The impossible is POSSIBLE: with the Legend Mr. Les Brown sponsored by Acorns

You are now tuning in to Discover Your Potential with radio talk show host Dan Gilman. So listen, participate, be inspired, know that you can discover your potential. Here he is, Dan Gilman. You have something special. You have greatness in you. I've heard it said that there's some things you can't see looking forward, but you can only see looking backwards. I've been known for speaking and changing people's lives all around the world, using my voice and the ability to tell a story in all type of situations. I often talk about the fact that I'm here because of two women. One gave me life. That's a person that I had never seen. And one gave me love. That's the person here holding me and my twin brother. This is Mamie Brown. God took me out of my biological mother's womb and placed me in the heart of my adopted mother. And I had no idea being raised in poverty. We were poor, but we didn't know we were poor. And something in me, I don't know exactly when it happened, but I remember one day when I went to an event and I saw Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak in Miami. And I went to see Malcolm X. And I was so moved by their oratorical skills. I said, I want to do that. I was so impressed with Malcolm X that I went to school the next day and said that my name was Leslie X. And the teacher called my mother. This is Mamie Brown. And that was the end of that. She beat that egg out of me. But I used my voice as a radio personality. And there was something just kept driving me. I organized demonstrations in Columbus, Ohio and led demonstrations against police deadly use of force and police brutality that ultimately led to my getting fired in the 70s. And led groups of over 5,000 in the morning in the snow. I became elected to the Ohio legislature. I was elected three terms, the chairman of the education committee and human resource committee, past 14 bills, my first term using my voice. I resigned when my adopted mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and fulfilled my promise that she would never go into a nursing home and I came back home to take care of her. Using my voice, I became a community activist in Miami, Florida and once again fighting against things that were maintaining out detriment using my voice. I developed a reputation and was invited to speak at Harvard University. I became a compelling speaker and known for telling stories and selected by the National Speakers Association and given their highest award, the CPAE award, Council Peers of Excellence using my voice. I received the highest award from Toastmasters International, the Golden Gavel Award. I was selected among the top five speakers in the world, Jenoen Norman Schwoskopf, Lea Akoka, Robert Shula, Paul Harvey and myself. I often wondered where did I get this from? As if some things nature and some things nurture. I was paid five million dollars to do a talk show, The Les Brown Show. I had no idea where did this gift come from. I often thought did I get it from my father or did I get it from my mother? I've spoken on platforms with Richard Branson in South Africa, Robert Kiyosaki and other top speakers from around the world. My oldest son went on a search, unbeknownst to me, and through some research found my birth parents and discovered that my grandmother, Bula Rucker, who was a motivational speaker and educator, and she started a school. She taught herself to read and listen. The article said she was hungry to learn. So hungry, she taught herself the alphabet and how to read with newspaper that was used to insulate the walls of the cabin that she stayed in to keep the cold winter air out. And she went to school and the day that she had to register, she had no money and she stood before the head of the school and held out both her hands. And when he asked, where's your money? And she said, these hands can work. And he sent her down the line. And she came back being persistent because she was hungry to learn and said once again, these hands can work. And he looked at her and I'm sure there was something in his mind that said she is not going to be denied. And he let her in the school and she worked for him and other instructors at the school and she graduated with honors and went back to Gainesville, Georgia and taught veterans and people in the community, adults and children how to read and taught them how to teach others how to read and taught them how to be hungry to learn. See, this thing called life. If you're not willing to learn, no one can help you. But if you're willing to learn, no one can stop you. And when they develop all types of skills that will allow them to become entrepreneurs and control their own future, my grandmother and that which was in her, she obviously passed it on to my mother, Dorothy Bell. And my mother, she was a motivational speaker like her mother and she traveled all over Georgia and the country speaking and she played the piano and she sang and she had a bubbly personality and she loved helping people. I wondered where I got this gift from and now I know. And so my oldest son, unbeknownst to me, went on a search for his grandparents and he found them, pictures of them and I talked to a brother that I did not know I had and went to the Bula Rucker Museum, my grandmother. I called him and I said, Dorothy Bell is my mother and he said, well, that's my mother too. So that makes us brothers. And I went there to visit him and I got to the museum first and all I could say to myself was I found them and now I know why I am who I am, where I came from and where I got my voice from. Oh, I feel like Mother Teresa who said, just when I thought I got a handle on life, the handle broke. This discovery opened up a whole new world for me to God be the glory. It's a long shot, ladies and gentlemen, from Liberty City, an abandoned building on the floor, never knowing my mother or father. It's a long shot being here with you today in this dome in Atlanta. It's a long shot, no college training, labeled, educational, mental retarded, but I kept running toward my dream. Don't stop. Don't stop. Don't stop running toward your dream. I wanted to introduce and welcome to discover your potential. I'm your host, Dan Gilman, and we have a very, an amazing, very special show today. Before I introduce this extraordinary brilliant guest, a legend, my mother always read a quote before doing so, and so I thought it would be apropos to do so today. Benjamin Emase stated, it must be born in mind that the tragedy of life doesn't lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach. It isn't a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream. It is not a disaster to be unable to capture your ideal, but it is a disaster to have no ideal to capture. And it is not a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for, not failure, but low aim is sin. With delay, I wanted to welcome the one and only Mr. Les Brown. Hello, how are you? I'm doing well, thank you. How are you? And I just want to say that for those of you who don't know Mr. Les Brown, but I'm sure they do, everyone knows Mr. Les Brown, he's known as one of the greatest motivational speakers of all time. And he has spoken to well over 80,000 in various crowds, and he's also an author, television personality, radio host, and past politician. So it is an honor and a privilege to welcome you on my mother's show. And I remember when I was 11 or 12 years old and I started listening to you. And now I'm 77 and you're still listening to me and I'm listening to you. What a wonderful thing. That is true. That is true. You've made some significant life changes and awarenesses actually recently that happened this past year. You found out about your birth mother, which is extraordinary. And how did that moment when you found out change your life? And can you tell us about her? One of the things, first of all, I want to say thank you for who you are and what you are doing and continuing your mother's legacy as I'm doing with mine. And so it's such an honor to be here with you and to be able to spend a few moments with you. But when I saw the pictures, just imagine wanting something for 77 years, somebody said, be careful what you ask for because you just might get it. And my oldest son went on a search and found pictures and located our birth family by twin brother and I. And so when I laid eyes on my birth mother, I just said, whoa, to deny me as one of my business partners, Jerry would say would be criminal. He looked so much alike. She was a motivational speaker and an educator and her mother, Bula Rucker, she's in she's in they have a museum in Gainesville, Georgia in honor of her. She was a motivational speaker and she's in Wicca media. And so when I look at this thing that I have been doing, speaking, changing people's lives, this has been my what you would call magnificent obsession that I now see where I got it from. It's something that I call it. The can helps it. There's something you do that you can't help it is just in you, but you have to put in the effort, the time and the energy to develop it. I believe that we're all born as you know, with built in greatness. And so we have to decide to put in the effort to do the work. Nothing works unless you work to develop it to bring it out. It's not just going to come out by itself. And so I was just just shocked so many different things like I wear red all the time. Well, if people saw the video, there's a red house in there. Oh my goodness. So this is where I got this from. So I've never seen a red house in my life until I saw the house that she built. They said she built it with a saw and a hammer. She could not find anybody to help her. And she built the first school for African Americans because we were not allowed to go to school during that time. She's one step my grandmother, Bula Rucker, outside of slavery. So it's it's I'm still processing. I asked the question, God, what do you want me to do with this? And and what the answer keep coming back. You got to work harder. You got to bring it up. You got to put in more effort, more energy. I'm in that place of Semba. You're more than that, which you have become and Lion King. And so my goal is to live full and to die empty, to rob the cemetery of my talent, abilities and dreams and help others to do the same. But that has been the mandate on my life, connecting with my birth parents and my birth parents family and learning more about them. It has inspired me. 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Acorns even has a checking account that automatically invests for you and emergency fund that grows your money and it's all in one easy to use app. These days, I'm a big fan of small improvements that make me feel hopeful. That's why I use the Acorns app and so should you. Paid non-claims endorsement, compensation provides incentive to positively promote Acorns. Tier 2 compensation provided. Investing involves risk. Acorns advisors LLC and SEC registered investment advisor. You important disclosures at acorns.com slash dyp. Before we talk about your book, you've got to be hungry. The greatness within you to win. I would love to talk about your spiritual awareness and you often say you are a spiritual person and not a religious person. In your work, it is so spiritual with so many lives that you touch. Thank you. Yes, religious people are afraid of going to hell. Spiritual people have been there. What held to me is what you experience when you die and you meet the person that you were supposed to become. You see the work that you were supposed to do. That to me is hell. And so I'm looking every day and asking, am I on the path? Am I doing the work? Am I fulfilling the calling on my life? A job is what you get paid for. A calling is what you're made for. That's beautiful. Also, you have a love and affinity for words, obviously. And in the past, you mentioned that you heard a motivational record by Earl Nightingale. We become what we think about. And if you want to do something, he said, you don't get in life what you want. You get in life what you are. But I'd love to hear more about that story from you. Well, I worked on Miami Beach with my mother as a kid. And this is the time when they had signs on Miami Beach that said, Jews, dogs, and colors not allowed. There were literally places on Miami Beach that a black person could not go. And I worked for this very wealthy guy, Mr. Sergersky, and he listened to Earl Nightingale. We become what we think about. All of us are self-made, but only the successful will admit it. Zig Ziglar. If you give enough people what they want, they'll give you what you want. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, you have something special, but you've got to control your thoughts. Don't allow your thoughts to control you. Jim Rowan, when the end comes for you, let's find you, conquer the new mountain, not sliding down an O1. And these messages, unbeknownst to me, it was reprogramming and rewiring how I saw myself. Because when I was in the fifth grade, I was identified as EMR, an educational mentally retarded, and put back from the fifth grade to the fourth grade and I failed again in the eighth grade. 87% of kids who are put in special education are African American males. And so that moment of just discovering those words and how I felt as I listened, as I shined his shoes, caused me to try and go into his office every morning when he was sipping on coffee to clean his office so I can hear the words that he was listening to. I learned early on during that time, what you listen to, you turn into. And it had just a tremendous impact in my life. And I think that right now, as we look at our lives during and after the pandemic, one of the most important things that we can do is, one, we have to monitor our intake. I'm getting a lot of calls now that just tragic, just bad news. There's a soul going to play, Broadway play. I don't want nobody to bring me no bad news. So I just said, you know what? I've got to do what I can do with what I have. And I would let God do what he does because I'm not God. I can't handle it all. Leon LeVon Sanz is a speaker and trainer. She said, give to yourself until your cup runneth over and then give to others from the overflow. And so what I've learned that as we look at, what is it going to take for us going through this pandemic? Life is full of disruptions. And we have to accommodate those disruptions. And the leading process is transforming our thoughts, our thinking, and the vision that we have for ourself. As you look at yourself, look at your goals, look at your dreams, what radical change must we make in order to accommodate the disruption, in order to reinvent ourselves, to rise to the occasion, to be able to control our own personal economy, and to master our destiny and this new space where we are. Yeah, no, that's interesting because you actually went into the question that was going to ask you, which was people are in despair right now. They're looking for help. And how can we help them? Because even a sliver of help or guidance, as you mentioned, you mentioned actually where focus goes, energy flows. And it's rather interesting, but there's a lot of people in pain right now who are looking for guidance and help. And I'm sure they appreciate your support. So you're a part of what I'm telling people, ask for help, not because you're weak, but because you want to remain strong and ask for help. And don't stop until you get it. All of us have our moments in the Garden of Gisemini. All of us have our moments when life hits you below the belt. I lost two family members during the pandemic. And as I think about my youngest daughter, who was diagnosed with COVID-19, it was a jarring moment for the family. And so part of what I'm suggesting to people, number one, monitor your input. Nothing can get in except through the eyes and the ears. So when I get up in the morning, I read for about two to three hours, something positive or listen to something positive. What you tune into, you turn into. And so you want to program your mind or you will be programmed by the world. Be you not conformed to this world, be you transformed by the renewing of your mind. That's an active process of monitoring your intake. The other thing that's very important, we have to develop an accelerated thirst to learn more. It was when you think about Peter Drucker, he said, in this space where we are, we must be willing to unlearn, learn and relearn. And so this is a new place of the era of the three Cs, accelerated change, overwhelming complexity and tremendous competition. And so we have to reinvent ourselves and people are doing that every day at an accelerated rate, because when during the shutdown, people start thinking and looking at their lives and life is fragile. There are millions of people who have been laid off and then they call them and say, you can come back now. And millions of them said, I don't want to come back. I won't do that anymore. That's not me. And then there are people, couples divorce rate has increased 40 percent, where people look across the coffee table in the kitchen in the morning and saying, I feel lonely whenever you are around. Or they quote a friend of mine that used to be on radio in New York, he Frankie Crocker, he said, it's better to be alone than to wish you were. So people are rethinking their lives. That this is a time we know that life is fragile. As Frank Sinatra said, remember when I was in Vegas, as Jesus Palas live each day as if it were your last, because one day it will be. And so this is a time that people are looking at their lives with a different lens and saying, what is it that I want to do with the time that I have left and deciding to live life on their terms? Absolutely. I just want to mention too, if people want to speak with Les Brown, we do have a call in number and that's 1-888-627-6008. That's 888-627-6008. So if anybody wants to actually speak to you in person, it would be, it would be great. If they want to call in, just wanted to bring that up. You teach and you train speakers and that helps transform other individuals. And I know that you have got a bold commitment to helping others, not just with your speaking, but also touch the world globally. But you also want to help create a voice for others. And I wanted to also mention your program that you currently have is called Hungry to Speak. I would love to hear more about your program that you're currently created. Well, you know, when you think about it, Steve Jobs said the storyteller is the most powerful person in the world. Storytellers can impact the collective consciousness of people, change cultures and how people see themselves. And so I believe that evil prevails when good men and women do nothing. We're living in a time where honesty and integrity and truth no longer matters. That that lying is the new normalcy. That's that to me is the most dangerous part. That's more dangerous than the pandemic because our children are listening and they're watching us. So what we have to do is develop other voices. What I do is teach people how to use their voice to let people know what you're going through, you will get through and how to when you speak, just as this program that your mother created and now you're furthering her legacy, that you distract, dispute and inspire how people live their lives as a result of the story they believe about themselves. And so what you do when you are speaking or when people listen to your program and they listen to your guests, you distract them from their current self-explanatory style and you dismantle their current belief system and inspire them. You give them the courage to pivot and to make more choices with their lives. And so we need voices of harmony, voices of peace, voices of love, because these voices of divisiveness and evil and darkness, they ain't playing and we shouldn't be playing either. OK, so we had to step it up and let our voices be heard. There was a speech given after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke at the March on Washington. A rabbi spoke and I thought his speech was far more powerful than Dr. King's. He said when something happens, he said that three people involved. There's the perpetrator, there's the victim. And they're the witnesses. He said one will ask who's the worst? And the answer is the witnesses, because at any time they could have stepped in and intervene, Benjamin Franklin said that nothing will change until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are affected. And so this is why this program, what you have is so important, because every day you are helping to wake people up because he went on to say, God forbid that we become a country of witnesses and just stand by and watch as those four cops stood by cops who had taken an oath to serve and protect, watch their friend kill a man while other people watch from around the world. How do you do that? Because when you don't recognize people's humanity, anything goes. And so therefore, where we are right now, my goal is to teach others how I learned how to take your voice, your knowledge, your skills and be able to influence and impact people, but also to monetize it as well, because we've gone from brick and mortar to click and order your ability to speak before this little green light or blue light on your computer. It allows you to become a global entrepreneur. And so if people are willing to learn, if you're not willing to learn, no one can help you, but if you're willing to learn, no one can stop you. But the other thing that's crucial is creating a community of collaborative achievement driven, supportive relationships. I have my children behind me. Lord said, he fruitful and multiply. I took him seriously. And so what I teach them that look, it's they call life, it's tough. It's hard. It's hard work. It's H E A R T and H A R D. And that you don't want to try and do it solo. Ask for help, not because you're weak, but because you want to remain strong and ask for help and don't stop until you get it. And so develop strong relationships, relationship, currency. That that's what people have to do right now. Learn from people that you're in a community with iron, sharpening iron that you can grow from mentally and emotionally and spiritually and financially that can help you have a breakthrough experience in this thing, call life and go to the next level and be able to leave a mark with your life. Yeah, that's I also did. I didn't want to exclude this, your your new recent book. And I know you're potentially having another book, but you've got to be hungry. So I wanted to talk about this, but I've read obviously cover to cover. But I absolutely love the stories. You know, what's your dream? Your dream is possible. Did you want to talk a little bit about that? So and I can also if people are interested, we can now post a link below as well. In order to make it now, you have got to be hungry. Forty seven million jobs are lost before the pandemic to artificial intelligence. Forty seven million jobs. And after the pandemic hit, millions of jobs have been lost and those jobs not coming back. So in order to make it now, you got to be hungry. You've got to find a way. You've got to be a relentless person, a person that's unstoppable. You you've got to to realize that you are stronger than anything that that life throws at you. You have built in greatness. You have the power, the authority and dominion to master whatever life throws at you and that all hands on deck. We have to dig deep within ourselves. People that are hungry are relentless. People that are hungry have the mindset, take no prisoners and eat the wounded. People that are hungry believe always try to get on top in life because it's the bottom that's overcrowded. People that are hungry are relentless. They are driven. They have a purpose. They have a cause that's bigger than them. Nietzsche said, if you know the wife of living, you can endure almost anyhow. So people that are hungry have something that they want to do that's larger than who they are. A legacy is what what people look for in creating a conversation about themselves when they're gone. But a dynasty is something that when you establish that you won't be forgotten. So people that are hungry are dynasty builders. They are looking for ways in which their impact will live on far beyond them. No, it's right. Yes. And so the book, you got to be hungry. It recognizes we have challenges, things that want to happen to you that you can't anticipate. Life is not fair. Systems have been put together to hold you back because of your ethnicity, because of your your sex orientation, because of the paid job that you have. All of those things, that's a part of the process. Systemic racism, all of those things. That's that's that's going to always be here. And so when you're hungry, you have this mindset. I'm going to make it happen no matter what I'm going to get through. No matter what, no matter how bad it is, how bad it gets, I am going to make it bring your best game. And actually, my mother had a question for you. I saw her notes and she found the story about Foster really compelling. The boy that you visited and would love to because she wanted to really ask you about that. Oh, my. Yeah. Of all my years of speaking, no one has ever asked me about Foster. Really? Wow. No. Boy, what a special person your mother was. I used to visit children. At Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, who had cancer and Foster was one of those kids that I visited. He was a very positive, upbeat kid. And I'll never forget one day when I visited him, they apparently told his parents that he was not going to make it. And maybe he might have a month or so to live. And they didn't know that that he overheard them. They thought he was sleep. And so when I came to visit him after my radio show, he said, Mr. Brown, I want you to promise me something. I said, yes, what is it for us? He said, I want you to live the life. That I won't get to live. I said, you're going to be here. You're younger than me, man. You're going to be living a life that I won't get to live. He said, no, and I'm fine with that. He was an old man in this little young body. And man, when he said that, oh, I was working to be strong that I broke down and sure enough, he died shortly thereafter. But foster, he made an impact on me. Because we are living a life that many people didn't get to live. It's been said that life is God's gift to us. And how we live our lives is our gift to God. And that every day when we wake up, we should focus on. What is it we want to get out of the day? Not just focus on just trying to get through the day. We want a purpose driven life. Dr. Miles Monroe, who is a great orator from the Bahamas and preacher, he said, Rob the cemetery of your talents, of your dreams, of your abilities, of your gifts. And and that was what foster was encouraging. Pardon me, me to do is to Rob the cemetery. Of my talents, abilities. I was just a disc jockey. And from that time, because of his words, I became a community activist because of his words. I became a three term state legislator because of his words. I started a nationally syndicated talk show because of his words. I spoke to over 80,000 people in the Georgia Dome in in Atlanta because of his words. I began to to live an expanded life that one will look at me and say, wait a minute, this guy, he doesn't even know who his parents are. And how can he do these things? But that we do things either out of inspiration or desperation and foster. He was my inspiration. Well, that's extraordinary. Yeah, she she she specifically jotted down. Ask about foster. It's quite quite incredible. Yes, it is. Yes, it is. I've got to do that. I just do that. She's trying to break me down. Yeah, she. Yes, she also said she wanted to hear more about, you know, you want to obviously pass on your legacy, you want to continue your legacy, your legend, you know, and and how do you want your legacy to continue? And and what would you like to share with our guests today as well? I'm a legend in my own mind. What I'd like to share with people, I told my kids and I tell my grandkids this. And I said that I wanted said that I aspire to inspire until I expire. Hmm. I believe, as I mentioned, that life is God's gift to us and how we live our lives is our gift to God. And that every day when we are fortunate to wake up, we have another day to live a life of contribution to have a friend named Oren Hudson. I call him Oren Checkmate Hudson Hudson because he teach kids how to play chess and become strategic thinkers. And if you ask, Oren, how you doing, Oren? He said the best day of my life every day he says that. And I really love that. I had a friend call me that we graduated together from high school. And and he said, Hey, man, I say, yes, he's I see you all over YouTube. And and they've got all kind of motivational speeches out there by you. And and you're still doing it. I said, yes, I said, what are you doing? He's all, man. I've lived my life. I say, excuse me. Are you taking a dirt nap and you can use the telephone? You got telephone privileges? Excuse me. You got a pulse. You still breathing to my you had lived your life. Come on, man, you're still here. And most people died age 25 and don't get buried in each other. 65. They throw in the towel on themselves. They they get a job and expect to work for 40 years. The 40 40 plan is gone and and retire and 40 percent, which was enough in the first place, people cringing, waiting on a six hundred dollar check, a relief check that won't provide much relief at all. And so I believe that we should. Work until we leave here. We should do the things that we can. As George Washington Carver would say, do what you can, where you are, what you have and never be satisfied that we can always do more. We can always. Look for ways in which we can have a greater impact and to leave our mark. There are people who sit around in a palace and we're and and will allow somebody to make marks all over their bodies, tattoos, tattoo life with your greatness. You want to tattoo something and not sitting around having somebody ride all over your body and and and and look for ways constantly because we can use it. We need it. Commit that works into the Lord and I thought should be established. And all that way is acknowledge him and he shall direct that path. And I believe that when we have a mindset to do what we can, where we are with what we have, as I talk to you right now, when I go to sleep at night, and I wake up in the morning, I know that I have a fight on my hands even while I'm asleep because I'm a fourth stage cancer conqueror. And so dealing with fourth stage cancer, my PSA was 2,400, one of four is normal, as you know, that that it allows you to value each day and each moment. It says not the number of breaths that we take that really count in life. It's the number of moments that we create to take our breath away. Looking for ways to maximize our friendships, our relationships and and maximize our life to leave an impact that will outlive us is to me. The order of the day and this pandemic causing people to step out of their comfort zone, which Brian Tracy, the motivational speaker, called the danger zone and began to step into their greatness to live a life that it's a life of contribution to make a greater impact. Yeah, that that's that that really resonates with me. I not to bring this up, but also I know some of our listeners are our followers of yours, but they always love to hear about Tyrone. So and and my mother actually, it's funny because when when you were on Facebook live, this was kind of like pre COVID, almost COVID when my mother started to get ill. But I used to go over there and we used to watch you on Facebook and I used to show she's like Tyrone. So so I'd love to hear more about your stories of Tyrone. I developed a friend named Tyrone, but it's a squirrel that comes on the west side of the house. And and I named him Tyrone. I get I said and I face the window and I'm looking for him every day. And so Tyrone being a very kind and generous. Entity took the time to teach me how to speak squirrely. And I teach Tyrone English, for instance. I used to. Well, I just said, Dan, I enjoy talking to you. My kids say, if we hear you talking to that day of Tyrone again, we go put your behind it. Oh, folks. Oh, you know, you you have to to me. I'll be kid. And so I you know, I love Mickey Mouse and Tyrone. So to me, I like what Helen Keller said. She says life is short and unpredictable. Eat the dessert first. And that every day I'm looking for ways in which I can make a difference in someone's life where I can bring a smile to your face, where I can help you to feel better about yourself, to to alert you to the reality that what you're going through, you can get through that it has not come to stay. It has come to pass. Greater is he that's in you than he that's in the world. That this thing called life. It's it most certainly is unpredictable. But we have the power to live it on our terms, to not to surrender to as Henry David Thoreau, he said, to get life in a corner and suck all the marrow out of it. So you mentioned Disney, so is Disney Mickey Mouse, rather, but is Disney and also an inspiration for you? Yes, when you take something as repulsive as a mice. Hmm. Come on. That if we saw one in our house, we were trying to kill it because it doesn't pay rent and make it the most brilliant, populist symbol of happiness. They did a study to find out what is the happiest symbol in the world. And one would think the cross. No Mickey Mouse ears. When people see it, they feel good. Mickey Mouse ears. They smile. That's genius. Yeah. That he did that. And it's still living today. And so I think that we all have the ability to live a happy, healthy, loving life that that we can touch people and bring a smile to their face with our stories or give people encouragement with our example of how we got over some stuff of learning to forgive and forgiveness is not forgetting. It's remembering without anger and and learning to just have a habit of always reaching higher, knowing that we can better our best. That to me is what life is about, that we leave here empty. I told my kids when they tell you that I've gone, don't let them in bomb me for three days and and go down to the mall and slip a microphone in my hand. If I don't grab it and say, you got to be hungry. You can call your brothers and sisters and say, he's gone now. That's great. Wow. So, yeah, I know Steve Jobs is also another story. He was a brilliant storyteller at times as well. Because I know he brought Steve Jobs up as well in your stories. But I love your stories. They're they're so compelling. What an honor. I guess my last question would be to, you know, because we talked about your legacy, but is there something that you want to leave behind for everyone to listen to? And I probably didn't put up the phone number that long for people to call in. But I would just I would like to say to people now more than ever. Your voice matters. The story that you're sitting on. Someone is waiting on. Your voice matters. When it gives people hope, your story, how you got through something that they're struggling with that they're seated where you once were. And that your words, when you speak life, your words can bring somebody back from the edge, your words. A guy, he jumped off the bridge in San Francisco, the Golden Bridge, and they asked him, why did he do it? He said, as soon as I let go, he was one of the few that survived. He said, I knew I made a mistake. And they asked him, why did you do it? He said, I left home. And I said to myself, if somebody would make eye contact with me and smile, talk to me or made me feel that my life mattered, I won't take my life. I won't kill myself. And he was lonely and going through a lot of pain. And no one even made contact with him. He decided, I won't, I don't want to be here anymore. I'm out of here. And that's when he decided to jump off the bridge. But fortunately, they had a net that caught him. And so when we look at ourselves, we don't know who we're looking at because we have not, for the most part, taken time to get to know ourselves. We have algorithms that know more about us than we know about ourselves. Adam, where are you? That was not a location question. That we have to constantly look at, as Michael Jackson would say, the man in the mirror and ask, where are you? You're born with greatness in you. You have the power and authority and dominion to handle whatever life throws at you. Where are you in relationship to what it is that you've been given? And I believe that life is a gift and how we live it until we reverse the lie that has been instilled in us, living in a culture where you are marginalized, where you're demeaned, where you're demonized, where you're dismissed, being involved in an ongoing process. Of stripping away the things that life has instilled in your mind about yourself, that you will come to a place where you can look at life with new eyes and know that you were born for greatness. Know that you were chosen, one out of 400 million spirits, and you were born for greatness. Know that you were chosen, one out of 400 million spirits. Know that you are masterpiece because you're a piece of the master. So anybody listening to us now who they have a story, they want to be trained on how to tell their story. When I got into this industry, there was nobody that looked like me. They were just giving information dumps under the philosophy of the Dale Carnegie Course, which is a great course. They teach, tell them what you're going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you told them. That's nice. That's cute. But when I train speakers, I teach them never let what you want to say get in the way of what your audience needs to hear. Lead with your story. People do business. People listen to. People follow people that they get to know, like, and trust. Create an experience with your story. When you just do an information dump, information only impacts two areas of the brain. But when you tell a story, it impacts five areas of the brain. It expands your vision of yourself and it touches the heart of the audience. And it releases the courage and the spirit to begin to become as Mother Teresa would say, a pencil in the hand of God and start writing a new chapter with their lives. Yeah. And people can actually go on to hungry to speak dot com to sign up. And also your book too. We'll add those in the notes as well. Yeah. Get the gold package where I train you every week on how to tell your story and how to monetize that story and how to create an experience with that story. That's great. Unfortunately, we're running out of time. Is there one last before we have to go? Yes. First, I want to thank you for your courage to step up and to further your Mother's legacy. But I want to say to those that are watching us, Jim Rowan said this and I believe this to be true. He said, when the end comes for you, let it find you conquering a new mountain. Not sliding down an old one. We are here to do the greater work. Somebody, some person, some kid, some movement, some cause that needs your energy, that needs your heart, that needs your focus, effort and attention. Live full. Die empty. Die empty. You are blessing to the world. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Thank you, Mr. Rowan. This was extraordinary. I wish I had hours to speak with you. Thank you. It's such an honor. It's such an honor to grace us with this. And so I'll end with this as my mother always used to end her show. Do something nice for yourself and do something nice for others. Thank you, Mr. Rowan. I appreciate you. I'm giving you a virtual hug. I appreciate that. From me and Tyrone. I love it. This is Cindy Gilman and you're listening to Discover Your Potentials. So until next time, do something nice for yourself, but do something nice for someone else.