He was born in an abandoned building and didn’t know his real parents.
He was raised as a foster kid and was labeled “educable mentally retarded” when he was in school.
He faced racism and discrimination as a child. He was fired from a radio show, which was his dream job. He survived Cancer and is now a 75 years old man with a child-like spirit!
He is the one and only – Les Brown.
As a man who has 9 children, 15 grandchildren, and 4 great-grandchildren, Brown cares deeply for the future generations.
So, for those who may be striving to survive or determined to thrive during these unprecedented times, take notes on these 3 valuable lessons from the #1 motivational speaker – this is a message for us millennials.
1. How to Use Social Media The Right Way To Succeed During This Pandemic
The world is changing. It is moving from the offline to the online world. And younger generations are spending more and more time online. But like everything in life, social media can be used in two ways – the good and the bad way.
Brown says that we should use social media for these 3 purposes:
- For self-development and building mental resilience
Sometimes, life will throw a lot of problems at you at once. But if you will have that mental toughness, you will come out victorious every time. Because tough times never last, tough people do.
So, follow people on social media who can make you a better version of yourself. Use it to build discipline, to learn something about life and to become tougher than ever before.
- To upgrade your skill sets
Times are tough. And times are also changing dramatically. Learning something today you didn’t know yesterday is important. It is something Les does every day. It is something every successful person does every day.
So, use social media to get better at your craft. Find mentors, teachers and experts who know more about your craft than you do.
- To create relationships with Only Quality People (OQP)
Now this one is really important. You will never make it big in your life if you try doing everything by yourself.
Create relationships with people who can help you grow, who can take you to the places you could never go by yourself and who can expand your vision and the possibilities in your life.
Use social media to find these people and cultivate lifelong relationships with them.
2. What to Do When You Are Going Through Tough Times (Like a COVID-19 crisis)
“Things will happen to you. Things will happen around you. But the only thing that matters is the thing which happens inside you”
Brown says that when this pandemic is over, there will be three types of people – Millionaires, Billionaires and Witnesses.
The people, who see the tough times as an opportunity to grow, who keep learning and upgrading themselves and who never give up, will always become millionaires and billionaires.
The rest will witness them becoming successful.
So when you are going through tough times, you should always focus inside you.
Keep that hunger alive, be relentless in the face of adversity and never stop. You should make a conscious-deliberate-determined effort.
And always remember what Arthur Williams Jr said:
“All you can do is all you can do. But all you can do is enough. So make sure you do all you can do”
3. Why Time Is the Most Important Thing in Your Life
Brown is now 75 years old.
He does not take a phone call unless it is Positive, Productive, and Profitable. For him, time is way more precious than money, because he can always lose his money and earn it back. But he can’t earn more time.
And the same thing goes for you. You don’t know how long you will live here. So, live every day as your last day, because one day it will be.
Don’t waste your time brooding over things that happened in the past. Instead, always see ahead in the future and plan how you can make the most out of what you have been given.
Horace Mann said, “You should be ashamed to die until you have made some contribution to humankind.”
We all have a lot to do for our society.
So, before you spend a minute on something, ask yourself: Is it positive, productive, and profitable?
If it is, only then spend your time working on it.
We will end this article with one of the quotes of Brown: “Do the things others won’t, so you can get the things others can’t.”
Always be hungry. Keep going. And never give up.
What is your favorite Les Brown quote which keeps you motivated? Drop it in the comments.
P.S. If you want to discover your own “power voice” like Les Brown, check out his training!
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