Rico Sharp, an ex-convict without a college degree, built a speaking and real-estate career by repeating affirmations in the mirror: "Rico, you are enough, you have what it takes." He argues that 62% of graduates succeed while 38% fail, but many educated people stay stuck without self-belief.
Chapters
that you gotta implement in your life to make sure that you don't quit and you don't give up on you. Are you ready to take a little journey? Uh-huh. I can't hear you. Yes, sir. Okay, number 1, if you're writing, take— and take your notes, write this down. Number 1, believe in me. Believe in you. Believe in yourself. Always believe in you. What does that mean? That means to believe that you have what it takes to do what you need to do with your life. Understand that you are enough and that no matter what the problems are that you face in your life, you have what it takes to overcome those problems. You have what it takes to outlive any type of difficult situation in your life. Years ago, when I first decided that I was going to be a speaker, I had this personal issue of really feeling inferior, feeling like I just didn't have what it takes. Like, who would want to listen to me? Like, I'm an ex-convict. Who want to hear anything that I have to say? And I, and I started really stifling the growth that I could have had in my life because I kept disqualifying myself because I just didn't really believe in me. I let other people tell me, you don't— you can't speak to colleges because you don't have a college degree. I let people tell me that you cannot speak to large crowds Because they don't want to hear from an ex-convict. And, and I just didn't have at the beginning that self-confidence and that faith in myself. I didn't believe in me. But eventually I realized that it's not about what other people think about me that matters, it's what I think about me that matters. It's not how other people see you that matters, it's how you see yourself that matters. And so what I had to do is I had to look in the mirror and tell myself, Rico, you are You're enough. Rico, you have what it takes. Rico, this is your dream. This is your passion. This is your purpose. Go after it. Follow it. Pursue it. Give it all you've got. And then eventually I started building up my self-esteem. I started building up my confidence. I started building up my faith in myself. I started believing in me. And now it does not matter what challenges I face in life because the biggest hurdle that you will ever have is having to doubt or to believe in yourself. One moment you may doubt your ability, and then the next moment you overcome that doubt, and now you have invincibility. You believe in you, and you're able to do whatever you set your heart to. When I decided that I wanted to become an entrepreneur, and I realized that I didn't have a college degree, but I wanted to be able to substantiate a decent livelihood for myself, and I started investing my money into properties. I realized that I didn't have to have a college degree in order to live a good life. I realized that I needed to have a determination and a willpower. And even if I had a college degree, I needed to understand that it's not so much the college degree that's going to make a good life for me. It's me. It's me. You can have a degree, but if you don't believe in you, then that degree will not serve you. You have to believe that you have what it takes. That even when you graduate from here with your degree, with your certificate, that you have what it takes and that you can make things happen for yourself. Say this with me: I have what it takes to make things happen for myself. And so when I say to you that 62% of the people who actually start school graduate, whereas the other 38% doesn't, I'm saying to you: Take that degree. But also take with you confidence and belief in yourself, because a degree alone is not enough. I'm telling you right now, I'm counseling people, I'm mentoring people with degrees that are not living a successful life and not fulfilling their passion and purpose because they have a degree but they don't have self-confidence. They don't believe in themselves. And so the struggle is in overcoming inferiority. Overcoming personal doubts, overcoming fears and things of that nature that holds you back from pursuing after your dreams and your goals. Believe in you. Believe in the person you see when you look in the mirror and tell yourself, "I have what it takes. I can do this. I got this. I'm a winner. I'm an overcomer. I'm an achiever. I'm a dreamer. I'm a visionary." I'm successful. I have all that I need to do what I need to do in life. And with this belief in yourself, with this confidence, you can overcome any hurdle, any mountain, or any setback in life. All right, second
