In this motivational address, the speaker recounts his journey from a rebellious, dissatisfied youth on a dairy farm to a successful entrepreneur who has funded over $1.8 billion in loans and facilitated more than 7,000 real‑estate transactions. He describes early behavioral problems, repeated school disciplinary actions, and a series of special‑education tests that he initially misinterpreted as recognition of his genius, only to learn they were meant to address his disruptive behavior. That revelation sparked a decisive moment in which he chose to redirect his energy toward purposeful achievement rather than acting out. The speaker then outlines his current business accomplishments, emphasizes the importance of self‑belief, listening to one’s inner voice, and disregarding external negativity. He cites Les Brown and Jeremiah 29:11 to reinforce the ideas that others’ opinions are irrelevant and that a divine plan underlies personal destiny. Throughout, he urges the young men in the audience to make conscious decisions now, leverage their youth, and embrace the “greatness within” to shape their futures.
Chapters
Good afternoon, everybody. Hey, you know, as I, as I look around, I see nothing but amazing young men. And I know that society has, has said otherwise, but, but see, I can see the greatness within you. I can see the power within you because I once was you. I grew up in a small town and I grew up on a dairy farm and I hated it. I hated every second of every minute of every day of it. And because of that, I rebelled. I acted out. I, um, I had a very bad relationship with my father, meaning I, I, I, I I went against everything he said. I didn't mind. I didn't listen. In fact, I just did the opposite. Probably a lot like you all. But even in school, when I was in 4th grade, I acted out so much that they held me back and said I needed to repeat it, that I needed to mature. I needed to grow up. They tried to do it again my sophomore year. When I was a sophomore in high school, I had caused so much disruption in school that they had me go through special testing. In fact, I didn't even realize what I was doing with it at the time. They called me out and said, hey, Mr. Potter, we want you to go through and meet with these, um, these individuals, these specialists, and they're going to put you through a series of exams. And it's going to take 3 to 5 days to do this. And I told all my buddies, I said, see, see, finally society understands how great I am. They're putting me through these trainings, through these exams, because they recognize how valuable I am, how smart I am, how intelligent. In fact, probably when I'm done, I'm gonna skip a grade is what I thought. It's what I told everybody. So for 5 days, I would go from the first, second, and third period, I'd go into this room and I would take these series of quizzes, exams. And every day at lunch, I'd come back out and they'd say, hey man, how'd it go? And I'm like, oh, it was amazing, man. I mean, I aced this one and I aced that one. What kind of questions were they? And I'd go through them like, guys, this is so easy. I mean, finally society recognizes that I'm a genius. And so when it was all said and done on, on the, that Friday, they brought me in to the principal's office and I walk in there and I'm all excited. My chest's all pumped out. And I see my dad and my mother there. I'm like, oh, they're going to share with my dad how amazing I am. But see, he didn't have this look of excitement on his face. In fact, he had just the opposite, a look of disappointment. And at the time, I wasn't worried because I knew how great I was. I knew how powerful I was. And I assumed they were now seeing it for the first time. Principal said, sit down, Mr. Potter. We've got your test results back and we don't understand it. You've passed every one of them. In fact, you excelled at every one of them. I'm like, I know. They said, what do you mean you know? I said, well, yeah, I know I'm extremely smart. I know I'm extremely talented and I know that there's greatness within me. Now you see it. He said, no, Mr. Potter, that wasn't the purpose of these tests. The purpose of these tests was you're so disruptive. You're so disrespectful in class. We thought you might have a learning disability. We thought that you might be, um, need special needs, need attention. And so we ran you through these series of tests to see at what level we needed to put you in. And we thought we needed to hold you back or put you into a special platform. And yet you have the ability to do what you're supposed to do. See, I'm just like every one of you. It's not that we want to be in trouble. It's not that we excel in being in trouble. Were bored. There's so much greatness inside you. There's so much talent inside you that wants to get out. This is what was going on with me. What school was offering me, what life at that time was offering me was not enough. I needed more. I wanted more. And because I was bored, this is the only way I knew how to express it. Maybe some of you are going through the same thing. See, right here, right now, today, in this audience of young men, there's somebody here in that audience I'm speaking directly to. All of you are hearing me. Several of you will feel me. See, I know exactly where you're at because I was once there. And at that moment in time, When that principal explained to me what this was all about, it dawned on me. It dawned on me right then and there that it's in your moments of decision that your destiny will be designed. It's in that moment of decision as to where and how and what you will become. See, the decisions that you make will shape your life. But more importantly, the life that you want should shape your decisions. And right then and there, I realized and recognized there is greatness within me. I just wasn't expressing it properly. Today, I own several companies. I've funded over $1.8 billion in loans. I've transformed over 7,000 individuals into real estate transactions and helped them become very successful. Today, I'm a leader, an inspirator, and a coach because I made a decision right then and there that it was time for the world to see the real me, but I needed to express it properly, not by cutting up, acting out, and being a fool. By, by understanding how powerful, how important, and what my purpose was. See, I look around the room and I see me sitting in those chairs. I see me and I see you. I see the greatness within you. I see the passion within you. I see the opportunity before you. And you need to recognize and realize that today, right here, right now, it's time to make a decision as to who you want to become. What do you want to achieve? And I know it isn't this. I didn't like it. I was told, my brothers told my wife that they always believed by the time I was 30 years old, I'd either be in prison or be dead. See, that was what I had to live up to every day. I've been told by multiple people I wasn't worthy. I was told by my own family that meant the most to me that I wasn't good enough. But see, there was always a bigger, louder voice with inside me that said that I was. That's the only voice you need to listen to. See, the noise around you is just noise. Most of it is jealousy. Most of it is envy. Most of it is because the people around you see the ability, the talents, and the vision and passion that you have, and they're envious of it. The only person you need to listen to is you. See, a very, very pronounced speaker by the name of Les Brown said one time, what other people think of you is none of your business. And you need to remember that. You need to understand that. The only thing that's important is what you believe. And only you can make decisions to transform your life, to become amazing and great because that's what's empowered in you. That's what's embedded in you. And that is the God-given right that you have. You have the ability to become me. I was once you. How many people here want to have success in life? Raise your hand. Exactly. See, none of us want to be failures. I didn't want to be a failure, even though the world told me, everything around me said I was going to be a failure. I chose differently. You have that same power and ability. You just right here made a decision A conscious decision. You raised your hand and you said, I want more. I want to become more. Then believe it because you are more. Take advantage of your youth knowing there's so many people in today's society, so many people that I work with day in and day out who never understood the true power within them. They never understood the true calling within them. And today they're 40, 50, 60 years old and still wondering what are they going to do when they grow up? Who are they going to become when they grow up? See, you have a blessing in front of you right here, right now. You're still young. You still have your whole life ahead of you. You still have the ability to become greater than you already are. Don't pass it up. Don't let life pass you by. Make a decision. Shape your life. And here's the other thing that I want to leave with you. Is the greatest glory in life is to truly understand that God is the designer of your destiny. He created you to become something great. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "I know the plans I have for you, the plans to prosper you, not harm you." If our Creator, if our Heavenly Father said, "I have a plan for you, a plan for you to be great," then be great. Be amazing. And take that power to the next level. The decisions that you make will shape your life, but the life you want should shape your decisions. Believe in yourself. Believe in the power within you. Understand that you're great. Understand that you could be on this stage talking to others, inspiring others, that need to be heard and that need to be told. See, you need people to hear you. You need people to understand you. You need people to want to be empowering within you. That's the gift that you have, the same as I had. Don't let the noise around you cloud your future. Don't let the noise around you deter you from the greatness that's within you. Step up, rise up, and become amazing. Thank you very much.
