June 24, 2026

How are y'all doing this evening? Good. I said, how are y'all doing this evening? Good. All right, how about the rest of y'all? How are y'all doing this evening? Good. Okay, how about the rest of y'all? How are y'all doing this evening? Good. I mean, it's human to communicate, right? So generally, if somebody asks you a question like, how you doing? It's kind of natural to respond. So you're holding back. You're resisting if you don't respond. All right? So let's try this one more time. How are y'all doing this evening? We're good. Awesome. All right, that's what's up. Um, I believe we have most of everyone here, so we'll go ahead and get started. My name is Rico Sharp, and let me just say this, I drove nearly 3 hours to come and talk to you. Oh, really? So I, I'm coming to give you respect. I appreciate if you give it back to me. Um, I could have been somewhere else doing a whole lot of things. I wanted to be here with you tonight, and just so that you know, I'm not making a ballot. You're worth my time. This is an investment in your life. And so I just wanted to come tonight and just kind of lay some empowerment down on you. How many of you plan on being successful with your life? Let me see by a show of hands. All right, great. Well, I'm here to just kind of lay some ground rules and give you some information. I'm going to share a little bit with you about me, and then we're going to jump into the reason we're here tonight. If you feel like I've had you pulled out of your class, I apologize for that. I just feel like that there are some things that every now and then we all need from each other, and sometimes it's a little pat on the back. Sometimes it's somebody telling you, "I believe in you. You got this." Sometimes it's someone just just stand by you and just give you a shoulder to lean on because sometimes it gets difficult, right? Life gets challenging sometimes. A couple of nights ago on Friday evening, I was in Ocala, Florida, speaking. I was speaking in a prison to about 300 men, and they were going through a graduation ceremony, and they asked me to come in and talk to their men. You get to graduate from within the school. These people are trying to graduate from behind prison bars, and some of them got a certificate of completion but still got a life sentence to do. Here you are, get to go home after tonight's classes. There's 2 things that has to matter to you. One, your life. And I'm not talking about matter to the point of paying bills and just getting by. I'm talking about giving life all you got to give. This past Wednesday and Thursday, I was in Orlando at the Orange County Convention Center teaching a leadership class to people who came from all over the world. There was actually 25,000 people that showed up at the Orange County Convention Center. I was one of their speakers. I've been teaching leadership and doing motivational speaking in schools and colleges for a very long time, for 30 years, a little bit over 30 years. I do leadership training for the federal government, for federal government employees. I actually train college executives. I train people who have master's degrees, bachelor's degrees, doctor's degrees, or doctorates. I'm somebody that goes around the world speaking. and training leaders. And I came out here tonight to talk to you because all of you have an opportunity to bring out the best in you. Bringing out the best in you is my brand. When a college or a company or a church or the federal government, county government, state government calls me in to come and speak and train, they call me in because of my brand. I got some books here tonight that I brought with me. that I wrote called Bringing Out the Best in You. One of them is my main leadership book that also chronicles my journey, the journey of how I went from being a homeless teenager addicted to cocaine, incarcerated 19 times, sent to prison 3 times, and served 5 years of my life incarcerated, to becoming now a world-renowned speaker with multiple businesses. Real estate business, Student Lives Matter Foundation, Teachers Lives Matter Foundation, the Best You Leadership Academy online, and then the Best in You Speakers Academy online, and then my own speakers agency and my own shoe brand. This is the Best in You, or Bringing Out the Best in You companion workbook, day-by-day, step-by-step guide. The things that I'm sharing with you tonight, you can Google. You can go to ChatGPT. You can ask Siri, who is this guy named Rico Sharp? And I guarantee you on my life, everything that I have said to you tonight and some more will come up. I've been privileged to train professional athletes in the NBA, the NFL, and WBO. I mentor these people. How did I go from being an inmate caught up in a system Growing up in the street life to now being sought after by professionals around the world, companies around the world. And I'm just going to put this out there: I dropped out of school in the ninth grade. To this day, I don't have a degree, but yet I train those who do. Make that make sense. I discovered something. I learned how to look inside. Yeah. And I discovered that I have treasure on the inside of me. And each and every one of you have treasures on the inside of you. And it's more than just the average type of quality or skill or gift that we possess. You have so much more inside of you. And I'm here tonight to help pull a little bit of it out of you and to redirect your focus to what you have and what you possess on the inside. Because if I can turn my life around and build an empire and establish a legacy from where I came from, surely you can do so much more. Surely you can live your dream. Surely you can maximize the greatness that is on your life. And surely you can bring out the best that is within you. So I'm going to ask you for about another 30 to 40 minutes of your time. And then I'll jump on my surfboard and hit the highway, head back. First thing I'm going to do is ask you if you would stand for me, everybody, if you will. I do what is called a declaration of greatness. So go ahead and stand for me. I need you to talk to me. I'm somebody— I like the feedback, I like the energy, I like people to talk. All right? I speak to crowds of thousands. I like people to give me some energy back. All right, are y'all ready? Are y'all ready? Are y'all ready? All right, repeat after me. Say, I have something special. I can't hear you, that's not gonna work. Say it again. I have something special. I have greatness on my life. There is nothing that I can't accomplish when I set my heart and my mind to accomplish. Come on now, I need more than that. Come on, don't hold back on me. Let's do this one more time. Say this one more time with everybody. Come on, let's rock with it. Say, I have something special. I have something special. I have greatness on my life. I have greatness on my life. There is nothing that I can't accomplish when I set my heart and my mind to accomplish. I will live my dreams, my aspirations, and the fullness of my expectations before my time expires. Do you believe that? Give yourself a round of applause. All right, all right, take your seat, take your seat. As I mentioned to you, my name is Rico Sharp. My brand is Bringing Out the Best in You, and the question is, how do I bring out the best in me? How do I bring out the best in me? Obviously, that is a question that is not only to be taken into consideration, but we need the blueprints. How do I bring out the best in me? I'm going to tell you where this all started for me. I read in the Book of Life where there was a verse that said, a good man from the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things. And I had spent all my teenage years bringing forth bad things, bringing forth terrible things. That's true. I knew how to bring out the worst in me. What I needed to learn was how do I change my identity, change the course of my life, and start living a meaningful, purposeful life? For life by bringing out the best in me. So I started looking within. First thing I want to tell you is that you got to look within you and do some soul searching and discover really a few things that matters the most. Number one, the best version of your life is waiting on the best version of you. You cannot go through life being half-heartedly committed to anything that is worth accomplishing. Just like being here and at Northridge. You can't go through this school being half-heartedly committed. You are robbing yourself, cheating yourself, and depriving yourself of being able to accomplish what you have set out to accomplish. If anything is worth doing, then you gotta do it wholeheartedly. That's in relationships, that's starting a business, that's being a parent, that's being a partner, that's going out there and living your dream. Everything. Everything you do, you need to give your all to it. Greatness is already within you. You don't have to look for greatness. It's already within you. We look at people who have manifested greatness in their life, like for example, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Floyd Mayweather, Mike Tyson, Oprah Winfrey. We look, we look at people who are living and the manifestation of their greatness, and we celebrate them. We stand in awe of them. Oprah was one of the speakers at this conference that I just spoke in. I don't have to look at them in order to admire greatness. I just need to look in the mirror. Each and every one of you have greatness on your life. And when I'm talking about greatness, I'm not talking about just being able to own your own home and have a car or two and have money in the banks and— And travel and take a vacation from here to there, and be able to pay your bills. That's not greatness, that's actually mediocrity. That's expected of you. But what is on the inside of you that hungers and thirsts for so much more than that, and you believe that there is something about you that, that really distinguishes you from a lifestyle of mediocrity? You have a purpose for living. And it's more than just being a good man or a good woman or a law-abiding citizen. You have a purpose for living, and it's more than just barely getting by. Who wants to just barely get by? Is that all life is going to be about? You got so much more that you can do than just be an average citizen. Can I say to you that mediocrity is your enemy? Yes. Being ordinary and casual and common is your enemy. Being lazy or lackadaisical is your enemy. Being average is your enemy. So if you think that you're living your dream right now, I would say take another look inside, because your dream is still waiting to be discovered by you. Purpose is already within you. The challenge is The challenge is— It's not whether you have it or not. The challenge is in bringing it forth. The challenge is in being able to connect with what you have. See, when I was a teenager, I was a drug dealer. I was out there doing my own thing, and I wasn't really trying to focus on the greater purpose. But when I found myself living in darkness in a tight spot, and I got tired of the same old, same old, I started looking within, and then I discovered I have something special inside, and I just need to communicate with what's on the inside and extrapolate what's on the inside so that I can bring it out here and put it into the system of my life. Doing better or being better is really not enough, and many of you have heard this saying before, well, you got to become the better version of yourself. How many of you heard that? You got to become the better version of yourself. Mm-hmm. And I want to say to you tonight that becoming the better version is really not the best version. Better really has no definitive point. In other words, you can try to be better today, and then tomorrow try to be better, and then like a cat chasing its tail, you're just going through life trying to be better, trying to do better, trying to live better, trying to have better. The assignment is not to be a better you. The assignment is to be the best you. How many of you following so far? I hear you. The assignment is to be the best you. And let me just digress for a moment. Nobody else can tell you if you're being the best you or not, but to yourself be true. You know if you're living your best life right now. You know if you're putting forth your best effort right now. You know if you're giving relationships and family and, and your kids and your spouses or your partners and this school and your dream— you know if you're giving all of those people the best you. And if you're not giving the best you, then it's time to start giving the best you, because the only way you're going to get the best results in life, you got to give the best you in life. The only way to reap the best harvest in life is you got to plant the best seed in life. The only way to have the best outcomes in life is you got to establish the best income in life. Okay? So the present you is not competing against other people. The present you is competing against the past you. And then the future you is competing against the present you. In other words, you're not living your life to try to keep up with anybody. You're not trying to keep up with the Kardashians. You're not trying to keep up with the Joneses. You're not trying to compare with somebody else. You're not measuring yourself by anyone else, and you're not allowing for anyone else to measure you by themselves. But what we do is we compare and we measure who we were yesterday to who we are today. And then we compare and we measure who we're going to be tomorrow to who we are right now. See, I'm always measuring where I've come from and who I used to be versus who I am today. And I'm always measuring who I am today to who I project to be tomorrow. And as long as I stay in this gridlock challenge with myself, I'm going to always bring out the best in me. Are you with me so far? Yes. Okay. Let's go a little further. Number 2, think about this for a moment. The most valuable treasure, the most valuable substance in life is only found in deep places. The most valuable The most valuable treasures and substance is only found in deep places, right? Gold, where is gold found? In caves. Deep in the earth, right? In caves, right? Where are diamonds found? In caves. Deep in the earth, in caves, right? What about oil? Where is oil found? In the earth. Deep in the earth or in the sea, right? What about pearls? Deep in the ocean. The most valuable substance are found in deep places. And the best you is just like gold, diamond, pearls, and oil. It is found deep inside of you. Mm-hmm. And you have to be willing to do some soul searching so that you can discover what does not lie on the surface. See, the reason why so many people fail in life is because we don't look deep enough within to discover what we really, really, really, really possess. You've got virtues and qualities deep within you, waiting to be discovered, waiting to be explored. And at some point, you've got to get off the surface and go beneath the surface to discover what you really possess on the inside. Say this with me: I have deep treasures within me. I have deep treasures within me. Come on, talk to me and say it again. I have deep treasures within me. I have deep treasures within me. All right. So, the most valuable things in life are hidden beneath the surface, okay? Point number 3, the same is true with you. You have greatness within you. You have brilliance within you. You have intelligence within you. You have strength within you. You have tenacity within you. You have resilience deep down within you. You have love deep down within you. You have forgiveness deep down within you. You have purpose, you have authenticity, you have faith, you have creativity deep down within you. And the more you search and dig deep inside, the more acquainted you become with your virtue and your precious treasure. It's there. I was in a dark place when I found mine. I was in a prison cell when I found mine. What was your prison cell? I was locked up behind a barbed wire fence when I started looking inside and I discovered that I'm not a hustler. I'm not that guy on the street. I'm not a criminal. I'm not somebody that's supposed to be caged up. I'm not somebody that's supposed to eat crumbs. I'm not somebody who's supposed to look for somebody else to take care of me. I'm somebody who has a purpose in life. I have greatness on my life and I discovered that while incarcerated. And when I discovered that, I started investing into myself. I took my money that was used for— to buy Doritos and Little Debbie snack cakes and Jolly Ranchers and little ramen noodle soup. I took that money that was designated for that stuff, deodorant and shoes, money that was designated for my hygienics, and I started buying books. I bought an almanac. What's an almanac? I bought a dictionary, I bought a concordance, I bought a Bible, I bought an encyclopedia, I bought commentaries. Everything that I could get that I could read, I bought it. And I started feeding my mind. I started feeding my mind with knowledge and with understanding because I understand that knowledge is power. And if I feed my mind, eventually my mind would feed me. Today my mind is feeding me. I've learned how to think, I've learned how to plan, I've learned how I've learned how to budget. I've learned how to focus. I've learned how to envision. I've learned how to have a self— a healthy self-image. I've learned how to have healthy self-values. I've learned that I am somebody. And I started memorizing everything that I would read so that I would be a self-educated person who would do some great things with his life. If I could come from the chain gang and build a life for myself, from being homeless at the age of 13, From being addicted to powder cocaine at the age of 13. If I could come from there, from being locked up, what can't you do? What can't you accomplish? What can't you see? I was down much farther in the hole than you guys are, and then I came up, and here I am today. I'm still rising, and if I can do it, you can too. Say this with me: If Rico can do it, I can too. Come on, say it louder. If Rico can If Rico can do it— I can too. I can too. Who's Rico? The guy that's talking to you. The guy that's talking to you. I'm Rico. The guy that wrote the book. The guy who you're listening to. The best version of you is already within. You just need to bring him out. Okay, point number 4. What happens inside of you eventually shows up on the outside. The inside determines the outside. So what I started doing is I started feeding myself with positive information. And you know one of the things that I did? I cut off negativity. All negativity had to go. Mm-hmm. All negative people had to go. See, some of you right now, you got good intentions, but you hooked up with people that's not going anywhere. You carrying dead weight because you trying to hold on to friendship and romance that's not taking you It's not taking you anywhere, and all it's doing is just dragging you down. And your issue is not that you're your dead weight, your issue is that you're carrying dead weight. Hopefully by the end of tonight, you'll make a decision to pull out your scissors and cut the cord with that dead weight in your life. Your belief shapes your behaviors. Your habit shapes your outcome. If I was you, I would probably pull my phone out and take a picture of this right here, because I can tell you this much right now, just listening to me, you're not going to retain it all. You're only going to get 33% of it. of what I'm saying to you by way of listening. And then if you were to write it all down and go home with it, then you can get 66%. And then if you were to study it day in and day out, you'll get 99%. But you're never going to get 100%. But do yourself a favor and at least put forth the effort to get and retain some of it, because it's in your best interest that you do. I promise you, I promise you that I'm good. I promise you that The reason I can come here tonight and talk to you is because I can afford to do it. So I'm here tonight because I want you 2 years from now, 3 years from now, 5 years from now to be able to afford to do whatever it is that you want to do. So it has to be that you're putting it in you. It's like your bank account. Your brain, your heart, it's just like your bank account. You got to put something in it in order to get something out of it. That's right. Have you ever went to the ATM machine, put your card in, put your PIN number in, and instead of green paper out came white paper? You don't have a clue what I'm talking about, do you? Yeah, never had insufficient funds slip come out of your bank ATM. You know what I'm talking about? All right, so it's the same way with your mind. It's the same way with your heart. You've got to put something in there in order to get something out of there, right? And obviously, you're doing that. You're doing that right now with being in this school. You're doing that right now with the information. But let's just be real about it. Some of you are not really all that committed and all that dedicated, and you're not really giving your all. And some of you right now, you're just a frustration away, a stress away from really walking off. Now, I speak in colleges around the country, country. And I can tell you right now that the graduation rate in 70% of the colleges in our country is at like 30 to 60%. In other words, the low end is 30% and the high end is 60%. Good. And what that means is that 3 out of 10 people in this class may graduate while the others struggle. So you could just about look around and see Some of the people sitting in here right now won't finish this course. And it's no light thing. It's for real. Have you ever seen any homeless people out on the street, on a bridge, under a bridge, at a traffic light holding up a sign that says, I'm homeless, anything will help, God bless you? Yeah? Yeah. Can I say to you that many of those people out there have degrees? Many of them sat where you're sitting. Many of them started out good but didn't finish. Many of them did some positive things with their life, like joined the military, had a family, but somehow they ended up under those circumstances. Do not take for granted the fact that you have this opportunity to build the life you want, because you could be a choice away, a decision away, a downfall away from being out there homeless. And I know you don't see it like that. People out there on the street didn't see it like that either. But it's a real world out there. And so you got to make what matters the most count while you have the chance. So the real question is, how can I change my situation? How can I improve myself? What can I do to bring out the best in me? Well, one of the things is, is you got to really be disciplined. You got to focus on your priorities. When it's time to come to school, you got to get up and you got to show up. And when you get here, you got to put up, you got to put in forth, you got to give all that you have to give. You can't be at home hungover when it's time to get up and come to class. And I know you guys, you know, this is the night class, so most of you work. How many of you are parents in here? And so that means you got kids at home that's depending on you to really make full proof of your time in school. You got kids that's looking at you that when you walk out of the door, they trust in you that you're going to come back having given all that you have to give, because it will all be for nothing if you go through all of this, forfeiting time with your family and your kids, and then you don't get to graduate at the end because you fell by the wayside. It will all have been for nothing. Now, who's got that kind of time to throw away? Me. Your future, your tomorrow, your success, your dream, your aspiration depends on your commitment. And so you got to be able to focus on what you have on the inside and bring it out. The quality of your life on the outside is often a reflection of the work you've done on the inside. Your performance must improve. Your dedication must improve. Your commitment to you must improve. Your loyalty, your promise to you must improve. And if you focus on improving, Who you are and what you have to offer. Guess what else you would improve on? Your lifestyle would improve. One of the things I say during motivational speeches, which is part of my motivational quote: You got to be willing to do today things that others won't do, so that you can have tomorrow things that others won't have. See, I never dreamed of that I would have my own shoe brand. People walking around with my name on their shoes. I was all caught up. with celebrating the Jordans and the LeBron James and all the other guys that got shoes out there. Amen. But one day I started dreaming bigger, and then I realized if these people can do it, then so can I. The same company that makes Prada and Louis Vuitton and Gucci shoes down in Italy in the Shoe Valley are the same people that produces my shoes. And I'm a no— I'm not a big-name person, but I have big dreams. You got me? You feel me? I have big aspirations. And so you don't know anybody until they rise to the top. You didn't know Mark Zuckerberg until he rose to the top. You didn't know Jeff Bezos until he rose to the top. You, you didn't know anybody who is wealthy and successful until their hard work started paying off, and then they rose to the top, and now the whole world knows them. Yes, they know us. And let me tell you something, in this room right here could be the next multi-billionaire. billionaire. In this room right here can be the next innovator. In this room right here can be the next Steve Jobs. In this room right here can be the next whoever, but you gotta determine that I'm that person. I have something special. I have greatness on my life. If I'm you, I'm not just going to school just to get a job and to build a career. I'm going to school because this is a launching pad for me to maybe one day own multiple franchises. Around the world doing what I'm learning here so that I can establish not just wealth for me, but generational wealth for my kids and my grandkids as they come along. So you got to think bigger than what you can see. You got to have aspirations that exceed just the average paycheck, and you got to see yourself doing things that make other people wonder, how? That's why it's so important to start now investing into yourself and Bringing that out of you. Why? Because high performers focuses on changing themselves. High performers focuses on changing themselves. Even though I've come a long way, I'm still focusing on changing me. I'm still focusing on bringing out my very best. I'm still focusing on it. I can't even tell you how much it costs an hour to have me speak. for 1 hour. I don't want to discourage you from what you're working on, but I can tell you this right here. Companies pay me big money to come speak for 1 hour, and you're talking about somebody who dropped out of school in the 9th grade. If Rico can do it— come on. If Rico can do it— I can do it. Come on. If Rico can do it— I can do it. I can do it too. I can do it too. I wonder what it would sound like if at least 70% of the people in this room said that. Come on, let's try it. If Rico can do it— If Rico can do it— I can do it too. I can do it too. See, I'm not trying to— I'm not coming in here to shine. I'm really not. I'm not coming in here trying to brag or to boast. I'm coming in here to inspire. Somebody had to inspire me. And if somebody inspired me, then I'm here to inspire you, all right? Here's my 5 points. principles in my book. This book right here, Bringing Out the Best in You. I have 5 principles to being able to bring out the best in you. Number 1 is discover. Number 1 is discover. You've got to be able to discover what you possess that differentiates you from the rest of the world. Because we all have our own personal uniqueness, right? We all have professional uniqueness. We all have something that not only makes us stand out, but proves that we're better than the rest of the world. What is that? that we're outstanding. Whatever that one thing is, whatever that niche is, whatever your authenticity— the thing that you do that is so different from everyone else that when you do it, it comes naturally and it's sweatless— you've got to be able to discover that. Because the moment you do, the moment you start rising above all others. So, before you can develop your greatness, you've got to discover your greatness. The discovery process begins by looking with intention Looking in with intention, reflecting deeply, identifying your treasures, and then clarifying your purpose. So here's a question that I would propose to you: do you know your purpose in life? And can I just say to you that your purpose is greater than just being a mom and a dad, a husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend? Your purpose is greater than just holding a job. Your purpose is greater than just getting an educational certificate. or vocational certificate. Your purpose is greater than just existing from day to day. Mediocrity is your enemy. Your purpose is so much greater than that. And so the question is again, do you know? Do you know your purpose? Do you know why you were created? Do you know why you're here? Because we're all put here to contribute to humanity in one shape or one form, in one manner or another. Do you know what your purpose is and what you have to contribute to humanity? Yes, sir. humanity. You can't maximize what you haven't identified. What you don't discover, you can't develop. And what you can't develop, you cannot deploy. You're not starting from scratch. You just have to search within. Many people get to know other people more than they get to know themselves. And when you don't take the time to get to know you, 2 things happen. Number one, you overestimate. You overestimate yourself. What do you mean by that? Overestimate your strengths. Because when you don't get to know you, you put yourself on a quest that is right now too far out of reach for you. And then number 2, when you don't get to know you, you underestimate. And when you underestimate, you sell yourself short because you think you can't accomplish something that you actually have the strength to accomplish. It's not important that you get to know everybody else. It's important that you get to know you. What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? What areas of your life you need to work on? Where are you failing? Where are you succeeding? Where is your struggle? What are you challenged with today? What is it that you keep running head-on into? What mistakes do you continue to make week after week, month after month, year after year? Why is it that you're not moving forward? Why do you keep attracting the same type of people? Why are you feeding off of the same type of energy? These are questions about you that you need to know. This stuff I'm talking to you right now, you can't get this from Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz. My name's Rico Sharp. Discovery is the bridge between who you are and who you were created to be. I discovered I got something special. I get paid to talk. I'm a life coach, I'm a motivational speaker, I'm a leadership expert, I'm a mentor. I have my own speaking academy, my own online leadership academy, my own online speaking agency. I get paid to talk. Everything I do, I get paid to talk. I discovered something. When I was a youngster, I had a mouth full of gold teeth. I took those gold I took the gold teeth out of my mouth. I went to the dentist. I told the dentist, I'm gonna be on TV one day. I don't need to look like where I've been. I need to look like where I'm going. Take these gold teeth out of my mouth and hook me up with something that when I stand in front of a camera, people can't look at me and identify me with my past. I don't want to be known by what I used to do. I want to be known by where I'm going. Say this with me. If Rico can do it— If Rico can do it— So can I. So can I. All right, give me 15 more minutes and I'm going to get out of your way. After you discover, here's the important thing— you define. You define. You have to define where you're going, what you want to do, what's next for you, what's the next chapter of your life. After you graduate, what's next for you? After you get a job in the area of your expertise, What's next? What do you do? You go get the job and then you just, you know, you park there? Or do you go get the job and you start from there? See, some of you, you got your mind set on, oh, when I get this job, I'm gonna be making $25 an hour, I'm gonna be straight. No, you're not. No. When you get the job and you start making $25 an hour, all that means is that you got a good start. That's not where you finish. Stop thinking with a small mind. Your greatest enemy is your mentality. Having a small, narrow mind is the thing that will hinder you from being able to be successful and live out your greatness. You got all kinds of businesses in you. This is a jump start. How many of you remember the old dirt bikes that had the, the, uh, the jump start where you had to kick it? The pedal you have to kick. Yeah. All you're doing is giving yourself a kickstart. But the moment you get a kickstart, you good. You can go on about your business. So what you define— your identity. Who are you at the core? Your values. What do you believe and refuse to compromise? Your vision. What do you want your life to stand for and represent? What do you define? Your goals. Your impact. I say to people all the time, if you don't have any goals, then you don't have any aspiration. If you don't have any aspiration, then you don't have any motivation. And if you don't have any motivation, you don't need energy because you're not going anywhere. No wonder people have to drink Red Bull to get energy, because you don't have no motivation. If you see your dream and you know where you're going, you don't need nothing to kickstart you. Get up out of your bed, get up out of that seat, because nothing comes to a sleeper but a dream. You gotta rise up in the morning and be a go-getter. Right. And go after your promise, go after your greatness, Go after your career, go after your future, go after what matters to you and bring it home. Here's some key action steps. Number 1, get clear on your non-negotiables. Get clear on what's not up for negotiation. Number 2, write your personal mission statement. Write some things down, just like you're doing right now. Write some things down. Create a life vision. Set meaningful goals aligned with your purpose, and then review and refine your goals and your ambitions regularly. I have in my home what I call a vision board. A vision board, I redo it January 1st every single year. I've been doing it for about 20 years. January 1st every single year, I go to my vision board and I write down my goals for the year. What are your goals for the year? what I want to accomplish for that year. And I always am able to check off the list of the things I wrote down because I strategize how to make it happen. Listen to this, you can't hit a target that you haven't defined. Clarity is power. And when you begin to have a clear mind on where you're going with life, then you'll have the strength to make it happen. Definition is direction. Own it and live it out loud. Say, I'm bringing out the best in me. I'm bringing out the best in me. Say, I'm bringing out the best in me. I'm bringing out the best in me. Okay, then you develop. You discover, you develop, you define. You gotta build the skills, the strength, and the discipline to become your best. Growth is built, it's not given. Talent gets you noticed, development gets you results. It's not about being perfect, it's about bringing out the best in you every single day. Here's the development process. Be consistent. Embrace the process. Step out of your comfort zone. Learn from feedback. Don't be afraid to ask people who genuinely care about you or people who are genuinely going somewhere with their life if you are on point or not. You need critical feedback in your life. You need people that's not going to agree with you, especially when they know you're not giving your best or you're not living your best life. Practice with purpose. Measure progress and keep raising the bar. Don't be too easy on yourself. Always challenge you to do better, to do more, to go higher, to go further. Work hard. One of the things that distinguished Michael Jordan from all the other players in the NBA is that he will show up 4 and 5 hours before team practice to shoot and practice by himself. He put the work in. Quite naturally, he's going to shine above the rest of them. All the other ones come showing up when it was time for practice, some of them even late, coming from certain places, doing certain things, not really focused on greatness. But Jordan decided, I'll go celebrate later. I'll hang out later. I'll go out to eat later. I'll be with my friends later. Right now, I'm going in the gym. I'm going to go work on me because I'm giving it all I've got to give. No one's going to stop me. No wonder he's the greatest. What do you develop? Your mindset, your knowledge, your skills, your character. And if you do that, your returns are limitless. Discipline. Do what needs to be done even when you don't feel like it. What is discipline? Doing what needs to be done even when you don't feel like it. Doing what needs to be done even when you don't feel like it. Listen to me. I'm scared. Don't be distracted by people who get up and walk out. Celebrate yourself for having enough maturity to stay in here and listen to me for a few more minutes. I promise you, I promise you on everything I love, you're gonna see yourself rise and live out your dream. When I go into the penitentiary and places like that to speak to people, I see people that come up to me and say, Hey, man, do you remember me? And I'm like, no, man, I see a whole lot of people. I meet a whole lot of people. Well, you came to my school and talked to me. What you doing here? I didn't take it to heart, the things you said. I made some bad choices, and this is where I am. Stop for a moment and give yourself a round of applause for hanging out with me. I feel you, man. All I need is 6 more minutes. Do what needs to be done. Discipline is the bridge between your goals and results. Discipline is the bridge. When I made the decision to start bettering my life, I told family members, I told friends, if you're about that negative stuff, don't come to my house. 'Cause I'm not about that. I'm not getting in no car with you with no fogged-up windows and ride down the street. We're not gonna be hanging out. I'm not talking. I'm not gonna be out there smoking and getting high. All right. I'm not gonna be out there drinking and getting drunk. No, I'm not doing any of that foolishness. I had enough of that. See, when I was a child, I thought as a child. I understood as a child. I acted as a child. But when I became a man, I put away childish things and I started focusing on responsibilities and priorities. I started focusing on what matters the most. And most of the people that couldn't make that change in their life, they're at one of two places, either in jail or in the grave. It's a sad situation, but I'm determined that that's not how my story ends. I'm gonna do some big things with my life. I had to apply discipline. I had to apply mental discipline. The greatest level of discipline you can apply to your life is called resilience. Resilience means mental toughness. You gotta have a strong mind, a strong will, because you will be tempted. You will feel like quitting. You will get tired. You will feel like giving up. Even when it comes down to Studying your books, learning what you're being taught in these classrooms, there were times you'll go through those stages of mental fatigue, mental exhaustion, and you're gonna feel like sometimes you're gonna question yourself, man, is it really worth it? Is this what I'm really about? That's right. But I'm telling you right now, if you can make up your mind and show up, then when you come here, be present. Be 100% present and give it all you've got. Because that little bit of information that is being given out at that particular moment might be all the information you need that separates you from the people who graduate versus the people who fail. Retention. Retention is a big issue in the college world today. People are dropping out, and then not showing up for class is a big issue. How are you going to get a job? I asked in the class I did at 11 o'clock, I asked this question. I said, if the instructors came to you and just handed you your graduation certificate, without you putting the work in, I say, how many of you would take it? Let me ask you that question. How many of you would take the certificate and run with it if they just handed it to you without you putting the work in and without learning anything? How many of you would take the certificate and run with it? None. It would be meaningless, right? It would be senseless, right? Why? Because the certificate without the experience and the knowledge to do whatever it is the certificate states that you've learned, without the experience and the knowledge, you can't get a job! You can't hold a job! Why go through the motions? Why come here and sacrifice time if you're not giving all of you to what you're out to accomplish? You gotta have discipline! You can't be hanging out with the boys 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock at night when you need to be in school the next day! You gotta have discipline! It doesn't matter if it is your birthday! Me too! McDonald's got pineapple pies. You can stop by and celebrate all by yourself because one day you'll be celebrating on your way to the bank. One day you'll be celebrating on your way to your promised land. Okay? Discipline requires you to be focused. You got to decide what you want, commit to the process. You got to plan and you got to plan accordingly. I talked about Not overestimating and underestimating your strengths and your weaknesses. You gotta execute with consistency. You gotta endure the hard days, and you gotta reflect and adjust. And you repeat this until your lifestyle reflects the dream that is in your heart. And you come— you keep going at it. I got some shirts that says, I will never ever give up on me. I will never stop giving. All I've got to give. Deploy and give all you've got. Step into action and maximize your potential. Preparation without deployment is potential wasted. The world doesn't need more people with potential. You know what the world needs? The world needs more people that give life all they have to give. What deployment requires are these 5 things, ladies and gentlemen. Number 1, courage. Number 2, commitment. Number three, excellence. Number four, initiative. And number five, accountability. And these attributes, these components must be displayed in each of our lives as we pursue after our personal and professional greatness. The size of your impact is determined by the amount of yourself that you are willing to invest in. So show up with energy and purpose every. Show up with focus. Show up knowing that you are building for yourself a life that nobody will be able to deprive you of. And then understand this: opportunities multiply when you're fully engaged, and doors open when you are fully committed to bringing out the best in you. This is so important. So important. I was doing a— I was doing an interview by a company that do magazines. I've had several magazine companies come to me and say, we want to write a story about your life. I've been on multiple news media shows, many television shows, and for years even had my own television show around the world. And this one magazine company asked me this question recently. They said to Mr. Sharp, we want to know, what do you consider your legacy to be? Or what would you like your legacy to be? What do you want to be known by when your time expires? And I thought about it, and I said to them these words. I said, I want to be known as a grave thief. A grave thief. A grave thief. And they said to me, explain to me what you mean by that. And I said, what do you think about it? I said, every human being is born with creativity, with talent. We're born with purpose. We're born with our own uniqueness, our own authenticity. We're born with something special, something that we have that nobody else could give us because we got it from our Creator, and something that we have that nobody else can take from us because we got it from our Creator. That's right. The issue is that people are born, they go through life, and they never explore their personal greatness. They never look within and discover what they have. I say sometimes they go through life and they die without ever looking inside of them and bringing out of them what they have on the inside. So, so many people have went to the grave with books in them that never got written, with poems in them that never got written, with ideas in them that never got shared, with songs in them that never got sang, with businesses in them that never got started, with creativity in them that they never put to use. Therefore rendering the grave to be the most wealthiest place on the planet. Because the graves— the gravesites are full of not bones, ladies and gentlemen, but ideas, books, dreams, aspirations, and greatness that never got lived out. I said, for me, I don't want that to be how my story ends. So I'm going to bring out everything within me while I'm living, so that by the time I die, I have nothing left to offer this world, and definitely nothing for the grave but bones. I want to empty myself of everything that I was born with, and everything that I picked up along the way, so that when I go to the grave, I go empty. and therefore depriving the grave of whatever it would benefit from me. I call that a grave thief. The person said to me, I never heard it put like that before. I say to you tonight, what are you going to be known as when you leave this world? What will we remember you from? Will you be somebody who contributed to humanity to make the world a better place, who helped somebody along the way? Or would you be somebody that go to the grave with all of this unfulfilled and unexplored potential? Live boldly. Love deeply. Live a legacy— build a legacy and leave it behind. What leaves a legacy? Positively impacted people. Build and develop others. Solve problems that matter. Live with purpose and passion. Stay true to your values. And finish strong. And finally, you don't have to have what it takes when you realize you are who it takes. A couple years ago, the federal government contacted me about doing some leadership development, personal development, and professional development for their leaders. I'm talking about people in the Department of the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and about 10 more other agencies, including people from out of the Oval Office. I had to be interviewed by a team of 5, and while interviewing me, they laid out for me all of their criteria and things that they were looking for in somebody that could operate on that level of professional development training. And after they laid it all out for me, they said to me, Mr. Sharp, do you believe you have what it takes? And I replied to them, no. No, no, no, I don't. I don't. I don't have what it takes. And they looked confused. I said, I don't have what it takes, but I am who it takes to get the job done. There is a world of difference there. See, having what it takes means that people want to size you up based upon your talent, your gifts, your skill, how well you do this and how well you do that. And if people can size you up based upon your talent, your gifts, and your skills, then they can always compare you to other people. And when they compare you to other people, it makes you start feeling like maybe you're not good enough because you can't do certain things the way others do. I want to say to you, don't go through life allowing people to size you up and measure you by their own measuring stick. Because you are more than a talent, you are more than a gift, you are more than a skill. You are a human being who have greatness on your life. And even though you may not have certain talents and certain skills and certain things that others may have, that does not matter. When you are who it takes and you know who you are and you know what you possess, you can do great things with your life. You don't have to be as talented as someone else to do great things. You just need to know who you are Believe in you, give it your best, and work until you accomplish whatever you want to accomplish. And regardless of what talent and skills you do or do not possess, eventually you will be able to trailblaze the path that others will follow. Not because you're talented, not because you have what it takes, but because you are who it takes to get the job done. That's why you're going to finish. That's why you're going to graduate. And that's why you're gonna finish strong, because you are who it takes. And that's why you're gonna go out there and build the dream life, because you are who it takes. And that's why you're gonna be able to leave something for the next generation and build a legacy, because you are who it takes. Say this with me: I may not have what it takes, but I am who it takes to live my dreams. Do you believe that? Give yourself a round of applause. You are the king and the queen of your castle, and I'm going to leave you with this motivational quote. Always reach for the moon, because even if you miss, you will land among the stars. 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 everything. because they aim too low and hit. So always be willing to be on top because it's the bottom that's overcrowded. Your attitude towards life determines life's attitude toward you, and your attitude in life determines your altitude in life. 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 Go discover your own passion and dare to inspire, for then you will realize your greatness and live a life that inspires. And life is what you make it. So when the opportunity comes, you take it. You be sharp now to maximize your moment and make yourself a great life. And think sharp, plan sharp, talk sharp, dress sharp, walk sharp, live sharp, and you'll be sharp. Take it from me, ladies and gentlemen, I know. My name is Rico Sharp. God bless you. Thank you for your time. I appreciate it. Rico Sharp. If you have any questions for me, then I'll take 5 minutes and answer whatever questions you have. Listen, listen, if you're leaving, exit quietly. If you have any questions for me, you can ask questions at this time, and I'll be glad to answer any questions. Yes, sir? How much are your books? The books are $20 each. The books are $20 each. How much time?