A speaker who survived polio and rheumatic fever argues that real resilience comes from facing hardship, not avoiding it. He calls out self-pity as dead weight and describes the moment he told his wife he was going after wealth, using it as proof that you can remake yourself right now.
And if you came here, and most people aren't mentally tough 'cause they've never gone through a lot of tough stuff. They never lost parents, they never lost a spouse, they've never gone through— I had polio and rheumatic fever and all that kind of stuff growing up. You just gotta beat that stuff. You gotta go through that stuff, right? And you can't be looking for pity and looking for people who's gonna feel sorry for you 'cause what if they don't come along? You can't go there, okay? You gotta leave all that excess baggage at home Tonight, this weekend, never to be the same person. I made a statement, I called my wife that night. I said, baby, unless I'm the dumbest person in this room, big hesitation, she never answered. And I wanted to correct that. Or I said, unless these are the biggest con, I said, I'm gonna make a lot of money here. She had never heard me talk about money one time. I've never been money motivated, but I like nice things. And isn't that stupid?
