It’s Your Time

You Are Molding Now What You Will Be In The Future

- By Les Brown & John-Leslie Brown

You have something special. You have Greatness in you. I don’t know you,

but, based upon my own experience, I know that all of us have Greatness within us.

However, in order to reach it, in order to tap into it, in order to express it, it

requires a certain level of hunger. It requires tapping into a part of yourself that

goes below the surface.

Hunger goes beyond desiring something. It goes beyond just thinking about

it. Hunger has to be a deep seated to carry you through the tough times.

In order to tap into your Greatness, you must tap into a part of yourself where very

few people go. You’ve gotta be hungry for something that gives your life meaning,

hungry for something like a baby wants its mother’s love, hungry like a drowning

man wants air, hungry for something that gives you your light. Hunger can

manifest itself in many ways.

I remember the birth of hunger in me. That hunger was the desire to take

care of my mother and to put her in a position where she never again had to work

for other families on Miami Beach. They would say, “Mamie, you can take the

leftovers home to those children you’ve adopted.” I appreciated that, but I wanted

to be able to buy our own food.

Mama kept children on Miami Beach. I was appreciative of the clothes the

families gave us as their children grew up, but I was hungry to wear clothes that no

one else had ever worn before. Most of all, I was hungry to be able to set my

mother down.

There was something in me that went beyond that which is logical, practical

and reasonable. I felt that even though I had no evidence to point to that would

prove that I could do it I had a hunger to take care of my mother and buy her a

home.

A particular place and time gave birth to that hunger in me. It created a fierceness

in me that refused to be denied. I’ll never forget it.

Our next door neighbor, Ruby, worked for a woman named Mrs. Harris.

Ruby was ill one day and couldn’t work. She asked my mother to substitute in for

her for the day. My mother took me with her to work on Miami Beach. I was

given assignments to go outside and rake the leaves, and to come into the house

to clean spots off of the floor.

While I was in the kitchen Mrs. Harris, said, “Mamie, I want you to go into

the other room and find my purple and yellow hat. I want to wear that today. It’s

sunny.” My mother went into the room and I heard something. My mother started

clapping her hands. I was curious.

I called, “Mama.” She said, “What is it, Boy?” I said, “Why are you

clapping your hands?” She said, “Don’t worry about it.” After a while she came out

of the room and told Mrs. Harris that the hat wasn’t in there. Mrs. Harris sent her to

check in another room. When my mother got in there she started clapping her

hands again. I called, “Mama.” She said, “What is it, Leslie?” This time she was

irritated. I asked, “Why are you clapping your hands?” She again said, “Don’t you

worry. Just pay attention to what you’re doing.”

All of a sudden Mrs. Harris came over to me and said, “I can tell you why

she’s clapping her hands.” I looked up at her from the pail of water, the wash cloth

still in my hand. “Why, Ma’am?” She said, “Because she’s looking for something

for me. When I have people working for me, and I have them looking for

something, I make them clap their hands to make sure they’re not stealing.”

I dropped the washcloth. I stood up. I knew I was taking a chance because,

at that time, we weren’t supposed to look white people in the eyes. I said, “Ma’am,

my mother is not a thief. She’s an honest woman. When she comes to replace Miss

Ruby, and when she takes care of your children, she wouldn’t steal from anybody.”

Mrs. Harris just looked at me and walked away.

I knelt-down, with tears in my eyes. That day I made a commitment. My

mother would never, ever have to work in a humiliating environment, where

someone would make her clap her hands because they think that she’s stealing.

When we left and caught the bus back over the Venetian Causeway to

Liberty City, I didn’t talk much. I was looking out of the window. I was furious,

and I was crying. Mama said, “What’s wrong with you, Leslie? You haven’t said

much.” I said, “I’m mad.” She asked, “Why are you mad?” I said, “Because I’m

not a man! I’m not a man. If I was a man now, I could work, and I could take care

of you.” She said, “You’ll be a man soon enough.” I said, “I wanna be a man now!

If I was a man, I we would never have to wait to see if there is any food left from

the food that other people have eaten. We’d never have to wear clothes that other

people have worn all year. If I was a man now, nobody would ever make you clap

your hands because they think that you’re stealing.”

She said, “Mrs. Harris told you that, did she?” I said, “Yes, Ma’am. If I was

a man now, you’d only cook for me, and I would pay all of your bills, and you’d

never go through that again.” I turned to look out of the window.

That was the birth of a hunger that exploded in me. The hunger said no one would

ever humiliate my mother again in that way. It’s Your Time

///

My dad, Leslie, and his twin brother Weslie, were among the first babies my

grandmother adopted. They resided in a part of Miami known as Liberty City.

Ironically, liberty was hard to find in Liberty City. If you really wanted liberty, you

needed to catch a jitney or a bus to Miami Beach. At least, that is what Ms. Mamie

Brown had to do in order to take care of all her adopted children. This was the

1950s, and the only decent work Ms. Mamie Brown could find was either as a

cafeteria worker or as a maid and cook for the wealthy people who lived on Miami

Beach. Hardly spoiled for choice. However, my grandmother never let that hold

her back and, true to form, she stepped up to her role and did whatever it took to

provide for her family.

Even though Ms. Mamie Brown never made a lot of money, her mindset and

skill set made it possible for a new dynasty to emerge. Her whatever-it-takes

attitude towards life and fulfilling her dream as a mother is what eventually gave

us the opportunity to write this book. Mamie Brown is essentially co-authors of the

It’s Your Time master mind curriculum. Without her sacrifices, I would have never

had the opportunity to participate in the family business.

Growing up, my dad was the toughest kid in the house, but that didn’t stop

him being vulnerable at times. He didn’t know that he was adopted until one day

he was playing football with some kids outside. While my dad was boasting about

a touchdown he had made, one of the kids shouted, “Shut up fool, that’s why

you’re adopted.” At first my dad didn’t believe it, but when he went into the house

and asked my grandma if it was true, there was no point in a denial.

Contrary to what you would expect, this experience only made his heart

open up more. He saw how hard his mother was working to provide for them and

that made him truly appreciate the chance in life that he’d been given.

Not long later, my father went with my grandmother to help clean the home

of a local family called the Suderskis. My dad enjoyed this because the Suderski

family had a son of the same age, named David. As fate would have it, this

particular day happened to be David’s 16th birthday.

While my dad and David were talking in the office, Mr Suderski came in to

give his son two presents and, as he did so, said, “One present is much more

valuable than the other.” My father vividly tells this story from the stage and I

can’t help but wonder, if he didn’t catch the bus with my grandma that day, what

might our lives had looked like.

As David unwrapped the first gift, he discovered that it contained a key.

“This is yours, Son. I hope you enjoy it”, smiled Mr Suderski, while explaining

that it was the key to David’s very own boat. Think about how little Leslie must

have felt. He had never seen his Dad. Never hugged him. Never even knew him.

But now he was witnessing David Suderski’s father give him a boat for his

birthday. That is the type of liberty that just did not exist in Liberty City. Suddenly

my father was learning about all these incredible possibilities first hand. What it

means to grow up in the gutter, and what it means to grow up in greatness.

As you would imagine, David was truly excited about the boat, but Mr

Suderski still had another gift lying in wait. One that he claimed was even more

valuable. “Son, this gift that I share with you now is precious. It has helped me to

build my fortune, and if you can study and master this, you’ll be set for life.”

Hidden behind his back he slowly revealed a record. It was one of the first

motivational albums ever produced and mass marketed: “The Strangest Secret In

The World” by Earl Nightingale.

David pretended to be excited about the record but when his father left the

room, he tossed it in the trash can. My dad saw this and, bewildered, asked, “Why

would you do that? Your dad said that was worth more than the boat.”

“It doesn’t matter. After he dies I inherit everything anyway,” replied David

with a shrug.

Young Leslie was intrigued by the record. He really wanted to find out about

the strangest secret in the world that helped the Suderski family build their

dynasty. He asked David if it was okay to take it out of the trash and if when he

came over sometimes he could listen to it on his record player. David agreed. And

the Brown Dynasty was born.

The First Family of Motivation

Earl Nightingale, the Dean of Personal Development, as he was known,

became the H.A.R.V.A.R.D. Effect professor for my dad during the 1950s. When

he was listening to The Strangest Secret in the World, he had no idea that this one

recording would change the course of his future.

Earl Nightingale was a radio host who went on to receive the Golden Gavel

award from Toastmasters International. After reading a book called Think and

Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill at the age of 29, young Nightingale figured out an

answer for a deep curiosity he had about life. He wondered about the true meaning.

Even in his twenties, he was exploring his self worth and doing his best to figure

out his purpose.

“Success”, stated Earl Nightingale, “is the progressive realization of a

worthy ideal.” My dad would hear these words as he watched his adoptive mother

clean the Suderski estate floors and reflect on his own worthy ideal.

“Throughout all history, the great wise men, teachers, philosophers and

prophets have disagreed with one another on many different things. It’s only on

this one point that they are in complete and unanimous agreement.” Young Leslie

listened in amazement as the Dean of Personal Development whispered the

strangest secret in the world. That secret, according to Earl Nightingale, is this:

“We become what we think about.”

Leslie was captivated by Nightingale, perhaps because of my father’s

reputation of being stupid. He was held back in school twice and was labeled

“educable mentally retarded”- having below-average mental function. His friends

used to call him D.T, short for dumb twin. As he listened in awe to the timeless

wisdom of Earl Nightingale, this young boy had no idea that as a man, he would

join Earl Nightingale in the Speaker’s Hall of Fame and also receive the Golden

Gavel Award from Toastmaster’s International for himself.

///

I grew up in the greatness of the secret that Earl Nightingale shared with my

dad. Some kids grow up watching cartoons. Some kids grow up playing with

blocks. I grew up listening to Earl Nightingale and memorizing Marcus Garvey

monologues. I had no idea that our family was different.

By the time I was 5 years old, my grandmother’s floor cleaning days were

over. Her little boy Leslie had managed to find a worthy ideal. He had utilized the

H.A.R.V.A.R.D. Effect to become the Earl Nightingale of the 80s. He would go on

to produce his first set of motivational audio programs entitled Getting Unstuck,

and Keys To Self-Motivation, Power of a Larger Vision and You Gotta Be

Hungry. These would be the lullabies that raised me.

Even though we did not live together at the time, I never felt separated from

the family business. Before going out on one particular speaking tour, my

assignment was to study the speakers who graced the stage a year before my father.

After watching their full presentations, he would ask me to make suggestions and

to outline their most impactful pointers. I had no idea at the time that I was being

trained up to be a part of a motivational team that had never existed before.

By the time I was 9 years old, my dad was a massive success in the human

potential industry. I would watch how hard he worked to customize presentations

for his corporate audiences. Those are still my warmest memories. All of his

success came from progressing toward one simple yet worthy ideal. That ideal was

to buy Ms. Mamie Brown a home. That was the ideal that started my dad’s awe-

inspiring career. Little did he know that he would eventually buy my grandmother

not just a home, but three different homes.

In just one generation, under Mamie Brown’s leadership, she adopted and

raised a son that would help the Brown family transition from cleaning other

people’s floors on Miami Beach, to hiring housekeepers to come and clean her

floors on Miami Beach. Taking in the beautiful basketball court and Olympic size

swimming pool with a slide, I truly believed that my Dad was a super hero. Even

though he never went to college, he found a way to graduate to a level in life that

only few can imagine.

Everything was perfect. I felt as happy as I imagine David Suderski felt

when he received the key to his boat. But then our family was rocked by the worst

thing that could happen. My grandmother, the wonderful woman who had devoted

all the warmth in her heart to her family, was diagnosed with breast cancer.

On my 10th birthday- May 22nd 1994- I found myself sitting down in the

living room trying to grasp my head around moving into the double digits of age.

In a complete contrast to the usual hustle and bustle of family life, the house was

still. Silent. The uncertainty was apparent. All of my grandmother’s adopted

children were in the house and the sadness hung so heavy in the air that it felt

smothering. Since I was so young, I didn’t really understand what had happened

and was thinking more about my birthday than anything else. That is until my

father walked out of the room with tears in his eyes, something I had never seen

before. He had held his beloved mother’s hand as she took her last breath. That

day, my tenth birthday, my grandmother had passed away.

As everybody wept, I wondered how we were going to get through this as a

family unit. I wondered how my Dad was ever going to give a speech about her

without breaking down. I wondered if it was some type of sign that she passed

away on this particular day and, if so, what did it mean?

Several days later, during my grandmother’s funeral, the First Family of

Motivation was born. The church was filled with people whose lives she had

touched. Press was outside trying to ask my dad questions. At the time, my dad

was married to the legendary singer Gladys Knight and she sang a beautiful song

in honor of my grandma. But the truly remarkable turn of events was yet to come.

During the service, the chaplain asked if anyone wanted to get up and share

something from their heart about Mamie Brown. As I sat there, a young boy of just

10 years old, I felt compelled to share. This would be the first time that I had ever

touched a microphone. This would be the first time that I would ever look at an

audience from a platform and taste their disbelief in the air. This would be the first

time that I would open my heart and allow my words to latch onto somebody

else’s.

That day I wasn’t speaking to the audience. I was speaking to my

grandmother. The only reaction that I remember was the look in my dad’s eyes

after the service was over, when it was just me and him. He told me that one day

my voice will carry the family name to the next generation. He told me that I was

gifted. He said there was greatness in me. Obviously shocked that I had the

courage to share at such a young age, the following week he asked if I would travel

on the road with him and introduce him before he spoke at his engagements. I

thought of how my grandma would feel and knew that she would be proud, so I

readily agreed. The next week, I was on tour with the top speaker in the world- my

dad- and he became my professor and my biggest cheerleader as well as my coach.

Eventually I was doing such a great job at introducing him that I was

assigned different motivational monologues to memorize. My dad would randomly

bring me up before audiences of thousands of people to test whether or not I had

truly learned it. As the saying goes, “If you stay ready, you don’t have to get

ready.” I didn’t have to worry. When it came to representing on behalf of Mamie

Brown., I was hungry. It’s Your Time

///

Things will happen to you in life that can make you better, or bitter. In that

hunger that began to develop me as a person, and my character. All of the

humiliating things that I experienced as a child living in an environment that was

designed to destroy my sense of myself, including going to the back of the bus,

having inferior books in school that were five years old and had pages torn out,

being beaten because I had mistakenly gone to the Whites only water fountain, all

of these things formed a level of hunger in me that drove me and still drives me to

this day to continually change my life.

There are some things that you experience in life that you won’t see until

you look back. I think of the time that I spent shining the shoes of Mr. Sidursky

while he listened to Earl Nightingale, The Strangest Secrets, Lead the Field. “All of

us are self-made, but only the successful will admit it.” “We become what we think

about.” This all tilted the scale for me. Something exploded in me through all of

these experiences. I decided my way out and my way to living the kind of life that

he was living, I had to get better. People often asked me how I got started in all of

this. It started with shining shoes and being around wealthy people. Seeing wealth

and seeing myself living in a fancy mansion and not just cleaning one.

While I shined his shoes and thought, one day, I’ll have shoes like that. I

remember fantasizing as I looked around his home and saw the big beautiful

pictures and furniture. He had thick carpet. We had linoleum on the floor. He had

air conditioning. We had fans only in southern Florida. All of these things created a

hunger in me for a better life, not only to take care of my mother, but for a better

life for me too.

I remember watching Jackie Gleeson and the June Taylor dancers, Jimmy

Durante, and Milton Burle. I lived in a fantasy world, listening to positive words,

and, seeing the wealth while cleaning the homes of wealthy people, something

dropped in my spirit that told me I deserved this too. These thoughts drove me to

begin to focus on programming myself for success.

As you think of your life right now, what is it that you’re hungry for? They

say that the two most important days in our lives are the day that we’re born, and

the day that we discover why we were born. Once you discover what that is, then

go to work immediately on yourself.

Mr. Sidursky gave his son David the motivational messages he listened to.

David had no interest in them. He gave them to me. I saturated my mind with those

messages for years. It changed my thinking. The recordings I listened to constantly

said we become what we think about. I was thinking about becoming successful

and wealthy so I could make a difference to my mother and my brothers and

sisters.

As you think about your goals and dreams one of the first step in developing

them is to feed them with a fierceness, with a deep down resolve, and with an

unconquerable spirit. You want to feed it with a desire that just won’t be denied.

You need to employ drive, discipline, focus, dedication and determination while

you see your goal as if it already is.

KNOWING IN YOUR SPIRIT

Part of being hungry is keeping alive the spirit of optimism that I can do

this. Tennis great, Serena Williams, is no stranger to this concept. She was so

hungry to win the June 2013 French Open, and so certain of her ability to win it,

that she worked hard, won the competition, and then, to the amazement of

everyone present, delivered her acceptance speech in French. That is a level of

knowing and hunger that is amazing. She invested the time and energy to learn to

speak French because she KNEW she it was her time.

Part of what drives hunger is a knowing in your spirit. You have no evidence

to support it, but there’s an energy about you and a feeling that says I’ve got this.

This is mine. There’s an energy about you that takes no prisoners and eats the

wounded. That’s what she had, and she won.

That dimension in Serena, that quality in her, is in you too. It’s in all of us,

but we have to call it forth. We have to be determined to dig down deep within

ourselves to practice and take the training and do what is required to allow us to go

beyond that place that is commonly accepted by others. It’s Your Time

///

Contrary to what Facebook and many dating apps may believe, you are not

the face that you see in the mirror. The body is composed of bone and cellular

tissue. You are not your body. You have a body. But you are more than the vehicle

that you use to live. Your body temple is what you have, but your dream temple is

what you are.

Your dream phase represents the authentic data of your identity. Your dream

says more about who you are than your name or even your DNA. I often wonder,

when did they begin to label our highest ideas as dreams? We know what a dream

is when a person is sleeping? But why did they start labeling our worthy ideas

dreams?

In ancient times, before the days of the smart phone and hd television, a

dream while a person slept was the most engaging form of entertainment. It was

the grand cinema of life, in which every man and woman received a ticket to

attend. Many civilizations including the Greeks considered the dream phase while

sleeping, a medium between our earthly world and that of the gods. This was

before the days when science used technology to study what happens in the brain

while our heads rest on our pillows. Many years later, the philosopher Carl Jung

taught most of modern society that the dreams we have while sleeping represent

unresolved repressed wishes.

Later down the line in history, curious minds who call themselves

neuroscientists would discover the science of dreaming. They teach us that the

dream phase of sleeping usually occurs in only 1 of the 5 stages of sleep. The 5th

stage of sleep, also known as the REM stage, is a fascinating concept. It is during

this stage that researchers learned about the rapid eye movement that takes place

behind the closed lashes of a sleeper.

Every time I ever went to sleep, I didn’t think about what stage of sleep I

was in. I just thought sleep was sleep. So did the ancient Greeks. I had no idea

about how our brains produce 5 different types of electrical waves and that when

we dream the brain waves known as “theta” become more active. The “theta” wave

is responsible for activating the part of the brain that generates mental imagery.

Now we can really examine why we call our worthy ideas dreams and why

the dream phase while awake is so crucial for massive achievement. At Rome

University there was a breakthrough in sleep science while a research team was

investigating something called dream recall. They wanted to study the reason why

some people remember their dreams while others don’t. During their experiment,

where they invited 65 students to spend two nights in their laboratory and they

connected their brains to an EEG machine. It was revealed that the

neurophysiological mechanisms that we employ while dreaming (and recalling

dreams) are the same as when we construct and retrieve memories while we are

awake.

Dream Paralysis

Maybe the Greeks were right. Maybe Carl Jung wasn’t wrong. The fact of

the matter remains that they did not have access to the science of dreaming like we

do today. I am not a neuroscientist or a philosopher. I am a second-generation

motivator. My job in this book is to share the science of a different type of dream.

Not the ones that you have when your eyes are closed. But the ones that you feel

when your heart is open. To find out more about dream recall Christina Marzano

and her Italian research team studied the brain. But to truly analyze the dreams that

I’m referring to, we must examine heart waves instead. I think that the reason why

we call our greatest ideas dreams is because once we experience our dream phase,

sometimes it’s hard for us to believe that it is truly reality.

When you bring your dreams to life, and watch them appear in our earthly

realm sometimes we can believe that it is some type of neurological illusion. Like

maybe it’s your “theta” waves playing tricks on you. Yes, the dreams that are

inside you when you sleep and the dreams you have when you are awake are very

different, but they actually have a lot more in common than most people realize.

There is a rare mental disorder called Charcot-Wilbrant Syndrome. It is

when people can lose the functions of the brain and they cease to dream during

sleep hours. It is a type of mind blindness. Unfortunately, there are many people in

our societies that suffer from this unnatural syndrome during their awake hours as

well.

My Dad was speaking to a group in South Africa a short time ago. He gave a

60 minute presentation to a group of thousands who were seeing him on their

continent for the first time. A land that Napoleon Hill and Earl Nightingale never

set foot on. A land that has been oppressed until recent years where the strangest

secret in the world still remains a secret. He told them that they had the power to

live their dreams. No matter how big it was, he saw first hand in his own life how

dreams can come true. When he finished, the crowd erupted in applause as they

usually do. ( #MyDadisawesome) But after this particular speech, there was a

question from the audience that he had never received in his 40 plus years of being

an intellectual resource. One of the participants saw him after the speech and

humbly asked, “Mr. Brown, thank you for travelling all the way to our country to

teach us how to live our dreams. But Mr. Brown. How do you dream?”

In order to dream while you are awake, it requires more than your eyes to be

open. Just as it requires more to dream while you are a sleep than for your eyes to

be closed. We will not have the luxury that the dream phase in life provides us,

unless we find ourselves in a REM state of awakening. Just as neuroscientists have

discovered the REM stage of sleep which stands for rapid eye movement. This is

the only time we really dream while sleeping and if you are woken up while in

REM sleep you are most likely to recall the dreams that you have. I have

discovered that in life, there is a REM state of being awake. This REM state stands

for Repetitious Empowering Message.

When one hears a repetitious empowering message over and over again, just

as my Dad listened to David Sidursky’s record over and over again, it stimulates

the brain in your heart that enables dream capability. Some people suffer from

mind blindness and are unable to dream while they are awake because they have

never been exposed to a repetitious empowering message. So many messages that

they are exposed to are negative and depressing. When they analyze the political

landscape or the economy or the news, it can be difficult to find inspiration that

stimulates the “theta” waves of the heart into a mental image of a better future.

Dreams while you are asleep, are formed in the head during the REM stage

of sleeping. Dreams while you are awake, are formed in the heart during the REM

stage of awakening.

Some people know what their dream is. They have heard repetitious

empowering messages and they actually believed them. They stop looking at what

is happening in their marketplace or in the news and they get in tune with their

heartmath. Sometimes it is hard to see how your greatness will add up to anything

when you do the math in your head. But there is a new type of arithmetic that the

HeartMath Institute has discovered which has given way to a new discipline

known as neurocardiology.

In 1991, seven years after Ms. Mamie Brown passed away, Dr. J. Andrews

Armour discovered that there is a sophisticated nervous system in the heart that

qualifies as a ‘little brain’. The little brain of the heart is composed of an elaborate

network that is very similar to the brain in our heads. This is the place where

dreams are born. Remember, you are not your skin color or your social security

number. You are not your bank account and you are more than a bunch of cells

wrapped in flesh. It’s Your Time.

///

Hunger can be sparked when your back is to the wall. I think about my attorney,

Shaune Arnold, who, as a young teenager, was hungry to be free of her parents,

who were physically and emotionally abusive.

Wise beyond her years, she felt that if she didn’t take action to divorce her parents,

someone was going to die. This hunger to be free of their grasp drove her to pick

up the telephone at the tender age of 14 and call the police. That call would

ultimately change the course of her life. She separated from her family and went

into foster care in New York City for the remainder of her childhood. She says she

wouldn’t change a thing. Hunger for a new life drove Shaune to make a choice that

day that many adults would not make. She credits her deep hunger for taking her

from foster care to fostering a successful career in law, and as a powerful, dynamic

corporate speaker and trainer. Shaune has turned the unfortunate circumstances of

her childhood into an opportunity to pour into the lives of others by providing the

framework that enables audience members to enjoy their personal and professional

journey while building a solid foundation for their business.

THE SPIRIT OF OPTIMISM

People who are hungry have a predisposition of optimism. They have a

feeling deep in their spirit that if there’s a will, there’s a way. Sometimes hunger

can be sparked, not by the desire for a new life, but, rather, by the desire to

recapture an old one. The human spirit is truly resilient, and, sometimes,

indominable. Martin Pistorius was just 12 years old when he contracted meningitis.

Despite being under a doctor’s care, Martin lapsed into a coma. The doctor told his

father to take him home, make him comfortable, and let him die.

A series of nurses would come to his home to care for him. Because of his

catatonic state many of the caregivers would abuse him terribly. They would spill

hot coffee on him and hit him. Far worse than this, however, were the endless days

spent propped in a wheelchair listening to endless loops of Barney re-runs. The

hardest day of all was the day that his own mother told him, “I wish you would just

die.”

His father was the only person that didn’t give up on him. Setting his clock

to wake him every two hours, his father would get up, no matter the time, and turn

Martin so he wouldn’t develop bed sores. His father fed him, washed him and

changed him when he soiled himself. Finally, 12 years after losing consciousness,

Martin began to stir. He awoke from the coma.

His troubles weren’t over. The road to recovery took years. However, Martin

learned to talk again, first with the aid of a computer, and, finally, on his own. Life

returned to Martin in abundance.

Today he’s married and has written several books about his experience.

When I think about his life, that takes away all excuses. There are moments in my

life where, because of pain and discomfort and negative side effects of the

medication that I’ve taken to successfully fight cancer for the last 20 years, I would

feel sorry for myself and caused me to wonder if I can still do what I’ve done in the

past. His story inspired me.

I had to realize that even though I’ve been dealing with cancer, and now I’m

older, I’m reminded of the coach in Any Given Sunday where the coach said as you

get older life takes things from you and you get a new normal. When we hear

stories like Locked in Man, it stirs something up in our minds, hearts and spirits

where we have to look at ourselves and do a gut check. We have to look at

ourselves and ask, What am I doing?

When I think of his story and example of courage and determination, where he

didn’t lose his mind and there was something in him that kept him going, that’s in

all of us.

Forest Gump was right, Life is like a bowl of chocolates. You never know

what you’re going to get. I remember when the doctor told me you have cancer, I

asked him for a second opinion, and he said “You’re ugly too.” Just kidding! You

have to have a sense of humor in this thing called life. I realize that life is a fight

for territory, and once you stop fighting for what you want, what you don’t want

will automatically take over.

You have to find a way to make things happen in your life. Some people are

unfailingly optimistic, and no matter what happens to them, they will find some

way to land on their feet. If you take their sight, you’ll get a Ray Charles, or Stevie

Wonder. If you take their ability to walk, you’ll have a Roosevelt. There is

something in them that allows them to find a way. Giving up is just not a part of

who they are. It’s Your Time.

///

When I became a father, I went to the doctor during the early stages of the

pregnancy. I was shocked to learn that doctors determine whether a baby is healthy

early on by monitoring the fetus’s heart rate. Before we are born, the first thing that

appears in a Mother’s womb is not a finger or a toe or a face. Not even a brain.

When we first arrived on this earthly realm what shows up first, is a heart. Your

heart then sends the instructions that grow the rest of your body including the

brain.

We all start off as a heart. Not as an employee or a student. You are a heart.

Your heart has a body. Even though you think your body has a heart. The heart

was here first. Therefore it is the root of your existence. When you enter into the

dream phase of awakening your heart will reveal to you your true purpose for

living. Neurocardiology can tell you what the heart does. However, only you can

demonstrate and understand the dream that your hearts brain was born with. I

believe that my job as a thought leader is to place you into a REM state while you

are awake. That is why I am constantly working on repetitious empowering

messages that will enable people to dream beyond what their eyes can see.

However, the dream phase is just the first curriculum of massive

achievement. It is crucial but is is just the beginning. Far too many people suffer

from dream paralysis. Sleep paralysis is the feeling of being conscious but unable

to move. Dream paralysis is the feeling of having a dream that you are conscious

of, but for some reason you are unable to act on it and pull it from your heart to

this earthly realm. Do you know anyone who suffers from dream paralysis? They

like talking about what they would like to see in their lives but we rarely see them

put in the work?

It is not enough to have a dream. That is the starting point. Although there is

a quote that says “A civilization is only as great as its dreams.” The dream phase is

not designed to be self-fulfilling. The awareness that a dream brings will unleash a

certain type of momentum that can usher us from the dream phase into the destiny

phase.

Dreaming is not enough. Your dreams tell you who you are, but far too

many of us get stuck at that elementary level of achievement. Even if they do

manage to get exposed to repetitious empowering message or a REM state while

awake that causes them to become aware of what their dream for their life is, for

some reason they allow dream paralysis to take over and they never take action on

their dreams.

Your dreams were not placed in your heart just to remain there. The dreams

that the little brain in your heart was placed in you to show you who you are so that

you can use the big brain in your head to show the planet what you can do. Your

dream is about who. Your destiny is about what.

Ivy league universities have mastered the art of teaching students how to

properly use the big brain of the head. In the It’s Your Time Mastermind, it will

require you to flex the muscle of the little brain that is in your heart. When both

brains collaborate in harmony, we graduate from elementary school and enter into

the high school of higher achievement. You were not born to pay bills. We were

not created to be permanent consumers. You were born to turn the dreams of your

heart into a destiny for yourself.

Just as it requires a higher than average IQ to get into a prestigious

university. It requires an even higher EQ to move from the dream phase to the

destiny phase. Daniel Goleman wrote a book entitled Emotional Intelligence where

he writes that “the pervading view of human intelligence as mind intellect is just

too narrow of a view.” He believes, and I agree that “It ignores a range of human

capacities that bear equal if not greater weight in determining our successes in

life.” IQ stands for intelligence quotient.

Your dream is all about your capability. Your destiny is about your capacity.

If you have a dream it is very important that you develop the capacity to graduate

into a destiny. What I like to consider the high school of high achievement. People

that are no longer satisfied with dreaming. When they have a dream, they take

action and do whatever is required to live their dreams while they are awake. They

already know who they are. They are no longer questioning what they are here for.

Instead, they are always busy executing the necessary habits and attitudes that are

required to carve out a destiny. It’s Your Time.

///

DEDICATION AND FOCUS

This kind of hunger can’t be easily explained away. When married to

dedication and focus, your hunger can literally take you from the basement to the

boardroom. This is because when you have a goal and dream that is fueled by

hunger, that dream becomes non-negotiable. When you are hungry, having your

dream accomplished is not a wish, and it’s not something that would be nice. It is

necessary. You’ve got to do it.

When I wanted to buy a home for my mother, I tried to enroll my brothers

and sisters in my plan. They wouldn’t. They just couldn’t see it. They couldn’t see

the possibility of it happening because none of us at the time had purchased a

home. However, in my heart of hearts, this was an expression of gratitude for my

mother that I just had to do.

A hunger is driven by a sense of a mandate. I knew Rosa Parks for many

years. I once asked her if she was tired that day she refused to get up to give a

White person her seat. She told me no. she said, “This was something I just felt I

had to do.”

There are things that drive you that go beyond a desire for it. It’s something

that sparks the performance of a Michael Jordan, or a Steve Jobs. I saw the

television program, The Man Inside the Machine. It’s Steve Jobs’ story. He wasn’t

an ordinary person. There was a dimension inside him that people just didn’t

understand.

I think of Shaune Arnold, who at the age of 14, who made a decision at that

tender age that many adults twice her age facing decisions are nowhere near the

magnitude of the decision that she made, but there was something in her that said,

I’ve gotta do this, or someone is going to die.

I think of Mrs. Henriquez, who was new to this country, and whose business

was threatened with foreclosure. She fought to keep it. She said in her spirit that

this is not going down like this. She refused to give up, and she won.

Your hunger will help you win against seemingly insurmountable odds. All

of us will be in situations where you might be in foreclosure, laid off, or in a

marriage that you thought would last forever, but your spouse woke up one day and

said, “I don’t want to do this anymore. I’m out of here.” But there’s something in

you that where other people would lose their mind, or their drive, you will keep

your life together and to continue to move forward that will help you to make it

through this kind of experience.

YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU CAN DO, UNTIL YOU

DECIDE IT MUST BE DONE

Everyone raved about the talent and experience of Usain Bolt, from Jamaica as he

won three Gold medals, at the Olympic games in Beijing, and Gold medals in the

100 and 200-meter races in the 2012 Summer Olympics, in London. He’s regarded

as the fastest man ever recorded, and I certainly don’t want to take anything away

from him. He is spectacular. However, the young man that really impressed me

even more at the London Olympic games, and who didn’t get as much media

exposure, was the man who was shot in the leg as a college athlete, but who was

determined to make the Olympic team and perform in London.

Bryshon Nellum, a native of Los Angeles, California, was a stellar track and

field competitor in high school. He was so good that he was named the Gatorade

Track & Field Athlete of the Year in 2007. Bryshon’s time ranked No. 1 among

high school sprinters in 2007, earning him a consecutive All-USA selection by

USA Today.

His stellar career continued right into college where he attended USC.

Unfortunately, during the 2009 season he was shot in the leg by two gang

members. Bryshon was told by doctors that he would probably never again reach

world-class speeds as a runner. He didn’t accept that answer. Working in intense

pain, Bryshon undertook an intense and grueling training schedule. Not only did he

return to world-class status as an athlete, he went on to compete in the 2012

Olympics, winning the Silver Medal as part of the 4x400 meters relay team, and he

carried the US Flag at the closing ceremony after being chosen by the US athletes

to do so.

No one would have blamed Bryshon if he had said to himself that he really

didn’t wanted to go, but, heck, he’s been shot in the leg. This young man refused to

go out like that.

You don’t even know what you are truly capable of. Your courage and your

commitment to make it beyond your current circumstances will take you places

that you can’t even begin to imagine. Courage fuels hunger. It’s your time.

///

When you turn your dream into an experience, you will arrive at the destiny

phase. We read about people in this phase all the time. Incredible potential that

turns into earning power. I remember the joy that I once had while travelling

around with my father and lighting crowds on fire with the set pieces that he had

me memorize. It was one of my dreams to follow in his footsteps. But the

opportunity to give a speech at Harvard University, nearly 21 years later, that was

part of my destiny. The sense of fulfillment that I had when I snatched up the

microphone and began to share the H.A.R.V.A.R.D. effect at Harvard University

before the graduate students and members of the student government. That was

way more than a dream. OMG, It was a destiny moment.

Many people think that the gift of a public speaker is some type of natural

talent. Maya Angelou has a quote that I love. When people asked if she was a

natural poet. She said “Show me a natural brain sergeant, and I’ll show you a

natural poet.” She meant that it takes a lot of work to be at the top of your field. It

meant so much to me that I had gone beyond one of my dreams by making that

dream of mine to speak at the most prestigious campus on the planet, a part of my

destiny.

One time my hero, I mean, my Dad got invited to the private home of one of

the most powerful female voices who ever walked the face of this earth. She too

knew about the It’s Your Time Mindset. Her name was Ms. Maya Angelou. When

he told me about this experience I asked how it happened and why didn’t he take

me with him? He told me that one of his speaker coaching clients who was in his

early 20’s by the name of David had arranged it. I knew David. We were around

the same age. Now I really got curious. Not only did he go and meet with the

Empress of Poetry and the Oracle of global empowerment without me. He went

with David? I said, “Dad, please explain, I need more details.” He said “One of

David’s life long dreams was to meet Maya Angelou. He somehow found the

contact information for Maya Angelou’s office and he called them.” I was shocked

at the story I was hearing. Like David, I too have so much love and respect for

Maya Angelou. It was one of my lifelong dreams to be able to meet her as well.

It was my dream too. But David turned it into his destiny. I had one final

question to ask of my Dad even though a thousand more were circulating through

my mind. I said “What did David say when he got in contact with Ms. Maya

Angelou’s office? He smiled as he slid the dagger of truth through my little heart

brains dream. “He said hi, my name is David and I’m calling on behalf of Mr. Les

Brown. It has been one of Mr. Brown’s lifelong dreams to meet Ms. Maya

Angelou. Do you think that that can be arranged?”

Wow! I couldn’t help but laugh. After Ms. Maya Angelou’s team said “Yes,

she would love that.” Then David called my Dad and asked if he could set up a

meeting between the two of them and my Dad agreed and invited David to go

along with him.

I was so mad at David. I wish I could tell you that I was proud of him. The

fact is I can clearly remember how it felt to hear that he was actually willing to put

in the work. When I looked at David and sized him up as a human being, I didn’t

think David had that in him. (No offense David if you’re reading this) I didn’t

know he had that high of an EQ. It wasn’t a high IQ that made his dream come

true. I could have easily called the office myself and asked if there could be a

meeting between one of the most inspirational female voices on the planet and one

of the most transformational male voices on the planet. That didn’t require a

graduate degree from Harvard or Morehouse. It required a high EQ. David was

hungry and he knew it was his time.

The Emotional Genius

According to Wikipedia, “Emotional intelligence or emotional quotient (EQ)

is the capability of individuals to recognize their own, and other people's emotions,

to discriminate between different feelings and label them appropriately, and to use

emotional information to guide thinking and behavior.’ Now if you have a low EQ

and you have a dream but you have yet to graduate to the destiny phase. This book

isn’t for you. If you don’t know what it feels like to go from underdog to top dog

then you probably are not ready for the next 7 chapters that I have in store for you.

In fact, the first letter in the effect might stop you in your tracks. Stop reading this

book now. Don’t worry, I have put together a powerful audio series entitled Claim

Your Destiny that is custom made to help people move from the dream phase, and

graduate into the destiny phase.

Destiny is not a result of fate or some type of cosmic configuration. Destiny

is a decision. When the dreams in your heart begins to synchronize with the power

of your mind, that is when destiny arrives. In order to bring your dreams to life you

have to take an EQ test called destiny. You will fully understand what I mean

when we look at the purpose and origins of something that is commonly known as

an IQ test.

In 1883 Jean-Martin Charcot (who the Charcot-Wlibrandt syndrome is

named after) hired and mentored a young man named Alfred Binet to work in his

neurological laboratory. According to the book entitled Mindset by Carol S.

Dweck. Alfred Binet, who went on to become the inventor of the IQ test, did not

do so to summarize children’s unchangeable intelligence. Carol Dweck wrote in

this book that I love, “Binet, a frenchman working in Paris in the eighteenth

century. Designed the test to identify the students who were not profiting from the

Paris public schools, so that new educational programs could be designed to get

them back on track. He believed that education and practice could bring about

fundamental changes in intelligence.”

I think Alfred Binet was as right as my Mom was when she told Les Brown

early on in his career that he had gold in his mouth. Your destiny will require a

fundamental change in both your mental and emotional intelligences. Your heart

and your head both have brains inside of them. Many Universities focus solely on

your IQ. Mental Genius is welcome at all universities because back in the days

mental intelligence was the driving force for competitive advantage.

Just because you have book smarts, does not mean that you have the

emotional literacy that is necessary to thrive in the destiny phase. We see many

people rise to the top with talent and then plummet to the bottom. Their dream was

only a temporary phase because the power of their heart never synchronized with

the greatness of their minds.

Your destiny is the ultimate balance. Hopefully you have graduated from

destiny high. This effect that you are about to enroll in, is fully equipped with the

necessary ingredients to give you much more than a competitive advantage.

Warren Buffet who many of us know became one of the wealthiest men in the

world. There is a concept called buffetology that reveals how he was able to dream

of wealth into a destiny of abundance. While most investors would sale their equity

in their investments after a certain amount of return was achieved. Young Warren

decided to do a little more research and maintain ownership in organizations that

have what he calls. “ A durable competitive advantage.” with “Future growth

opportunities.”

Nowadays a temporary competitive advantage is not enough. That brings us

to the topic at hand. The third curriculum of High Achievement. That is something

called the Dynasty phase. After the dream phase comes the destiny phase. I hope

you have graduated from both. Now, let me welcome you to the higher learning of

high achievement. You will be required to use your IQ your EQ and any other Q

you can possibly think of, in order to fully engage in the It’s Your Time

Mastermind group..

The opportunity to speak on that beautiful campus was not just something

for me to put on my resume. For me, it was an opportunity to make a difference in

the lives of the next generation of trailblazers. I figured, if you are a graduate

student at an ivy league college, you probably already knew about the dream

phase. It takes a lot of repetitious empowering messages in order to get into a top

university. Especially with all of the modern distractions that many of our young

people have to deal with today. Many people out there can give you some great

tips about the destiny phase as well. What it takes to make it through tough times.

How to handle rejection and setbacks. There are a ton of powerful motivators on

the issue of what to do to reach your destiny. Dream is about who. Destiny is about

what. Your Dynasty is about why.

When the faculty at Harvard University asked me what topic I was going to

speak on, I knew what it was. The topic was going to be something very different

and powerful in my opinion. The name of the event was called, “Success, The

Only Choice.” My speech was going to be titled Position Your Dynasty.

You are a walking breathing Dynasty. That is why you are reading this book.

We are in the process of carving out a durable competitive advantage for ourselves.

I think that success means something totally different for my generation than it did

for my grandmother’s generation or my Father’s. I believe that we live in a time

where even success is not good enough. It is important to be able to update and

refine and reboot our definitions of success. This book is for people who like

Harvard University students already know that success is the only choice. There

are different degrees of success. The strategies in this book will equip you in what

I consider a doctorates degree in the area of self-improvement.

Our family has been involved in the human potential industry for decades.

This industry annually generates over $65 Billion worldwide. Mamie Brown's baby

boy had a dream to use the story of my grandma to empower countless individuals

from all backgrounds. He turned his dream into my destiny, and together, we keep

alive Mamie Brown’s dynasty. Dynasty means a succession of people from the

same family who play a prominent role in business, politics, or another field.

What is the point of becoming a high achiever, if you can’t share it with

your family. Not just the fruits but the roots. When one of the top insurance

companies in the world interviewed the wealthiest families among us they asked

what were the main things they wanted to leave behind for their children. The

answer had nothing to do with their fortunes. They said number one ‘Their

stories”. Number two. “Their values.”

This book is jam packed with the story’s and values since birth that have

inspired me to make a greater difference in the world. When you join the It’s Your

Time Mastermind, you will be essentially joining the first family of motivation.

We want you to use this curriculum to go out and make a difference in your

marketplace.

Use everything that we share with you there, in order to go out and position

your dynasty. Play a prominent role on the planet. The dynasty phase is not all

about you. If you are still stuck there then go back to the dream phase. After you

have a destiny one realizes the importance of paying it forward. You will be graded

in our mastermind not by what you do for yourself. Instead by how you use these

strategies in order to play a prominent role in giving back to others. It’s your time.

///

PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY TO

MAKE YOUR GOALS HAPPEN

I remember the day that I met one of my earliest mentors, Mr. Leroy Washington.

He was a teacher at Booker T. Washington high school. I stepped into his class

looking for my friend, Mac Arthur Stevens. Mr. Washington asked me to work a

problem out on the board. I told him that I wasn’t in his class. He told me to work

the problem out anyway. I said I couldn’t do that. He asked me why not?

The kids started laughing. They knew that I was labeled educable mentally

retarded, and that I was in special education. I had failed in the 5th grade, and was

put back to the 4th grade, and that I had failed again in the 8th grade. My class was

in the cafeteria. They called it the DoDo

Ward. Someone shouted out, “He can’t do it. He has a brother Wesley.

Wesley’s smart. He’s DT.” Mr. Washington asked, “What’s DT?” They said, “The

Dumb Twin.” The class erupted in laughter.

I lowered my head in shame. I said, “I am, sir.” Mr. Washington stood up and came

around his desk. He walked up to me and pointed a strong finger in my face. He

said, “Don’t you ever say that again.

People’s opinion of you does not have to become your reality.”

I looked at him in pain, but this created a shift in my thinking. On one hand I felt

liberated. On the other hand I felt like Girder, who said, “Look at a man as he is

and he only becomes worse, but look at him as he could be and he’ll become what

he should be.”

Part of what Mr. Washington taught me is that a necessary part of being hungry is

that you have to prepare yourself for what you want. You have to develop yourself.

You have to be willing to look at what you desire and ask yourself what radical

change, or training, you need for you to accomplish the goal that you’ve set your

eyes on.

Mr. Washington was known as the Great Communicator. He told me to develop

my mind and my communication skills. He said, “Once you open your mouth you

tell the world who you are.”

He also said to practice OQP, only quality people. Upgrade the relationships that

you have. If you want to be successful, and attain your goals, put yourself in an

environment of people that think like you, that you can learn from, people that are

motivated, and that will hold you to a higher standard.

I learned from him to surrounding myself with kindred spirits that will drive me,

motivate and inspire me to go to the next level, moving in the direction of the goals

that I set from myself. I learned that from him, and I use that to this day. Develop a

regimen. Set aside time each day to work on your mind, to train your mind to serve

you. Get some coaching.

Mike Williams, author of The Road to Your Best Stuff has been my mentor for 46

years, teaching me how to become a strategic communicator and storyteller.

Joining the National Speakers Association and being around people that were

doing what I wanted to do helped me to accelerate my growth and development in

the direction that I set my sights on for the things that I wanted to accomplish in the

professional speaking industry.

As you look at your goals and dreams part of your hunger must be fueled by your

relationships that you have, by the training that you go through, and by the things

that you know are required for you to become the person you need to be in order to

accomplish the goals that you have identified for yourself.

A past President of Proctor and Gamble, once said that courage is not the absence

of fear. It’s the willingness to act in spite of fear”.

You have the ability to do more than you are doing right now. You have Greatness

within you. Despite all of the odds, you have the ability to devise a solid plan, one

that takes into account all of your known risks, and to take action on that plan to

design a future that you truly want.

We all face tough challenges at some time in our lives. The true measure of

our character is in our ability to pick ourselves up after a fall, and to dig deep

within ourselves for strength, patience and other resources of which we may have

been previously unaware. You have everything you need in you to win.

Sometimes our victories will be hard won. Our goal may take a long time to

achieve, and we may need to sacrifice much to make it happen. Rebecca Lee was

the first African American physician in the United States. More than that, she was

the first female physician in the country, regardless of race. Rebecca had to work in

the fields cutting crops and picking cotton for eight years in order to earn her way

through each year of medical school. She was determined to be a doctor and she

succeeded against astronomical odds.

When you know it's your time you refuse to be denied. Hunger will make

things happen in spite of everything. What are you truly hungry for? We’re living

in a time where you can’t be casual about your dream. It’s not even enough to want

the dream. You’ve got to be hungry for the dream because there’s a higher

requirement to make the dream a reality. The competition is greater today than ever

before. The stakes are higher. You’ve got to dig deep within yourself for the

hunger, the drive, and the determination to manifest your dream.

Some people that are hungry have been willing to come to the US in inner tubes

and little ragged boats, risking everything, and seeking an opportunity for

themselves and their families. They do this because they are hungry for a new life.

They come here not speaking the language, but have a 4 times greater chance of

becoming independently wealthy than the average American, because of their

hunger, their focus, and their relentlessness. They know they have a mandate on

their lives and people are depending on them to make it.

Our leadership circle will help you structure a plan for achieving your goals. If

you’ve followed my career, you know that I’m big on goal setting. I wrote Live

Your Dreams in 1992. The book contains many of my aspirations I had for my

career. Since writing it I’ve attained many of those goals, and I’ve had many more

wonderful things happen for me that I didn’t expect.

Some of the things that have occurred in my life I couldn’t have anticipated.

For instance, since writing Live Your Dreams I have conquered cancer not once,

not twice, but three times in 20 years.

Since Live Your Dreams I’ve received the highest award from the National

Speakers Association, received the Golden Gavel Award from Toastmasters

International, and was selected among the Top 5 speakers in the world, together

with Paul Harvey, Robert Schuller, General Norman Swarzkoff, and Lee Iococca.

I’ve had many successes, but lets’ be clear. I’ve had more failures.

As you read this book I want you to think of three major goals you have for

yourself. In these pages you’re going to read about some ordinary people that have

done some extraordinary things because of their hunger. Importantly, keep in mind

the people in this book are not fundamentally different than you. They are

distinguished in life by their drive, dedication and determination to succeed in the

face of sometimes devastating challenges. You can do this too.

///

Immortal Impact

Many people never make it to the dynasty phase of achievement. I have

often wondered why the ones that seem to give the most always find a way to earn

the most? I believe that there is a way to become immune to death. There is a level

of achievement that I call the dynasty phase where one lives their lives and they

die. Yet they still have future growth opportunities from beyond the grave.

It’s hard for me to stomach the thought of mortality. I remember in my early

teenage years getting a call from Dad. I was in Valencia California about to go to a

school basketball game. I answered the phone (Back then they had things called

land lines.) I said “Hello Dad” he said “Hello Great one how are you?” I said “Rich

and happy Dad. How are you today?” He said I’ve had better days.” I instantly

knew that something was wrong. My Dad’s usual saying was “ I’m better than

good and better than most and sometimes even better than that.” I heard something

in his voice that I had not heard since my Grandma had passed away. He went on

to ask me. “ Are you sitting down?” I said “I am now.” He said, “I was doing my

radio show in New York and the topic was prostate cancer. My guest was

encouraging our listeners to get their prostate exam done.” I said “ok” He went on

to explain. “That show inspired me to go and get tested and I just left the Doctor’s

office and they just told me that “I have prostate cancer and I might only have a

few years left to live.”

“Cancer Dad? What does that mean?” He said, “ I don’t know right now, I

just wanted to tell you the news.” We hung up the phone and I was too in shock to

cry. Some say the word cancer is the most feared word in every language. I thought

about how much I loved him. I wasn’t ready to lose my hero. I was just 13. If my

Dad would have listened to what the Doctors said, he would have died fully

knowing about the dream phase and even the destiny phase. However, because of

his EQ he kicked cancer’s but and he has earned an opportunity to witness his

Dynasty phase come full circle.

Dad, if you’re reading this. I Love you. Thank you for positioning our

dynasty. Thank you for making the tough choices in how you eat and exercise so

that at the age of 71 you can hold your grandson Honor Phoenix Brown. My Dad’s

hunger taught me about the it’s your time mindset. Even after he is gone and I am

gone this curriculum will be making a long term difference in the world. So will

you, once you position your dynasty.

As we conclude this orientation there is one assignment that all Mastermind

participants must complete. It requires you to memorize a motivational monologue

that my dad has ended all of his speeches with for the past 40 years. It was the one

thing my grandma loved to hear him say. You will learn it and deliver it with

passion. All It’s Your Time mastermind members and faculty use this as a

repetitious empowering message. This message helped to ensure that the brown

dream, became a destiny. With your help we can build a motivational dynasty.

Your Dream is about Who. Your Destiny is about what.. Your Dynasty is

about why. The first step in the effect is probably the most difficult. If you don’t

have the discipline to memorize the motivational monologue, then you won’t have

the attention span to join our mastermind goal achievers group. It’s Your Time.

THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE

I believe that in each of us there are talents, skills and abilities lying dormant,

waiting for us to reach for them, quietly listening and waiting to be called forth and

to be called as an active force in each of our lives.

You may know that I was a disc jockey in Columbus Ohio. You may not know,

however, that police brutality was commonplace in Columbus and around the

country at that time. It was unusual for a disc jockey to speak out against police

brutality. Over time I spoke out against this repeatedly, and against racism in the

public schools.

The Tahiki restaurant incident was a watershed event in my discovering a part of

myself as a community activist. I believe there are various dimensions of who we

are, and, because of things that happen in life, we show up in a different kind o

way. In this particular incident, a Vietnam veteran and his wife were in the

restaurant. There was a dispute about the bill. The police were called. When the

police arrived an altercation ensued with the couple. One officer clubbed the wife

as she was holding her newborn baby. Her husband caught the baby. However, the

wife became so enraged by them endangering her child that it took four or five

police officers to subdue her. She was arrested. However, taking her to the station

and booking her was not enough for these officers.

A white gentleman, named Tom Catron, followed behind the police. They

drove the woman down Broad Street them and Mr. Catron saw them repeatedly

pull the police car to the side of the road. Over and over police officers would take

turns getting into the back of the police vehicle and beating this woman while her

hands and feet were cuffed. Tom Catron called the radio station and told Columbus

what was going on. I was on the air when he called the radio station as a witness to

these acts. Something inside me said something had to be done.

This incident happened to occur on election day. I told the public not to riot.

Rather, I told them let’s demonstrate our anger at the polls. For the first time in the

history of Columbus, an African American named Dr. John Roseman was running

for Mayor. It was widely felt throughout the City that he had no chance of winning

in the Primary elections.

After I spoke that day on the air, over 95% of the African American

precincts came out and voted. Dr. John Roseman won the primary election for

Mayor of Columbus. I was fired shortly thereafter for editorializing against police

brutality.

As a result of that incident, for the first time in the City’s history, two white

cops lost their jobs. However, this was not the only time I would speak out against

oppression. Parents were calling the radio station and complaining that white

teachers weren’t teaching children of color. The children were being passed over

and subjected to all kinds of disgraceful and racist acts. I decided to take this on as

a cause.

I did a series of editorials on my show, and called for a demonstration.

People said no one would show up because it was winter, and most demonstrations

happened in the summertime. Over 10,000 people showed up and marched in the

snow in front of the Board of Education. It had never happened before or since.

You could see the snow on top of the afros as they marched all the way down State

Street to the Board of Education. After the protests, the Board of Education began

to have meetings with the parents and teachers to correct the existing problems and

improve the quality of education for kids to this day, and to elect African

Americans to the Board of Education.

I had no idea prior to this incident that I had the voice of an activist, a voice

that people responded to. These were not isolated incidents. People came out and

responded to my editorials at different times. I would call for people to join me

down at City Hall to demonstrate having no idea how many people would show up,

if any. Time after time people came out by the thousands to demonstrate when I

spoke.

After losing my job at the radio station, I was hungry to make an even bigger

impact in my community. I ran for a seat as an Ohio State Representative. Using

the same voice I had honed at the radio station.

I ran against Tom Kope, a 22-year incumbent. Just as in the case of Dr. John

Roseman, the political machine bet heavily against me. However, my hunger was

more powerful than the machine. I won overwhelmingly and was elected to the

Ohio Legislature a total of three terms before my mother became ill and I resigned

to return to Miami to care for her.

Just like I have a voice, you have a voice that can make a difference in your

community. I had no training. No one in my family had ever been politically

involved. I was simply willing to step up. I firmly believe that the voice of a

champion that exists in me also exists in you.

Find something that you’re passionate about. It may be saving animals, or

opposing domestic violence, or anything in between. You have a voice that will

make a difference in the world. However, in order to fully exercise that voice, you

need to know who you are, and the sound of your authentic voice.

Many years ago King World selected me to do a talk show. Leading up to the show

my mother was asked by a reporter, “What made you think that you could raise

seven children by yourself?” I overheard her to say, “Something just told me that

the Lord would make a way somehow.”

That was the voice. Regardless of your religious persuasion, if any at all, I

believe that voice exists in all of us. The voice gives us guidance and power to act,

but it will not shout louder than our own voice. We must listen with a keen ear so

that we can hear it when it calls us. Further, we must speak with conviction,

especially to protect the weak and vulnerable. The First Amendment is one of the

most important tenants of our Constitution, and I believe the importance of the

right to free speech simply cannot be overstated.

In my youth worked for a man named Sam Axlerod. Sam was Jewish. From

time to time he would tell me stories of the holocaust. The stories he told me really

moved me. I told him that when I became a man I’d like us to go to Poland

together to see the camps and to pay our respects.

Years later I would visit Poland. Even though Sam was long gone by that

time, and I don’t know whether he lost any family there, I stood in Auschwitz and

said a prayer for Sam and his people. I thought deeply about the lack of voice these

people had.

I’ll never forget the eyes of the men and women in pictures that hung on the

walls. Many of them had been put in the gas chambers while the world stood by

silently and watched. I’ll never forget the two tons of hair I saw that was taken

from people, and what looked like shower facilities, but which were really gas

chambers. To give us more of the experience, the tour guides turned off the lights

and made a hissing sound. It was unnerving.

As I listened to that horrific sound, I could hear the words ringing in my

heart, never again, never again. It has been said that evil prevails when good men

and women do nothing. Whatever I can do for the time I have left on this planet, I

will try my very best to ensure that one of the worst atrocities that has ever

occurred in the history of mankind will never be repeated. You also have a voice.

This is a time when we need more good men and women to speak up and allow

their voices to be heard.

When going through an experience like that, words fail. Everyone was very

quiet throughout the tour. However, the whole time I was in the camp, I repeatedly

saw a young man staring at me. I didn’t think much of it. However, as I was

leaving Auschwitz, he spoke to me, asking, “Are you Les Brown?” I said, “Yes.”

He said, “You changed my life.” I thought to myself, He’s got to be kidding. The

drawers I’m wearing must be older than this kid…but he wasn’t kidding.

Somehow, I touched his life, across an ocean, across generations, across color

lines, I touched his life. That is the power of the voice.

I was in Poland in the first place because I had been invited there to speak by

another young man named Lucas. He had spent some time living on the fringes of

life after his mother died after a fire. For several years he wandered around

aimlessly, lost in drugs and alcohol. Someone gave him my cassette tape, You’ve

Gotta Be Hungry. It changed his life.

He eventually got in touch with me and invited me to speak in Poland. When I

arrived I was in the hotel looking for the venue. I was shocked by what Lucas’

hunger had produced. More than 25,000 people packed the stadium to hear me and

Nick Gorbich speak. It was amazing to hear people that could barely speak English

shout You’ve Gotta Be Hungry, and chant phrases and key words with the help of

an interpreter.

It was one of the most thrilling moments of my life. It meant to me that my

words matter. It meant that my voice was giving life in a country that was once

choked into silence under a Communist regime. It meant that my words were

giving birth to ideas, talents, skills and dreams that would one day become reality. I

felt humbled that I was being used as a vessel to help change people’s lives.

Victimization often happens to people that have no voice. Governments

around the world are silent to the pleas of young girls and women. This oppression

will only end when good men and women stand up and say, “Enough!”

It is a shame that something like this could happen in such a beautiful

country with such beautiful people. I have traveled through Lagos, Benin, and

Abuja. It was an inspiring experience. I saw people living in abject poverty, yet

still smiling and lining the streets to sell their wares.

Oddly, this is a country that is the largest oil producer in Africa, but her

people are living in abject poverty, without a voice. There is a lot of opportunity

here for growth. Despite these challenges, Nigeria will continue to hold a special

place in my heart. The older men there looked so much like me that, being adopted,

I wanted to ask one or two of them if they had left a set of twins behind in Miami,

Florida. I’m mean, I’m not making any accusations. I’m just asking.

I find myself hungry to visit even more of the Motherland. In South Africa, I

visited the birth home of Nelson Mandela. I remember looking at the holes in the

walls where the police had shot into his home, and contemplated perhaps one of the

greatest acts ever performed in the history of the world. This man gave up 26 years

of his life to break the back of apartheid, going from prisoner to President. In

giving up his freedom he kept his voice, and strengthened the voice of his people.

There was a feeling and spirit that I got when I stood and looked at the

waters leading to Robben Island where they kept him. I was amazed at how small it

was. He could have gone free at any time, but he gave up his freedom so that his

nation might be free.

Mr. Mandela guarded his voice carefully. He wrote his memoirs three times and

three times the guards found it and burned it. Each time he started all over again.

Ultimately, he completed his manuscript. Long Walk to Freedom was published in

1005. The world is immeasurably richer for his contribution.

It is so very important for each voice in the world to be protected, for, once

silenced, it may take a lifetime for it to be regained. One of my Platinum Speakers,

Ming Wong, came to hear me speak. She was born in China, in an era where girls

were to be seen and not heard. Ming desperately wanted me to teach her to speak.

However, at break time, she was so nervous that she purchased my products and

when back to her seat. A voice in her told her to get up, go to the back of the room,

and speak to me. She went back and forth several times, struggling to find her

voice. She did say hello to me that day, and I trained her to use her voice to help

other women find theirs.

I’ve had occasion to hear many people’s stories around the world, and I’m

amazed at how similar they can be. All over the world women and girls struggle to

find their voice. I visited with Maya Angelou in her home. She told me in her own

words how she was raped by a family friend as a young child. Her family beat the

man to death, and she went into a catatonic state. She felt that if she had not spoken

and told of what he did to her, the man would still be alive. She lost her voice.

Maya’s grandmother got her a tutor. The tutor had a huge library containing over

3,000 books. The tutor wanted her to read each one of the books and write a report

on each book that she read. Maya took to the task like a duck to water.

One day she went to her tutor to show her something that she had written. The tutor

refused to read what Maya had written, and turned her back on Maya again and

again. Maya’s grandmother was there, but she didn’t rise to Maya’s defense,

perhaps for the first time. Everyone knew it was well past time for Maya to speak.

The tutor said she wouldn’t read Maya’s work until she spoke. Being

ignored was more than Maya could take. This was the breaking point that caused

Maya to find her voice. She finally spoke that day. How rich is the world that Maya

found her voice?...and how rich will the world be when you find your voice?