Kind: captions
Language: en
to me the reason that people say that
knowledge is power is for one simple
reason as you accumulate it it gives you
the ability to do more you literally
become capable of more you're able to
bring knowledge into your life to
literally transform what you're able to
manifest in the world and at the end of
the day the very definition of power for
me is the ability to close your eyes and
imagine a world and then open them and
make that world come true but the thing
that holds people back is their own ego
and as Epictetus said one cannot learn
what they think they already know and
that's the danger that's how people get
themselves into trouble it feels so good
to know something it feels like as
you're collecting this information and
becoming more powerful you just want to
focus on that you want to sink into that
feeling you want to see yourself in the
mirror as somebody capable of somebody
who's capable of more today than they
were yesterday and in that truth because
you are but in that truth is a trap and
the trap is to begin to feel that you
know something to think of yourself as a
master that's why as Socrates said the
only true wisdom is in knowing you know
nothing because that's how you're going
to get really powerful that's how you're
going to open yourself up to that
knowledge to bring it into your world
and even as you grow more powerful even
as you grow more capable you're always
looking for the ways that
you're always looking for that next
piece of information you are always
focused on how you can get better and
you really open yourself with the
humility that most people cannot bring
into their world they cannot accept any
vision of themselves as anything other
than a master but the master is the one
who's trapped the master is the one who
calcifies the master is the one so
brittle they break but the student the
student is always willing to learn the
student is looking for that opportunity
the student is trying to be around
people that know more than they know so
that they can learn so that they can
become more powerful so that they can
close their eyes imagine a world and
then open their eyes and make that world
come true and at the end of the day that
should be the sole aim of your life is
to have something that you want to bring
to this world that you are going to be
relentless about acquiring the skills
that are going to allow you to do that
and the only way that you're going to be
able to get there is to drop your ego
and recognize there's power in knowing
nothing when your pursuit is to learn
everything
I've seen a lot of incredible people
stopped by an unwillingness to let go of
a past that doesn't help them but as
Lily Tomlin said forgiveness means
giving up hope for a better past and
that's the truth isn't it
there's nothing you can do about the
past there's nothing you can do to undo
it or to change what's already been done
and yet somehow this is the area that
people struggle most with in their lives
the thing that is hardest for people is
to recognize the immutability of that
fact there's nothing you can do it's
done and gone forever and there's no way
to get it back and the key in your life
is to understand that that's fine that
you're going to learn from what happened
that you're gonna grow and get better
and that living your life in the past is
stopping you from having a future
but as Seneca noted every new beginning
comes from some other beginnings end and
if you can accept that if you can
literally close the door on your past if
you can accept it's never going to get
better if you can accept that it is what
it is if you can accept that part of
what makes you a beautiful human being
is that horrible thing that happened to
you or that horrible thing that you did
that thing that you think there's no way
you could ever be forgiven for but
there's no one to forgive you but you
and the only thing that you need to
realize in order to give yourself that
forgiveness is to understand that
nothing is ever going to make it any
different but in the way that you think
you can make it better and just by
reframing that by reframing what's
happened by asking yourself a very
simple question how is that bad thing
that happened to you actually the best
thing that ever happened to you and if
you can take control of that situation
and really look into it and understand
that from that something has come or
something can come that is great that
makes you stronger
that makes you better
and that the fortitude to look at that
thing to fortitude to find in that pain
something beautiful something that makes
you a better person something that
allows you to help other people then
then you really can free yourself from
being bound by the past and turn into
something new
close the door on something so that you
really can go somewhere new and in the
discovery of that new you in the
discovery of the new place that you can
go in the discovery of something new and
better for yourself you realize that
you're writing that future and once you
realize that you're writing your future
once you realize that you can help other
people write theirs once you realize
that you can take control of all that
mental baggage and turn it into
something positive that literally the
bricks that weighs you down can be the
bricks with which you build something
new then you will go on to do something
incredible then you will go on to help
other people then you will lift other
people up and be able to do something
that brings Beauty to this world but
first you have to forgive first you have
to understand that you're never going to
have a better past but you can
definitely have a better future as an
evolving Kant said the only way to truly
learn something is by doing it yes
listen to guidance but don't wait that
is such a powerful idea and I know right
now you're listening to this because you
want motivation you want to be inspired
but my greatest [ __ ] fear is that
you'll get motivated you'll get inspired
and that'll just be a declining art for
a few minutes after you listen to this
video that ends with you doing nothing
and what I want what I really hope for
and the reason that I give myself over
to making these so completely is I know
some percentage of you on the other side
of this will ultimately be prepared to
take that first step you will realize
that the only thing
Matters is action and you will take that
action and it's in that action that your
potential greatness waits and as Martin
Luther King said take the first step in
faith you don't have to see the whole
staircase just take the first step
you've just got to believe that you can
learn you don't have to believe that
you're already capable of doing what you
want you don't have to believe that you
can already build that thing that you
dream you don't have to believe that you
already are extraordinary you simply
have to believe that if you take that
first step you put yourself on a journey
not of execution you put yourself on a
journey of learning so that you can
execute and that when you understand
that difference that's when you really
will be on that path to greatness and
that is the thing that I want for
everybody listening to this please
understand the only thing you need to
know is that you have to take the first
step whatever the vision is that you
have for your life you absolutely can
make it come true and the process is
very simple the process is about
learning the process is about growing
and getting better it's about
recognizing what you're not good at it's
about recognizing what you have to learn
it's about taking that first step on
faith on faith that you can get better
not on faith that you're great on faith
that you can become the greatest of all
time once you have that faith once you
know that simply being a human being
puts you in this rare category of
creature that can get better through
pressure through pain through difficulty
through failure those are the things
that are going to be the building blocks
of your success but in order to begin on
that road in order to have your first
glorious failure you must first take
that first step so please don't waste
your time being motivated or inspired
spend every second of your time
moving forward that's how you're gonna
get where you want to go greatness is
the most demanding mistress you're ever
going to encounter and I understand the
advice that I'm about to give you is not
for everyone most people should turn
this off
but if you're gonna stick with me if
you're going to listen to what I have to
say it's because you want something
tremendous in your life you want to
stand out from everyone else you want to
do something more than other people
think as possible you literally want to
stand outside the norm and if that's the
case for you then understand that as
Albert Einstein said only one who
devotes himself to a cause with his
whole strength and soul can be a true
master for this reason mastery demands
all of a person if you want to get great
if you really want to make a skill set
your own if you want to be able to do
something and at the end of the day if
you want to transform the world if you
want to make grand changes if you want
to do all of that [ __ ] all the empty
words that people spout all the time let
me tell you the only thing that's going
to separate you from all the other
blowhards who are just talking words and
will never do anything is to give
yourself over completely to let that
obsession let that thing that you love
completely consume you and in that your
only chance to really become great lies
as friends Kafka said don't bend don't
water down don't try to make it logical
rather follow your most intense
obsessions mercilessly
can you do that can you become
mercilessly obsessed
can you let something occupy you to
where all logic and reason is gone out
the window and the only thing that
matters is whether or not you accomplish
will you hold yourself accountable to
metrics will you look at the world and
see am I actually making change are you
prepared to hold yourself to that
standard because if you are there is
nothing you can't [ __ ] do if you're
willing to take that responsibility on
to transform yourself as a human being
if you give your self over to getting
great if you give yourself over to that
obsession if you feed it like you would
feed a beast if you feed it like you
would feed a fire that can wipe out an
entire mountainside then you've got a
chance but it's got to burn within you
like that you've got to feed it like
that you've got to feed its skills
you've got to get better every day
you've got to constantly wake up and
understand exactly what it is you're
building towards that and build towards
it with a relentlessness that other
people think is mania that other people
can see only madness in what you do and
if you can push yourself to that level
then the world will bend to your will as
Epictetus said he is a wise man who does
not grieve for things which he has not
but rejoices for those which he has and
that's gratitude isn't it it's the very
base decision that we all have to make
are you grateful for the things you have
in your life or are you always wanting
more and trust me I get it I understand
people that strive for more I understand
people that want something bigger and
better but at the same time if you allow
yourself to only think about what you
don't have to only be striving for
something more that that obsession will
begin to overtake you it will begin to
corrode you but ultimately it's a choice
ultimately at any time right now in this
moment you can stop and think about what
you have you can put your attention on
the things you're grateful for and watch
what it does watch what it does in that
instance the way that it changes you the
way that it changes your chemistry your
feelings in a moment can shift from
negative and dark to beautiful with
nothing else changing around you nothing
but you deciding that you're gonna focus
on the things you're grateful for
nothing but deciding that there are
things in your life to be grateful for
and that is a decision no matter what is
happening in your life at any moment
right now in the depths of a depression
in something going on terribly in your
life you can choose right now
to think about the things you're
grateful for the breeze a smile from
somebody kind a stranger who holds open
a door for you anything but it's a
choice and as Einstein said there are
only two ways to live your life one is
as though nothing is a miracle the other
is as though everything is a miracle and
what choice are you making what are you
choosing to focus on right now do you
gratitude fill you up or not and here's
the critical part and I want you to
listen to this really well whatever you
decide whether you decide we live in
of miracles or whether we decide we live
in a world devoid of miracles you are
choosing one thing to the exclusion of
the other and when you focus on
something that you're grateful for when
you look at those little moments in your
life and choose to see them as grand
miracles even when it is only a gentle
hand on your shoulder even then it's
only a kiss from somebody who you've
kissed a thousand times before even when
it is only holding the hand of somebody
who needed their hand held even when
it's something that simple it really is
a miracle that it really is something
that can feel you it really is something
that will change your chemistry bring a
connection between two people allow you
to see a grander Vista or even just open
a window and look out at the world and
realize that you're alive that this is
all a miracle that none of this is
guaranteed that every breath you take
could be your last and in that you can
choose to cherish what you have in that
you can decide to focus on that you have
a breath to take and even when it's
something that simple when you train
your mind to do that when you train
yourself to decide to see the beauty in
that that nobody can ever take it away
from you no matter where you are
no matter what's going on in your life
you'll be able to rise up and feel the
beauty that is being alive so take a
minute at the worst times in your life
and focus on the things you're grateful
for
I wanted to spell a myth for you
it's the talent myth it's the belief
that some people were just born with
more than others that some people are
naturally gifted in some aren't and
that's just the way the cookie crumbles
and whatever you're gonna be is
essentially determined by how you
started that your DNA is exactly your
destiny I'm here to tell you right now
that's [ __ ] it's just not true it's
not the truth of the way that humans are
designed as a species were the ultimate
adaptation machine but the very thing
that puts us at the top of the pyramid
is our ability to adapt it is the fact
that the brain is plastic that it
responds to change it responds to
stressors it responds to repetition and
repetition is a slave to obsession as
Conor McGregor said there's no talent
here this is hard work this is an
obsession you could be anyone if you put
in the time that's one of the greatest
athletes of our time telling you that
he's not the result of genetics he's not
the result of natural gifts he hasn't
been bestowed something by God he has
shown up day after day in the most
mundane of conditions on the cold days
on the hot days he put in the work
because he was obsessed with what he
could become and that repetition that
you need to actually gain a skill
follows that obsession so in you right
now right now today you want to start
building that obsession you want to look
at it like an ember that can become a
raging fire but it needs your time and
attention it needs your time and
attention you've got to take that
interest you've got to take that spark
of desire and you've got to fan the
flame
you've got to turn it into that
obsession and from that obsession if you
put in the work if you do the things day
in and date out the back-breaking work
pushing through the pain
fighting through feeling like an idiot
fighting through embarrassment getting
up brushing yourself off doing it again
practicing putting yourself at
somebody's feet and asking what could I
have done better not look at the things
you're doing well but look at the things
you're doing wrong look at the things
you're doing poorly staring at your
inadequacies with no loss of pride
because the only thing you value in
yourself is your willingness to do that
your ruling is to work your ass off and
as Sylvester Stallone said I'm not the
richest smartest or most talented person
in the world but I succeed because I
keep going and going and going and
that's the secret there's nothing more
than that
the people that you see the win at the
highest level they were the ones that
didn't give up they're the survivors and
you've got to ask yourself am i a
survivor type am I the type of person
that continues to push through when it
gets hard when it gets boring when I
feel lost when I don't know what I'm
doing when I have no faith in myself
even in that darkest hour can I push
forward can I accept that the human body
will respond to that stress it will
respond to that stimulus but I have to
show up and I have to do the work and so
that's the beautiful thing you're not
gonna separate yourself based on your
genetics you're not gonna separate
yourself based on who your parents were
where you were born
you're gonna separate yourself by
showing up and you don't want to you're
gonna separate yourself by pushing
forward when it hurts
you're gonna separate yourself by always
moving forward even when the forward is
falling on your face so never lose sight
of that it's the person that keeps going
that can't be defeated
here's the hard truth about getting
great it takes time and dedication it
takes a willingness to accept that
you're not yet good enough it takes the
ability to stare at the places that you
know that you're weak to really look at
those things and not let it affect your
sense of self-esteem and not let it
affect your sense of self-worth so that
you can still get the momentum going but
you have to understand that in the
beginning we're all terrible and as
Henri cartier-bresson said your first
10,000 photographs are your worst and so
the thing that really makes great art
are the people that continue to push and
the people that continue to work and
face how inadequate they are and really
understand that at the end of the day
greatness is a craft greatness is a
process greatness is a habit greatness
is the little things that you do every
day
overtime going out every day unafraid of
whether or not this is one of the 10,000
terrible things that you're going to do
it's being unafraid to make those
mistakes as being unafraid that you're
not yet great and as Marianne rad maker
said courage doesn't always war
sometimes courage is the quiet voice at
the end of the day saying I will try
again tomorrow
and that's it if you want to be great
that's what you have to do you've got to
get up again tomorrow you've got to be
willing to face another day you've got
to be willing to accept that you've got
to get through the bad ideas before you
can get to the good you've got to
understand that you have to start as an
apprentice you have to start as a person
going and getting tea and you have to
accept that that's the job that you
should be playing that you should be
working for somebody else you should be
looking up to somebody else's seeing
what they can teach you because what you
know is that you're there
what you notice that you're there to get
through the ten thousand bad photographs
that you need to get through to
ultimately achieve greatness and if you
make the catastrophic error that's so
many make to try to tell the world of
your extraordinary today to try to get
the world to follow you and look up to
you and think that you're something
today because the people that living win
are the ones that are best today the
ones that listen today the ones that
spend every ounce of their energy
amassing mastery getting better every
day working their asses off to improve
their skill set to relentlessly look at
the things that they're not doing well
to understand that they have to break
themselves down and get rid of all of
their ego before they can really find
greatness those are the people that we
remember so if you want to be remembered
if you want to achieve real greatness
you just need to have the courage to
show up every day and take another swing
take another photo try another task do
something that scares you and do those
little things over and over and over
until you win as Kurt Vonnegut one of
the greatest authors in modern time said
when I write I feel like an armless
legless man with a crayon in his mouth
but he still did it and that's the kind
of thing that you're gonna hear from the
greats you're not gonna hear that it was
easy you're not gonna hear that they
felt suave and cool even the greatest of
all time have that awkwardness not
clumsiness they're never quite as good
as they want to be but what I want you
to understand is even though Kurt
Vonnegut said those words he wrote tons
of books that changed people's lives
that changed the landscape of literature
because despite the fact that he felt
awkward and clumsy he kept doing it and
doing it and forcing himself to move
forward
to take one step after another even when
the process was not exactly rewarding he
believed in something he knew that what
he was trying to do would ultimately get
better he knew that if he wanted to
accomplish something great that he had
to push through the awkwardness and that
is the very trick to getting great you
just have to do it you have to go you
have to take that first step you have to
push you have to drive you have to
strive every time to get a little bit
better you have to strive not to fall
prey to your own doubts and insecurities
and as Joan Amos said if you aren't
going all the way why go at all but it's
doing that in face of the fear it's
doing that in face of the difficulties
it isn't only because someone is great
that they say you should either do it
all the way to play hard or go home
they're not saying it because the
process is in and of itself rewarding
they're saying it because there is
something that they're trying to
accomplish that demands it but they're
prepared to play on a world stage and
once you know why you're doing what
you're doing once something sits at the
core of your being and despite how
difficult painful awkward it may be to
push forward you push forward no matter
what the odds and as Hannibal said one
of the greatest military leaders of all
time I wider find a way or I'll make one
and he said that as he was getting
elephants across the Alps now when you
think of the difficulties that you face
in trying to do what you're trying to
accomplish think about that man amassing
an army and getting elephants to climb a
mountain and saying not this is
impossible but rather if there's not
already a way present I will make one
and when you can look at that when you
can look at your own inadequacies when
you can accept that you were not yet
enough but you know that you'll put in
the work to get there you know that
you'll learn the things you need to
learn that you will push and you will
practice and you will shape yourself
into someone capable of doing it and you
have to literally carve your own path
out of these stone granite of a
mountainside you will do that because
that's what your goals demand and when
you're prepared to do what ever your
goals demand you will accomplish
whatever you set your mind to as Albert
Einstein said try not to become a man of
success but rather try to become a man
of value this is something that I think
about a lot at the end of the day
success is incredibly motivating and
accomplishing your goals and your dreams
is something that I wanted to do since I
was a little kid that's been a driving
force in my life but through all of that
the times that I've felt happiest the
times that I felt most secure the times
that my anxiety and my stress have been
at zero are the times where I felt like
I was being most true to myself where I
was trying to really become a person of
substance I wasn't looking for something
extrinsic I was focused inward and
trying to develop the person that I'm
becoming that I had some code that I was
living by that I was really deciding not
just what outwardly success looks like
but what does it mean to be a good
person what does it mean to be an
effective person what does it mean to be
worthy of trust and those things at the
end of the day those things are
something that when you invest in
finding value in that that it takes you
somewhere amazing and as Bruce Lee said
knowledge will give you
power but character will give you
respect and at the end of the day I
really can't think of anything better
than that I can't think of anything that
will keep me company when I'm alone when
there's nothing but silence around when
all I can hear the sounds of my own
thoughts the only thing that is going to
bring me or you comfort is respect this
self-love is knowing who you are really
and knowing that you're true to that
even when nobody's looking and that
concept that notion of having a guiding
light a principle something by which you
steer by that you are always true to and
then in your moments of stress chaos
confusion of desire that in your moments
of deepest desire that you're still true
to that that all you think about is that
Norstar of being that person that you
want to be when you let that be your
guiding light when you stay true to that
nothing can hurt you because nothing
will be able to make you feel badly
about yourself because once you know who
you are and you're true to it nothing
else matters
as Walt Disney said if you can dream it
you can do it now what makes me laugh as
I know right now some of the people
listening to that they say that's
[ __ ] they're just limits to what
humans can do and I get that response I
understand it I used to respond to
everything like that I used to see only
the difficulty I used to see only the
ways in which it couldn't work out and I
couldn't see I was literally blinded by
fear I was blinded by some bizarre sense
of pride that wanted to justify my
limited existence that didn't want to
have to face that I could be doing more
that I couldn't be more that my life was
somehow less than what it could be
and so I would laugh at quotes like that
and I know right now of the chills I
know right now there are people that are
laughing at that and all they can think
about are the limits all they can think
about are the things that prove him
wrong and guess what he is wrong there
really are limits but if you [ __ ]
waste your time focused on that you're
never going to create the momentum that
you need to actually make something come
true in your life you can build
virtually anything but if you get hung
up on the [ __ ] virtual part if you
let that stop you if you immediately go
to the things that ultimately limit you
and hold you back that is where you're
gonna stay forever because if you argue
for your limitations guess what my
friend they become yours and
congratulations you now get to live in
that box you get to live in that
self-defined prison but if like Teddy
Roosevelt said instead of that you keep
your eyes on the stars and your feet on
the ground and you don't act like
somebody who can't see that sure there
are limits there are edges to this
universe but you're looking
at that you're looking at how he really
executes you're dreaming big and you're
remembering that your feet ultimately is
that contact point it is where the
rubber meets the road it is that moment
of doing and so if instead of rejecting
it because your feet must stay planted
on the ground remember that in keeping
your feet on the ground that's the
moment of action that's the moment of
doing something about it that's the
moment of seeing the [ __ ]
possibilities and then moving doing
something making it real so right now
give up on those weird mental mechanisms
that make you actually want to fight for
the things that aren't possible to get
people to believe in it to get people to
understand why you've chosen to stand
still
instead of that convince yourself that
you should be moving and don't do what
you know you're destined to do as Haroon
'yeah noted i always wonder why birds
stay in the same place when they can fly
anywhere on earth and then i ask myself
the same question as mark twain put it
the secret of getting ahead is getting
started and that's where people get
stuck you're literally like the bird you
could fly anywhere you want you can go
anywhere you want to go and look I know
you've got a litany of excuses and all
of them are valid you've got a job you
can't just leave well you don't have a
job and you don't have the money your
family is in one place it's the only
thing that you've ever known you only
speak one language you've never traveled
before you don't have a passport you
can't afford the gas money there are a
thousand real reasons not to go but the
truth is that none of them matter the
truth is if you want to build something
in your life that you have to remember
what Mark Twain said you have to get
started because at the end of the day
that is literally the only thing that's
holding you back
you're not moving and once you get the
simplicity
that once you understand that you could
act right now you could say [ __ ] all the
excuses you can stop making them you
could stop giving in to them no matter
how valid they are no matter how real
they may seem you can finally decide
that you're going to get a permit you're
gonna create that momentum that you're
going to take a step that you're gonna
make the demand that you create momentum
that you get something done but you
[ __ ] find an answer or as Hannibal
said that you're going to find a way or
make one if you have to carve through
[ __ ] rock do it because humans before
you I've done it and that's the simple
truth that is the simple [ __ ] truth
and everything else is [ __ ]
everything else is the weak voice in
your mind holding you back and making
you a less version of yourself so I ask
you why doesn't the bird fly wherever it
wants to go because that's all it's
known because that's what's safe because
that's what's comfortable well because
it's a dumb [ __ ] animal what do you
want to be if this isn't the life you
want to live do something about it
you
[Music]
[Applause]