Denzel Washington's Best Motivational Speech "Start Your Day With This"

I discovered that nothing in life is worth it unless you take risks. Nelson Mandela said nothing. There is no passion to be found in playing small and settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living now. I'm sure about

your

experiences in school and applying to college and choosing

your

major and deciding what you want to do with life. I'm sure people have told you to make sure you have something to fall back on, honey, but I never understood it. that concept having something to lean on if I'm going to fall I don't want to resort to anything I want to fall forward I imagine that at least

this

way I will see what I'm going to hit without consistency you You will never finish, so do what you are passionate about, you are passionate about Take risks, don't be afraid to fail.

This is all. The IQ test was nine points and you had to draw five lines with a pencil. Within these nine points, without lifting the pencil, The only way to do it was to get out of the box. Don't be afraid to think outside the box. Don't be afraid to fail big. Dream big. But remember that dreams without goals are just dreams. Reggie Jackson struck out 2,600 times in his career. the most in the history of baseball but you don't hear about strikeouts people remember home runs fall forward Thomas Edison performed 1,000 failed experiments did you know I didn't know because the thousand and one was the light bulb? falling forward every failed experiment is one more step towards success, you have to take risks and I'm sure you've probably heard that before, but I want to talk to you about why that's so important: you will fail at some point in your life. life, face it, you will lose, you will be embarrassed, you will suck at something, there's no doubt about it and I know that's probably not a traditional message for a graduation ceremony, but hey, I'm telling you, embrace it because it's inevitable in the business of performance.

All the time at the beginning of my career I auditioned for a role in the Broadway musical, I thought it was the perfect role for me, except for the fact that I can't sing, I didn't get the job, but

this

is what I didn't give up . I didn't back down, I got out of there to prepare for the next audition and the next audition and the next audition I prayed and prayed and prayed but I kept failing and failing and failing but it didn't matter because you know what it is. There's an old saying: if you spend enough time at the barbershop, sooner or later you'll get a haircut and get a break, and I did get a break last year.

I did a play called Fences on Broadway, but here's the trick I was on. the court theater was at the same theater where I failed that first audition 30 years earlier. The point is that every graduate here today has the training and talent to succeed, but do you have the guts to fail? If you don't fail, you aren't. Even if you try I'll say it again If you don't fail You're not even trying to get something you never had You have to do something you never did Just imagine you're on your bed of debt and standing around your deathbed are ghosts representing your unfulfilled potential The ghost of ideas you never acted on ghost of talents you didn't use and they are standing around your bed angry disappointed and upset they say we came to you because you could have given us life they said and now we have to go to the Grave together so today I ask you how many ghosts there will be around your bed when your time comes.

I just got back from South Africa, it's a beautiful country, but there are places there with terrible parts. of that poverty that needs help when Africa is just the tip of the iceberg the Middle East needs your help Japan needs your help Alabama needs your help Tennessee needs your help Louisiana needs your help Philadelphia needs your help the world needs a lot and we need it From you , we really need it, from you, the young people. I mean, I'm not speaking for the rest of us up here, but I know I'm getting a little grayer. From you, the young people, because remember this, but you have to understand.

You have to give everything you have, whether it is your time, your talent, your prayers or your treasures, what are you going to do with what you have? I'm not talking about how much you have. Some of you are business specialists. of you are theologians nurses sociologists some of you have money some of you have patience some of you have kindness some of you have love some of you have the gift of patience whatever it is whatever your gift is what are you going to do with what you have now here is my last point about failure sometimes is the

best

way to find out where you are going your life will never be a straight path I

start

ed at Fordham University as a pre-med student I took a course called Cardiac Morphogenesis I couldn't read it, I couldn't say it, I sure couldn't pass it, so I decided to study pre-law, then journalism, and without any academic focus, my grades took off in their own direction.

I had a 1.8. The GPA and the university very politely suggested that it would be better to take some time off. I was 20 years old, I was at my lowest point and then one day, I remember the exact date, March 27, 1975. I was helping my mother in a beautiful My mother owned a beauty salon in Mount Vernon and there was a older woman who was considered one of the oldest in the city and I didn't know her personally, but I looked in the mirror and every time I looked in the mirror I could see her behind me and she was looking at me, she kept looking, man , every time I looked at her, she kept giving me these strange looks, so she finally took the dryer off her head and said something, she said something I will never say.

Forget, said young man, I have a prophecy, a spiritual prophecy, she said that you are going to travel the world and talk to millions of people and in the years that follow, just like that woman prophesied, I have traveled the world and I have talked to millions of people through my movements Millions who until today could not see me, who until today could not see while I was talking to them and they could not see me, but they only saw them move, they could not see the real. me, but I see young people today and what I see encourages and strengthens me because taking risks is not just about looking for a job, but also about knowing what you know and what you don't know. about being open to people and ideas, so the opportunities you take, the people you meet, the people you love, the faith you have, that's what will define you, never give up, never stop, give it your all that you have and when you fall in life, remember this. fall forward