You heard me tell the story with the lion and the gazelle; you’re still stuck, you’re a gazelle. You are a gazelle – you need something to motivate you. What happens to the gazelle when the lion ain’t chasing him? What happens is nothing. He stops running; why? Because he always needs something external to motivate him.
There are a lot of people, you’re not successful in life not because you ain’t got talent, not because you ain’t got skills, but your character ain’t right. And I told you this before, that if you’re not careful, your talent will take you places that your character can’t keep you. So what’s your motive? The reason why you can’t get up at four o’clock in the morning, the reason why when I say ‘get up at six,’ you’re looking at me like I’m crazy, it’s because you don’t have that thing that’s driving you, that’s pushing you to say no to the alarm clock and wake up; no to the snooze button. When you get that extra assignment, that extra lot, the reason you can’t do it is because you don’t have the right motive that’s pushing the action. What’s your why?
Somebody came up to me and said, ‘ET man I’m tired. I put in the work ET I’m not seeing the results. I did what you told me to; I read the book you told me to read, I put in the hours you told me to put in – E I’m doing it and I’m not seeing anything.’ Listen to me closely, why do you do what you do? And that’s so important. It’s not enough just to be a doctor; you’ve got doctors who got terrible bedside manners, terrible. You got lawyers who are skilled but arrogant – we’re talking about character right now. What’s your motive? What moves you? What drives you? And whatever it is-sports, life, business, whatever it is; health-listen to me very closely, you’ve got to change that mindset.
Even in your action, while your action is good you have to ask what drives it? What guides it? What moves it? What’s the spirit behind it? What’s the reason behind it? What’s the purpose behind it? When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breath, when you aint got nothing left in your tank, you’ve got to think about the people in your life that you’re doing this for. And then if you could think about them, you could go one more mile. You could go one more day at work. You can find a scholarship. Listen to me, when you’re doing it for someone else, when you’re like that lion… If I don’t grind they don’t eat!
This is it, I can’t – I wish I could back off but its fourth quarter. I wish I could tell you something else. I wish I could tell you, ‘You tired? Go take a break.’ I wish I could tell you, ‘You tired? Rest for a year.’ I wish I could tell you that it’s going to get easier – I wish I could tell you it’s going to get easier! I wish I could tell you that if you just keep going it’s going to get lighter, the weight is going to get lighter. I wish I could tell you that, but that’s not the truth.
The truth is, you got to find something within. You’ve got to find something within! And that’s got to push you! And that’s got to elevate you! And that’s got to drive you! And that’s got to move you! And when you find out what your why is – and your why’s got to be deeper than you – when you find your why, you don’t hit snooze no more. When you find your why, you find a way to make it happen.
It’s time for you to look within yourself and decide: that I’m in charge of my destiny, I’m in charge here. Time to face yourself and talk to yourself in the mirror. And I’m not going to allow anyone to turn me around, I am determined that I am going to make it. The time for just wishing is passed – the time for doing, that’s the time right now. Time for acting on your dream… find out what it is you want and go after it as if your life depends on it. We can decide to take charge of our own destiny; begin to truly live our dream.
Listen to me closely, when you get to the point where enough is enough, when you get to the point where it hurt real bad, when you get to the point you can’t take it no more, when you get to that point – I’m telling you… I can’t explain it to you but doors start opening, opportunities start happening. But when you cannot do is you cannot quit during the process, you cannot give up because it ain’t what you see. You cannot give up.
Champions keep going when they don’t have anything left in their tank. That’s the difference between the greats, that’s what separates them. When they don’t have no more, when it’s over, when they’re tired, when they’re frustrated, when they’re ready to give up, when they’ve spent their last dime, that’s when they get started! Are you hearing me? It’s when you have nothing left; it’s when you’ve depleted all your money, when all your energy is gone, when you have nothing left, that’s when it’s show time. When you find a way out of no way, when you find breath that you do not have, when you find energy that did not exist, when you want this thing as bad as you want to breathe –
