If Rico can do it, so can you!

I'm gonna get off the stage for a moment to help you to understand. No matter what happens in your life, no matter what happens in your household, no matter what happens in your family, in your relationship, you have to tell yourself that I will not quit on me. I will not give up on me. There will be times that people will give up on you. There will be times where husbands and wives will give up on you We call that divorce. There will be times when children may disown you and not want to have a relationship with you as their parent. There may be times where parents give you up for adoption. There may be times where you're passed around from household to household coming up. There may be times where friends disassociate themselves with you. You will have tough times in life where people are going to walk out on you and exit your life. But I need you to make a promise to yourself. That regardless of who walks out on me, I will never abandon me, give up on me, and walk out on me. So I need you to make that promise to yourself right now. Raise your right hand and say this with me. Say, I will never— I will never— Ever— Ever— Give up— Give up— Walk out— Walk out— Or abandon— Or abandon— Me. Me. Do you mean that? Yes, sir. All right, great. Now let's get this party started. I'm gonna ask you to stand to your feet, if you will. There's a way that I like to start all my meetings, and it's with an affirmation. I'm gonna ask you to say something that is positive, and I'm gonna ask you to say it with your heart. I'm gonna ask you to mean it when you say it. So, just repeat after me. Look at somebody standing next to you on the left or the right and tell them, you have greatness on your life. You have greatness on your life. All things are possible. All things are possible. I can't hear you. Say it again. You have greatness on your life. You have greatness on your life. All things are possible. There is nothing that you can't accomplish. There is nothing that you can't do when you set your heart and your mind to achieve. I can see you in your future living your dreams and doing big things with your life. Now if you believe that, give yourself a round of applause. One more time. This time I want you to say it out loud. Say that concerning yourself. Put your hand right here and repeat after me. I am special. I have greatness on my life. There is nothing that I can accomplish. There is nothing that I can't do. I can live my dream. I can realize my aspirations, and I see myself in my future. Doing big things, great things with my life. And I promise me that before I die, I will see my dream come to pass. Now give yourself a round of applause. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. So, a little bit about me. A little bit about me. At the age of 13, I found myself homeless. I was a very smart kid in school, in the 9th grade, making A's and B's, sometimes straight A's on my report card. I loved school. But I had some problems going on at home. I had some issues in my household. My father was somewhere else raising another family, and when he came home to my brothers and my mom and I, he came home in an abusive manner. And one day my mom said, you know, hey son, I need you to go live with your dad. And I was afraid of this guy. I was terrified of this guy because he was very abusive. And when she said to me, you go live with him, I didn't want to live with this dude. Why? I was scared. I felt like this guy would kill me. And I said, you know, I can't do it. So I ran away, went to the streets, found myself homeless that very same day, dropped out of school, gave up my academic pursuit out of fear, feeling like this is the only option that I had. And I began to sleep up under an oak tree, eating out of a trash can. And for several months, this is how I lived. No clothing, no money, no food. No protection, no shelter, no hygienics, no fresh showers, just sleeping night after night in the cold with the same outfit I had on at 13 years of age. Many times I had to get up and run for my life in the middle of the night. Many times I had to go and hide in an abandoned building just to get out of the rain and get out of the weather. And that's how I lived. And eventually one night— Rico, About 4 o'clock in the morning, this guy pulled up to my car, to where I was in his car, and he said to me, he said, why are you always out here under this tree this time of night? And I said, because I don't have any place to live. And he said, come get in the car with me. And so I went and got in the car with him, and he took me to this rooming house. And in this rooming house, there were several other guys that lived there. And he said, hey, you can stay here, and I'll look out for you. So he fed me, let me take a shower, bought me clothing. He treated me like a little brother. And then eventually he came to me about a week later and he said, Rico, if you're going to survive out here in these streets, you got to learn how to hustle. You got to learn how to grow up really fast and become a man. And at 13 years old, he handed me a bag of crack cocaine. And he said, take this and go down on the street and sell it and bring me half the money back and you keep the other half for yourself. Not knowing that I had options and alternatives, but feeling like I could trust this guy because he showed me some love, right? He showed me some acceptance. He embraced me. I went out on the street with the other guys that lived in the rooming house and I started selling drugs. And right away, I got arrested. Right away, I became addicted to alcohol at the age of 13. Right away, I started smoking marijuana. Right away, I started snorting powder cocaine and became addicted to cocaine. So at the age of 13, I'm on the street, I'm selling drugs, committing crimes, smoking weed. drinking alcohol, addicted to cocaine, and in and out of jail, in and out of prison. And that was my life from the age of 13 to the age of 19. Yes, sir. Multiple times I almost lost my life. And so the judge said to me on my 3rd time to prison, 19th time of being arrested, he said, Rico, you are a threat to society, and I'm going to give you the maximum sentence If you're found guilty in this jury trial. This judge was tired of seeing me in and out of his courtroom. And so I was facing 22 years with a mandatory sentence. Mm-hmm. And when I stood before this judge after being found guilty for my crimes, the judge had leniency on me and sentenced me to 4 years in prison instead. And while in prison on that last time, doing a 4-year sentence, I began to realize, man, I can't keep living like this. I got to change my life. Like, I'm tired of being arrested. I'm tired of having to run for my life. I'm tired of living in the streets. I'm tired of being addicted to drugs. I'm tired of seeing people die from my drugs. I'm tired of this life. I don't want it anymore. Like, I don't want it anymore. And so while sitting in jail, sitting in prison, I came across this older Caucasian guy. His name was Billy. Billy had been in prison for 30 years, had no family, was never going home. Billy saw me one day and he walked over to me. He said, young man, you don't look like you belong in here. You don't look like the kind of person that belongs in prison. And I'm laughing. I'm like, man, you don't know my past. You don't know my story. You don't know that I've been in and out of this place 19 times. in terms of being incarcerated, 3 times in terms of being in prison. He said, yeah, I understand, but you— there's something different about you. He said, you don't look like the other guys. And Billy began to mentor me. Billy began to father me. Billy had his own library. And Billy sat me down and said, here, read this book. And Billy handed me a book that would inspire my thoughts. And then he said, whatever you want, I have it, in terms of a library. And I said, Billy, I want to make a deal with you. He said, what's that? I said, you like to drink coffee, you like to smoke cigarettes, but you don't have family taking care of you. I got money in my account. How about I buy your library from you? And book by book, Billy sold me his library. And I bought from Billy an almanac. a dictionary, a concordance, a commentary. I bought from Billy Bibles and self-help program books that he received through correspondence from different organizations on the outside. And lo and behold, I ended up accumulating all of Billy's material. And day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, I would dedicate 13, 14, 15 hours a day sitting down, self-educating myself, reading, learning words that I had never even heard of before, memorizing definitions to words, studying the Bible, studying the encyclopedia, studying commentaries, just going through everything that I had, trying to reprogram my mind. I wanted to change my thought process. And then I found out that the prison had a vocational trade that they were offering in cabinet making, and I enrolled in that so that I could learn a trade. And then I found out that the prison had a course they call Interpersonal Life Skills. I enrolled in that and graduated from that at the top of my class. And then I found out that the prison also had an educational opportunity for me to get back in school to get my general Education Diploma, also known as GED. And I enrolled in that, and in prison I got my GED. And so some years later, March 30th, 1995, I came out of prison as a person who had totally become transformed. I was determined not to go back out as that same person that came in. I didn't want to do drugs anymore. I didn't want to get arrested. I was tired of running and getting in fights and, and having to run from the police and tired of being shot at, tired of being jumped on and left for dead, tired of going through the gang violence. I wanted out of that life. And I promised me when I walked out of prison, I got down on the pavement and I kissed the pavement and I made a promise to myself and I made a promise to society that I'm never coming back in this place As an inmate. That was November 30th, 1995. And since that time, I have not committed a crime, I have not used drugs, I have not sold drugs, and I have not been incarcerated. That's where you clap at, right there. That's my story. But it didn't stop there. So at that point, I began to go back to the streets, and I started speaking to guys in the streets, my old homeboys, some family members. And I started telling them how they can come off the streets, get out of that life like I did, come out of the hood, out of the ghetto, and get a job and find a way to turn your life around. And these guys believed in me. They started following me. And then the word started getting around that this guy named Rico, who was a street guy and drug dealer, is now getting other drug dealers off the street and helping people to turn their life around. And eventually, one thing led to another. The judicial system heard about my conversion, my transformation, and asked me to start— asked me to come and speak in their drug court program, and then eventually in the jails, in the juvenile detention center. And in the prisons for men and women. So from that point on, I started speaking in the county facilities, state facilities, and federal facilities, telling other inmates how they can turn their life around. And then eventually I opened up my own homeless center for homeless men, getting men off the streets that had nobody to care for them and brought them into my own facility. Where I would mentor them personally and help them to rebuild their life, be restored back with their family, and, and be placed back in society as a productive citizen. To this day, there are people that I have helped that are still living a great life, reunited with their family as husbands and fathers, and have their lives totally turned around. I also started my own television show that broadcasts all around the world. on 3 different television stations. I also began to speak in places that I never even dreamed of. As a matter of fact, in August of this year, I was right here in Tampa at the Tampa Convention Center doing a 3-day workshop for the federal government, speaking to FBI agents, speaking to HUD agents, Defense Intelligence agents. Speaking to the Department of Homeland Security, and even 3 people from out of the Oval Office of the President of the United States. I've dedicated the last 32 years of my life going in schools, in colleges, helping people to understand that no matter how hard life becomes, you have the power to make your life what you want it to be. One of my favorite sayings is, life is what you make it. Life is what you make it. Your life is not what a divorce make it. Your life is not what society makes it. Your life is not what the color of your skin makes it. Your life is not what a criminal past makes it. Your life is not what being an ex-convict makes it. Your life is not what being addicted to drugs and alcohol makes it. Your life is what you make it. And what I mean by that, ladies and gentlemen, is that you are always in the position to turn your life around. In fact, do this— put your hands right here in front of you and look at your hands and say this with me: my life is in my hands. My life is in my hands. That's true. Your life is not in the hand of any mistake you've made. Your life is not in the hands of any downfall you've experienced. Your life is not in the hand of any deviating or veering off course from your goals and dreams. There are always time given for you to turn your life around, but it's up to you, right? It's up to you. You have to determine that you're going to turn your life around. That's right. Today I mentor and counsel people who are professional athletes from the NBA, NFL, and even WBO, which is the boxing organization. Today I mentor people across the country that on a regular basis through Zoom, through other avenues on the internet, and there are people around the world that believe That I have something to offer them in terms of how to take advantage of what has been made available to you in life and make it work together to support your dreams and your aspirations. I share my story with you because I want you to know how low I was in life. I want you to understand how many mistakes I've made in life. There was a time, ladies and gentlemen, where I was so embarrassed and so ashamed of my upbringing and my past that I didn't even want to share it with people because I felt like people would judge me for knowing that I was a criminal or a young homeless boy who was addicted to drugs, committing crimes, and had been incarcerated as many times as I have. I was ashamed of that. I was ashamed of being Rejected by society. And so for years I wouldn't talk about what I had been through. But then one day I realized that people need to know that it is possible to turn their life around. It is possible to see their dreams come to fruition. And today I want to talk to you on this subject: if Rico can do it, so can I. Rico Sharp. Can you repeat that with me? If Rico can do it, so can I. Say it again. If Rico can do it, so can I. Now I need you to mean that when you say it. Like I need that to come from your heart because there's going to be times and I promise you this. There will be times where you will find yourself under pressure, feeling like it like you can't go on. You will want to quit. You will want to give up because life is not fair. It is not supposed to be fair. It's a fight. It's a dogfight. It's brutal. But I need you to have a point of reference in your heart, a point of reference in your mind, that if Rico can do it, so can I. In 1956, That was a belief system that existed amongst the population of athletes, and that belief system was that it is humanly and athletically impossible to run a mile up under 4 minutes. Many athletes had tried and could not do it. They just didn't believe it was possible, and they didn't personally believe that they had what it took to get it done. But then there came a man By the name of Roger Bannister. Roger Bannister proved to the world that what was impossible prior to his showing up on the scene, it was possible for him because he had a belief system that all things are possible. And Roger Bannister, ladies and gentlemen, broke the 1-mile barrier up under 4 minutes. And from that point on, Many other athletes began to run the 1 mile up under 4 minutes. How did they do it? They did it because they thought about Roger. They told themselves while trying and failing and trying and failing and trying and failing, they told themselves, if Roger could do it, then so can I. If Roger can run the mile under 4 minutes, then I can do it too. And since that time, Not only have major athletes run the mile under 4 minutes, but even high school kids. Not only have professional athletes, but high school kids have run the mile under 4 minutes because they told themselves, if Roger could do it, then so can I. And so I'm here to tell you that regardless of what you're dealing with in your life, regardless of what hurdle lies ahead, Regardless of what opposition that you have at this point, regardless of how you feel like quitting, and the odds are stacked against you, you gotta tell yourself, if Rico can do it, then so can I. So for the next 30 minutes, that's what we're going to talk about. If you're taking notes, then write down whatever you can, or take a picture of it with your phone, but do your best to retain this information because I promise you You're going to need it down the road. Anything worth having is worth working hard to attain. Great things don't come easy. For me to get my life from out of the slums to now being a motivational speaker who travels the world, who is destined to become the world's number one motivational speaker in the next 3 years— if I can do it, Then so can you. But I didn't do it overnight. It took a long time for me to get to where I am today. It took a lot of hard work. It took a lot of falling down and getting back up. It took a lot of tenacity. It took a lot of willpower. It took a lot of determination. But I promised myself that I'm not giving up on my dream. I'm not giving up on building my life. And I understood the sacrifice it would take. Anything great is going to cost you something. Graduating from this vocational course with the certification to go out there and to live your dream, it is not going to be easy. There will be times where you're not going to want to get up in the morning and come to school. There will be times where there will be distractions in your life. There will be times where you're going to feel mentally fatigued, physically fatigued, emotionally fatigued, and it is at that time that you have to remember that you promised yourself that I'm going to give life all I have to give. It is at that time that you got to remind yourself that I'm not quitting on me. I'm not giving up on my dream. I'm not giving up on my pursuit. I'm not giving up on my vocational trade. I'm not giving up on my future. It's hard, but it's gonna be great when I finish receiving my goal, attaining my goals. So it's going to be difficult, but set a vision and a plan for what you want to accomplish and go after it step by step. It's more than just getting up in the morning and coming here. You got, you got to come here with a plan. You got to come here with some goals in your mind. Why are you here? What is it that you want to accomplish by being here? Can you see yourself 2 years down the road, 3 years after you've graduated, 5 years after you've graduated, working and earning the money that you want to earn, and perhaps even owning your own company? Can you see that for yourself? And if you can see that, what steps are you taking to work toward that? What plans do you have? See, if you don't have a plan, if you don't— if you haven't set goals, then you're not serious about success. If you haven't put anything down, if you haven't put anything in your computer or in your smartphone, you're not serious about success. You're just living day by day, and anything can derail you when you don't have a commitment toward a goal. Once you make a commitment, you have to commit to that commitment. There will be adversity in your life. There will be times where you, you tell yourself, man, this, this is too much. I can't handle it. I can't deal with it anymore. And it is at that moment that you have to remember why you're here. It is at that moment that you have to remember, remember who's counting on you. Who believes in you? How many of you in here have kids? Your kids, they're your who, your dream. That's your why. Why is it that you come here day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year? Because you're on to something bigger and better for your life. Is that right? You want to see things happen in your life before time expires. And then your children, your kids, your husbands, your wives, your fiancées, boyfriends, girlfriends, parents, grandparents, they're your who. And if you don't have any of them, then you are your who. And your commitment to yourself, your commitment to your family, your commitment to those who believe in you, those who support you, they give you the aspiration and the motivation to keep going when time gets tough. They remind you that you're not in this world by yourself, and that even though you feel alone, you're not alone. And what you want to accomplish is great, but it's going to cost you a sacrifice. Nothing great comes cheap. Nothing great comes easy. Nothing great will ever be found on sale or on the clearance item. That's right. You got to be willing to pay the cost. And sometimes paying the cost consists of time, sweat, blood, tears, mistakes, fatigue. And you feel like quitting, you feel like giving up, but you don't. Remember I said from the beginning, other people can give up on you, but you cannot. give up on yourself. Are you with me so far? Yes, sir. Okay, let's move on to point number 2. Put your heart and soul into your commitment. Can I share with you that the graduation rate fluctuates between 48% and 63% in technical colleges, and some places or even in their 30s. Why is that? Why is that, ladies and gentlemen? Why is it that so many people start out saying, I'm going to get a vocational trade, and then 6 months down the road, 12 months down the road, a year down the road, they fall off from their plan and they drop out of school? And then you see them standing in front of a Walmart asking for $2. That's right. with the sign that says, anything will help? Why is it that people just like you that have sat in the same seat such as yourselves start out good but end up derailing from their goals and their plans? Can I tell you why? Because of a lack of passion, a lack of commitment. Right. Nobody promised you that things were going to be easy. Nobody promised you that it was going to happen quick. If anybody told you that coming to school and staying in school is something that is going to happen in a few months and it's going to be easy, they, they misinformed you. It's just like everything else in life. Everything in life is hard. Everything in life is tough. Everything in life is challenging. The only thing that you can do that is not challenging and hard is to fail, quit, and give up. That's it. But success is expensive. Greatness is expensive. Building a business is expensive. Raising a family is expensive. Taking care of yourself is expensive. Staying mentally fit and mentally sane, it's gonna cost you something. So you gotta have a commitment from the start. You gotta count up the cost and then make a commitment. And once you make your commitment, then you commit to your commitment. People are not going to like you. People are not going to believe in you. People are not going to believe in your dream. When I made a commitment to become a public speaker, people looked at me and said, how in the world are you going to achieve being a public speaker? You dropped out of school in the 9th grade. You've been on drugs as a teenager. You were homeless. Who's going to want to hear from you? Who's going to want to listen to you? What can you tell the world? But I did not allow for other people's negativity and other people's negative connotations and negative opinions of me to become my own. I looked at it like this: I believe in me. I believe I could do it. I believe I have what it takes. I got to do some work, but I'm committed to it. And I felt like if a broke clock To be right twice a day, then with trial and error, I will be able to eventually achieve my goals. A broke clock is right twice a day. How much more can you get it right and make your dream your reality if you just stay the course and continue to be passionate And committed to your dreams and your aspirations. You got to keep a positive attitude, and you got to be unwavering to your commitment. You let nothing derail you from what you're out to accomplish. Say this with me: If Rico can do it, so can I. I can hardly hear you. Say it again: If Rico can do it, so can I. So can I. Let's move on. Point number 3, maximize your moment. How do you maximize your moment? You make a promise to yourself. This is what I did, ladies and gentlemen. I'm bringing you the blueprints of what I did to build my life. I made a promise to myself that I would seize every opportunity And take advantage of every resource that is made available for me to guarantee my success. And you see, at this school, in this college, you have resources made available to you. You have information that's been given to you. Someone else has done the hard work and compiled information and made it available to you. You have instructors. You have, you have people who are here to assist you. To accomplish your dream. You have a whole support team. There is no excuse for failing. There is no justification for failing. There is no legitimate and logical reason that you can tell someone as to why you can't succeed in this vocational course, this school of higher learning. Even if you don't give 100%, with the support that you have, you can still graduate. Even if you don't make every class, with the support that you have, you can still graduate. But I do want to submit to you that if you're not going to miss a meal in the day, don't miss a class during the week. Amen. I do want to submit to you, stop making excuses as to why you can't give 100% and get back to committing and promising to yourself that I will give 100%. Do y'all understand when you are tempted to stay home when you should be getting up and coming to school because you stayed up Late the night before. That's being irresponsible. You can never find yourself in a situation where you didn't fulfill your commitment to yourself because you were out there hanging out with your boys and your girls when you should have been more focused and concentrated on what matters the most. See, sometimes we just— we get off track, right? We get off track sometimes. It happens. Yes. I've gotten off track before, but then I developed a bulldog attitude. I got hungry. I got hungry for my success. I got hungry for my future. I said, I want this more than anything. I'll hang out later. Let me, let me first do something great for my life. I get with my boys after I got some success. I don't want to be out there hanging out with my broke friends. I'm broke, they're broke. The place we're going, they're broke. Everybody's broke. What can we do? How much fun can we have if we don't have anything? I want to be somebody in life. I want to do something in life. I don't want to be unemployed. I don't want to live off the government. I don't want to be somebody who has to stand under a bridge with a cup hoping somebody drop a quarter inside of it. I don't want to be somebody that feel pressured to survive by all means necessary and then go in the store and steal something and be arrested because I'm trying to figure out a criminal way to survive. Promise you that you would take advantage Of all opportunities. Whenever your instructor come to you and, and give you some advice, take that advice to heart because it's going to help you down the road. Oftentimes when I go into certain places to speak and I talk to people just like you, some of them Take it as a joke, take it as a game, and don't listen. And then they just start to show their true nature, that they're not serious yet, that that time hasn't come for them to, to mature into and to be an adult, right? Because you, you can be of age and not be a mature adult. And some people haven't arrived to that point yet where they see themselves really living a better life and changing the course of their family and really building something that is going to really bless their lives. Some people haven't come to that point yet. And when they don't arrive to that point, when I don't see them in the business field or in the business industry, and then I go and speak in a jail, in a prison, then I run into some of them. And with their head held down, come up to me and say, hey man, you remember when you came to my school or my business, my company? I was there, you spoke to me, I remember what you talked about. Oh yeah, I remember coming there. What are you doing in here? How do you go from being out there pursuing an education, working on a job, to now being incarcerated with 10 and 20 years in prison? Life isn't a joke. Success isn't a joke. Graduating with a degree in higher learning is not a joke. Taking this, this class and this school to heart, that's not a small thing, that's a big thing. It's the difference between success and failure. It's the difference It's the difference between being free or incarcerated. It's the difference between having a meal on your table or being out there holding a can trying to get $2 from somebody. It's the difference between whether your family gets to enjoy Christmas year after year or rather they look at an empty tree. with no gifts up under it. See, there are reasons for you to take advantage of the opportunity and the resources made available. There are reasons for you to do that because there's a whole lot of people that's counting on you to come through for them. Say this with me, if Rico can do it— If Rico can do it— So can I. So can I. Let's move on. It's hard. That's what I hear from a lot of people. It's hard. Who, who, who do you think you're talking to when you talk about what's hard? I can write a book on what's hard. I know what's hard. I was addicted to cocaine. At the age of 13. I know it was hard. I was in and out of prison, in and out of jail 19 times. I know it was hard. I was homeless. I was beaten and left for dead by 11 grown men. I know it was hard. I was born to a 14-year-old teenage mother. I know what's hard. Who had 3 sons by the time she was 15. I know what's hard. You want to talk about what's hard? You call getting up in the morning, coming to school hard? When I came out of prison, my first job was in a junkyard separating scrap with my hands. And then when I left the junkyard, I went to go lay sod in a ditch. Cutting up my hands every single day, but refusing to quit. Having a family to feed, but refusing to quit. Realizing that the temptation to quit followed me around like a shadow every single day, and day after day, I had to tell myself, I will not give up on me. I will not quit. You say it's hard. I don't think you know what hard is. I think you're just allowing for mental fatigue to get the best of you because you're not fully committed to the process, and you don't have a goal, and you don't have a dream, and you don't see what's in front of you and what you can do and what you can have. And when you can't see what's ahead of you, When you don't understand what you can do, when you haven't explored your potential, when you're not hungry enough, then anything and everything becomes hard because that's where you're going with your mindset. Because eventually you want to quit, you want to give up on you. It's not hard, not like It can be. So here's what I say, okay, let's give everybody the benefit of the doubt. If it's hard to you, then do it hard. If it's tough, then work through the toughness. Tough times don't last always, but tough people do. And when tough times get going, tough people rise up and show tough times. That's right. I'm here to stay. I have power over tough times. If it's hard, do it hard. If it hurts, do it through the pain. Fight through the pain. If you have to cry doing what you have to do, living true to your commitment, then do it crying. Do it through the tears. If you have to stay up late at night to study, stay up late at night to study. If you have to drag yourself in here tired and wore out, then do it tired. I'm here to stay. But don't quit, don't give up. You see, if I would have quit, if I would have given up, I wouldn't be where I am today. I wouldn't be here with you today. Apart from being a motivational speaker, I'm a life coach, I'm a counselor, mentor, I'm an entrepreneur, I invest in real estate. I buy houses, fix them up, flip them, rent them out. And I'm rising up day after day, 3 o'clock in the morning, 4 o'clock in the morning, pursuing after my goals, pursuing after my dreams. Sometimes when I go to sleep, it's, it's late at night, but I'm not quitting. I'm not giving up. I'm not giving up. I'm gonna keep on keeping on. Does it get hard? Yes, it does, but I'm gonna do it hard. If I'm— if I fight through what's tough and what's difficult, if I fight through what's hard, at the end when I achieve my goal, I'll be able to say it was hard, but I did it hard. It was difficult, but I did it difficult. It was stressful, but I fought through the stress. I did it stressfully. And it really feels good when you know that what you accomplished cost you something, but you stayed the course and you paid the price. And now you are on your way to the bank, or now you're on your way to Disney with your family, or now you're on your way to that new community to pick out your house. That's right. Or on your way to that car lot to buy your car, or you're on your way to meet business partners that's going to invest into your business. You see, it's hard. Okay, I give you that. But do it hard. Look at the person sitting to the left or right of you and tell them it's hard, but do it hard. Yeah, yeah. So you must remain focused on your personal and professional life without yielding to educational exhaustion or mental fatigue. You just got to stay the course. When are you allowed to quit and give up on you? Never. Never. See, you don't have to prove a point to anyone else, right? But you do need to prove a point to yourself. And when you're proving a point to yourself, you know what you're doing? You're showing the world who you are. You're showing the world that you were born, that you lived, that you existed, that you mattered, that your life counted. You're building a legacy for yourself. For the world to remember you by. You're giving history something to record on you that will inspire other people. And you're raising up kids that will one day walk in your shadows, walk in your footprints, and grow up to say, my daddy did it! My mama did it! It was hard, but they did it hard! It was stressful, but they did it stressful. And they would gain strength from knowing that if Daddy could do it and Mama could do it, then so can I. Number 5, this is very important. Continue to prioritize your perspective. Always keep first things first without compromising or deviating From what your plans and your goals are. Keep your priorities where they belong. Never allow for your recreational life to intermingle with your business life. Do not mix the two. Do not take time off from work just to go hang out with your friends. Catch them on the weekend. Sit down and play some poker with them in the evening time. Play PS5, Xbox, whatever it is that you do. Don't do it when you should be at work. That means your priorities are out of place. That means you're being irresponsible. Don't call in sick when you know you're not sick and all you want to do is just go hang out somewhere or just lay in the bed. Come on. Sleep when you succeed. Oh, you know that. Play when you got money that's working for you and you're not having to work for money, but money is working for you. Build your career, build your empire first. Get your priorities straight. Look at what you want to accomplish out of life and don't let people cause you to miss out on what you want to accomplish just because they want you to go play with them. Are you with me? Yes, sir. This is what I had to do. See, when I came home from prison, I had relatives and friends who were out there ready to receive me back into society, and they were like, oh, Rico is out. Come on, Rico, let's go hang out, man. Here's a bag of weed. Here's a bag of drugs. Let's go get it. On like we used to do in old times. And I said, no, no, no, no. In fact, one of my relatives who owed me some, some money, when I came home that last time from prison, came to my house with a big bag of crack cocaine saying, here's what I owe you. I said, listen, I love you. I just came home from prison. I love you too. Dude, I know you mean well, but you trying to send me back. I'm going to give you 1 minute to get out of my yard before I call the police on you. Because I realized something. Every time I went to jail or prison, I went by myself. Nobody went with me. And if I went in by myself, then now I have to learn how to stay out by myself. And I cannot allow for the negative influence of other people to dictate my life and the choices I make. I gotta start thinking for myself. And just like some of you right now, you got family members and friends, they're not trying to do anything with their life. They're out there stealing cars, selling drugs, getting high, dropping out of school, walking out from a job without having another job to go through, and then they want to borrow your money, borrow your car, borrow your clothing, borrow your cologne, and they want you to come and hang out with them because misery loves company. And people who are not going anywhere in life don't want you to go anywhere in life. And you got to know how to stand up for yourself. You'll say, homie, stop right there! I gotta be in school tomorrow. I can't hang out with you. I can't celebrate your birthday with you. I can't even go out and celebrate my own birthday. In fact, what I will do is operate with delayed gratitude. I'll focus on what's important right now and work hard to accomplish my goals, and then when I accomplish my goals, I'll reward myself for all the times I didn't celebrate my birthday. That's right. But I won't do it by hanging out and partying. I do it by buying myself a house over here and a house over there and a house over here. I do it by traveling the world and taking my family with me across the planet. Amen. I do it by investing $1,000 or $100,000 or $1 million into the stock market. See, there are ways you can celebrate you when you reach your goals, and that is doing it in a more successful way that's gonna guarantee that you can have more in life than what you ever thought were possible. Keep first things first. Never deviate. Just a couple more. Surround yourself with the right people. It is imperative that you put the right people in your life— people that will encourage you, enlighten, and empower you. I made that decision. I wanted to find people who had my answers and not my questions. I wanted to find people who had my solutions and not my problems. I wanted to find people who had my strengths and not my weaknesses. I wanted to find people who can add value to my life. That's right. And that's exactly what I did. So I excommunicated and disenfranchised myself from around people who were doing the things that kept putting me in jail. And then I started hanging around people who were business owners, millionaires, people who were going somewhere, people who had families, people who had values and morals. People who knew that hard work does pay off. And I started allowing for them to pour into me, to continue to show me how to climb up the ladder, because I was determined to do it with or without them. And you see, you can be successful by yourself, but when you surround yourself with good people and the right people, they can accelerate the time of arrival to your place of success. That's right. They can inspire you and inform you in ways that cut the time in half, that reduces the time, the length of the process that it takes to get to where you want to be. And now I'm now that to other people. And now other people come to me saying, can you let me in your circle? Would you be my friend? Would you be my mentor? Would you coach me? When you counsel me, and of course I'm paying it forward. I receive help, so I give help. Say this with me: If Rico can do it, so can I. This is a big one. Have confidence in you. Always believe in your ability to make your dream your reality. Say this with me, I have what it takes. I have what it takes. And I am enough. I am enough. Always have confidence in yourself. Never place more confidence in other people and their ability to make their dream come true than you do in yourself and your ability to make your dream come true. I believe That all things are possible in my life. There are a lot of people out there that are speakers right now that is traveling the world speaking. You've heard some of them: Tony Robbins, Les Brown, John Maxwell, Eric Thomas. There's a whole lot of people out there that are speakers. Nick Vujicic and I say that I'm going to be the number one motivational speaker in the world within 3 years. That means I gotta surpass Tony Robbins, I gotta surpass Les Brown, I gotta surpass all the other big world-renowned speakers. Guess what? I have confidence in me that I'm going to do that. That's confidence. And I would never allow for anyone to tell me that it can't be done. They can say it, but I'm not hearing it. And when it comes down to your goals and your dreams and your aspirations and what you want to do, you gotta have confidence in you. Look, graduating from here with a vocational trade as a journeyman or an electrician, that's your seed. That's not your harvest. That's what you get to work with. That's your start. That's not your finish line. This is where you begin. It's not where things end. You take your vocational trade and your experience, and then you go out there and you empower yourself with the knowledge and the experience you have to build an electrical company that has offices around the country. That's right. You see, that's how you gotta think. You gotta see yourself doing more than what you thought were possible. This is a tool to work with, but you gotta have this because with nothing to work with, you have nothing to multiply. Nothing from nothing leaves nothing. 0 times 0, 0 plus 0, it's nothing. But if you got something to work with, you can take that and you go out there and you build your life off of it. It may be 5 years, 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, but you stay the course until it happens. And one day you'll be able to see how you got a company in Tampa, a company in Orlando, a company in Miami, a company in Georgia, a company in New York, and you just go around the country building your company. Is it possible? Yes. Absolutely. There's a Walmart just about on every corner. McDonald's on every corner. Burger King on every corner. Seven-Eleven, Wawa, Ross, TJ Maxx. These are people's dreams and visions that are just like you. And they had a dream that one day they could have businesses and companies and make millions. and support families around the world and employ thousands. Oh, yes. Guess what? You can do the same thing. You can do the same thing. See, I have several houses now, not just the one I live in. And if I can do it, you can do it too. If Rico can do it, you can do it too. If Rico can do it, you can do it too. Say it with me again. If Rico can do it, I can't hear you. In fact, I want you to shout it at me this time. Scream it at me. Rico can do it. So can I. All right. One more time on the count of three. Everyone together. If Rico can do it, so can I. So can I. One more time. If Rico can do it, so So can I! So can I! All right. 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. Number 9, give it all you've got. We're living in a day and time where 100% is no longer acceptable. It's not enough anymore. It's not enough anymore. Now life requires and demands 110% from you. Success demands 110% from you. And you have to demand 110%. 110%. It's just like coming to school on time. If you come on time, you're late. But if you show up early, you're on time. Going to work, if you clock— if you're supposed to be there at 8 and you clock in at 8, you're late. But if you show up a half an hour before you're supposed to clock in, you're early. That's right. Working 40 hours a week right now in this economy, it's not enough. No. You got to work overtime. You got to go the extra mile. Saving $1,000 a month in this economy, it's not enough. Working out 5, 10 minutes a day, 30 minutes a day, it's just not enough. You got to give 110%. You don't just want to be outstanding, you want to stand out in the crowd. 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. Let me say that again. 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. You must be willing to make a commitment today to do things That other folk just don't think is necessary. And if you do it, you will become the merchant, and they will do business with you as the consumer. And finally, these are what I call keys to my success. Number 1, always love you. Loving you is number 1 on life's assignment. You can't adequately love anyone else, be it husbands, wives, fiancées, boyfriends, girlfriends, partners, kids, parents, cousins, friends. You can't adequately love anyone else If you don't know how to love you, and when you love you, here's what you'll do. Number one, you always believe in you. Believing in you empowers you to make your dream your reality. Number three, always be your best friend. Never be more of a friend to someone else than you are to yourself. This is what I had to do. I had to become my best friend because for years I was my worst enemy. And ladies and gentlemen, either you're going to be your best friend or you're going to be your worst enemy. One of the two. There's no in between. Number 4, always support you. It's your responsibility to give yourself the support you need when you need it. If you find yourself slipping, if you find yourself Battling with depression, if you find yourself dealing with mental health issues, if you find yourself beginning to become more affiliated with the wrong crowd and the wrong people, if you find yourself becoming more receptive to negative influence, if you find yourself wanting to drink more, if you find yourself wanting to use drugs, stop. Call timeout. Time out. Snatch yourself back out of the trap. Decompress for a moment. Have a long talk with yourself. Get some help. Get some support. Call somebody and do what you have to do to keep you on track and keep you on course. Give you the support you need because it's your responsibility to take care of you. Amen. And then last but not least, and this was a big one for me, forgive you. Forgive you. Forgive you for all of the disappointment. Forgive you for all of the failures. Forgive you for all of the wrong choices that you've made in life. Forgive you. You see, We go through life forgiving everybody else, but we find it hard sometimes to forgive ourselves. And when we don't forgive ourselves for getting off course, getting off our trajectory, when we don't forgive ourselves for falling and throwing away precious time and valuable resources, then we go through life with remorse and with sorrow and with regret. And that regret becomes grief, and that grief becomes depression, and that depression can lead to suicide. And we're living in a society where depression is at an all-time high, suicide is at an all-time high, grief is at an all-time high. And it lives and dwells in the best of us. But what we must do Is when we find ourselves going in circles, spinning the wheels, but not gaining traction. We need to stop for a moment, figure out what's wrong, where we went wrong, recalibrate, reposition ourselves, get back on track, get back in the ring, get back in the fight, get back in the race, and then brush it off. Forgive us. for where we messed up. I'm no longer ashamed of what happened between the age of 13 and 19 in my life. I've forgiven me for that. And if someone else tried to charge me with my past, that's their problem, it's not mine. I will not borrow other people's opinions of me. And I've learned something. In life, people will leave you, people will die in your life. But when other folks go to the grave, don't go with them, because life goes on. And I want to close with this saying that I always end my meetings with. Always reach for the moon, because even if you miss, you will land among the stars. Always be willing to be on top, because it's the bottom that's overcrowded. Always be willing to aim high and hit nothing rather than to aim low and hit everything. 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 tough times don't last always, but tough people do. And when the going gets tough, tough people get going. Understand that life will give you The dream you desire if you can give to life the passion you aspire. Understand that other people's opinions of you matters not to the determination of your potential nor to the dictation of your destiny. So walk not in the shadows of those you admire, but discover your own passion and dare to aspire. For life is what you make it. And when the opportunity comes, you take it. You be sharp now and maximize your moment and make yourself a great life. And think sharp, talk sharp, plan sharp, walk sharp, dress sharp, live sharp, and you'll be sharp. Thank you for your time, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Rico Sharp. I really appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you, thank you very much. We have a few minutes left for Q&A, so if you have a question for me or a statement, then this is the moment for Q&A. Just raise your hand and I'll recognize you. Yes, sir. How did you get into real estate? I got into real estate through my parents. My, my father, who I eventually rebuilt my relationship with before he passed away, He was already into real estate. And, you know, for years I was gone and excommunicated from my family. But when I finally came back in, after I got my mind right, uh, he started teaching me how to renovate houses, how to build houses, how to invest in houses. And that's how I ended up getting into real estate. In fact, before he died, he was my, my partner, my real estate partner. He died from COVID in 2021. Good. Good question. Yes, sir. Um, going back to the whole mental thing, what would you say, um, would be like some good strategies if you're just at a point in life where you're like, fuck it, I don't really care anymore? I have a thing to add to that, actually. It doesn't matter if you need it or not. If you are questioning yourself or any of your abilities, if you have the insurance or the ability or connections, go to a therapist. Don't go to your friends. Like seriously, like even if you don't need it, get therapists or licensed to listen and give advice without oh this is what I would do. Oh this is what I would do. Because if you go to friends who you may be cool with, like my ex, she was cheating and all this behind my back. But also, I saw she was saving money, but she's going no. I see her going. To the same church, doing the same shit, living the same life, mobile home, even if she got money, doing whatever. She's not going anywhere. So it hurt me when I found everything out, but I got a therapist to talk about it, and I realized I have self-worth. I realized I can do this shit. I got set back in school because I was fucking around. I was tired. I got shit going on at home. I got shit going on with the shitty ex. I'm done. Couple weeks, sulked. Now I'm back on my grind set. Now, that's very good advice. However, there are times when you can't afford a therapist or get to a therapist. And in those moments when you can't afford a therapist or get to a therapist, and maybe you're just not leaning in the direction of going to a therapist, although I recommend it, Sure. then it's at that point that you must discover what I call help, which is Healthy, encouraging, loving people. Healthy, encouraging, loving people. Those people can be a parent. Those people can be a sibling. Those people can be someone that you like, an instructor. It could be somebody that you don't have to pay money to go and talk to. It could— they may not have a degree in psychiatry or psychology. They may not have a degree as a therapist, but they have a heart that loves you genuinely, and they're going to always give you advice. Normally, when people arrive to that place where they feel like just throwing in the towel and just throwing up their hands and say, I quit, there's something going on that brought you to that point. It's not one event, it's a series of events. Right? Because mental weariness is something that happens over a period of time. It's not overnight. You have to now backtrack personally as an individual and begin to look at the frequencies of events. Look at how things are beginning to transpire and look at where you start deviating off course and then backtrack in your mind what brought you to that point. And from that point, make a conscious decision And renew your commitment to yourself to pull yourself out of those series of out of the traffic and get yourself to a safety place. And that can sometimes mean excommunicating from circles and from social gatherings that you've been a part of. It may mean to stop listening to certain music that triggers certain points in your life or certain emotions in your life. It may be to start doing something that you have not done. Maybe getting up off the couch watching. television all day. Go out to the gym, start doing something recreationally that you enjoy. You have the power to change your events in life and the way you feel, but you got to dig deep. And it's— go back to what I'm— what I said earlier, it's hard, but do it hard. And if you focus internally and you begin to develop that relationship with people so that when you need them, they'll be there for you, that will also be an alternative to hiring somebody that you may not necessarily at the time afford to be able to hire. All right, very, very good question, a very good answer. Yes, sir. What are some books you recommend to read? Mental toughness. There's a book that I read several years ago by a gentleman by the name of Dr. I.V. Hilliard, and it's called Mental Toughness for Success. And in that book, he breaks down the 5 components of the soul: the mind, the will, the power, the emotions, and the intellect. And it tells you how to rightly appropriate these different components in your life so that you can build the resilience that you need to overcome any challenge in life. It's called Winter Toughness. And within a certain reason— a time, a certain amount of time, I'm going to release a book called Bringing Out the Best in You. So keep your eyes on the market for when that happens That would be a book that would really help your life. Yes, sir. Very good question. How do you identify emotions in a way that you can determine whether it's really you or someone else in your life or a certain circumstance in your life that's making you— how do you do that? Yeah, that's a very good question. So you should always do an assessment assessment. Assessment means to evaluate who's around you, right? To see where you're getting toxic feedback from, or people who are in your life that is burning you out emotionally. And then you should also do an internal evaluation. Sometimes we don't like to look inside of our lives to see where we ourselves have engaged in certain activities, certain conversations, certain relationships that is draining us. Sometimes we attract certain negativity, and when we attract negativity, when we attract certain crowds, when we attract certain personalities, it's something in us that is attracting people to us. And what we have to do is find out what it is in us that is attracting these type of people, this type of energy, and these type of crowds into our life. For example, there are women that I've counseled and mentored. They've moved from state to state and they've gone through different relationships, and somehow or another they seem to always attract abusive men in their life— men that abuse them physically, sexually, morally, emotionally. Psychologically. And the question is, what am I doing? What is it about me? What kind of vibes and signals and energy am I sending out there that is attracting the same breed of guys into my life? And so, yeah, you can always evaluate the people around you to make sure that that's not where the problem lies. But 9 times out of 10, The problem is inside, and you have to turn the microscopic lenses not on everyone else, but on yourself. Look at the mirror and discover the man in the mirror and what he needs to change about himself. Because if you can change what's in you, then you can change what comes to you. Very good question. Thank you. Anyone else? Yes, sir. How long have you been sober? The last time I was high was in March of 1993. And I was— and let me tell you, I was a weed junkie. And I snorted cocaine every single day. But I felt— I figured out something. I like me better and I get more done and more accomplished when I'm sober. Yes. When I'm sober, I go up with my life. When I'm high, I go down. Being high doesn't take you up. Being high takes you down. and it leaves you low. Very good question. Next question? Anyone else? Yes, sir. Do you have a business card? I do, I do. And anyone that would like a card, I'm not sure how many I brought, but I do have some, and I would love to give you one. And I will also, also again want to thank Carrie for giving me this opportunity And your executive director for giving me this opportunity, and your instructor for giving me this opportunity. Can you put your hands together for them? Like I said, I go to all of the campuses throughout Florida and get a chance to speak, and I really love the network and organization that you guys have. I think you guys are more than just A school. I see you as a family, and the distance that I see that the faculty goes to make sure that you guys feel like you're at home and feel like you're a part of this, this family, I think it's just— it's, it's perfect. I wouldn't change a thing. It's perfect. You guys are in the best school that you could possibly be in. There's no reason for you to fail. Thank you. With the love and the support and the resources and the patience and everything that you get, there's no reason for you to fail. And I want to walk out with this. Everybody together on the count of three. If Rico can do it, so can I. Thank you very much. I do want to get about three. If I can get 2 or 3 people that doesn't mind doing a little short video testimonial for me, I'm gonna put it on my website and on my social media page. You just come and say, hey, my name is so-and-so and Rico Sharp came to our school. This is what he talked about. This is what I got out of it. If I can get a few of you guys to do that, and if you want to get pictures with me, please share what you got with your family. Keep it in your life. You can always follow me on YouTube. Go to YouTube and subscribe. on the Rico Sharp Motivation, and you'll see me more and more around the world. God bless you. I really appreciate you. Thank you very much. Have a wonderful day and Merry Christmas, you guys. Before you leave, sit. I got a couple announcements. So while you guys— so while you guys are not here for the next month, starting today Your holiday starts tomorrow. You come back on what day? January 13th. January 13th. While you guys are not here, the only days the campus is closed is Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, New Year's Day. So if you guys need anything, we're still here.