If Rico can do it, so can you! Part 2

All right, so let's go ahead and start, shall we? There's a way I like to start all of my meetings, all right, and it's, it's called an affirmation, a verbal affirmation. I do it in schools, colleges, corporations, nonprofit organizations, faith-based organizations, wherever I go and speak. I believe that words have power, and I believe that when you say something, that you should say something that is positive concerning your life. I've been on both sides of the spectrum. I know what can happen when you speak negativity and you're surrounded by negativity, and you subtract— you, you start attracting negative energy. I know what that's like, but I also tried it out to see what happens when you become positive and you start saying positive things over your life and you start thinking positive and you attract positive energy and you produce positive outcomes. And I like the positive better than the negative. Anybody agree with that? Yes. All right, so I'm gonna ask you if you would just stand with me. Just stand for a moment. Now, I'm going to ask you to look to somebody on your left and right and say to them, you have greatness on your life. You have greatness on your life. And I'm going to need you to really say it. I want to hear you. Say it again. You have greatness on your life. You have greatness on your life. All things are possible. All things are possible. You can accomplish whatever you set your heart on. You can accomplish whatever you set your heart on. Whatever you set your mind to. Whatever you set your mind to. There is nothing that you can't achieve. There is nothing that you can't achieve. When you believe and strive to make it happen. Now, do you believe that? Yes. Did you get this person next to you around the block? I'm gonna ask you to do it one more time, but this time for yourself. So put your hand right here just like this and say, I am special. I am special. I have greatness on my life. I have greatness. All things are possible. All things are possible. I can do I can accomplish, and I can achieve great success. Nothing shall be impossible concerning my goals, my dreams, and my aspirations. And I can see me in my future living in the reality of what my heart desires. Now, do you believe that? Do you believe that? Well, if you believe that, give yourself a round of applause. Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Rico Sharp, and I am a motivational speaker. And for the past 33 years, I've dedicated my life and time to traveling around the world speaking. I speak in schools, colleges, churches, jails, prisons. I speak for I speak for businesses and corporations. I speak for nonprofit organizations. You name it. Wherever there's an open door for me to go and speak to people who believe in themselves and need to have some reinforcement, I come to undergird you tonight, to be like a backbone, a vertebrae, to help you to be able to stand up under the pressure that you have to go through in order to be successful. Thank you. From day to day. I know what it's like to struggle. I know what it's like to feel like quitting. I know what it's like to have difficult times. I know what it's like to feel like there is nothing left that is worth living for. I know what all that is like, but I also know how to rise above adversity. I know how to overcome. I know how to conquer the things in life that stands against me as a circumstance or dilemma in my life. And now I train and I teach other people. Not only am I a motivational speaker, but I'm an entrepreneur. I'm a life coach. I'm a life coach to professional athletes from the NBA, NFL, and one professional boxer. I spent time preparing people how to bring out the best in them, how to give life all they have to give. My journey did not start with me speaking. As a motivational speaker or a leadership trainer. My journey began basically at the age of 13 when I was an A student in school and I dropped out of school and ran off from home and immediately became homeless at the age of 13. Homeless, eating out of trash cans, sleeping up under an oak tree without a shower. Without food, without being able to take care of myself. I know what it's like to struggle. And not only did I find myself homeless at the age of 13, but I also found myself addicted to alcohol at the age of 13, addicted to marijuana at the age of 13, and addicted to cocaine at the age of 13. When I found myself homeless, it was during the wintertime. When I was cold and shivering up under an oak tree, and 4 AM in the morning at the age of 13, this car pulled up. And I was ready to run because I, I had to run many times just to survive the night at the age of 13. And this guy said to me, why are you always up under this tree out here all by yourself? And I said, because I don't have anywhere to go. I don't have any place to live. Amen. The reason I ran off from home was because my mom wanted me to go and live with my dad, and I didn't really know my dad. All I knew about my dad is that he was a very abusive man. He was physically abusive, he was mentally abusive, verbally abusive, and I had experienced abuse from him before. My mom experienced abuse from him, my brothers experienced abuse from him. He was on the other side of town. raising a family that was not his. And every time he broke up with his girlfriend at the time, he would come home to us and beat us up and then go back to release his anger and frustration. And I didn't want any more of that. I was tired of that. That's all I knew about him. And so, when my mom said to me that you got to go live with your dad, I didn't really want to go live with this dude. I didn't know him, and I was afraid that he was going to kill me. And so, I ran off because that was the only other option I had. And so when this guy saw me up under the tree and said, "Get in the car with me," I took a chance. I didn't know who he was or what he wanted, but I took a chance with my life. And it turned out to be that he was a drug dealer, a big drug dealer. And he brought me to this rooming house where there were some other young guys around my age who were also selling drugs. He introduced me to them, and he said to me, "Here, I'm gonna." I'm going to take care of you. I'm going to put some new clothes on your body. I'm going to feed you and give you a place to sleep. And for about a week, he did that. A week later, he came to me and he said to me, he said, Rico, if you're going to survive in these streets, then you have to learn how to become a hustler. And I didn't understand really where this was going. All I knew was that I had to trust somebody. I didn't really understand at the age of 13 that I had other alternatives and options, but he handed me a bag of crack cocaine and he said, go out on the street and sell this and bring me half the money back. And I followed the other guys down to the street corner and immediately I started selling cocaine on the street, crack cocaine. And right away I got arrested. Right away I found myself in jail. How old were you? staring at a jail cell at the age of 13. And history would have it in my life that from the age of 13 to 19, I was arrested 19 different times. I was sent to prison 3 different times. And while facing 22 years in prison, on that third time of going to prison, The judge looked at me and said, you are a threat to society. You don't deserve to be out. And those words began to reverberate within my mind. And here I am now, 19 years of age, scared, terrified, heading to prison for all this time. Didn't know what to do, didn't know who to reach out to. Just felt lonely, felt abandoned, felt lost. And I started thinking about how I need to turn my life around. I'm tired of being in and out of jail, tired of being addicted to cocaine and marijuana and alcohol. I'm tired of running from bullets and jumping out of cars and running from the police officer and being beaten up by guys and left for dead. I'm tired of that lifestyle. I don't want it anymore. I'm tired of having these near overdose experiences in a hotel room by myself. at the age of 17. I'm tired of it. I don't want this life anymore. And so while in prison, this older Caucasian gentleman, his name is Billy. Billy came to me and Billy said to me, you don't look like you belong in this place. And I kind of looked at Billy like, man, you don't know me. You don't know what I've been about, dude. I've been locked up 19 times. Billy said, well, I've been in prison 30 years. And he said, you don't look like you belong here. He said, I know a real hardcore criminal when I see one. Billy basically adopted me. Billy took me under his wing. Billy began to mentor me. Billy said to me, come over here, sit down on my bunk. And Billy pulled some books out, and Billy let me get a book from him so that I can start reading, because I'm in a mindset now Where I can't go out the way I came in. I gotta change. See, one of the things that I've learned, ladies and gentlemen, is that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over again expecting a different outcome or different results. And I knew from trial and error that there is no right way to do wrong. There's no right way to be a criminal. There's no right way to throw your life away. It's all wrong at the end of the day. Nothing works out in your favor when you're focused on doing things that are illegal and criminal. And I had to understand, I had to come to understand that. And so I made a deal with Billy. Billy didn't have any family. Billy was the only child of his parents, and his mother and father had passed away while in prison. And Billy had cancer. But Billy taught me a lot about life. Billy treated me and accepted me as his own son. And I made a deal with Billy to buy all of Billy's library, all of his books. Billy wanted coffee and cigarettes, but he had no money. I had money, but I didn't have education. I had money, but I didn't have inspiration. I had money, but I didn't have knowledge. I had money, but I didn't have a great level of common sense. And so Billy sat me down and Billy taught me some things. And Billy made a deal to sell me his library. So I bought from Billy an almanac. I bought from Billy an encyclopedia. I bought from Billy a concordance, a commentary, Bibles, different type of self-help books. And Billy helped me to understand that you need to recondition your thinking. And that's what I began to do, ladies and gentlemen. I sat down for about 13 hours a day for the next couple of years, every single day, reading and reading and reading and reading, reconditioning my thought process, renewing my mind, learning words out of the dictionary, learning meanings out of the encyclopedia, learning scriptures out of the Bible. I totally wanted to transform my life. Prison was my cocoon, and I began to focus interpersonally. And I learned in, in prison that there was a course that they were offering in prison which is a vocational training course on cabinetmaking. So I enrolled in that. Then I also found out they had an educational course called Interpersonal Life Skills, and I enrolled in that. And when I was released from prison on November 30th, 1995, I made a commitment to myself. I got down on the ground when I walked outside in the parking lot. I got down on the pavement. That's right. I bowed down and I kissed the pavement. I humbled myself and I became committed to the fact that I am never coming back to prison again as an inmate. And when I walked out of prison, I looked back and I said, I'll never put myself in this circumstance again. That was Mar— uh, November 30th, 1995. And since that time, from that day to this day, I have not used drugs, I have not committed a crime, I have not gone back to jail or gone back to prison. In fact, what I have done is dedicated my time to going into the jails and into the prisons, speaking to men, women, and juveniles, helping them to understand that you've got to change your life While you're in prison. See, ladies and gentlemen, many people have found themselves in a physical prison, but there are so many more people that lives in a mental prison and an emotional prison and a psychological prison. And what I do is I dedicate my time to help people get free from all sorts and all structures of prison so that you can experience the freedom and the liberty that you so deserve in this life. And so when I came home from prison, I went back to the streets, but not as a drug dealer, not as a criminal. I went back to get my old homeboys and relatives off the street, to help them to understand that there is a better way in life. I went back to school to help get the people in school to understand, don't make the mistakes I made. Don't drop out of school. Stay in school. Rico, Pursue your education. Go get a degree. It's never too late to turn your life around, but while you have the opportunity and you're on a steady course, then protect that opportunity. Prize that opportunity and make sure that you are doing what you must do to give yourself the best chance that is possible to live in your dream. And ever since that time, I started speaking in courtrooms. I started speaking in churches. I started being invited by businesses to come and speak. And I just started going everywhere the door would open for me to speak. I started a transition house for homeless men to get men off the street and a transition house for men that were coming out of prison that were going back to the street because they had no family or anyone to help them to get back up on their feet. And I help men to understand that it's never too late to turn your life around. Then I started my own worldwide television show and broadcast on 3 different television stations. You see, the things I'm sharing with you, I'm only sharing it for one reason. I want you to know that if Rico can come from living on the street Being homeless, being addicted to cocaine, selling drugs, in prison. If Rico could come from being reduced down to ashes and then rise up one day and teach FBI agents on leadership and agents from the Department of Homeland Security, even people from out of the Oval Office of the President of the United States. If Rico can go from the streets and become somebody with notoriety and have his own worldwide television show, then there is nothing in this world that you cannot accomplish. And so sometimes you need somebody like myself that has lived what some people may consider the worst life possible to come to your school and tell you to take to heart the opportunities you have to gain a vocational trade, to graduate from a school of higher learning, to take life serious, to take your education serious, to take the resources made available to you serious, and build yourself a life that one day you can be proud of and your family members can be proud of and everyone who loves you can be proud of. You see, for a long time I was ashamed of the life I lived, but I realized that I survived it. And if I survived it, I survived it for a reason. And now I use the transparency of my past and my mistakes to help other people to see clearly concerning their future. So I want you to do something for me. I'm gonna give you a few points and I'm gonna get out of your way. All right. I want you to say this with me: If Rico can do it, so can I. Say it one more time: If Rico can do it, so can I. And the reason I share my story with you is not because I'm looking for sympathy. I don't need sympathy. I don't need empathy. I don't need anything from you. What I need you to do is when you find That times are getting tough and you feel like quitting and you feel like throwing in the towel and you feel like that I can't go on and this is just too much and I can't balance my life, I need you to stop for a moment and remember tonight. I need you to remember the stuff Rico shared with you about his life, and I need you to whisper to yourself during that time of pressure, during that time of fatigue, during that time of wanting to quit, I need you to look yourself in the, in the mirror and say, if Rico can do it, So can I. And that's what this is about. So my very first point, if you're taking notes or you can choose to take a picture with your smartphone, is that you got to understand that anything worth having is worth working for. So what's imperative, ladies and gentlemen, is that you draw up a plan, a vision for what you want to accomplish in life. And then begin to strategize it step by step and day by day. I tell people all over the world, if you don't have a plan, you're not serious about success. If you haven't— if you don't have a projection of where you want to be 3 years from now, 5 years from now, if you don't know what you're trying to accomplish, if you're not after anything, how would you know when you attain it? How would you know when you reach it? That's right. So many people make a tragic mistake in their life, and that is they settle for mediocrity. They settle for just paying bills. They settle for just getting by. They settle for just barely making it. There's too much about you. There's too much talent, too much strength, too much creativity in your life for you to live a life of mediocrity. You have greatness on your life. You have something special. You're talented, you're unique, you're creative. You have a level of authenticity that if you would just begin to focus on what you have and use what you have, you can change this world. But you start with having a plan. See, I know where I want to be 3 years from now. I know where I want to be one year from now, and every day when I rise up in the morning, I'm rising up with the plan on my mind for that day. People who plan, they overcome the odds of failing, but people who refuse to plan, they find themselves failing over and over and over again. Amen. So if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail. And it's not enough to just graduate with a degree in whatever you're enrolled in in this college. The graduation is only a step up the ladder. It's one step. It's— that's all it is. It's a big step, but it's one step. It's a, it's a profitable step. It's a step in the right direction, but it's one step. There's so much more in your life that you have to begin to focus on, but it does begin with being here tonight. It does begin with making a conscious decision to continue pursuing the graduation of this class so that you can move on to the next level of your life. But my question to you Ladies and gentlemen, is what's next for you? What's next? What's next for your family? How many of you have kids? What's next for you and your kids? What's next for you and your career? What's next for you and your future? Do you know where you want to be 3 years from now? Do you know how much money you want to have saved up? 5 years from now? Can you see yourself owning your own business? And if you want to be an entrepreneur, do you have a plan? Do you have a structure? Have you developed a blueprint? Again, if you fail to plan, then you planned on failing, and you will get exactly what you plan for. So if it's true That you would get exactly what you plan for, then why not plan to succeed? Are you with me so far? Are you with me so far? If you're with me so far, say, "If Rico can do it, so can I." Point number two: Put your heart and soul into your commitment. Be passionate about your career, your goals, and your dreams, and always keep a positive attitude. See, what I'm sharing here with you tonight, this is what I did. This is what I implemented in my own life so that I could build my life up. Always have a positive attitude and an unwavering commitment to your success. You cannot afford to be surrounded with negativity. I had to retrain my thoughts and get the negative energy from out of my life by evicting and excommunicating negative thoughts out of my mind. I didn't want to hear negative voices in my head. I didn't want to be surrounded by negative people, and I didn't want to hang out in negative places. See, negativity is always on sale, but positivity will always be expensive. It will cost you more. But if you will condition yourself to live in a positive and productive life, then you will experience things that can only come through making positive choices in your life. I tell kids when I go to school, Negative voices leads to negative choices. You listen to negative people all day long, you're going to be negative yourself. Amen. That's why it's good to have motivational speaking in your life. It's good to have people that are speaking life into you and value into you, because when— if you hear something long enough, you'll believe that. You'll believe that. Always keep a positive attitude. Put your heart and soul. Be passionate about your goals. Be passionate about graduating from this school. Be passionate about going out there and finding yourself a job that will eventually become a business for you, that will eventually become a life that you can retire from. Say this with me: If Rico can do it, so can I. So am I. Here's what I had to do. Number 3, ladies and gentlemen, I had to make a promise to myself. I made a promise to me that I'm going to take advantage of every opportunity I get. I'm going to maximize every opportunity I get. I realize that there are times when resources are made available, available to me at the expense of others. Why would I not take advantage Of resources that's free to me to better my life. In this school, you have resources made available to you. You have people that are going out of their way day and night, putting their lives on hold to make sure that you can have the life that you want. You got people supporting you that believes in you, that cares about you, that want to see you succeed, and they are committed to your success. And if you got people committed to your success, like your executive directors and the dean, and you got instructors, you got people that are here, that are here for you, if that— if they can do it for you, if they can come and get in their car and drive here for you, if they can tell their kids, I'll see you later, and leave their families behind for you, then you ought to take— I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Take advantage of every opportunity that is afforded you so that you can have a successful life. That should mean something to you. You should have a gratitude for that. You shouldn't waste people's time. You should come in here every night with your mind focused on taking advantage of the reason you're here and the resources made available to help you succeed. Yes, sir. I don't know if you know this or not, but in a lot of technical colleges, the graduation rate is 30%. Some, at its best, is at 6 to 7%. So 1 out of 3 people in some schools graduate. 2 out of 3 people in some schools graduate. No school have 100% graduation rate. Why is that? Because people don't take their education as serious as they should, and they don't take it to heart like they should. And it's nobody's fault when somebody drop out of school. I understand times gets tough. I know what it's like to live under tough conditions. But you didn't come here to spend time learning and developing your mind and gaining an education just to drop out at the end of the race. You got to be a bulldog. You got to be hungry. You got to fight for what you want. You got to fight you. You got to tell yourself, I will succeed. I will not quit. I will not give up. I will not give up. I do what I have to do to make my kids proud of me. I do what I have to do to make my family proud of me. And more importantly, I do what I have to do to make me proud of me. And I do that by maximizing my moments, maximizing my opportunities, maximizing and taking advantage of the resources that's been given to me to succeed. There are one of two tools that you're going to be given in life. You're either going to be given tools to fail or you're going to be given tools to succeed. And it's up to you which tool you're going to put in your work belt. Yeah. I made a decision while in prison that I want tools to succeed. I know what failure feels like. I know what self-destruction feels like. I know what quitting feels like. I want to learn and experience for myself what success feels like. I want to know because I, I only have one life to live. So I want to know what it feels like to have a good life before I die. I want to know what it feels like to be a good father before I die. I want to know what it feels like to be a visionary, a dreamer before I die. To be a person who can realize their dream before I die. 'Cause when I die, I can't come back and start over again. When I die, it's over. So if I'm going to die, which I know I will, then let me die successful. Let me die with the gratitude of knowing I did something with my life and I made my time count. And I gave it my all. Rico Sharp. Point number 4. This is what I hear from a lot of people. It's hard. It's hard. I can't do it. It's hard. I gotta go to work in the morning, work 8 hours, then I gotta run home and feed my kids, feed my pets. I gotta run home, change clothes, and then get ready to come to school. It's hard. And that's what I hear from people. It's hard. But I'm gonna tell you something. A lot of people who say it's hard and they are resolved in their heart that life is hard really haven't seen hard. I can tell you what hard is, 'cause I know what hard is. Hard is when you're 13 and you don't have no job and you don't have no money and you don't have no food. Hard is when you gotta jump up and run from your life— for your life because somebody's trying to kill you in the night. Hard is when it's cold and it's freezing outside and you don't have a house to sleep in and you don't have a blanket. Hard is when you're in a hotel room at 16 and 17 and you're ODing off of cocaine and nobody's there to save you. And if God doesn't step in, then you would die. I know it's hard. Hard is being in prison, scared to death, terrified, seeing people murdered right before your eyes, seeing men raped right before your eyes. I know what hard is. Hard is when your father dies and your brother dies and your first cousin dies and your grandparents die and your uncles die and your aunt dies, and within a span of 3 years, 15 people in your life dies. And your friend dies and your other friend dies and your mentor dies, because that's what has happened in my life. I know what hard is. Hard is when you come out of prison and all you know is selling drugs, but you got to get a job, and you go to the scrapyard and you cut your fingers up every day separating scraps, separating metals in a junkyard with your bare hands. That's hard, but that's what I did. And then leaving there to go lay sod in ditches, that's hard. That's what I did. But I made a decision that even though it's hard, I'm gonna do it hard. Even though it's tough, I'm gonna work through the toughness. Even though I was hurting and aching in my body, I'm gonna work through the pain. What's hard is being able to look yourself in the mirror and tell yourself you failed because you quit. You failed because you gave up. You fail because your car broke down and you let that become a resolve that it was worth quitting for. When people quit school, they quit school because they quit themselves. They gave up on themselves. Say this with me, it's hard. It's hard. But I do it hard. Thank you, Lord. So you got to learn how to fight through the stress. You got to learn how to take your licks and keep on ticking. 1951, Timex created this watch, and they created a commercial about this watch, and they say, we have a watch that knows how to take its lick and keep on ticking. And they took this watch and they put it through all kinds of tests. They beat it with a hammer, ran over it with a car, and after the end of that test, they— that watch was still ticking. And they said to the world that Timex would take his licking and keep on ticking. And ladies and gentlemen, what doesn't kill you will build up character in your life and make you stronger and give you an appreciation for whatever it is you accomplish through hard work. You got to take your licking and keep on ticking. When I say to you that things are hard, I understand and I sympathize with you, but I don't pity anybody for quitting. I know what it's like to feel like quitting. I know what it's like to want to take your life because you feel like life is not worth living for. I know what it's like to get depressed and get discouraged and get frustrated and get angry because things are not happening for you and it's not moving fast enough. But anything great— going back to the very first point— it's worth fighting for. It's worth working hard for. Great things does not come easy. It's hard, but do it hard. And remain focused on your personal and professional life without yielding to educational exhaustion and mental fatigue. Take a break if you have to. Get counseling if you have to. Coach yourself if you have to. Listen to motivational speaking if you have to. See a therapist if you have to. Have a family communication or a family conversation about what you're up against. Do what you have to do, but do not quit. Do not give up on you. Do not throw in the towel because it's hard. And if you ever find yourself feeling like it's too hard, then that's the moment that you are closer to your biggest breakthrough than ever before. Why stop there? Next point. Say this with me, if Rico can do it— Rico can do it. So can I. So can I. Now I want to hear you a little bit louder. I want you to really put something into it. Come on, give it to me. If Rico can do it— If Rico can do it. So can I. Look at somebody and tell them, if Rico can do it, I know you can do it. I know you can do it. That's good. Continue to prioritize your perspective. Always keep first things first without compromising or deviating from your perspective and priorities. Always keep first things first. I'm not going to hang out with my boys. When I need to be in school. I don't care if it is their birthday or my birthday. I'm not going to call in sick just to stay home and play the Xbox and PS5. I don't care how cold it is. If my car breaks down, get an Uber. If the Uber driver breaks down, get a Lyft. If the Lyft driver breaks down, get out and walk. If your feet hurt, crawl. Do what you got to do, but get here day after day, night after night. Why? Because you're working on something. You're going somewhere. You can't accept defeat. You can't accept failure. When people fail, they fail themselves. Failure is not final. It's a state of mind. There are learning curves that we all have to go through. But when you continue to focus on your priorities, And prioritize your priorities above recreation, above partying. I, I would never miss a day of school because I'm hungover from the night before. That's ridiculous. That's immature. That's childish. Mm-hmm. We're past that point in our life. We, we don't give that kind of attention to dysfunctionalism. We're better than that. We're beyond that, right? We don't miss school because we're tired. We come tired. We get a Red Bull on the way if we have to, but we show up. And when we show up, we give our all. We don't, we don't go through motions of quitting. We go through motions of succeeding, and we do it by staying focused on our priorities. Your kids, for those of you who have kids, need to know that you're committed enough to your success and to their well-being and provisions that you're not going to allow for unnecessary things to come in between your life and your kids' future. If Rico can do it, If Rico can do it, so can I. I want you to get that so much in your heart and in your mind that while you're driving home, you're telling yourself, if Rico can do it, so can I. I want you to get that so much in your heart and in your mind that when you're laying in the bed asleep at night, you're talking in your sleep, if Rico can do it, so can I. And when you wake up in the morning, you go in and greet your children and say, listen, I met this guy last night named Rico. He's a motivational speaker. He had a hard life. And I just want to tell you kids, if Rico can do it, so can you. Look at your dogs, at your pets, and tell your dogs, if Rico can do it, so can you. I want you to believe that. I want that to become a practice in your life. That's why I'm sharing my life and being transparent with you, because I want you to think about what I've been through and how I've been able to turn my life around and succeed. In 1956, there was this guy named Roger Bannister. Prior to Roger Bannister coming on the scene, it seemed humanly and athletically impossible to run a mile in a pump-up of 4 minutes. Many athletes tried and they failed. Nobody believed it could be done. But Roger Bannister came along and he said, I can do it. And he worked hard at it and he committed to it and he dedicated day after day to running and tracking his time to make sure that he can break the 4-minute mark with running a mile. And he did it. And he did it, and he was the first person to do it. And after he did it, other people now learned about what he did and challenged themselves to break the 4-minute mark with running a mile by saying this right here: if Roger could do it, so can I. And because of that belief system, because of that point of reference, that Roger became to these other athletes, thousands of people now have broken the 4-minute mark, including high school kids. So one more time, ladies and gentlemen, if Rico can do it— Rico can do it. So can I. So can I. So surround yourself with the right people. It is imperative that you put the right people in your life that will encourage you, enlighten, and empower you. That was one of the big things for me because I'm that kind of person. I'm a people's person, right? I like having people around me. And some of the people in my life that were wrong for me, some of them were family members. When I came home from prison on that third time, I had a cousin of mine that came to my house with all good intentions, right? He owed me some money before I went to prison, and his way of repaying me was coming to me to give me a kilo of cocaine. And when I looked at him, immediately I thought, I know you mean well, but I need you to get out of my yard before I call the police. You're my cousin, but I will have you arrested right now. I love you, but you got to go. And don't ever come back to my house. See, the issue was that I had to make a decision. To have the right people around me. I'm not going back to jail. I'm not going back to prison. I'm not putting my life back in that condition. I'm tired of being down and out. I want to be a dreamer and have something and have a future and be a father and be able to have a life with my kids. I want to be here to see what tomorrow holds. So I had to put around me people. Who could enlighten me, instruct me, encourage and empower me. People who had my answer and not my question. I wanted to be around people who had my solutions and not my problem. I wanted to be around people who had my strengths and not my weaknesses. I wanted to be around people who can tell me how to succeed, how to turn my life around, how to stay on top. How to keep from quitting. And it's important that you have people around you like that. Some of you, your boys don't care about whether you graduate or not. They just want you to hang out with them. They want you to come celebrate with them their birthdays. They're unemployed, they're broke, they're smoking weed all day. They're not going anywhere with their life. Why would you lower your standards? And your dreams and your goals to hanging out with people that's not doing anything positive and constructive, when eventually it's going to become an issue in your life that's going to eventually throw you off rail from what you're trying to accomplish and derail you from what you're trying to succeed in. Get around you good people. Have confidence in you. Always believe in your ability to make your dream your reality. You have to tell yourself you have what it takes and you are enough. See, I have confidence in me. I believe that all things are possible in my life. I believe I can accomplish anything. I set a goal to become the world's number one motivational speaker with within the next 3 years. And there are some people out there— Mel Robbins, Tony Robbins, Les Brown— there's some people out there right now, Eric Thomas, that are really dominating the industry. They don't know Rico Sharp, but in 3 years they're gonna know who Rico Sharp is. Why? Because I've made a commitment to myself. I've promised me that I'm going to succeed. That's right. with my goals, my dreams, and my aspirations. This is my commitment to me. My question to you is, what commitments to yourself have you made? What trajectories have you set? What path are you on? What goals do you have? What are you envisioning in your mind? What are you visualizing in your mind? What are you doing? What do you see for your future? What do you see for yourself? And do you have the confidence in you to believe that you can do it? Do you have the confidence in you to believe that you can make it happen? Believe in you. Say this with me: If Rico can do it, so can I. I know y'all tired of saying that by now. I know you are. But I'm here on a mission. When I leave here tonight, I'm gonna take a 3-hour drive to go back home. And when I drive down that highway, I wanna know that if nothing else, these people believe that if Rico can do it, then so can they. Quitting? Is not an option. Make a decision to discipline your mind with mental toughness for overcoming adversity. You must never, ever give up on you. You must never, ever give up on you. You must never, ever give up on you. People will give up on you. Husbands and wives will give up on you. We call that divorce. Sometimes kids will give up on their parents and don't want to have a relationship. Sometimes your friends will walk off and not want to have anything to do with you. Sometimes your employer gets tired of you and will lay you off or fire you. Sometimes society doesn't want to have anything to do with you and will reject you. Facebook friends will excommunicate you and unfriend you. But you can never, ever give up on you. You don't have the luxury to call it quits on you. You don't have the luxury to walk off. You gotta stick with you when everyone else walk off. And I know what it feels like to have people give up on you. I know what it feels like to be judged by your past. I know what it feels like to be judged because of the color of your skin or because you're an ex-convict. I know what all that feels like. But in spite of who don't see in me what I see in me, I see in me what I see in me, and that's what I'm sticking to. Regardless who don't believe in me, I believe in me, and that's what I'm sticking to. And I will not allow for other people to make an exodus out of my life and cause for me to follow behind them and not believe in me because they don't believe in me. If you don't believe in me, that's That's your issue, it's not mine. I believe in me because if I keep trying, I'm going to get it right. You know what I've learned? A broke clock is right twice a day. And if a broke clock can be right twice a day, I should be able to be right 3 times a day. And if Rico can do it, so can you. All right? Couple more and I'm done. All right. So, make a decision to discipline your mind with mental toughness. Success is not for the faint of heart. It's not. You can't succeed by being weary in your mind. Another word for mental toughness is resilient. You got to be resilient. You gotta tell yourself, man, I won't quit for nothing. Quitting is not an option. Quitting school is not an option. That's not even in the conversation. That's not even in your mind. You've come too far to quit. You've come too far to give up. You're in too deep to get out. You can't quit. What are you— what will you accomplish by quitting? If you take a test and you fail, and you gotta pay that tuition, that's on you. You got resources made available to help you succeed. But I need you to tell yourself, I will not fail, and I will not quit. When I first tried to get my GED in prison, I failed. But then I tried it again, and I passed. We don't quit, we try again. That's how we get to success. Rico Sharp. This is important. This is what I had to do. I had to give my life all I have to give. No more holding back on me. So always go the extra mile, make necessary sacrifice, dedicate 110%, and give life all you have to offer. Can I say something to you? 100% is no longer acceptable. You got to go the extra mile. You got to give 110% now. You're living in a society, you're up against an economy that requires more from you. You can't just settle for the status quo. Just like working a 40-hour-a-week job, it's no longer cutting the mustard, is it? You got to get that overtime in to get that extra money, especially during the holidays. You can't just settle for mediocrity. You gotta have more. And in order to have more, you gotta give more. So more is required of you. More is required. You gotta work overtime to make this work. When you come to school and you, and you sit in the class and you go through your hours of training and you have homework, you gotta go home and do that homework. That's that extra 10%. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. And when it's time to come to school, you don't come late, you come early. And you don't rush out the door, you stay late. If you have to be here at 6 o'clock in the evening and you show up at 6 o'clock, you're late. Early is on time, and on time is late. When you go and clock in on the job, you're supposed to be there at 7 o'clock in the morning and you get there at 7:01, you're late. If you get there at 7, you're late. If you get there 2 minutes before, you're late. When you see people being promoted to higher positions and getting pay raises, it's because they gave 110%. While you give 100%, 100% is no longer acceptable. In this life, to be successful, 100% is no longer acceptable. It's not enough. You got to do today what others won't do in order to have tomorrow what others won't have. You have to make sacrifices. You got to be willing to put time in in order to get what you want out. And 110% minimum. It's what you must be willing to commit yourself to, because that's your level of success that you're going to benefit from. And finally, these are some keys to my success that I want to leave with you. Keys are important to unlocking great doors in your life. Number 1, always love you. Loving you is your number 1 assignment. You can't love your kids, you can't love your spouses, your partners, your fiancées, your friends, your parents. You can't love anybody adequately if you don't love you sufficiently. How can you give something you don't have? When you get— anybody ever cruise before on a cruise ship? When you go through a drill, they tell you, hey, look, in the event Of the ship sinking, put your life vest on first because you can't save anyone else if you're drowning. How many of you ever flown on a plane before? They tell you, in the event of an unlikely circumstance of losing altitude, put your oxygen mask on first because you can't give to someone else what you don't have for yourself. And many people's problem that I have found in life is that they don't sufficiently love themselves as they should. Number 2, always believe in you. Believing in you empowers to make your dream your reality. Number 3, you are your best friend. Not Robert, not Richard, not Sally, not Susie. You're your best friend. Always be your best friend. Never be more of a friend to someone else than you are to yourself. Number 4, always support you. It's your responsibility to give you the support you need when you need it. Mm-hmm. If you see that you're drowning, if you see that you're becoming mentally fatigued, if you see that you're having it hard to come to school and give 110%, if you see that you're thinking about going out there and committing a crime, if you feel like you're losing yourself, if you feel like you're about to make a mistake, that will cost you the next 5 years of your life to recover from, you need to reach out and find somebody that can redirect you, that can speak life into you and remind you of what your goals and your priorities are. Get you the help that you need. If you're having mental health battles in your mind, get you the help that you need. You're all that you have. You're all you got. Rico, If you're about to throw your life away, stop for a moment. Call a timeout. Have a talk with yourself and remind yourself that you're better than that, that you're bigger than that, that there's something special about you. You have greatness on your life. You can do this. You can overcome. You can win in life. You can't quit. You can't give up. You can't throw in the towel. People believe in you. People are counting on you. You believe in you. And you get you the help that you need. Find help, which are the acronyms for healthy, encouraging, loving people. Always keep healthy, encouraging, loving people in your life because there's a time coming when we all need help from somebody. And then last but not least, forgive you. Forgive you for all of the disappointment, the failures, and the wrong choices you've made for your life. When people Don't forgive themselves, they live with regret. Their regret becomes sorrow. Their sorrow becomes depression. And their depression becomes suicide. You go through life being trespassed against, being offended, being treated wrong, and you've learned how to recover from that and forgive the people who offended you who did you wrong and who trespassed against you. You forgive them and you release them to go on with their life. How much more should you forgive you so that you can move on with your life? Say this with me, if Rico can do it, if Rico can do it, so can I. So can I. So always reach for the moon. Because even if you miss, you will land among the stars. Always be willing to aim high and hit nothing rather than to aim low and hit everything. Most people fail in life not because they aim too high and miss, but because they aim too low and hit. So you must be willing to do today things that others won't do so that you can have tomorrow things that others won't have. Understand that your attitude towards life determines life's attitude toward you. Tough times don't last always, but tough people do. And when the going gets tough, tough people gets going. Understand that other people's opinions of you matters not to the determination of your potential nor the dictation of your destiny. So walk not in the shadows of those you admire, but believe in yourself and dare to aspire, for then you will realize your dream and live a life that inspires. For life is what you make it, and when the opportunity comes, you take it. So you be sharp now and maximize your moment and make yourself a great life. And think sharp, talk sharp, walk sharp, dress sharp, live sharp, eat sharp, and you'll be sharp. Thank you for your time, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Rico Sharp. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Real quickly, if you have any questions for me, we got about five minutes, seven minutes for Q&A. If you have any questions for me, just raise your hand and I'll give you an opportunity to ask your question. Don't everybody speak at the same time. Okay. Okay. Right here. Sanford, Florida. Sanford. Rest of y'all good? Yes, sir. 33 years. 33 years. From the moment I came out of prison, I was on a mission, and I have not digressed or slowed down. Going once, going twice, gone. God bless you. Thank you. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to each and every one of you. Remember, if Rico can do it— come on, let me hear it— if Rico can do it, so can I. Look at somebody and tell them, if Rico can do it, so can you. Thank