FIGHT FOR THE DREAM - Powerful Motivational Speech
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If all you...

is success. You will not have it. You cannot have success without process, without sacrificing. You cannot have it. If you wait until you're ready, you might be waiting the rest of your life. It's possible that you're just one decision away from your breakthrough. What do you desire? What makes you itch? What sort of a situation would you like?

The question is, are you ready to go down the path to your greatness? Change is tough. The world's not going to become easier all of a sudden. No, as you mature, you're going to have more responsibilities, more things that people expect out of you. What have been the biggest obstacles in your life? What has stopped you? What has hindered you? What has provoked you to get lazy?

And we're waiting for these perfect conditions and we keep thinking that perfect is coming tomorrow. Perfect doesn't come to you. I don't know how to start improving my life. Someone might say that. And I would say, well, you're not aiming low enough. You can control every space and place that your life goes from this point on. Better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing than a long life spent in a miserable way. No more tomorrows.

No more excuses. Log out of the social media. Get off the internet. Unplug and evaluate where you are and where you're supposed to be. The trajectory that you're on is more important than your starting point. Nobody is going to be like you. Nobody can be as strong as you. Nobody can walk the walk like you. That's what makes you different. That's what makes you unique. So prove them wrong.

Is today the day where you make excuses or is today the day you make a decision? You have to go into 2023 with the belief that no one and nothing, not even your fears can stop you. Will it be easy? No, but nothing worth having ever came easily. You're either moving forwards or you're going backwards.

The important thing is to start improving incrementally because incremental improvement pays off like compound interest. I need you to pursue it. I need you to go get it. All right. I need you to go get it. Don't wait for it to come to you. All right. Greatness is not going to come knock on your door. There's some opportunity that's not going to come knock on your door. You've got to go get them. It's not going to be perfect. You may slip or stumble or even fail, but you're going to get back up and keep going.

You got to be the one to prove them wrong and let the world know that you do matter in this society, that you have something great within you, that you have power, that you have will, that you have strength. Don't accept defeat. Don't accept excuses. This is the time that you must recognize that you have something that is special and it is time for you to show up.

and give it everything you have within yourself. You can do all great things within yourself if you just have the faith. You got to be the one to prove them wrong and let the world know that you do matter in this society, that you have something great within you, that you have power, that you have will, that you have strength. Don't accept defeats. Don't accept excuses.

Don't accept the fact that you think that you don't have what it takes when you know deep inside yourself you have it.

They didn't realize that every setback of your life, they didn't realize that every bad day of your life, they didn't realize that every sad day of your life, they didn't realize that every so-called failure, disaster, missed opportunity, a tragedy was just a building block of strategy and the agony, the pain, the heartache, the misery was put in place to give you the strength to rewrite history. Therefore, it should be no mystery when you make a special delivery to the doorsteps of victory.

When the rest of the world shuts you down, you got to be willing to open up your mind and your heart and accept the fact if you're gonna do it, then you got to be the one to do it and you got to be the one to believe in it. You must understand that we all have unique qualities within us, but we have to apply ourselves day in and day out. Yes, there are people out there right now that doubt you. And no matter how hard you work at your craft,

they will still find some fault in you. But when will you begin to realize that all of the hard work, all of the struggles, all of the mistakes, all of the setbacks are just a part of your growth? Maybe everybody is not going to accept you, but can you accept yourself? Can you trust in yourself? Maybe you're going to be the only one left standing, but at least you're standing.

And maybe you feel that you're standing alone, but you're really not alone because you got so many ideas, so much greatness within you right now that is flowing through you right now. So how can you believe that you are alone? How can you believe that all of these things that people have doubted you on, everybody that's been saying that you're not going to make it, that you can't push forward, that you're not going to be the best, and you trusted them and you believed in them.

You believe in the answers that they had for you instead of answering your own question. Am I good enough? Can I be the best of myself? The time has come for you to understand that you cannot depend on the opinions of others. You cannot just trust in the opinions of others. You cannot allow other people to validate you because you are just who you are. Nobody is going to be like you.

Nobody can be as strong as you. Nobody can walk the walk like you. That's what makes you different. That's what makes you unique. So prove them wrong, but prove yourself to be right. For so long, you've known you had an inner beast inside, but you were scared to bother it. For so long, you've known you had an inner beast inside, but you were scared to bother it.

That's just like planting a seed and then never watering it. Never making sure it's provided with exposure to sunlight. Basically just squandering it. But that version of you no longer exists. Because from the depths of your inner soul comes your inner beast. And you are now honoring it. That seed that was planted in your soul has been patiently waiting.

That seed that was planted in your heart has been laying low for the perfect time. That seed that was planted in your spirit has been storing energy. That seed that was planted in your middle has been digesting and processing. And when all of these forces came together, they created the perfect storm that set the stage for your inner beast to be born. That set the stage for your inner beast to take form.

that set the stage for your inner beast to transform, that set the stage for your inner beast to break through and swarm like a large group of bees. And now you're ready to sting anyone that stands between you and the stamp of greatness needed to make your successful transformation official. It must happen this way because this is the only way you're going to know what you must do to get better at whatever it is that you are seeking in your life. No one said it was going to be easy.

In fact, nobody's really gonna hold your hand. But you got to have the ability to hold yourself up. You have to have enough faith within yourself to understand that no matter how far you go in your life, that it's your life that has to be willing to put in the work. You have to be responsible for your life and your efforts. You have to be willing to work due diligently. You have to be willing to push forward.

Through all of these unique challenges that you face, you have to prove them wrong and show the righteousness within yourself. I need you to live every day like there's no tomorrow. It's possible that you're just one decision away from your breakthrough. Sacrifice like there is no tomorrow. There is no passion to be found in settling for a life tomorrow.

That is less than the one you are capable of living. So my question for you is, what are you waiting for? Live like there's no tomorrow. And we're waiting for these perfect conditions and we keep thinking that perfect is coming tomorrow. Perfect doesn't come to you. I'm going to do it tomorrow. I don't feel like doing it right now. I don't feel like thinking again. I don't feel like writing it down again. I don't feel like reading it again. I don't want to talk about it. I'll do it tomorrow. Let me tell you something.

If you wait until you ready, you might be waiting the rest of your life. No more tomorrows. No more excuses. No more I can't because. No more I'm too tired. No more it's too hard. No more I'm not good enough. In spite of everything that is happening in your life right now, you are still here. And that means that you have another opportunity

to create the life you desire. So it doesn't matter how slow you're going, as long as you're going, just get started. I have to execute. I have to give it everything I have. Like I know there is no tomorrow. There is no tomorrow. If you hear my voice, turn the TV off, get up, put that pen to paper and start executing. Wallowing in misery?

Saying it's not the perfect time? Saying you're not ready yet? Not believing in you? Stop waiting to feel like it. Everyone has the same amount of hours in a day. But some people waste their time while others maximize their time. Even if you have to take a break, just don't stop. Someday I'll do this. Someday I'll do that. Well, that day is today. No more tomorrows.

This is my only opportunity. We have today. It's never too late to be what you might have been. Don't put your future into someone else's hands. You're not going to feel the process all the time. You're not going to see it. Some days you're not going to want to write about it. You're not going to want to talk about it. You're not going to want to think about it. You're going to have migraines thinking about the sacrifices that are required to get to this next level. But just don't stop. What if...

Today was the day that success had your name written on it. Procrastination is the thief of destination. Today I want to remind you that you are not average. I want to remind you that you have what it takes. All you have right now is today. So give it your all. You've got this. You miss the energy.

There are no more tomorrows and you have to live like today is the last day that you have a chance to achieve the things that you want to achieve. Today, not tomorrow. Stop looking back at what happened yesterday. Don't let that deter you. No fear, no doubt, no reservation. See, success is reserved for you. So what's your hesitation? So if you've been doubting yourself, stop. If you've been doubting your abilities, stop.

If you've been putting yourself down, stop. Because doubt is the enemy of progress. You can get to a place in your life where you are so tired that you can hardly move. They said if you look up, you can get up. And you can be so fragmented, so beat up.

that you can't even open your eyes. And so every opportunity that comes, every person that comes, every wind of change that blows, your response is, I'll do it tomorrow. When I do it tomorrow, it can wait, it can wait. And that's because we've lost the urgency. See, tomorrow was promised to no one. But you already knew that. This is your life. I need you to own it.

It's gotta start right now, this very moment. You've gotta be willing to put in the work when you feel like it, and you've gotta be willing to put in the work when you don't feel like it. You've gotta be willing to show up when you feel confident, and you've gotta be willing to show up when you're feeling uncertain. My future ain't at the game, my future ain't at the mall, my future is in me, giving every ounce of my soul, every ounce of my being, everything I got.

No more tomorrows. Give everything you got today. There is absolutely no tomorrow. That needs to be your new mindset. That needs to be your new mantra. I need you to get it through your thick skull. No one knows what will happen tomorrow. But today you have to achieve more than you did yesterday. So take action today. Go after your dreams today. Get out of your comfort zone today.

Come on, you got to stop overthinking. Like you're thinking this thing, you're thinking yourself out of it and you're negotiating your path out of this obligation, this opportunity, this moment in time where you could really become something, really accomplish something.

We've got to get to the place where we have non-negotiables. Like, yo, I'm not negotiating myself out of this. This is not a conversation I'm available for. I'm not going to keep thinking myself out of destiny, out of purpose, out of connection. I don't have time. I'm completely unavailable. I would rather you confront, fight, and fail than for you just to settle for the comfort of remaining the same.

Change is tough. The world's not going to become easier all of the sudden. No, as you mature, you're going to have more responsibilities, more things that people expect out of you. The truth is, as long as there's breath in your lungs, there's hope in your heart. You can't depend on Nathan's motivation because motivation takes motion. Motivation takes movement. And if you depend on outside sources to keep you going,

When that outside source goes away, you go back to your default setting too. But if you can find your why, if you can find that thing inside of you, like that motivation, that mojo, that internal fire, that thing that pushes you. If you find your why, man, and you find your inspiration that's inside of you, nothing can move you. When sometimes you wake up and you look in the mirror and that person's looking back at you, the real you.

A lot of us, we just want to feel like we belong. We just want to fit in. We just want to find the place in this world where we can find our rhythm, where we find purpose. Some of you are compromising who you are because you want to fit into a narrative. You want to fit into a group, into a crowd, into a clique of people. But when you look in the mirror, that's not who you really are. But you're afraid to make the choice and the change and to make real life choices that you know will activate the thing inside of that you're passionate about.

I get it's hard for us, some of us, to step into our story, but I give you my word, we can do hard things. I truthfully didn't like the fact that I hid behind my anger and my rage. That wasn't really who I was. I may try to convince myself when I'm alone, but there were moments when I would look in the mirror and you would see that spark in your eyes that truthfully that's not really who you are. I will affirm I know your life has been challenging.

and i bet many of you come from broken families and many of you come from unhealthy environments at times and places in your story and things haven't been easy but you're not a product of those man you're a product of what you do and you can control every space and place that your life goes from this point on if you come here just to maybe be motivated and if you come here just to be entertained that's not going to change your life

What changes our lives when we look in the mirror and we decide to say, you know, I'm going to begin to confront me. I'm going to try to be the better parent, the better spouse, the better friend, the better student. This is a better human being. Will we take control of what we can control? And that's the things that we do and the choices that we make and how we treat people. And if we can be intentional in those areas, man, life, life can be pretty amazing.

when pressure begins to build called life because life is going to bring you ups and downs and mountains and valleys and i'm sure some of you in here your back story is full of ups and downs and good days and bad days i bet some of you in here your backstory is full of a lot more difficulties and some traumas and some things it's hard for others to comprehend see pressure it can create diamonds or it can bust a pipe press is not the problem

Listen, to be honest, man, your life, what you faced in 2020 and 2021 and what some of you have experienced the last several years in your life, it's not going to be the most difficult thing that you probably have ever had to face. Maybe for some of you, it's been extremely painful. Maybe you've lost someone close to you of a trauma or an abuse or something really painful has happened. But for most of us, 2020 and 2021 won't be the most difficult thing that you've ever faced in your life.

Life is about these ups and these downs. And it's about pressure and insecurities and just challenges. The challenge for you and me is what will we do with the pressure that we're in? Will we allow the pressure to bust the pipe? Or will we step into uncertainty?

uncomfortable step into our story and to realize the pressure the challenge the difficult situation if I grab a hold of it and take control of what I can control which is me and my reaction and how I respond that pressure can become something valuable like a diamond no matter what you're going through there's somebody that's dealing with something much much worse so what I need you to do pick your head up I need you to believe in yourself

I need you to dig deep and find the confidence for you to keep pushing, for you to keep going, for you to keep growing, for you to keep glowing because success is yours. You said you wanted this. You wrote it down on your goals list. You wrote it down on your to-do list. It's not going to be easy. There will be roadblocks. There will be setbacks. There will be pitfalls. And there will be haters.

Haters will try and deceive, but you will shake them off because you've got greatness to achieve. They don't like you, but I promise you they're watching your every move. Come on, kid. When they play checkers, you play chess because it's your time to live life at your best. See, no hater can stop your favor. So I need you to power through the sour taste of now to get to the sweet taste of later.

When that negativity pops into your brain, I need you to immediately shut it down. See, sometimes it seems like life doesn't want you to win, and you allow those negative voices to win over and over again and again and again. But now is your moment, and I need you to own it. Come on, kid. I need you to flip that negative batter and turn it into a positive pancake.

See a positive perspective can change a negative facial expression. Don't forget to count your blessings. Come on kid, this is your dream. Come on kid, this is your life. Come on kid, this is your mountain to climb. Next level success awaits. You have everything already inside of you to achieve the goals and the outcomes that are already yours.

Kid, I just need you to have a little gratitude. Kid, I just need you to switch it to a positive attitude. Kid, I just need you to know your longitude and your latitude. And what I mean by that is know where you're at and also know where you're trying to go. Because it's impossible to hit a target that you can't see. I know the world is pulling at you, kid. I know your mama wants you to do this. I know your daddy wants you to do that.

But my question for you was, what do you want to do? This is your life. This is your dream. Don't do what they want you to do just because they want you to do it. I need you to take some time and figure out what it is that you like. Figure out what it is that comes easy to you, that's hard to most. And that's the direction you need to go in. They may not like it, but if you get excited when you think about it, if you get excited when you do it,

It really doesn't matter. They may not understand right now, but I promise you when you walk in your light, when you walk in your gift, the day will come when everybody will get it. Go run towards your dreams. Go run towards your gift. Go run toward what makes you happy. Go run toward what sets you on fire and live life with passion and desire. Come on, kids.

It's time for you to do you. It's time for you to love you. It's time for you to ride off in the sunset and set yourself up to live life on your terms. And set yourself up to live the life you were born to live. Come on, kid. Keep believing in you. Because on the other side of your stressing is an unbelievable blessing that has your name on it. You just gotta own it. You just gotta go get it.

You just gotta go take it. You just gotta make it a reality. Kid, it would be a tragedy if you tried to live out somebody else's wishes of you and you didn't pursue the greatness that you have within. If you didn't pursue the greatness that you were destined to achieve. I'm just dropping by to remind you your best days are ahead and your worst days are behind you. So never let anyone define you.

Let your mistakes and experiences refine and redesign you. New year, new you. Nothing's changed though, unless you decide to make something change. Unless you decide to do something different. This is that new year's energy that pump you up, that gets you up out your seat, to get you up out your bed, to put yourself in a position to win each and every day of your life. You have to go into 2023 with the mindset that you're going to win.

You have to go into 2023 with the belief that no one and nothing, not even your fears can stop you. It's not going to be perfect. You may slip or stumble or even fail, but you're going to get up and keep going. You're going to do that because I know how bad you want this. You're going to do that because I know you're a fighter.

You're going to do that because there have been many people who've been down this road and have failed, but you've watched them keep going and you've watched them be successful. See, the you from 365 days from now will love you for taking action. The you from 365 days from now will love you for following through. The you from 365 days from now

where we reap the benefits of all of your hard work, for all of your action taking, for all of your execution. No excuses. Your mindset is the time is now. New year, new you. What are you going to do? And you must follow through. I must take action. I must come up with a plan. I must execute that plan. I must give everything that I have and I cannot, will not stop.

See, you've been sleeping on your brilliance for too long. You've been doubting yourself for too long. It's time for you to show up like the person you know you were created to become. You weren't born to live a second-rate existence. You weren't born to let your dreams, your hopes, and your aspirations pass you by. You were born to fly. So get up. It's time to fight. Will it be easy? No. But nothing worth having ever came easily.

Is it the perfect time? It's never the perfect time. There will always be a million reasons to say no. A million reasons to play it safe. A million reasons to stay comfortable. But you won't achieve your dreams staying in your comfort zone. Are you going to keep doing the exact same thing? Or are you going to make the necessary adjustments? See, the resilient mindset, it takes ownership for its mistakes.

It learns, it grows, it revises, it executes, but it never ever breaks. I don't think you heard me. I said the resilient mindset takes ownership for its mistakes. It learns, it grows, it revises, it executes, but it never ever breaks. Don't you get it? You are an unbreakable force. You are an unbreakable spirit. But you just gotta follow through. You just gotta finish. This new year gives you an opportunity to do something that you've never done before in your natural life.

So my question is, what are you waiting for? This is that New Year's energy to put that battery in your back, to put that foot in your butt, to push you to get up and make the necessary changes to live the life that you say you want to live. Don't settle for staying in your comfort zone. Don't settle for doing things the way they've always been done. New Year, new you.

You have untapped potential on the inside of you. You have confidence and boldness on the inside of you. It's time for you to unleash your inner warrior. You have to dry those tears and get up and fight for what belongs to you. So let this be the year that you become nationally and internationally known for your talents, your gifts, and your skills.

Don't tell me you want to go to the next level. Don't tell me you want to be great. Don't tell me you want to succeed when everything that you're doing is leading you to failure. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. You've been doing the same thing year after year. You make a resolution and then you break it before January even ends. So no more resolutions. We about that action.

We about following through. As a matter of fact, your motto for this year and the rest of your life is follow through. Whatever you say you're going to do, follow through. To become the best version of you, you've got to follow through. To achieve massive success, you've got to follow through. To go to that next level, you've got to follow through. New year, new you, new opportunity. I got three words for you. Shut it down.

Log out of the social media, get off the internet, unplug and evaluate where you are and where you're supposed to be. You got one life to live. The question is why are you here and what are you going to do about it? Because the truth of the matter is you have survived the greatest traumas of your life.

Life has hit you. Life has knocked you to the ground. There are people that have tried to bury you alive and you survived! So I need you to disappear. 30 days. I need you to disappear for just one month. Don't worry about the prize. You worry about the process.

You don't decide when you're born, you don't decide when you die. But you got a whole lot to do with that in-between stuff. Listen to me. Whatever you put your heart to do, whatever you put your mind to do, whatever it is that you want to accomplish, I don't care if you don't have no support. With me, you, alone, we can get this thing done, baby, alright? Who am I talking to? I'm talking to that person that's tired of where they are and

You are bold enough, you are crazy enough, you are courageous enough to shut it down for 30 days. The window of opportunity and sometimes the window of life, it closes quickly. So I need you to do me a huge favor, man. I need you to get busy living.

The future is very expensive and it requires sacrifice now! Can you depart from instant gratification and suffer now that you live the rest of your life a champion? All you need to get where you're going, you already got it, right? You already have it. All I need you to do is believe in yourself. Disappear for 30 days. Come back and shock the world! Can you identify...

What has kept you broken? What has kept you broke? What has kept you defeated? What has kept you covered under the blankets of anxiety and stress and overwhelm? But you're trying to make business moves with people that don't think like you. They don't walk like you. They don't sacrifice like you. They're not willing to put in the blood, the sweat, the tears behind closed doors. A man is rewarded in public for what he does in private.

I need you to disappear for the next 30 days. What does that look like? 720 hours dedicated to the future. I need you to disappear for 30 days. Just 30 days. Can you walk away for 30 days? Can you silence the doubters for 30 days? Can you tell everybody to be quiet for 30 days so you can focus on you?

Who you are today has gotten you as far as you're going to get. If you're going to get any further, you've got to reinvent yourself. And if you're going to reinvent yourself, you've got to set it down for 30 days. I need you to pursue it. I need you to go get it. All right? I need you to go get it. Don't wait for it to come to you. All right? Greatness is not going to come knock on your door. There's some opportunity that's not going to come knock on your door. You've got to go get them.

Without even knowing you, if you're watching me, I already know you got something within that you wanted. I already know that. Because I already know you can. But my question to you young people this summer, will you? I already know what you're capable of doing, but my question is, will you reach your potential? You've been too focused on who was not there for you and who did not believe in you and the people that just said it but didn't do it. You've been too focused on that.

the trauma, the anxiety. And I'm wondering if you can begin to shift that focus in the next 30 days. If you can begin to shift that focus on what's working in your life, what's within your control and not what's outside of your control. What can you control? Who can you influence? The first person that needs to be influenced in your life is you. It's you.

Listen to me very closely. It is no shame in wanting to quit. All right? No shame in wanting to quit. Let me just real quick. Let me be honest with you. Let me be transparent with you.

I'm saying this stuff, this school stuff is killing me. Like it's cramping my style. And I just for a second, y'all, can I just be transparent? I was like, I can't stand school right now. I got one more stats class to go to be finished with my coursework for the PhD. And I'm telling you, I was like, I'm ready to quit. I'm ready to give up.

It ain't no shame in thinking about quitting. It ain't no shame. It ain't no shame in getting tired. It's no shame in feeling burnt out. It's no shame. But the trick is don't just think about it. Say to yourself, I got to rethink it and get this thought out of my mind. Why? Because the shame is in quitting. So if you thought about it, ain't nothing wrong with that boo. Don't let that thought become a reality. All right. What do you desire? What makes you itch?

What sort of a situation would you like? Let's suppose I do this often in vocational guidance of students. They come to me and say, "Well, we're getting out of college and we haven't the faintest idea what we want to do." So I always ask the question, "What would you like to do if money were no object?" How would you really enjoy spending your life? Crowds of students say, "Well, we'd like to be painters, we'd like to be poets, we'd like to be writers, but as everybody knows, you can't earn any money that way."

Or another person says, "Well, I'd like to live an out-of-doors life and ride horses." Let's go through with it. What do you want to do? When we finally got down to something which the individual says he really wants to do, I will say to him, "You do that and forget the money." Because if you say that getting the money is the most important thing, you will spend your life completely wasting your time. You'll be doing things you don't like doing in order to go on living, that is to go on doing things you don't like doing, which is stupid.

Better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing than a long life spent in a miserable way. And after all, if you do really like what you're doing, it doesn't matter what it is.

you can eventually turn it, you could eventually become a master of it. The only way to become a master of something, to be really with it. But it's absolutely stupid to spend your time doing things you don't like in order to go on spending things you don't like and doing things you don't like and to teach your children to follow in the same track. See what we're doing is we're bringing up children and educating them to live the same sort of lives we're living.

in order that they may justify themselves and find satisfaction in life by bringing up their children to bring up their children to do the same thing so it's all retch and no vomit it never gets there but if you take time out to think about that and really go into it with your full strength of imagination and find out whether that's where you want to be you will soon see that's not what you want figure out some way in which you get paid for playing

But in our culture, we make an extremely rigid division between work and play. You're supposed to work in order to earn enough money to give you sufficient leisure time for something entirely different called having fun or play. And this is the most ridiculous division of things. Because everything that we do, however tough it is, however strenuous,

can be turned into the same kind of play as I was showing you and I was completely fascinated with spinning that orange around my head. Imagine too if you were a bus driver. Bus driver is ordinarily considered an absolutely harassed person. He's got to watch out for all the laws, all the competing traffic, the cops, the people coming on board giving their fares and he has to give them change. And if he has it in his head that this is work, it will be hell.

but let's suppose he has a different thing in his head supposing he has the idea that moving this enormous conveyance through complicated traffic is a very very subtle game and he has the same feeling about it that you might have if you were playing the guitar or dancing and so he goes through that traffic avoiding this and avoiding that and taking a fare like this and he he makes a music of the whole thing

Well, he's not going to be tired out at the end of the day. He's going to be full of energy when he gets through his job. Don't make a distinction between work and play. Regard everything that you're doing as play and don't imagine for one minute that you've got to be serious. You see, a lot of people don't feel happy unless they have another thing beyond money which is called status. And status, to a very large extent in our economy, consists in conspicuous consumption.

in having this thing and that thing and the other thing, in having a swimming pool, Ferrari, certain kind of clothes and certain kind of house with an enormous round style picture window and so on and so on and so on. And we think we need all that because we've been persuaded by a certain kind of propaganda because we haven't asked ourselves whether that was what we really wanted. A lot of people don't believe they exist.

until they see their activities reported in the newspaper. And so we are always in a dither of doubt as to whether we are behaving the right way, doing the right thing and so on and so forth and lack a certain kind of self-confidence. And if you see you lack self-confidence, you will make mistakes through sheer fumbling. If you do have self-confidence, you may carry get away with doing entirely the wrong thing. But if you will treat yourself for a while as a cloud or wave,

and realize that you can't make a mistake whatever you do because even if you do something that seems to be totally disastrous it'll all come out in the wash somehow or other then through this capacity you will develop a kind of confidence and through confidence you will be able to trust your own intuition what do you really want i have proposed that there be an entirely new kind of college entrance examination in which instead of answering a lot of silly questions you write

for about 20 pages on your idea of paradise. It can be any kind of paradise you want. It can be very spiritual, it can be very senseless. But spell it out. What do you want to happen in life? Then you will hand this thesis in to an assigned tutor on the faculty. And he'll read it over and examine you closely as to whether this is what you really want. Being very careful about what you desire because there's a good saying: "Be careful of what you desire."

you may get it. It's success. You will not have it. And so if all you want is the success, if all you want is a trophy, but you don't want a story, a process, if you don't want to be made into something, then you've already missed it. You've already failed. You've already tanked. And so once you get this, everything changes. What have been the biggest obstacles in your life? What has stopped you? What has hindered you? What has provoked you to get lazy?

When life pushed you down, when everybody said you are not enough, when you told yourself I quit because I can't finish and you got back up the next day and kept going. Sacrifice is going to have to become your companion and no longer your enemy. Too many of you think sacrifice is your enemy. Sacrifice is a curse word. Sacrifice is bad. I don't want to sacrifice. Well, guess what?

You cannot have success without process, without sacrifice. You cannot have it. If all you see is success, then you've missed the entire moment because it is the journey, it is the grit, it is the grind, it's the prayers that you pray, it's the tears that you've cried, it's the rejection that you've had to take on your back. And so we all know these things that we've got to sacrifice oftentimes.

Sometimes it's sleep. Sometimes it's your relationship. Sometimes it's those urges that we might get and we gotta sacrifice those urges. We gotta sacrifice. Is it fear that we need to let go of? Is it unnecessary stress? Come on, is it those unidentified triggers? What is it? What hobbies do I need to let go of? What people do I need to let go of? What opinions of people do I need to let go of? What's wasting my time? And so when sacrifice becomes your companion,

It is only then that we can begin to step into the process of what is required to climb mountains. Everybody wants to get to the top of the mountain, but nobody wants to climb. Sacrifice is going to build me. Sacrifice is going to prepare me. I'm going to be equipped. I'm going to be conditioned. Destiny is haunting us, breathing down our necks, asking us, when are we going to step forward? When are we going to march into this thing?

Michael Jordan has a $2 billion net worth. That's beautiful. But what was the cost for all of that? How did he win games? How did he win championships? How hard did he practice? How crazy was his faith? How many vacations did Michael Jordan have to turn down? How many parties did he have to walk out of? People had to be amputated out of his life. Everybody wants to celebrate the $2 billion evaluation of his enterprise. But it came at a cost.

It came with some sleepless nights. It came with some long practices. It came with a lot of no's. No, no, no, no. I can't do the party. No, no, no. I'm not going to do the drinking. No, I'm not connecting with them. No, I don't need that circle. No, it came with a lot of no's. It came with a lot of sacrifice. It comes with a lot of rejecting. It comes with a lot of awareness of what is not serving the vision.

had a temperature of over 100 degrees and won the game over the Jazz in '95, a champion. But he sacrificed comfort, he sacrificed convenience, he had to sacrifice the rejective voices in his head that said, "You're crazy, you're sick, you need to rest, you need to sit down."

If I'm going to see success, I've got to define what sacrifices I require in order to step into it. I cannot have it. I will not see it until I've counted up the cost. You'll find yourself connected to a hundred people that think they know what you should be doing to get where you're supposed to be. And so I've got to begin to shut the mouths of the people that don't know the cost, the price that I have to pay. You may have paid that, but I may not have to pay that price.

I can learn from your mistakes. I don't have to fall down the same ditches you fell down. I don't have to flop down the same stairs you flopped down. That's your price. That's your cause. I've got another way. I've got a different mentality. I just might be a little bit more creative than you. I just might be a little bit more innovative. I just may have more faith than you. I don't have to fall like you fell. I don't have to hurt like you hurt. I can look up and get up.

When did you get to the point where you snapped so easily? When you let go so easily? When you gave up so easily? I know what it's like to feel like, "If I keep going, I'm gonna waste my time." We all get to this point in our life where we ask ourselves the question, "What have I held on to that should have been amputated?" All of us are holding on to something

That is familiar and we are comfortable and it has become our paradigm, our pattern, our way of life. And if we're honest, we can't see ourselves without this thing. I don't know what it is for you. Everybody's got a different thing, person, place, something that needs to be amputated out of our life. Cut off this no longer serving us.

Hi, this is Jonathan Fields, host of The Good Life Project, where each week I talk to listeners about investing in their future by increasing their own vitality. But when it comes to those financial goals, whether it be saving for a home renovation, growing your child's college fund or travel, life can make it difficult to stay the course. By working with a dedicated Merrill advisor, you get a personalized plan and a clear path forward. Having the bull at your back helps your whole financial life move with you. So when your plans change, Merrill's with you every step of the way.

Go to ml.com slash bullish to learn more. Merrill, a Bank of America company. What would you like the power to do? Investing involves risk. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, registered broker-dealer, registered investment advisor, member SIPC. Expand the way you work and think with Claude by Anthropic.

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