USE YOUR TIME WISELY – Les Brown

Introduction

Good morning, for the next five minutes, I’ve got a message for you today. I’m going to talk about it’s your time and to use your time wisely.

Reflections on Time

I have a quote that I want to speak from that triggered some thinking and it kept me up for quite a while. And if you’re one of those individuals who believe in synchronicity, there’s a saying that when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. One of the exciting things about what I do now, you know, you learn, you earn, you pass it on, is that I’m training other speakers. I’ve been speaking for a very long time, 52 years, and I love it. I still do. I love motivating people, I love encouraging people, I love making people laugh. I really do.

Early Encouragement

I remember when I was, I think I was in the fifth grade, and I was performing for the kids in the class that I was in. And the teacher said, you know what, they, you could be a comedian. She came in, she didn’t even punish me because she was outside the hall cracking up herself and got other teachers to come and watch me. I had a little routine, but laughter is important because life, things are tracking us, they’re things that are stalking us, they’re things that are trying to rob us of our happiness.

Seizing the Moment

And we’re in a good place right now. Just think about this: the air, it breathes better. I mean, there’s no drama. I’m not waking up in the morning thinking, “Did anything happen today?” Listen, and we want to maximize this moment. It’s your time, maximize this moment, take advantage of it. We just got through some stuff, and we’re still here, and you want to take advantage of it.

Productivity and Opportunity

See, here’s the thing, we’re here to take advantage of the time that we have been given. Herein, my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit. This is a time that we want to be very productive and very fruitful because this is a different landscape, this is a different environment. It’s your time, this is my time, let me include me in that as well. Yes. And so now, nobody’s going to bring anything to you, just put in your lap and say, “Do something with this.” No. Commit thy work, see, you’ve got to work for it, same thing.

Work Ethic

See if you’re not willing to work, nothing works. You could be given the best opportunity in the world and just have it laid out before you, and if you’re not willing to work, nothing works. I remember I went to see a friend of mine, and he was living on Miami Beach. His brother picked me up for me to go see this brand new home that he had bought on Miami Beach. Now, we’re coming over from Liberty City, and both of like four or five years older than I was at the time. But I remember this ride across the Venetian Causeway. He had this big, beautiful home, and as he took us around this big, beautiful home that was just completed, his brother asked and said, “Man, because they never spent much time with each other,” he said, “How did you get something like this?” And the older brother said, he said, “By a lot of hard work.” And the younger brother looked around and said, “I’m not willing to do that.” Did you hear that? “I’m not willing to do that.” And then we had lunch and we drove.

Reflecting on Past Choices

Back across the Venetian Causeway, going back to the life that we were living, which was not a good life, we were surviving. And it just kept reverberating in my head what he said, “I’m not willing to do that.” See, when you look at people, for the most part, wherever you find yourself, there, that’s where you made a decision to be because based upon how much work are you willing to put in to change your situation, that’s that. And when I look at myself, people always ask me, like there’s some magical response, “How did you go from just coming from Liberty City and Overtown here in Miami and selected to be the Golden Gavel Award from Toastmasters or the CPAE award, the highest award from the National Speakers Association, all selected as one of the top five speakers in the world?” I was willing to work. Most people aren’t willing to do that. They have people all over the world that have to select who that person will be that will be in that elite group of the top five in the world: General Norman Schwarzkopf, Robert Schuler, he had a television program, and myself, and Paul Harvey, he had a nationally syndicated radio show. I didn’t have any of that, but I was working. Those people who had to cast a vote, they saw me at some time because I was moving. I want you to write this out, keep it moving. I learned that from my mother. It was not unusual when you came home to Mamie Brown’s house, and we had a small, we had a little small house. It was not unusual that the furniture would be reconfigurated, and I wondered, how did Mama do that with such limited space? That’s how, one thing, but why? She was always changing things up.

Avoiding Complacency

You see, one of the things that you don’t want to do is become comfortable with where you are when you know in your heart of hearts you can have more and you can do more, and there’s a life for you beyond survival. See, what it takes to survive, what it takes to live are two different things. And I just felt, I don’t know where that came from, that I can do more. Here’s what I did know, that where I was, that didn’t work for me. That did not work for me. And I’m astonished when I go back to Miami and I see some of the same people in the same place. I’m astonished. Yes, yes, yes. So you’ve got to keep it moving. Mamie Brown was always keeping it moving. I got to tell you this. I was traveling and I was doing a tour for Sprint, I think it was. I came home and I came in the door, and to my right, there was a window. Did you hear me? There was a window. There was some demolition of some houses in that area, and my mother got somebody to go drag a window that had been taken out of a house and put it in our living room. So I asked, I said, “Mama, what is it, Leslie? What, why is this big? What is, why is this window here?” “You say you’re gonna buy me a home, right?” “Yes, ma’am.” “Well, I don’t know if you’re gonna build it or just buy what has already been built, but in case you decide to build it, you don’t have to buy all windows for it. I got one window here, there’s another house that’s been demolished down the street, and I’m gonna send Mr. Shorty down there to get that.” I said, “No, no, no, no, no, don’t do that, don’t do that.” Let me tell you something, that put a fire under me. I got that house quick, fast in a hurry, immediately if not sooner, yesterday it would have got a window. And every time I passed that window, it jarred me. “Don’t you touch it.” “Yes, ma’am.” Mama, Mom, May, rather, say, “Don’t touch it, don’t touch it.” All right, so keep it moving. We’re here to work, commit thy works, plural, keep it moving, and if you’re going in the wrong direction, you discover, but keep it moving. This is no place to stand still. This is an incredible opening here, and all good times have an expiration date, just like the bad times, but keep it moving.

Seizing Opportunities

And then when you are going through some stuff during the challenging times in your life, if you keep it moving, you’ll get out faster. I’m telling you, if you keep it moving, you’ll get blessings out of nowhere. Listen to me, out of nowhere, activity, working, doing the best you can, it activates your angels to give you blessings that you did not even know. I got a phone call the other day, and it was a jaw-dropper. I said, “Count me in.” And it just came out of nowhere. But it was because of the work that I’ve been doing. This man said, “I’ve been listening to you for a long time, I’ve been going through some stuff for years, and I heard you, and you brought me out, and I want to do something special for you, I want to bless you.” I’m saying to you, you have the opportunity to be a blessing to somebody. I’m thinking about the fact that each day that we wake up, as Oren Hudson would say, it’s the best day of your life. You get up with that kind of mindset. I’m encouraging you to do that. Today, when somebody asks you, “Hey, child, how you doing?” “It’s the best day of my life.” “Is that right? What, you caught the lottery?” “No, it’s the best day of my life.” I’m telling you, yes it is. What makes the best day of your life? The fact that I’m here. You don’t believe it’s the best day? Try missing one. Yes. See, you want to focus, have your mindset on your goal. I had my mindset, I was gonna buy my mother a home. I had my mindset, I’m gonna make it happen no matter what. I had my mindset, looking for a way to generate the money to get to that next level, to get beyond where we were in Liberty City, and had a lot of stress, struggles, and stuff happening, and stuff happens too.

Encouraging Initiative and Ambition

Everybody, everybody, don’t ask, “Why does that have to happen to me? Why not you?” You want to give us some names and some emails, and don’t go around telling everybody. Eighty percent don’t care, and twenty percent are glad it’s you and not them. (Laughter) Yes, oh yes. Listen, you’re God’s favorite child. If not, you’ll be taking a dirt nap. We are chosen to be here at this point in time, and this is our time. We just survived some incredible drama, and we are still standing. Therefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, that having done all to stand. So, what does it take? What does that armor look like? Write this down: initiative.

Taking Initiative and Learning

Take the initiative to create something different for yourself, for your family, for your future, and for your legacy. Take the initiative to create something that you don’t have right now. Yeah, initiative. See, most people don’t talk about initiative. Here’s something else that part of that armor is: ambition, that just the unwillingness to settle. I like… I was Bill Withers, he had a song years ago, “Use Me, Baby, Use Me Up.” You want life to use you up. Most people, they take their talents, their abilities, their art, and all of their stuff to the grave with them. You don’t know what’s stalking you, you don’t know what life is going to throw at you. Some of that stuff is going to land, it’s a part of the process. Life is difficult. I wish I could tell you that if you just tithe and go to church or the synagogue or wherever you go for your spiritual fulfillment, that nothing’s going to happen to you. Well, stuff’s going to happen. But I can say this to you: if you’re anchored properly, it will not prosper against you. All right, you will be able to brush it out of the way and keep moving. So, taking the initiative, initiative to create something else, using your mind, being actively engaged in life. Here’s something else: as you look at yourself, look at your goals. Keep moving and keep learning. Keep moving and keep learning. This is a brand new place, this is a brand new landscape, it’s a brand new world, and in a brand new world, you need some brand new tools to navigate it. The tools that we use in the 2020 era, that won’t cut it. The tools that we used before the coronavirus, that won’t cut it. And now, they’ve got a mutation that says it spreads easier and it’s more lethal. Wait a minute now, we’ve got to be mindful, not frightened, but mindful, and say, “How is it I need to conduct myself so that I don’t make some irresponsible decisions that can take me out?” I’ve got to be mindful of the air that I breathe. And so, you say, “Oh, that’s just too bothersome.” Oh, okay, good. Can I get some life insurance on you? Let me tell you, you’ve got to deal with what is. I’m tired of this corona thing, did you hear me? I’m tired, I’m sick. No, no, no, no, I’m not gonna say I’m sick and tired, I’m tired of it. It’s gotten on my last nerve. All right, but I can deal with it. I’m not willing to be so tired and irritated that I won’t wear a mask, of the two masks. He’s saying it’s better to wear two masks now. No, I’m not doing that. No, oh, is that right? I just, please, you know, when you go, you don’t want everybody to be crying. Make my day, can I get a policy on you? Just sign right here, because I’m gonna do it. I’ve got my little Mickey Mouse mask, mm-hmm, and I’ve got another one with Minnie Mouse. Tyrone, if they say you need to wear 12 masks so that you don’t end up on a ventilator in a hospital, you’ve got to wear 12 masks. So as we are trying to decide who’s going to get medical care, eeny, meeny, miny, moe, homie ain’t doing that. No, no, no, no, no, no. They said two masks, I’m wearing three, and I’ve got a shield. I woke up, you know? I want one, but if corona knocks on my back door and I open the door and I’ve got on three masks and a face shield, he said, “Oh, there he goes, always overdoing it. We can’t get to it, let’s go someplace else.” That’s what I’m talking about. I want to live because I’m having a good time. I’m having a good time, and I don’t want to be on a ventilator, I don’t want to be closed up anywhere, no, no, and all I can see are their eyes. And no, no, that does not sound like a good time for me, no. So, this is why I enjoy making money from home. This is, people are sleeping on this. Don’t sleep on this. When you can make money from home, people say, “How can you laugh so much?” I wish you could see my phone when you can make money from home.

Creating Special Moments and Taking Initiative

Virtually speak and don’t have to get on a plane and looking at the person next to you, and when lunchtime comes, they’ve got to take their mask off to eat, and you look at her and turn your head the other way, don’t look this way as you are chewing, saying, “What is he talking about?” Yes, yes. So, you want to take the initiative to create something different for yourself. You want to practice social distancing from people and the refrigerator. You want to go all out to take the steps that you need to take to keep you here longer, to add life to your years as well as years to your life. Does that make sense?

Cherishing Special Moments and Embracing Greatness

Here’s something else: create special moments. When I come to speak to you at this time, it’s special to me. I love you, yes, I do. I love you, oh, how I do. I love you, yes, I do. I love you, oh, how I do. In taking lessons, I’m coming for you, oh, be. “Hey, what a voice, he sounds so much like Nat King Cole.” That’s another ticket, you can’t handle that.

Embracing Opportunities and Confidence

Oh, look here, I’ll tell you something, and you can’t make this stuff up. When Gladys Knight and I were married, I decided that I wanted to sing, so she took me to a friend of hers that I would take some singing lessons from. And she was taking me through some, I guess, vocal exercises. A husband came in the back door, and he spoke to us, was polite, went in the kitchen, and he’s very quiet in there, and all of a sudden, we heard something, boom. And we ran in the kitchen, he had hit the floor, and he had been drinking while I was in there practicing, trying to learn how to speak. Now, Gladys will tell you that if you ask me, she’ll tell you every, “How to sing,” she’ll tell you. And he said, “You can’t sing, give him his money back. I got drunk listening to you, that was horrible, oh my God.” He kept living, he said, “You sound like you’re gobbling razor blades.” Some people are cruel, that was not nice. I didn’t sing for a long time. One time I tried to sing to her, and she said, “Will you go to hell to sleep?” I thought she would say, “Well, there’s a voice in there somewhere.” No, she wouldn’t lie. You can see, I’m fired up today. Listen, you have something special, you have greatness in you. This is your time. Use this time to learn a new way of earning money. The major corporations are doing it. They have their people working from home, the majority working from home. So you want to jump on the bandwagon. People say, “Opportunity knocks on every door,” no, stands by silently waiting for you to recognize it. This has been Mrs. Mimi Brown’s baby boy. You have something special, you’re God’s miracle child. Some great stuff’s going to happen to you today. “Thou shall decree a thing, that shall be established unto you.” You are a masterpiece because you’re a piece of the master. Be with that, meditate on that, and keep your eye focused on your dream. You were born to live your dreams, not your fears. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of sound mind. Y’all miss my flat top, don’t you? My kid and play flat top. I’m gonna grow it again because I can, but no time soon. “What about customers?” said, “I don’t want you to show up with a… with a flat top thing, you know.” Well, you don’t tell me how to wear my hairstyle. “Oh, well, you know, we’re paying $70,000 on this engagement, I guess we can find somebody else.” I said, “You can tell me how to cut my hair anytime you so like. If I had some scissors or clippers, I’ll cut it right now. I got a speaking engagement, there’s no shame in my game. If I see a little extra growth, I’m cutting it off. I think I’m gonna miss out on $70,000, 70 for some hair.” “Oh, he’s so cute, he’s so funny.” Yes, I am. Oh, I love you so much, I love you so much. And bye for now.