In order to get to the next level I had to make sacrifices
The reality was I was overweight
I was out of shape
You know what? I started to give up soda and only drink water
I gave up french fries
before I knew it I had to get disciplined
So my question for anybody to get to the next level
What are you willing to sacrifice?
What are you willing to give up?
Who are you willing to stop hanging around?
You know what? I spent a lot of time drinking and hanging out with my boys
I had to give that up
and while they were at the nightclub while they were at the bar drinking
I got into the stadium I stole the key from the manager
and then midnight I would get shots up
at midnight I would work on my game and that's the kind of passion
that's the kind of commitment it takes to get to that next level
So as a training and development person my first question is to make sure
What are you willing to give up?
What is your discipline like?
What is your work ethic like?
Are you just comfortable right now?
You got an $80,000 job and you're comfortable
You work on a work queue and you're comfortable
You can't get comfortable, none of us can arrive
none of us can just go through the motions
our job is to get bigger, stronger and faster Our job is to get better
All my clients at least, minimum gotta get 10% better
You can't hang around me and not get better
You can't hang around me and stay the same
Because me staying the same almost ruined my future
By staying the same I got stuck
and I got inspired that I gotta get better
I gotta get to this next level and I'm obsessed with this next level
Now I'm obsessed with helping you get to your next level
you can't afford to stay the same
I want you to travel I want you to have a big house
I want you to have a nice car but most important I want you to get to the top
I want you to have your dreams come true so you can have this feeling that I have
This feeling that I have nobody can take it away
I know what it feels like to have a hope and a dream and to get it
We're not chasing dreams we're catching them
♪♪♪
What is your dream?
What did you stay in front of that classroom in third grade?
What did you say to that teacher?
What did you tell your mom and your friends?
What did you say before you gave up?
What did you say before reality became... became your truth?
When did you accept the lie?
When did you get comfortable?
When did you get off track?
When did you stop?
When did you quit?
I'm here to push you I'm here to drive you
I'm here to connect with you
When did you give up? When did you talk yourself out of it?
I need you to talk yourself back into it
I need you to make sure that you get those notes out
What are your goals? What are your dreams?
I'm here to help you I know you can get there
I know you can get to that next level
No doubt about it but you gotta work baby
You gotta work you gotta rise up early
You got to go to bed late
Let me tell you something you got to get obsessive
What are you obsessed with?
You can't act normal and think you will make normal money
You can't act common and think you're gonna live in a common house
Any successful person I've ever seen in my life
They are different
They are obsessive They are uncommon
And if you want to get to that next level you got to do something different baby
because who you are today is not your potential
Who you are today is just a point of reference
Don't you ever confuse your potential with who you are right now
and my job is to be on a mission to help you get to your next level
I'm not going to let you quit I'm not going to let you stop
I'm not going to let you have excuses
I'm not gonna let you come up with justifications
Because right now I promise you
You have justified something in your mind and in your reality you think it's true
You think it's really true
on why you're not where you're supposed to be?
Let me tell you something
You need to get to where you're supposed to be
I remember when I was in high school
the bell would ring and the principal would come into the hallway
If you were out in the hallway after the bell
he would yell and say: "Hey hey, where you supposed to be son?"
"Hey young lady, where are you supposed to be?"
and all the students would run to class
because they knew where they were supposed to be
So, can I ask you a question?
Where are you supposed to be?
Based on your dreams
Based on your goals
Based on your vision
Where are you supposed to be?
That night changed my life
My father reminded me of where I was supposed to be
and all of a sudden I had to become somebody different
in order to get to where I'm supposed to be
See I'm in the transformation business
That's all I'm about
Your next level requires you to transform
You got to think better
You have to execute better
And you have to win better
But it requires transformation
You can't stay the same and get to where you're supposed to be
Your company can't stay the same and get to where it's supposed to be
Our job is to improve
Our job is to get bigger
Our job is to get stronger
Our job is to get faster
Every single year I'm gonna push you
Every single year I'm gonna drive you until you reach your potential
And you can go back to your class reunion
And you can look at your classmates and say: "Yep, yep, yep. I'm that lawyer, I was supposed to be"
I'm that entrepreneur I'm supposed to be
I'm on the global platform doing international business just like I told you
way back when in the third grade
Always get to where you're supposed to be
You know, I was a high school star I just thought I was on to do great things
I was a typical kid, you know, we all sat in front of class in the third grade and fourth grade
and said what we were gonna be when we grew up
You know, I was no different than any other student
Everybody in the world did that, right?
It was like an exercise we all did
So my message was I'm gonna play pro sports and when I'm done playing pro sports
I'm gonna make more money in business than I did in sports and everything was going along fine
Until when I got to college I found myself sitting on the bench
A high school star basically becoming a scrub sitting on the bench
And I never forget all of a sudden I recalibrated my dreams and goals
and my father called me on the phone this was a turning point
He asked me a question that really changed my life
He said: "Son, you don't play. Why not?"
And I gave him what I thought was my truth
I gave him what I thought was my reality only to find out now
It was an excuse
I said: "Dad it's pure politics"
"Dad it's political"
My father said: "What?"
He said: "Son if you can help that coach win you will play"
"Go back and do what you said you're gonna do"
Now all of a sudden I got reconnected to that little kid on the inside of me
I had dreams and goals that get into the next level
I went to my coach and I said: "Coach, what do I need to do to play in the NBA?"
See, in many cases sometimes we get stuck
We get stagnant and we lose that fire and that passion
because we forgot our vision
We forgot our goals
We forgot our dreams and all of a sudden reality takes over
All of a sudden circumstances take over
Ladies and gentlemen I'm on a mission to make sure that everybody in this world knows that
that next level is waiting for you
You can become that person you wanted to be when you were 10, or 11 and 12
You don't have to let your reality take over and all of a sudden you live this normal life
You don't want to have a normal life
I'll have a job and just be normal
I'll have a company and just be average
I'm telling you
You should be on a mission to get to that next level
My coach told me what I needed to work on
And ladies and gentlemen I had to up my game
I had to start working hard, right?
I stole the key from a manager and I would go into the arena at midnight
and work on my game
work on my left hand work on my right hand
I got fundamentally sound
All of a sudden I began to realize that I gotta get better
I'm not just good enough and I began to confuse my potential with who I was at the time
That might be the biggest mistake that people make around the world
they confuse their potential with who I was at the time
People get hired based on their potential but your work ethic is what's gonna make you vice president
Your work ethic is gonna make sure that you become a CEO
being fundamentally sound in marketing, in selling and customer service
I became fundamentally sound and I made it to the NBA
and before I knew it... I got cut
Because I realized that all I wanted to do was to get there
I had no vision to be an impact player
Ladies and gentlemen you got the job
But that's not enough
Don't relax don't settle
You got to get bigger, stronger and faster
You got to get better, you got to make sure that your work ethic
Getting that job is just the beginning that's not the end
You want to live your dreams you want to have your goals
You want to get to that next level ladies and gentlemen
You want to take trips you want to have a nice house
you want to have a nice car
You want to know powerful people so your kids can have access
and their life can be easier than yours
You are beginning a legacy and your job is not just take your career to the next level
your job is to take your family to the next level
so your kids are better positioned than you were
All of a sudden when my career ended I had no money coming in
and I was starting over from scratch but there was a difference
I knew what it took to be the best in the world
I sat down with the speaker who was a Hall of Fame speaker
and I said: "What do I need to do to become a Hall of Fame speaker like you?
and at this breakfast I did not have enough money to pay for it
And he told me what I needed to do to get to the next level
And did it
So here I am
it's the Hall of Fame induction
and another speaker came up to me and says:
"You know what? aren't you excited? you're getting inducted into the Hall of Fame”
and I looked her in her eyes and I said: "you know what? Miss, I am very excited
But this time... I expected to be here”
This time I knew exactly what it took to get to that next level
So when I go and speak I'm all about the next level
When I coach executives I'm all about the next level
You have to match the fundamentals you have to have a good vision
You have to make sure your mindset is right
you have to make sure you understand how to operate in a team
but most importantly you have to be accountable
We live a world where people lack accountability
that's why my best-selling book All Buts Stink! is so popular
It's how to live your best life and eliminate excuses
because until any of us own our situation
Until we become accountable
We are all crippled by our own excuses that we believe are real
All I want people to know is that they can get 10% better every single year
If we get 10% better every single year In 5 years you won't notice you-
in 5 years you won't notice your own bank account
you won't notice your own career, you will get bigger, stronger and faster
you will get more effective, you will get promoted
you'll drive more revenue
But ladies and gentlemen next level is about purpose
next level is about understanding what it takes to get there
I'm on a mission because if I can get to that next level in two different industries
I know that I got a message for the whole world
and I have the information that I can teach to make sure that anyone
can have that dream come true that they had in their third grade class
that they had in their fourth grade class
Don't give up on your dreams
Don't quit
Don't pick reality
I'm telling you that dream that you had way back when
can become true
and it can become...
your reality,