Denzel Washington – Inspirational speech

I was flunking out of college.  I had a 1.7 grade point average.  I hope none of you can relate , I was seating in my mother’s beauty shop , and I am looking in the mirror and I see behind me this woman under the dryer  and every time she looked up , everytime I looked up she was looking at me , just looking at me in the eye .  I didn’t know who she was and She said ” Somebody get me a pen, get me a pencil,  I have a prophecy ” March 27th ,1975 , she said “Boy , you are going to travel the world and speak to millions of people”  Now mind you I flunked out of college , I’m thinking about joining the army , I didn’t know what I was going to do and she is telling me I’m going to travel the world and speak to millions of people.

Well I have travelled the world and I have spoken to millions of people but that’s not the most important thing , the success that I had the most.  The mot important thing is what she taught me and what she told me that day  ha stayed with me since .  I’ve been protected , I’ve been directed,  I’ve been corrected  . FAIL BIG , that’s right .Fail  big , you only live once , so do what you feel passionate about , take chances professionally , don’t be afraid to fail .

There is an old IQ test which was nine dots and you had to draw five lines with a pencil within in this nine dots without lifting the pencil, the only way to do it was to go outside the box , so don’t be afraid to go outside the box , don’t be afraid to think outside the box ,  don’t be afraid to fail big , to dream big , but remember  dreams without goals are just dreams and they ultimately fuel disappointment.  So have dreams but have goals ,life goals , yearly goals , monthly goals , daily goals .  I try to f=give myself a goal everyday and understand that to achieve these goals you must apply discipline and consistency .  You have to work at it everyday, you have to plan everyday,  you’ve heard the saying “ We don’t plan to fail, we fail to plan”

Hard work works . working really hard is what successful people do. and in this text, tweet ,twerk world that you have grown up in , remember just because  you are doing a lot more  doesn’t mean you are getting a lot more done. Don’t confuse  movement with progress.

My mother told me “ Yeah because you can run in place all the time and never get anywhere.”  so continue to strive, continue to have goals , continue to progress and anything you want want , good, you can have , Go claim it , work hard to get it , when you get it , reach back ,pull someone else up .  Each one , teach one  don’t just aspire to make a living , aspire to make a difference .