I'm on government assistance and I run

out of money and I had to buy pampers

for Jelani and I had $11 and 42 cents in

the bank and I remember wrapping my son

in the towel for two days I remember the

second day like you said I had my son my

hand on Jelani stomach and I said don't

worry baby mommy will never be this

broke or broken again and that day what

shifted for me

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was I was willing and I don't know if

this is gonna sound crazy I was willing

to completely die to any form of me that

I had been so that I can birth the woman

that I was

the reason why a lot of people won't

become who they want is because they're

too attached to who they've been and you

hear it all the time when people say

I've always been this way okay well if

that's working for you keep doing that I

knew it wasn't working for me I think I

had hit my version of rock bottom so I

was willing to let go of everything and

everybody see another reason why people

won't get there is because the doorway

is for you to fit through you're trying

to carry everybody else through because

you're trying to be rescue 9-1-1 and you

gotta rescue you first I am much more

valuable to my family and to my

community because Pilate was willing to

let them go go through the door myself

teach myself learn myself condition

myself and then come back and get them

so much more valuable to them now but I

have to go through a window time of 10

years of judgment you leaving us hanging

out with white people all the time you

go to these crazy countries we don't

know what you I have to be willing to to

allow my conviction to make me

inconvenienced see we want to grow but

we want to stay liked by everybody I was

willing to be my own rescue at the risk

of your approval most of us aren't like

that

Facebook this example we want to be

liked well I woke up and I liked myself

today so you'll like his extra my job is

to like me first I was willing to say

everyday Lisa you like you least are you

proud of you

nice are you playing Fallout everyday

before I checked in with anybody else

I was willing to inconvenience my entire

life my entire life I was willing to

disrupt my entire life to buy my future

to buy my possibility to give my dream a

chance see we're not supposed to tuck

our dreams in on the on the pillow when

we get up in the morning we're not

supposed to leave them at home we're

going but Phil somebody else's dream

we're not supposed to do that that's not

what we're wired to do that's not who we

are your human spirit doesn't care about

the economy the human spirit doesn't

care that my son's father went to prison

my the human spirit doesn't care what's

happened to your family the human spirit

doesn't care about the past that you may

have been molested or your family may

have been broken or you may have been

betrayed or you may have a divorce your

human sphere doesn't care about any of

that your human spirit simply says

what's our command for tomorrow what do

you want to create it's not keeping

score your brain is keeping score

because your brain is designed to keep

you safe your soul your intuition your

human spirit is designed to make you

soar

when you get to the edge your brain will

always tell you to step back it's always

gonna tell you to step back because you

can fall always it's gonna tell you step

back because before you fail the last

time you did this you saw someone else

fails you could hurt you can be off work

it's gonna tell you it's designed to

keep you safe so you have to be willing

to play between your brain and your soul

and on some days you gotta just listen

to your soul and you got to say on my

leap I'm gonna get to the edge most

people are at the edge and you're

sending it to edge and you're watching

everyone else fly

let's pick my ride watch my crib all

this stuff you know Washington's lies on

Facebook you're at the edge watching

someone else live wondering what it's

gonna be like when you jump without ever

jumping and I'm just here to tell you

jump because only three things can

happen you're either gonna jump and fly

are you gonna jump in fall on something

soft are you gonna fall down hard either

way you're gonna get back up you already

know you got what it takes to get back

up

you're not your greatest fears not the

true the far the greatest fears that you

will live a full life in never form but

you never leave you're not afraid of

dying

who you really are before they really

get your fingerprint before they really

feel your breath before they really get

your contribution if they really feel

you that's what you don't want to happen

you don't want to leave this place

without us knowing you were here all I'm

doing is giving mice my dream a chance

and I'm not extraordinary you don't get

off the hook you don't get to be like

I'm an ordinary one who chooses every

day to make one more extraordinary

decision everything that I need to get

back up I have in me if I don't have

what I need I can go get it once I

figured that out the world was my like

playground like just the questions just

where do I go get it

well I don't know about that would I go

get it and and I don't come from a

learning background where I was a great

student I wasn't you know my highest

grade in school was a C+ and when I got

a C+ I did the happy dance and and so I

didn't have a background where studying

was natural for me but when I realized

that if I go study something and I learn

it I own it it's mine now man it was

crazy cuz all through school I struggled

I the last time I took an English class

my English teacher told me I was the

weakest writer she ever met in her

entire life

lovely yeah lovely and the same year I

took a speech class and my speech

teacher he said quote unquote miss

Nichols I recommend you never speak in

public that you get a desk job and so I

yeah it just is just you know it was it

was demotivated people sad people hurt

people hurt sad people make other people

sad bottom line don't take it personal

her people hurt see most people want the

convenience of transformation without

the inconvenience a retired US required

for transformation so my grandmother

says and I love to repeat this your

conviction which you're passionate about

your conviction and your convenience

don't live on the same block

they ain't even in the same zip code so

if you want to have a conviction for

something you have to sign up sign up to

the inconvenience we're trying to find

convictions and passion and breakthrough

on the inside of our box well when you

realize that the Box doesn't even exist

like someone made up oh you're playing

outside the box so we all bought into

there's a box well I don't live it I

don't even own a box

I don't even only want to get in your

box you better come out here go ahead

get in there and so when you start

thinking like that time all of a sudden

everything is possible so I you know

people I disrupt people when I say you

want to make me extraordinary because it

lets you off the hook what if the guy

that we call God that divine whatever

your faith is what if there's no partial

it's not gonna give me a hookup and not

give you one not gonna give me an

opportunity give me one I'm just gonna

go after my diamond down a treadmill

like wasn't said I'm gonna be on the

treadmill running you know I'm not I'm

just not gonna stop because I believe

all things are available to us I'm just

wanting to go after are you willing and

then that is so disruptive cuz then you

got to make a decision because it's

easier to live inside the parameters of

well as a black woman well as born and

raised in South Central well I'm

academically - I'm Dyslexic

I'm dyslexic I wrote seven books on

dyslexia so just knowing like I'm not

perfect what I do really well is I

manage my imperfection well and so we're

all waiting for perfect it's an illusion

that will never come to you and it's an

excuse to never show up and play your

story is not meant to be your fortress

your story isn't it to be your fuel any

story like the fact the beauty of me

being one of the top 1% earners in

America is that I was on government

assistance right like that's the beauty

like come on it wouldn't be a big deal

if my family was rich

like I'm supposed to do something the

beauty is that when you show the little

engine that could story I can't I don't

run fast but I ain't no stop

I might slow down and have to breathe

and catch my breath and I'm not stop it

all things are available to all of us

and good people should do well because

when good people do well good people

just do more good in the world I'm that

same girl who ran track for Dorsey high

school and struggled to get through high

school who got kicked out of college

because I couldn't afford to stay that

was on governments I'm the same girl I'm

that same girl don't forget her I'm also

that same woman who runs a multi-million

dollar business

I'm also the same woman with seven

bestsellers I own both of those I own

all of it

I don't shrink to my greatness and I

don't live in one side of myself if you

can own your brilliance while owning

your your imperfections if you can own

your giant while owning your smallest if

you can live in duality constant duality

the freedom will be earth-shaking if you

can live in that sea either you don't

want to be as great as you really are

and you're trying to dim your life so

that others won't feel insecure about

themselves in your presence and so you

keep playing at 79 watts when you know

you're supposed to shine at 159 watts

and you keep taking checking the

temperature of the room to see what the

room can handle versus just given the

room you and letting them at the if your

lights too bright then let them put on

some shades can you give yourself

permission to live in the duality of

your imperfections in your smallness and

what you're learning and what you still

have to learn and your greatness and

your brilliance in your light can you

allow them to coexist and then serve

them up to the world to love you to see

you to inhale you

to judge you to leave you to love you

you're just some of us are just as

afraid of being loved as we are to be

left if you go where you've never gone

do what you've never done and say what

you never said you'll become the woman

in the man you've always known yourself

to be

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you