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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
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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
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hand on Jelani stomach and I said don't
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worry baby mommy will never be this
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broke or broken again and that day what
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shifted for me
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[Music]
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was I was willing and I don't know if
-
this is gonna sound crazy I was willing
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to completely die to any form of me that
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I had been so that I can birth the woman
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that I was
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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
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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
-
[Music]
-
you