I was twenty years old I was at my
lowest point and then one day and I
remember the exact day March 27 1975 I
was helping my mother in her beauty shop
my mother owned a beauty shop up in my
Vernon and there's there was this older
woman who was considered one of the
elders in the town and I didn't know her
personally but I was looking in a mirror
and every time I looked at the mirror I
could see her behind me and she was
staring at me she just kept looking at
me every time I looked at it she kept
giving me these strange looks so she
finally took the dryer off her head and
says to sump she said something I'll
never forget
first of all she said somebody give me a
piece of paper give me a piece of paper
she said young boy I have a prophecy a
spiritual prophecy she said you are
going to travel the world and speak to
millions of people I began 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 then I decided
to go into pre-law then journalism and
with no academic focus my grades took
off in their own direction I was a 1.8
GPA one semester and the University very
politely suggested that it might be
better to take some time off
I found that nothing in life is
worthwhile unless you take risks nothing
Nelson Mandela said there is no passion
to be found playing small and settling
for a life that's less than the one
you're capable of living fail big you
will fail at some point in your life
accept it you will lose you will
embarrass yourself you will suck at
something there's no doubt about it
in the acting business you fail all the
time early on in my career I auditioned
for a part in a Broadway musical perfect
role for me I thought
so I'm in the wings I'm about to go on
stage but the guy in front of me he's
singing like like like Pavarotti and I'm
just shrinking I'm getting smaller and
smaller so they say oh thank you very
much thank you very much and you will
you'll be hearing from us so I come out
with my little sheet music and so I
assumed I didn't get the job but the
next part of the audition he called me
back the next part of the audition is
the acting part of the audition so I'm
like hey okay maybe I can't sing but I
know I can act so they pair me with this
guy and again I didn't know about
musical theater and musical theater is
big so they can reach everyone all the
way in the back of the stadium it and
I'm more from realistic naturalistic
kind of acting where you you know you
actually talk to the person next to you
so I don't know what my line was my line
was will hand me the cut and his line
was well I will hand you the cup my dear
the cup would be there to be handed to
you I didn't get the job
but here's the thing I didn't quit I
didn't fall back I walked out of there
to prepare for the next audition and the
next audition and the next audition I
prayed I pray and I pray but I continue
to fail and fail and fail but it didn't
matter because you know what there's an
old saying you hang around the
barbershop long enough sooner or later
you're gonna get a haircut so you will
catch a break and I did catch a break
last year I did a play called fences on
Broadway if someone talked about it won
the Tony Award but here's the kicker it
was at the Court Theatre he was at the
same theatre that I failed that first
audition 30 years prior Reggie Jackson
struck out 26 hundred times in his
career the most in the history of
baseball but you don't hear about the
strikeouts people remember the homeruns
fall forward Thomas Edison kentuc did
1000 failed experiments did you know
that I didn't know that because the
1,000 and first was the light bulb fall
forward now I'm sure in your experiences
in school and applying to college and
picking your major and deciding what you
want to do with life I'm sure people
that told you to make sure you have
something to fall back on make sure you
got something to fall back on honey
but I never understood that concept
having something to fall back on if I'm
going to fall I don't want to fall back
on anything except my faith I want to
fall forward I figure at least this way
I'll see what I'm going to hit
for forward the point is every graduate
here today has the training and the
talent to succeed but do you have the
guts to fail while it may be frightening
it will also be rewarding because the
chances you take the people you meet the
people you love the faith that you have
that's what's going to define you keep
working keep striving never give up fall
down seven times get up eight ease is a
greater threat to progress than hardship
without commitment
you'll never start but more importantly
without consistency you'll never finish
it's not easy if it was easy they'd be
no Kerry Washington
if it was easy there'd be no taraji
Henson Pete Henson if it were easy
there'd be no Octavius pencil but not
only that if it were easy there'd be no
Viola Davis there very easy there'd be
no Michael Teague Williamson no Steven
McKinley Henderson no Russell Hornsby it
more easy there'd be no Denzel
Washington so dreams without goals are
just dreams and they ultimately fuel
disappointment so have dreams but have
goals life goals yearly goals monthly
goals daily go
don't confuse movement with progress
remember just because you're doing a lot
more doesn't mean you're getting a lot
more done in order to achieve your goals
you must apply discipline which you are
already done and consistency every day
not just want to lose day and miss a few
days you have to work at it every day
you have to plan every day you've heard
the saying we don't plan to fail we fail
to plan hard work works working really
hard is what successful people do what
are you going to do with what you have
I'm not talking about how much you have
some of you are business majors some of
you are theologians nurses sociologists
some of you have money some of you have
patients some of you have kindness some
of you have loved some of you have the
gift of long-suffering whatever it is
whatever your gift is what are you going
to do with what you have and it's not
how much you have it's what you do with
what you have we all have different
talents some of you will be doctors some
lawyers some scientists some educators
some nurses the most selfish thing you
can do in this world is help someone
else why is it selfish because the
gratification goodness that comes to you
the good feeling the good feeling that I
get from helping others nothing's better
than that
well I had traveled the world and I have
spoke to millions of people but that's
not the most important thing in success
that I had the most important thing is
that what she taught me or what she told
me that day has stayed with me since
I've been detected I've been directing
I've been corrected
I kept God in my life and has kept me
humble I didn't always stick with him
but he always stuck with me so stick
with them in everything you do if you
think you want to do what you think I've
done then do what I've done today is the
beginning of the rest of your life and
it can be stick to be very frightening
it's a new world out there it's a mean
world out there you only live once so do
what you feel passionate about
passionate about take chances don't just
aspire to make a living
aspire to make a difference
you