the dominant society

and the things that they have created

for you and

it's a challenge to see yourself beyond

that and to work to get outside of that

even after

those laws have changed because that has

become so much a part of you

you unconsciously operate within the

parameters

of what has been put in place like you

go to you're driving on the expressway

the four or five and

and you'll get off on an exit that you

weren't going in that direction but you

unconsciously did it because you've done

it so many times that many people

because

they're not

making a conscious deliberate determined

effort

to think outside of what life has thrown

at them they end up doing the same thing

over and over and over again einstein

said the thinking that has brought me

this far has created some problems that

this thinking can't solve and so through

relationships through reading through

studies through goals and dreams beyond

your comfort zone it allows you to begin

to live out of your imagination as

opposed to out of your history disney

said the imagination is a preview of

what's to come

and so as a kid i i dreamed a lot about

taking care of my mother i used to go

with her to work to clean homes and and

she she kept her children and she cooked

for these wealthy families my mother

could bake a sweet potato pie so good

you couldn't eat it with your shoes or

you had to take your shoes off so you

could wiggle your toes and i used to

look at these big beautiful mansions and

said mama what is it leslie when i

become a man i'm gonna buy you a big

beautiful home just like this

oh you don't have to do this i said i

know but you didn't have to adopt us

either and

you did and so i'm here with you because

the two women one gave me life the other

one gave me love god took me out of my

biological mother's womb and placed me

in the heart of my adopted mother and

because of

her example and my love for her and the

passion

that i felt

in my heart i've got to do something

to to make her proud i've got to do

something to put myself in position to

be able to take care of her

that drove me nietzsche said if you know

the wife of living you can endure almost

anyhow

jesus man that was uh

a lot i want to go back to this notion

of dominant culture you look so young i

forget how long you have been walking

this planet 75 i'm 75 years old it's

[ __ ] incredible man so thank you you

have so much optimism you're so positive

you're so quick to laugh going back to

the way that

the dominant culture can dismantle so

many people what are ways that the

dominant culture is dismantling people's

creativity

their their very spirit today that

people should be watching out for well

just think about

if you're an immigrant

and you're watching television

and you see people who can come from

white cultures with no problems

whatsoever

like the president's in-laws

but

brown people coming from

other countries they're separated from

their children and and put in cages

and there's a silence

there's not millions of people

protesting and saying this is not who we

are as a country

this is inhumane

i believe that all of us have a

responsibility

that

we want to live a life

that will outlive us

the work that you're doing

there are people that you will never

meet whose lives that you've transformed

that you you're living a life

that will out live you just think about

the fact that this program has given a

lot of people hope and there's hope in

the future it gives you power in the

present every 40 seconds someone commits

suicide but because of something you say

or

some guest that you've invited in and as

they share their story you interrupt

that story of being hopeless and

powerless and and not wanting to be here

anymore and because

they took the time to watch you create

an experience oliver wendell holmes said

that once a man or woman's mind has been

expanded with an ideal concept or

experience it could never be satisfied

to going back to where it was and so at

the end of the program at the end of one

of your presentations there are people

who

because of you

their lives will be transformed and they

will become a pencil as mother teresa

would say in the hand of god and start

writing a new chapter with their lives

i want to talk about that

writing a new chapter so you've talked

about the little voice that people have

the need to create quiet space to hear

that

combine that with the notion of the

culture sort of chipping away at people

and whether it's

based on you know race and oppression or

whether it's just the school system

teaching you to be a good cog in the

machine or whatever other things people

have to fight against how can people

that are listening to this now

especially if they're an adult that's

got all those labels put on them that's

had their creativity squished

what process do they do to hear the

voice

what sort of communion can they do to

create that imagination that's going to

allow them to

get out of that and move towards

something new that's the reason why you

designed this program you and your team

for them to do that that they have to

expose themselves to something

that will give them a different vision

of themselves and in addition to that

they have to put themselves in a

community of what i call oqp

only quality people a gentleman who

dramatically transformed my life i was

a junior at booker t washington high

school in miami florida and i went in

his class looking for another friend and

and he said go to board and work this

problem out for me i said sir i can't do

that he said why not i said

i'm not one of your students he said do

it anyhow.

and and the other kids started laughing

saying he's leslie he's dt

and he said what's dt he's his brother

is smart but he's the dumb twin

and and i said i am sir and he came from

behind his desk and he pointed at me

said don't you ever say that again

someone's opinion of you does not have

to become your reality and he taught me

three things he said if you want to

become successful in life young man he

said number one you got to change your

mindset he said you don't get in life

what you want you get in life what you

are

number two practice oqp

only quality people you earn within two

to three thousand dollars of your

closest friends i found that out i left

all my broke friends i said you all got

to go

because i used to be so broke i passed

the bank and tripped the alarm you know

and the third thing that develop your

communication skills because once you

open your mouth

you tell the world who you are he said

those are three major things that you

want to work on that will liberate you

from living in liberty city living in

poverty and over town

it will help to

escape

out of where you are right now because i

see you watching me and i know you want

more i can see the hunger

in your eyes that's why my book is about

to come out called you got to be hungry

i love that notion i love that title so

how do people get hungry

you get hungry by finding something

that's you

i believe that all of us are born unique

but most of us

dye copies

you've got to find out what is it that

turns you on what resonates with you

one of the things that i realized and

what allowed me to become successful as

a speaker the speaking industry has been

hijacked by people who speak

to sell and it's it's okay to do that

and make money i speak to change lives

because somebody spoke

and changed my life so this is my

passion this is my drive this is

something that i feel in my heart and

and so the key

to that hunger driven life

is a heart centered life i didn't do

what i'm doing for years because of my

programming because of the culture in

which i was raised in i would see other

people with with degrees and phds and

and mbas and credentials i don't have

and i convinced myself i couldn't do it

but mr washington

on that day we became friends and and he

taught me not only someone's opinion of

you just does not have to determine your

reality he said that you have to work on

yourself and you have to have an

unstoppable attitude and no excuse is

acceptable and you've got to to

make it a a priority a non-negotiable in

your life and hold a constant vision of

what it is you want to achieve see it

accomplished and go all out find a way

to win

in spite of the setbacks in spite of the

disappointments in spite of your

failures

i tell people when i'm giving

presentations you will fail your way to

success i have a saying as life knocks

you down trying to land on your back

because if you can look up you can get

up

and so

those experiences of of going after

goals that's beyond your comfort zone

and having relationships that will

challenge you and surrounding yourself

with coaches and mentors who can take

you to a place within yourself that you

can't go by yourself because you can't

read the label when you're locked in the

box

and so those experiences they challenge

you to go to that next level and

continue to move forward in your life

doing new and exciting things that eye

has not seen ear has not heard knows in

the heart of mankind what god has in

store for you when you live a

hard-centered life deciding that you're

going to live a life that will outlive

you you're going to live a life that

counts a life that will build a legacy

and change the planet you know horror's

man said we should be ashamed to die

until we've made some major contribution

to humankind and so my goal is to make a

major contribution to humankind i am a

father of ten five boys and five girls

i'm i'm suing the people who came up

with the rhythm method the method to

work you know i've got rhythm but

arithmetic does not work okay

and i have 15 grandchildren and four

great-grandsons

and so every day when i get up

my mindset is what is it that i can do

to touch and impact somebody's life

today what is it what does that look

like like seeing you i'm so excited i

started doing push-ups i said well i'm

going to go on he's going to see that i

got muscles too

man what you've done with your mental

muscles is is so extraordinary i don't

know that you need to worry about

anything else

talk to me about your grandkids your

great-grandkids like if you had just

an hour to spend with them what would

you give them in terms of setting them

up the way that mr washington set you up

like what are those core principles that

you think are most impactful

one get to know yourself

that i believe that we're taught be not

conformed to this world be transformed

by the renewing of your mind

is because i mean like that sounds slick

as hell but i don't actually understand

i know it what it means is that

don't live the life that has been given

you

by the culture by your parents by their

circumstances

by the people that's around you

that sydney port here wrote a book

called the measure of a man and he said

when you go for a walk with someone

something happens without being spoken

he said either you adjust to their pace

or they adjust to your pace

whose pace have you adjusted to

and so the things that we pick up and we

think that they're our choices but

they're the choices that we've been

programmed by life

to to do

when we leave our homes in the morning

we're bombarded with over 6 000

advertising hits

through facebook through twitter through

instagram through television through our

phones and through our communities

and through the computers and so all of

these things are impacting us every day

so if you don't have a program for your

mind then your mind is going to be

programmed and you'll find yourself

doing things that you did not know

and and that they affected you that they

through marketing techniques and

strategies

that

they will create a thirst within you i

came up in an era that said if you built

the best mouse trap the world will be

the path to your door but if you know

marketing

people will sleep outside your store

to buy a telephone they've never touched

or seen but because of the marketing

they said i've got to have that and when

they get it it's a smart phone with

their dummy because they don't know how

to work it and that is me

i got a smartphone but all i could do is

do text messages on it

hey that's already pretty good all right

so we've got our grandkids in a room we

tell them don't be programmed by the

culture you gotta figure out you've got

to get to know yourself you want to

spend time reading reading is very

important give me some powerful books

one of the books i enjoy is by my mentor

mike williams he saw this less proud

before i saw him i was a disc jockey

wvko radio station in columbus ohio and

he said hey brownie i said yes he said

you know why you go see robert schuler

and and tony robbins and zig ziglar i

said because i like the message he says

no

he said that's who you are man you can

do that

and he said you know why bert charles

gives you so much hell here

i said well he just doesn't like me no

because you've outgrown this place

there's something else for you to do

you can do what those guys do but at

that time

i was suffering from possibility

blindness i couldn't see it i had

the conversation in my head of being

labeled educable mentally [ __ ] and

and failing twice in school but over the

years

experiences

continue

to peel away and you wax the floor you

don't put wax on the existing floor you

you strip it first since over the years

the seminars the workshops the examples

the things that are observed like people

like yourself begin to peel away and

penetrate and connect with that part of

myself that says

i can do this i can do more and i

deserve more and so i would teach my

kids

that you have to transform your mindset

you have to continuously upgrade your

relationships my youngest son john

leslie

poses a question he said when you have

goals and dreams you want to achieve he

said ask yourself the question who

should i count on and who should i count

out and so many people never achieve

their goals because they have too many

toxic negative energy draining people in

their lives and you have to have goals

outside of your comfort zone that will

challenge you because in order to do

something you've never done you've got

to become someone you've never been and

you've got to have a mentor who's

experienced who who's been there done

that and and as a result of that

relationship because you can't see the

picture when you're in the frame

muhammad ali said i'm the greatest but

he never won a championship without

angelo dundee and michael jordan never

won a championship without phil jackson

so you've got to have someone that can

see something in you that you can't see

that that that can take you to a place

within yourself that you can't go by

yourself so i would tease them the value

of having a life coach that life is an

adventure and it's going to be a

challenge

and get ready

because you're going to fail your way to

success you're going to get slapped

around by life and don't spend time

complaining about it and telling

everybody eighty percent don't care and

twenty percent glad it's you

too true uh i wanna close the loop on

the books really fast so give me two or

three books that you think everybody

should read

the road to your best stuff by mike

williams i wrote the forward to that

live your dreams vivee it's a very good

one another one that's a little known

book that people

don't talk about it's by robert collier

called

secret of the ages that's a book that

really inspired me that mr washington

gave me secret of the ages

another book that is the secret of the

ages the secret of the age is that you

have the power to do more than you can

ever begin to imagine

don't underestimate yourself

you don't know enough about yourself to

become a cynic and so you've got to

challenge yourself to access that power

that you have within you you're more

than a conqueror

and the other one is a little small book

that i i don't care how many times i

read it i always get something of value

james allen as a man thinketh and they

have a female version of it as a woman

thinking

those are books that that i enjoy very

much what is it about as a man thinketh

i tried reading and to be honest i

couldn't get into it but i've heard a

lot of people that i respect a lot say

that that book really has something what

am i missing you know he died in prison

and in spite of all of the things that

he went through because he was a guy

that was ahead of his time

his his

his

experience in the in the area where he

was

and being in prison because of his

philosophy of life

didn't make him bitter you know we we've

all heard the saying things in life will

make you bitter or they'll make you

better

and and he became better he did even

more profound work while he was

incarcerated before he ultimately died

and so

his his

focus on the value of not only just

changing your mind but having a program

to do maintenance work on your mind

because those negative thoughts will

come back with a vengeance once you stop

the ritual of whatever you're doing

that will hold those negative thoughts

in check negative thoughts are like

weeds you can't kill weeds you can you

can

hold them down for a minute but once you

stop doing the things to overpower those

negative thoughts because we've been

taught to to

dislike ourselves

that that if i said to you tom you can't

do this show

you just don't have what it takes you

you have a face that only a mother could

love tom you can't do this then mit did

this study somebody else has to come

along and say tom don't pay any

attention you can do it tom you can do

this don't listen to him you can do this

listen to me linda you can do this

17 times to neutralize that one time

and and so

when we think about him and his work and

he did a lot of profound work it's it's

focused on how to begin to

get under

those conscious thoughts and impact that

subconscious mind to create an ongoing

process

of renewing how we see ourselves yeah i

want to talk about that process that i

think that's really powerful it's a

great analogy that the negative voices

like weeds are going to keep coming back

and the moment that you stop tending the

garden

you're going to be in trouble again

what does your process of tending the

garden look like what do you do on a

daily basis to keep it clean well we've

developed a program called

four steps to greatness and it's a

cyclic process

one

self-awareness where you you you

constantly uh every day when i get up i

i read i i get up and there's a there's

a scripture i love because all things

work together for good for those who

love god and for those who are called

according to his purpose

and so i meditate on that and i

visualize myself doing some good stuff

in the planet

the next step is not only self-awareness

but the next thing is

is self-approval that

you have to have a program that will

increase your sense of self reading

doing good work

volunteering constantly looking for ways

in which you can improve all the

dimensions of your life being a better

father being a better husband a wife or

being a better person because we want to

have a holistic approach to life because

if your achievements

outgrow

your sense of self you will

unconsciously engage in self-destructive

behavior and we're witnessing that now

on a national level

yeah you're touching on the thing that i

find maybe most distressing in life

i want to know about your mom

and how you were able to see her so well

in the way that you know this kid

couldn't see his father what was it

about your mom you've said you've quoted

um

abraham lincoln is saying everything

that i have or ever will have is a

result of my mother and you said you

feel the same way

what was it about her her spirit what

she did that so impacted you

one

she

i believe that she

lived a heart-centered life because

i don't feel i was given away i've never

done a search for my

birth parents until recently

out of because of

these various advertising on television

you know

and and they said something happened to

you or some of your children you want to

know if this is something that runs in

your family

but

a reporter asked her one time how did

you know

as a single mother third grade education

that you could raise seven children by

yourself and her response was i just

felt that the lord would make a way

somehow

and so whenever i go after a goal even

though

i don't have the money even though i

don't have the resources

even though i don't have the connections

i remember

sending up

one of my messages to guntherenker who

had a commercial for tony robbins

personal power

every 30 minutes on television so i sent

them one of my motivational cassette

tapes at that time

and and they sent me a load of access

you got an inspiring story but you're

black

and i i wrote back and said thank you

for telling me i never would have known

that and you've not reminded me

so and i at the end of it i wrote i'll

see you from the top

okay

and and so because my mother

she made a way out of no way she

promised our birth mother

she said our birth mother mr moore said

your mother

was confronted by your birth mother i

took her in liberty city on 62nd street

in this abandoned building

and and word was this lady had twins and

didn't want them separated and when i

brought mamie in there my mother

your your birth mother got up and got in

her face and got close to her nose and

said

are you the one

will you take good care of my boys

and mama said yes you promised never to

separate them she said yes

you're going to be good to him

she said

yes i promise you i swear to god yes

and and

she and he said that there was a

look of determination

on mama's face

as she was holding us in a light blue

blanket

coming out of there

that she was going to do this

no matter what

so i learned to become a no matter what

from my

mother and i learned the power of faith

and of of relationships she never met a

stranger she would talk to anybody talk

to a telegram folks you know

and and and i admired how when things

happen

that when she lost a job she couldn't

couldn't

work anymore

and

and she

she started selling

home brew

and moonshine

to keep food on the table

and she was arrested you know she went

to jail for us

and i was 10 years old and

they said i was an old man because

i became a man then

i sold

copper and aluminum

at pepper's junk yard

i cut grass

i shined shoes i sold newspapers

to provide until mama came back

and when she came back because i opened

the door

because like this guy who came to a

house and he was what you call

an undercover agent today

during that time we call him a stew

pigeon

and uh and he said i want to surprise

your mother

don't let her know

that i'm here i've got some friends i

want to meet her and

and i opened the door and he threw me

against the wall and and and he hit me

and they went in the back and they

brought mama on handcuffs and

and um

she said i told you never open the door

without letting me know and i said

i'm so sorry mama i'm so sorry

and when she got out she never she never

mentioned it she never brought that up

but

mama

she sacrificed

mama

we never went to bed hungry

mama

kept a roof over her head when she got

out

she kept children she baked sweet potato

pies she cooked for people

she found another way to generate income

for us

so that's why

i admire so much

yeah that's incredibly powerful you have

really lived that in your life which is

extraordinary you told one story one

time which i was really moved by about

the by any means being relentless not

stopping not making excuses

selling door to door and you and another

guy started at the same time i think it

would be really powerful especially

given that context of how much your

mother planted that seed in you

yeah this is a time where you have to be

hungry

[Laughter]

because

the over according to the department of

labor over 20 000 people lose their jobs

every month

and being replaced by artificial

intelligence

and so

i used to sell television sets or a guy

named sam

on the door hello

hi would you like to buy a good working

television set no money doubt

they know you're going from door to door

and

and

he would call the guys together when it

gets so late and say okay we gotta go

and he would call everybody to the car

and he said wait a minute he kind of hit

hey

leslie's not here and and i could hear

him saying hey leslie come on come on to

the car

and i said no sam

why not

i said i'm not going to stop until i

sell a television set

i haven't sold yet no nobody sold

anything yet i don't care sam

i've got to do this i made a commitment

i'm going to

make enough money to put groceries on

our table

and now knock sometimes 10 30 at night

and hi would you like to buy a nice

working television set no money dial do

you know what time it is yes i do

i'm going to buy a grocery store family

somebody's going to buy

a nice working television set from me

tonight and it might as well be you

and they say come on in here fool it

better be a good one

so i learned how to be unstoppable when

he came to pick the other guys up we had

to wait till they got dressed but i

would be standing out front

looking for him waiting

because i was hungry they were getting

money just to have a good time to party

on the weekend

i was earning money so that we could eat

that's all really incredible in terms of

just having a vision knowing what

motivates you going out being relentless

and pushing

how do you

you talk about making people thirsties

you've the oft quoted you can lead a

horse of water but you can't make them

drink so how do you make the horse

thirsty

you make the halls thirsty by finding

out what is it

that

will create that thirst one of the

advantages that i had coming into the

speaking industry

it's governed by the philosophy of the

dale carnegie course which is a great

course

tell them what you're going to tell them

tell them and then tell them what you

told them

mike williams my mentor said brownie

never let what you want to say

get in the way of what your audience

wants to hear

conduct communications intelligence

ask them

listen to what they're telling you

and then craft and create

a story

out of your experiences and things you

observe and learn

to begin to allow them

to see a vision of themselves

differently than what they had when you

came in

orchestrate an experience

that experience is major if information

could change people everybody would be

skinny rich and happy

i love that quote

you've talked about how for people to

make real change you have to give them a

significant emotional experience where

can people connect with you to get that

significant emotional experience they

can go to les brown.com we do a variety

of seminars and workshops discover your

power voice

getting unstuck

and the power of a larger vision that's

how they get in touch with me i love it

what is the specific impact that you

want to have on the world

i aspire

to inspire

until i expire

nice and simple yes guys if you haven't

already listened to this man's talks on

youtube you are missing out you probably

have by the way since he's basically the

meat and potatoes of virtually every

motivational compilation that is out

there it is truly extraordinary if you

haven't seen his georgia dome talk which

is the one he did in front of 80 000

people check it out it is

extraordinary and if you haven't already

be sure to subscribe and until next time

my friends be legendary take care

last that was [ __ ] extraordinary

thank you

how does a firefighter

go into a burning building

when there's this enormous adrenaline

and an epinephrine you know that could

stop most people dead in their tracks

they learn

here's the feeling it's normal