Video summary
The central thesis of this discussion revolves around the fundamental choice between attributing life's events to luck or recognizing them as a result of cause and effect, with agency resting entirely in one's own hands. Drawing on Ralph Waldo Emerson's distinction that shallow people believe in circumstance while strong people understand causality, the speaker argues that every aspect of life—from pain to joy—is a direct reflection of decisions made daily. This perspective is reinforced by Bruce Lee's philosophy that there are no limits, only plateaus one must push through; staying at a plateau is not an inevitability but a choice to stop progressing. The narrative illustrates this with the example of Bruce Lee overcoming a motorcycle accident and achieving his martial arts goals despite being told he would never walk again or practice fighting styles. His success was not due to luck, but rather a deliberate shift in belief systems where he controlled external outcomes by first mastering internal thoughts, proving that one can break perceived limitations like gravity through superior will. To achieve greatness, the transcript emphasizes that natural talent is largely a myth and that true mastery requires immense effort, hardship, and adaptation. Michelangelo's observation that his hard work made his achievements seem wonderful to others underscores the idea that what appears as magic or divine anointing is actually back-breaking labor. This concept of suffering leading to prosperity aligns with Victor Hugo's warning that adversity makes men while prosperity creates monsters; if one wishes for a life without struggle, they risk becoming weak rather than strong. Florence Nightingale attributes her success to never taking excuses, reinforcing the idea that willingness to pay any price is the only barrier between desire and achievement. The speaker notes that even those who seem gifted are remembered because of their relentless work ethic, which transforms initial disadvantages into strengths through continuous adaptation and stress-induced growth. Breaking free from self-imposed limitations often requires ignoring societal rules and expectations held by others, a sentiment echoed in General Douglas MacArthur's quote about being remembered for the rules one breaks. People naturally follow invisible constraints based on what they believe is possible or acceptable to dream of, but these are merely barriers created by fear and external perception. The speaker argues that even loved ones may inadvertently hand down limitations out of their own fears, so individuals must decide whether to be a reflection of others' expectations or define themselves independently. This autonomy demands facing anxiety and stepping into the unknown, as Rumi suggests that walking onto an untraveled path causes it to appear; one cannot walk where there is no path without faith in oneself first. The ultimate goal is not merely survival but creating something unique by leaving a trail rather than following well-trodden roads designed for safety and ease. The practical application of these beliefs begins with the decision to start, as Mark Twain notes that getting ahead requires simply taking action despite feelings of inadequacy. John Wooden's advice never let me you cannot do interfere highlights finding one's innate spark or starting point within oneself, regardless of current skill levels. Progress is defined not by circumstances but by decisions made in response to failure; Stephen Covey asserts we are products of our choices rather than our environment. Robert Louis Stevenson reminds listeners that the value lies in seeds planted today through obsessive learning and knowledge accumulation, which will yield results later when needed most. Nelson Mandela identifies education—whether formal schooling or lessons from mentors and failures—as the most powerful weapon for change, urging an investment in continuous learning to build a stockpile of wisdom rather than waiting for external validation. Ultimately, success is framed as a relentless pursuit where one must attempt the impossible to stretch capabilities beyond current boundaries. Brian Tracy encourages attempting things that seem physically or logically impossible because the act itself triggers necessary adaptation and growth. Aristotle's insight that pleasure in the job leads to perfection suggests that finding joy in the process prevents fear from halting progress, even when facing terrifying challenges. Joseph Campbell reminds us that life is an opera where we choose whether to focus on pain or wonder; our attention dictates reality through mechanisms like the reticular activating system, which amplifies whatever we look for. Therefore, shifting focus toward awe and fulfillment rather than scarcity allows individuals to realize they control their narrative entirely. The conclusion reinforces Martin Luther King Jr.'s message that one must keep moving forward regardless of ability—crawling if necessary—to eventually run and fly, ensuring the future belongs only to those who prepare today through unending effort.
Read the full video transcript
as Ralph Waldo Emerson said shallow
people believed in luck and in
circumstance strong people believed in
cause and effect that's the simplest
change that you could make in your life
to choose to believe that everything is
a result of choices that you make and it
is a choice you can choose to believe in
luck you can choose to believe that you
don't have control that you don't have
agency that the world is happening to
you or you can choose to recognize the
cause and effect exists that if you want
to get better at something you need to
put in the work that if you want to get
stronger you need to lift heavier
weights that you can either ask for
stronger shoulders to carry a bigger
load or you can ask for a lighter load
the choice is yours but at the end of
the day if you want those strong
shoulders they're yours to build you've
got to make those choices you've got to
understand the cause in effect you've
got to understand that your life right
now is the exact reflection of your
choices your life the good the bad the
ugly the hateful the painful the joyful
the beautiful everything in your life is
a reflection of you it's a reflection of
the things you've decided to do it's a
reflection of the things you've decided
not to do it's the story you tell
yourself about yourself what you believe
is capable all of those things they're
the choices that you're making everyday
and at any time you can choose to make a
different choice and as Bruce Lee said
if you always put limits on everything
you do physical or anything else it will
spread into your work and into your life
there are no limits there are only
plateaus and you must not stay there you
must go beyond them
even in the statement you can see him
making the choice about what to believe
by saying that there are no limits by
taking something that other people
perceive as a limit is something that's
stopping him and saying that's not it's
a plateau it's something that I can push
through and you see what he holds
himself accountable to it's not okay to
stay at a plateau it's okay to have one
everybody has them they happen it's a
natural part of the course of getting
better but it is not okay to stay there
and that is a choice that's not
something anyone can hand you it's
something you have to believe to the
core of your soul that it is not okay to
stay in a plateau and it's that that's
gonna push you through it's that that's
gonna make you get up and keep going but
first you have to recognize that life is
cause-and-effect you have to recognize
that that choice is a knock-on effect
you have to recognize that him merely
saying those words out loud have a cause
and effect
they changed the course of his life the
expectations that other people have of
him expectations that he has of himself
and because he understands that he can
control the outside world by first
controlling what's inside by changing
his belief system to match what he wants
to accomplish he's then able to
accomplish what he did in his life have
nothing to do with luck it had
everything to do with the demands that
he made on himself it had to do with
when he got in a motorcycle accident
people told him he would never walk
again not only did he walk again all of
the major accomplishments that we think
about it being that man they all came
after they came after he was told he was
never gonna walk came after he was told
that he was never going to be able to do
martial arts but he did it he did the
grueling work of getting better he
understood cause and effect he
understood that if he chose to believe
that he could never do it that he'd
never be able to do it but that if he
chose to believe that by working out he
could get stronger and get better and
get back to it
and that's what he did so now ask
yourself is your life dictated by luck
or cause and effect are you in control
or is it somebody else is someone else
in control or is it you and if it's you
go build the life that you want because
there's nothing stopping you but you
everyone takes the limits of their own
vision for the limits of the world
Arthur Schopenhauer there is all around
you right now the reflections of your
world belief they're so ever-present
that you don't even see them all the
assumption that you've made about the
world the things that are possible what
you're capable of who you are the very
definition of what it means to be alive
all of it is completely invisible and
you're mistaking what you have for what
could be and once you break free of that
once you understand that right now
you're a moment in time and that you
have latent potential and that latent
potential can be expressed in the form
of skills that you can get good at
things that you can develop yourself in
any direction that brain plasticity
alone is one of the greatest weapons
that you're not using but you have to
move beyond what you can perceive today
you have to begin to look beyond that
and see that which doesn't yet exist and
you have to remember that many of the
things that are holding you down are
rules that you don't even realize or
rules and as General Douglas MacArthur
said you're remembered for the rules you
break and right now you're following
rules that you don't even realize exists
and some of those rules are simply what
is ok to dream but I'm here to tell you
the power
is in recognizing that you can do it the
power is in having the arrogance of
belief the power is an understanding
that you yes you are going to be capable
of something simply because you are
willing to believe in yourself and
that's the thing it's a willingness to
believe in yourself no one's gonna give
it to you even the people that love you
they're not gonna give you that they are
incapable of giving it to you people
cannot see past their limitations and
they take them for truth people actually
believe the things that have stopped
them will forever not only stop them but
they will stop other people how can they
hope to give you anything but limitation
so if you know that if you know that
even the people that love you what
they're handing it was limitation with
the best of [ __ ] intentions with all
the love in the world how are you gonna
break out of that how are you gonna
break past those rules how are you gonna
fight the anxiety that inevitably comes
your way when you think about going
against the grain but my friends until
you can do that you can never get beyond
the [ __ ] that limits you if people
said gravity is what it is we never
would have reached the skate velocity
and yet as a species we have been able
to hurl a [ __ ] rocket into space get
it outside of gravity take us to other
planets that is real only because
somebody said I refuse to be held down
by the most obvious rule that we have
the one that everybody says is beyond
reproach and that is gravity but even
gravity will break under the weight of a
superior will so recognizes Epictetus
said if you want to improve be content
to be thought foolish and stupid can you
be content to be thought foolish and
stupid or do you allow yourself to be
caged to be hemmed in by what other
people think and look I get it I
understand the steam of contempt I
understand how much it sucks when
someone you respect doesn't respect you
but you cannot be anything more than
their captive if you think about what
they think about you if you let yourself
be defined by what other people perceive
of as you then you will forever be
limited by what they give you permission
to do and I don't know about you but
when I was a kid I said when I'm an
adult I will never [ __ ] be told what
to do again I will never be held back by
somebody else I will define myself I
will figure out what I need to do and I
will do it and at the end of the day
that is it my goals drive my behavior I
am NOT held back by what other people
think about me no matter how [ __ ]
intoxicating it is to be loved you have
to decide what you want more do you want
to be you or do you want to be someone
else's reflection of you
[Music]
as Mark Twain said the secret to getting
ahead is getting started that's
something I want all of you guys to
really embody and really think about
really put at the core of your existence
that step number one to accomplishing
whatever it is that you want to do is
actually getting started and I
understand I know the thing that holds
you back I know the thing that is
absolutely paralyzing for people is you
don't think that you have what it takes
to go out and be good and rather than
face that difficult brutal process of
growing and getting better and quite
frankly facing your inadequacies it's
easier just to sit back but as John
Wooden said never let me you cannot do
interfere with what you can there is
something right now that you're capable
of there is an innate skill inside of
you that's your spark it's that starting
point it's that thing that while you may
not be the best in the world at it it's
a flame that you can fan it's something
that you can breathe life into and
really begin to get good but first you
have to understand the very nature of
progress and that's a Stephen Covey said
you're not the product of your
circumstances but rather a product of
your decisions and it's those decisions
that are going to allow you to build
that skill set so don't worry about
where you started don't worry about what
you already have
remember it's the decisions that you
make it's going down that road it is the
decision to get started it's the
decision to face
failure it's the decision to get up once
you failed and it's the decision of what
to learn when you fail do you learn that
you're not
you never should have tried well do you
learn a lesson from the failure and get
up and brush yourself off and remember
that at the end of the day you're going
to go as far as you're willing to fight
for and that's it if you're willing to
fight to go all the way then you will go
that far you will set a new bar you will
define for people what is possible to
become that beacon of hope we become
that thing that other people look to as
the standard at the end of the day it
started with huge getting started it
started with you showing up it started
with you pushing and trying
don't worry about what you have and what
you are focus on who you want to become
and the price you're willing to pay
together
[Music]
as Nelson Mandela said education is the
most powerful weapon you can use to
change the world wherever you are right
now listening to this I want you to burn
that into your mind the most powerful
weapon that you're going to have at your
disposal isn't a gun it isn't a sword it
isn't a bomb the most powerful weapon
you will ever have at your disposal if
you really want to make change is
knowledge
it doesn't mean going to school it can
be school it can be books it can be a
mentor it can be somebody else's failure
it can be your own failure but whatever
it is to always be learning to be
learning something today knowing that
that's an investment and as Robert Louis
Stevenson said don't judge each day by
the harvest you reap but rather by the
seeds you plant and that's what
knowledge is that's what the learning
process is is you're learning something
today that you may not even understand
how it's going to be valuable but one
day
that piece of knowledge is gonna come to
your in one day that thing that you
learned is going to be something that
you're gonna lean on one day that thing
that you've worked your ass off to
understand better than anybody else in
the world it's going to help you change
the world but you have to be doing it
now you have to be learning with an
obsession you have to understand that
ideas inequal ideas out and that you
have to chase that knowledge down that
it is a relentless pursuit and that like
you would build an armada like you would
create a stock pile of weapons you must
create a stockpile of knowledge you must
learn and learn and learn and you must
hold yourself accountable every day
defending those seeds to getting better
to learning more to understanding things
more broadly when you do
nothing that won't be unlocked to you
that's what I want you guys to
understand it doesn't matter
matter where you started your
circumstances the money the people that
you know none of it matters what matters
is how much you willing to learn how
good are you willing to get how much
knowledge are you willing to soak in
because that will become your weapon
that will be how you rise up and that
would be the thing that will protect you
when you need it most
[Music]
for you
so if you want to do something
incredible tomorrow learn today as
Michelangelo said if people knew how
hard I work to achieve my mastery it
wouldn't seem so wonderful after all and
that's the thing about getting great
that's the thing about being an artist
of such caliber that you're remembered
for hundreds of years after your death
it is back-breaking work
it is a blinding amount of effort it
isn't about natural talent that myth
that some people are born with something
that we celebrate so much is just that a
myth you're born a lump of flesh you
can't hold your own head up you may have
predispositions but that is a long way
from actually crafting your ability and
to the point where it looks like magic
and that's the beauty of artistry isn't
it that it's so unbelievable that you're
more willing to believe that it was God
given that they were anointed with it
than that they just worked their ass off
but the truth is every one of the
Great's no matter how much natural
talent they were born with they're
remembered because they worked they were
remembered because they did so much work
because
that work is hardship in that work is
difficulty in that work is unbearable
adversity but it's in that adversity
that the magic happens and as Victor
Hugo said adversity makes men prosperity
makes monsters so I know right now you
wish you'd been born with some talent
you wish that all those dreams that you
had they were yours for the taking that
you didn't have to put blood sweat and
tears into it that somebody would hand
you at least something in the beginning
that they would give you some Starks and
sparkle that's where the monsters
created if you really want to get hard
if you really want to get tough if you
want to get great if you want to be
unfuckin touchable because no one can
bend or break your vision of yourself
then you have to suffer that's the way
of the world
and as Florence Nightingale said I
attribute my success to this I never
gave or took any excuse
and that's the secret at the end of the
day if you know what you want it's only
a question of whether you're willing to
pay the price to get there so ask
yourself are you willing to pay the
price
[Music]
as Ralph Waldo Emerson said do not go
where the path may lead go instead where
there is no path and leave a trail it's
never going to make sense it's never
going to be obvious you're never going
to walk out your door and see the
obvious way that you want to go and if
you do it's a trap if you do go down the
path that's already laid for you it's
going to take you to all the
destinations that are already known it's
going to take you to all of the places
that instinct drove the people before
you but if you want to go somewhere
unique if you want to go somewhere that
only you would go if you want to create
something new and really live a life
that was meant for you because it's
literally crafted by you you have to
take the first steps on faith and as
Rumi said as you start to walk out on
the way the way appears so as you're
looking at the choices that are before
you where you've got a path that's well
trodden you've got a path that literally
is invisible and won't become something
until you step on it you have to
understand that that's what this life is
meant to be and that the only
frustration that you will look back on
the tremendous regret is knowing that
you did what was easy even though it
wasn't you there's some mechanism inside
of us there's something that wants us to
walk a path that's never been walked
before and the thing that makes it so
hard is right now inside of you is a
desperate desire for that to be easy but
it's not going to be easy it's going to
be hard you're going to fail you're
gonna stumble you're gonna fall on your
face and thank God because as Mohammed
Ali said only a man who knows what it's
like to be the
can reach down to the bottom of his soul
and come up with the extra ounce of
power it takes to win when the match is
even so what you have to ask yourself is
what do you want do you want it to be
easy do you want the path to be wellyeah
or do you want the path to be yours do
you want to know that inside of you is
something that you can reach into and
grab and that will be there at the
moment that you most need it do you want
to know that you're that type of person
because if you do you have to be willing
to walk the path that doesn't exist you
have to be willing to tread through the
brambles you have to be willing to fall
because it is in that process of failure
and pain and agony and suffering that
you will become that's the process that
will make you new that's the process
that will shape you
it's the suffering that gives you the
reserves to draw when you leave the most
so when you ask for safety when you ask
for ease know that you're saying a
prayer for weakness and when you take
the hard way know that you're forging
yourself when you make those demands
know that you're building a reserve tank
that will be there at the moment when
you need it when you walk the path that
only you can walk know that you're
living the life that you were meant to
live and that my friends is how you
become the you worth becoming
[Music]
I listen and listen well because no
truer words are ever gonna be [ __ ]
spoken you can do anything you want
without limitation whatever it is that
you decide you want to make come true in
your life you can do that it is gonna
take an inhuman amount of work you're
gonna have to be prepared to break
yourself in half you're going to have to
learn more than anyone has ever learned
you can have to push yourself harder
than anyone has ever asked you to push
yourself before you're gonna go way
beyond your breaking point you're gonna
run until you vomit you're gonna study
until you fall asleep you're going to
push and push and push and then you're
gonna push some [ __ ] more and when
you hit the limit you're gonna push
again beyond that you're gonna force
yourself into an adaptation response and
why because it's Malcolm X said the
future belongs to those who prepare for
it today so if you don't put the work in
today if you don't do the unending
back-breaking work of developing
yourself into something greater the
world is gonna pass you by the people
that are going to own it are gonna be
the ones that did that work and the one
promise that I can make you right now is
that somebody somebody out there is out
working somebody right now is doing the
things that I'm saying somebody right
now is doing the work of failing and
getting up and getting better and
pushing themselves and triggering that
glorious adaptation response that makes
humans the apex predator someone right
now they're putting in that war
and if you don't the future is gonna
belong to them and as Martin Luther King
jr. said you can't fly than one if you
can't run then walk if you can't walk
then crawl but whatever you do you have
to keep moving forward it's not okay to
make excuses it's not gonna slow people
down it's not okay to ask the world to
stop so that you can step out front it's
not okay to expect little of yourself
and demand great rewards the only thing
that's okay is to be in line with the
way that the world really works and if
you want to be great you've got to
become capable of greatness you've got
to develop your skill set you've got to
take what you have now and if that's
crawling then [ __ ] crawl but you drag
yourself ever forward to a vision of
yourself that is so clear and so
specific that nothing could knock you
off your path because you my friend know
exactly where you're going you're
willing to pay whatever price it takes
to get there and no matter what anybody
says no matter how many [ __ ] hecklers
come for you no matter how many people
try to flow dirt on you try to stop you
try to knock you down no matter how many
[ __ ] people come for you at night
while you sleep you will rise and you
will keep pushing forward and you will
get better every day and no matter how
many times people chop it you knock you
down knock you up the path we will get
back on you will crawl so you can walk
through the walk till you run and then
you will run until you fly and that my
friends is the only path forward so if
you want a [ __ ] future that makes you
happy if you want a world that you're
excited about get your ass out there and
earn it as Thomas Edison said our
greatest weakness lies in giving up the
most certain way to succeed is to always
try one more time I know they're gonna
be a million times in your life where
you want to give up where you absolutely
ache with the desire to quit where
nothing sits inside of your gut
other than the certainty that you are
going to fail that you are not good
enough to push forward but that is to
fundamentally misunderstand the nature
of a failure the nature of a failure is
not to tell you who you are the nature
of a failure is to tell you a way that
didn't work it's to inform it's to
educate you it's to test you it's to be
a gut check to find out if you believe
in yourself enough to push forward even
when the world seems to be telling you
not to and as Brian Tracy said
attempt the impossible in order to
improve your
think about that for a second attempt
the impossible just to get better to try
the things that you know are going to
fail things that the world is going to
tell you simply cannot be but even if it
violates the laws of physics if there's
something in that attempt that you're
going to learn you owe it to yourself
you have a [ __ ] moral obligation to
try because all of the people that will
lie in your wake are the people that
didn't try simply because they didn't
believe that they could do it you have
to be willing to look at the world you
have to be willing to see things that
you yourself think are impossible and
try because in that you will stretch
yourself you have to be willing to look
inward at the state of your current
skill set and say I am going to play
outside of that I'm not going to play
words safe I'm going to play where it
hurts I'm going to play where I feel
clumsy I'm going to play only in the
areas that make me feel stupid because
in that I know that the way that the
brain responds is to adaptation but I
have to stress myself
you can't ever lose sight of that the
only way that the human animal adapts is
through stress you have to be willing to
break things in order to
so if you want to push the boundaries if
you want to see just how far you can go
if you want to succeed at the highest
level if you want to play on a global
scale you have got to be willing to try
the impossible because right now the
things that you need to do are
impossible for you but they won't remain
that way forever and as Aristotle said
pleasure in the job puts perfection in
the work this doesn't have to be a tale
of always being terrified everybody
myself included screaming at you telling
you that you need to go do something
great the part they're leaving out is
why the [ __ ] should you care
you should character this is the
greatest joy you should only listen to
this if it's leading you down a path
that makes you feel more alive and
that's the point the point is to get in
touch with something that makes you feel
great but not to let yourself starve or
be stopped by a fear that you'll fail by
a fear that it can't be done have fun
have the guts to enjoy yourself have the
guts to go out and attempt something
audacious and terrifying knowing that
all along if you're doing it right
you're gonna have a good time so all of
this going balls out trying to prove
something to yourself trying to do
something amazing never lose sight that
it's to build a better life never lose
sight of the fact that you're doing it
to create the person that you want to be
never lose sight of the fact that
be fun as JBS Haldane said the world
shall perish not for a lack of wonders
but for a lack of wonder everything
around you is incredible if you're
willing to look at it that way
everything around you can be taken for
granted if that's your perspective but
it really is about the frame that you
choose to put around things I mean
simply being alive is already insane the
odds are so stacked against you not only
just being a human but being a human at
this moment in time this moment in time
will breakthroughs in technology are
happening at at an unprecedented rate
where breakthroughs in medical science
are happening at an unprecedented rate
where our ability to connect with people
to empathize with people all the way
around the globe all of the changes that
have happened in technology and telecom
and connectivity health everything we're
living in the most miraculous time ever
but you have to look at it that way and
as Joseph Campbell said life is a
wonderful wonderful opera except that it
hurts so the question is do you see it
is the beautiful opera or do you just
pay attention to the pain and at the end
of the day you're gonna get where you
focus on they're both true this is both
the most amazing time that's ever
happened ever in recorded history and
yet real things that are terrifying are
also happening but where you put your
energy where you put your attention
where you put your focus is going to
determine what you see and that is the
most fascinating and the most important
thing you have to understand about the
way that your mind works you get when
you focus on if you focus on the things
that are bad they will become real they
will become exaggerated they will begin
to monopolize your thoughts you'll see
them everywhere it's called the
reticular activating system your mind is
literally designed to pay attention to
the things that you notice once you
notice a certain car you see it
everywhere once you notice
dog you see it everywhere once you hear
a certain name for the first time
suddenly realized that that name has
been all around you this entire time but
now that you're focusing on it now that
you're looking for it it is everywhere
so whatever you look for it's gonna be
everywhere if you look for the negative
you'll be there but if you look for the
positive it will overwhelm you and as
Joseph Campbell said people say what
we're all seeking as a meaningful life
but I don't think that's what we're
really seeking I think what we're
seeking is the experience of truly being
alive and that's it that's the juice
figuring out that thing that makes you
come alive
it isn't keeping up with the Joneses it
isn't how much you're getting paid it
isn't anything other than for you
something very specific will be
different for everyone but for you find
that thing that makes you come alive
focus on think about it
put your time and attention there shift
away from seeing the pain in the Opera
and instead seeing the wonderment in at
all seeing the glory that is just
everything around you the opportunities
the fact that you're alive
once you can see that those basic things
that you take for granted that you can
breathe into the nose and out through
the mouth all of that stuff once you
start seeing how were Acula sit really
is once you start seeing how we're
connected to each other once you
understand that the name of the game
isn't wealth
it isn't fame it isn't ambition or
success it's neuro chemistry it's
feeling a certain way it's finding
fulfillment in your life once you
realize that you'll understand this is a
game of attention and you entirely
control what you focus on so choose very
wisely my friends because your life will
literally become the summation of the
things that you look at
[Music]
you