All the great leaders and motivators agree with this fundamental truth. “You Don’t Get What You Want, You Get What You Are”, says Tulshi Sen, in the Master Key For Success. James Allen, in As a Man Thinketh, says, “Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are.”

Who You Are
Les Brown, in his interview with Armand Morin, subscribes to this same bold truth, “You don’t get what you want in life, you get what you are.” He explained how his unusual early childhood molded his heart and mind for the motivational writing and speaking he does around the world today.

Labeled as a child with EMR (eligibly mentally retarded) he was teased at school as the ‘dumb twin’ of his family. Fortunately, Les had an extraordinary mother, Mamie Brown, who at the age of 42 adopted 8 children, including the twins Les and Wesley. She saw the greatness in each of her children.

Les was also inspired by motivational masters, at an early age, while helping to clean the home office at his mother’s work as a domestic. There he was first exposed to the works of Normal Vincent Peale and Napoleon Hill, two giants in the field of motivational self-development.

Dream Bigger
Les asks his students to consider three things when setting their goals and dreams: what do they want to accomplish on a personal level, on a earning level and on a contribution level. He says that most people fail not because they aim too high but because they aim too low and hit it.

Only 2% of people, who feel that hunger or urge to do something, actually go to seminars. He reminded us of the great American philosopher, Henry David Thoreau’ s words, “Do not go where the path may lead on. Instead go where there is no path and leave a trail”.

Les reminds us, “When you have a vision of yourself, beyond your circumstances and mental conditioning, that is a blessing and don’t lose it.” Surround yourself with like-minded people who will challenge you to be your best. Everyone has greatness within themselves, and some may already be feeling it in their heart.

Take Action
When you do step out to experience new things, show up in the spirit of expectation. You have it in you to do something you’ve never done before, to die to your old self and give birth to who you can become.

Les asked us to memorize the words ‘Recessions Restore Resourcefulness’ . And he reminded us that the people who are making it in this time of ‘accelerating change, overwhelming complexity and tremendous competition’ (Peter Drucker’s words) are people who are resourceful.

Les says that most people get stuck because they don’t know what they have going for themselves. They don’t know how to make money with their God-Given gifts. And, they don’t know how to gain access to the people who will pay them for what they know.

Overcome Self-Imposed Obstacles
Ironically, in Les Brown’s own personal journey, the hardest thing for him to learn was to believe in himself, believe he could do what his heart was aching to do. He was longing to go out there and change people’s lives by teaching them how to be unstoppable. Yet he found reasons for not taking action, and in those stressful moments he, himself, became stoppable.

Fortunately he was constantly reminded by his mentor for fourteen years straight and a teacher (in executive development at the time) to not allow where he was at that moment to define who he was. He needed to be a ‘no matter what’ person to develop himself to be the message that he wanted to bring into the world.

This advice reminded him of who he really was and his desire to do something bigger with his life. It was always in him to reach beyond his current situation. As a school boy, Les, the child from ‘Special Ed’ class, won the contest from Norman Vincent Peale, who read it in his now famous speech, ‘You Have Greatness In You’.

“Shoot for the moon because even if you fail, you’ll land among the stars”. That was Les Brown’s quote. Imagine that!