The Resilient Mind - Do The Unexpected - Eric Thomas

Episode Date: October 21, 2024

Eric Thomas, Ph.D., is a critically acclaimed author, World-renowned speaker, educator, pastor, and audible.com Audie Awards Finalist. As he is better known, ET has taken the world by storm with his creative, common-sense approach to living a successful, satisfying professional and personal life.Take action and strengthen your mind with The Resilient Mind Journal. Get your free digital copy today: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Download Now⁠⁠Channel: https://www.youtube.com/etthehiphoppreacher Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the Resilient Mind podcast. In this episode, you will be listening to, Do the Unexpected, with Eric Thomas. Get access to the Resilient Mind Journal by clicking the link in the show notes. Enjoy. Hey, E.T., I don't know what I'm passionate about. You better find out. So watch what he says. Even some of the most serious goal seekers and goal setters are going after what they think they can get. So I got a four-year degree.

Because my boy, well, I'll be honest with y'all, I saw this guy named Pucky, and Puckie was real smart, and he used these big words, and he always got good grades. So I said, I can't finish college. I can't finish the uni because I'm not him. Then Mason West graduated, and he had like a photographic memory. He could just read something and then get it. I was like, yep, I can't do it. Okay, he couldn't do it.

Then my boy Skip graduated. I was like, I could do it. Skip smoked weed like every other day. I was like, oh, you can smoke weed and graduate. Oh, man, maybe I have a chance. I never smoked, but I'm like, yo, he like, that's like where I come from. Like, that's normal people. Skip would drink.

Skip went out and party, and he's still graduate. I was like, yep, I could do it. So I got my four-year degree. Then Skip went on to get his master's degree, and I was like, yep, I can get my master's degree. But I never went after my Ph.D. Because Skip did it, I thought I could do it. it. So I only did things that I thought I could do. Then when I started meeting people like Bob Proctor, I started saying, E.T., stop doing the things that you know you can do and try to do the things

that you think you cannot do, PhD. So the PhD for me was not about school, to be honest with you. It was about, I'm a high school dropout. It took me 12 years to get a four-year degree. I just want to see if I can get to the highest level academically. I want to see if I have, I want to see if I have, I want to see if I got what it takes to go through all of that and still be able to come out a winner on the winter side. So when I got the PhD and it turned to the doctor Thomas, that was another win. But this was a big win. Why was it a big win? This is what I tell people, guys.

This is why knowing what you want is important. I can name 10, 15 other people that got their PhD and it wasn't the same. Why? Because people knew where I came from and they did not. No, no, no, no. When I got my PhD versus some other kid getting their PhD, they did not expect for Eric Thomas to do it, and that's why I was big.

That's why I was bigger than what it really is because they didn't expect that somebody like me from my background could do it. So you're talking about winning. Not only did I win, but because I blew their expectations, I started charging an extra $20,000, $30,000. I told you.

Same company. I charge them extra 20. Like E, how are you charging us 20 extra thousand? The scope of the responsibility hadn't changed. I said, it did. They said, no, it's the same people. You do this every year. Nothing has changed.

I said, something has changed. I got a PhD. I got another win. I got another what? Come on. I got another what? Win. And that wasn't just like a regular season win.

That's not like a playoff win. That's like the highest level. And because I won again, then we came out with an album a couple months later that hit 14 on the charts. And in New Zealand it's number eight. That's another win. Come on, that's another win.

If you would just get some baby wins in your life. For real, y'all trying to all blow up. You're all trying to get to the top of the top. Stop trying to blow up and get me some baby wins. When I go back home, I just did a, international, somebody going to have to pay more. Whoever the next gig is, they're going to have to pay more because now I'm about to add to the resume.

I'm not even going to put all the cities. I'm just going to put win on the cities. It's win, another win. Promise me, listen to me, promise me when you leave, nothing major. Be faithful over few, and I will make you rule over many. Be faithful over few, and I will make you ruler over many. Just be faithful over the things that are in front.

of you. I'm telling you one day you're going to wake up from a high school dropout. I don't really know what I am. I can't really identify myself, but my next goal is the Nobel Peace Prize. Why? Because it's crazy. How long would it take me to win a Nobel Peace Prize? That's like some Mother Teresa stuff. Can I tell you this? No, no, this is why I'm telling you to tell me what you want. This is why this is important. I can't win a Nobel Peace Prize and have character flaws. You can't win a Nobel Peace Prize and get caught doing certain things. You can't do it. Like for real, Mother Teresa had a great character. Dr. Martin King had a great character.

There are some people that's doing good in the world, but they would never win the Nobel Peace Prize. Why? Because their character. Listen to me, if you're trying to be number one in your company, you can't sleep. If you're trying to be number one,

you can't get up after everybody's already up. If you're trying to win a Nobel Peace Prize, that's why you wake up at 3 o'clock in the morning. You're trying to get a PhD. That's why you're riding on the airplane. and not watching movies. That's why I go to church on a regular basis. That's why my faith is so strong.

That's why I have a relationship with God. Why? Because there are certain things that I'm trying to accomplish. I'm not telling other people to do it, but if you're trying to do what I'm trying to do, you might need to do that. What do you want? Kids ask me all the time, what books you read and E?

Why? You're trying to win a Nobel Peace Prize? Why are you trying to read what I'm reading? Eric, what is your routine in the morning? Why? You're trying to wake up and do what I do? You can never be Eric Thomas, but you can be the great.

You can never be me. Don't try to be me. Know what you want. I got kids back in the state. What up? What up? What up? It's your boy Tyrone Smith. I'm like, whoa, easy, Tyrone. That's been taken already. What up? What up? What up? Is your boy Charles Point Dexter and think of somebody. It's from Thursday. I'm like, it's not going to work. So what do you want? Most people are not going after what they want most people and some of the most serious people, some of the most serious goals seekers and goal setters, are not going after or only going after what they think they can get. If that's you, I just want you to raise your hand

and I want you to make the commitment that today, come on, say it with me, today. Come on, today. Come on, today is the last day. Come on, today is the last day. Come on, today is the last day. that I will go after what I don't want. What I don't want. Come on, today is the last day.

That I will go after what I don't want. Good. Listen to me closely. Listen to me. When you leave this room today, you will no longer live as a second-class citizen. When you leave this room today, you will walk in your purpose,

you will walk in what you want, and you will live a life that you will live. you've only dreamed about all these years and you will never say it's your dream again, you'll say it's your reality. And the reason why I'm so excited about success, I don't care what anybody tells you. The only thing that you need to do to be successful, you don't need money, you don't need influence, you don't need a network. The only thing you need to do to get started is you need to put forth more effort than you've ever put before. That's all, listen to me, that's all you need to do, more effort. I start giving away TGIMs, giving them away. I just start

Boom, giving them away. One year, two years, three years. First two years, you never even heard about ET. The Secret of Success video had been out years before you heard about it. 100 hits, 200 hits, years. And the month that I quit my job, two months later, it went viral and now has over 60 million hits. I activated it, and I just kept going. And nobody gave me nothing.

And nobody paid me. And nobody asked me to do it. And there was no sponsorships. And I kept doing it. And I kept putting forth 60% effort, 70% effort, 80% effort, 90% effort, 100% effort, 10020%. And boom! Last year I went to speak for a university and the guy said, I didn't even, I promise you all, I didn't know. He said, Eric Thomas has ranked one of the top motivational speakers in the world.

I didn't even know. He started calling out names, Tony Robbins, Les Brown, Darren Hardy, Bob. Robert Kiyosaki. I had the slightest idea. I didn't even know. So E.T., how did you get there if you didn't have a marketing plan? Listen to me, no marketing strategy. How did you get there?

We went from 70% to give an 80% to give it 90% to give it 100% to give it 120%. And I'm telling you, if you would go from 70 to 80 and then 80 to 90 and then 90 to 100 and then 100 to 120. You start seeing those zeros change in your life. You start seeing your marriage change. Your relationship with your children change. Your health change. Guys, we've been here 11 days.

We've been on a road for 11 days. I think six different hotels. We've been to six different cities. Listen to me. We worked out 11 straight days. I ran for about an hour daily on the treadmill. Listen to me. That has never happened.

before when we were on the road, ever. We got up every day. When it opened, we got there at five or six, and we worked out every single day, 11 straight days. I activated something I never activated. CJ activated something he never, CJ actually activated me.

I saw him lose 60 pounds. I was like, oh, no, oh, no. Oh, no, we're not going to be on the road and you all slim, and I'm chunky, right? I'm not going to be gutted out while you sitting here slimming trim. So what time you're going? He's like, I'm going to sit there. I'm going to 60.

You're not going to leave me. I'm doing 45. Well, I'm doing 46 because I'm older than you. My metabolism is a little slower than yours. Listen to me, the only thing changed is I activated more of me than I had ever activated before. So if you're in this room and you're ready to take it to the next level, I need you to write it now. I need you to write where you are 70% and I need you to write down that level that I want you to write down that level that you're committing to go to. You know what's so funny?

We want people to make guarantees to us, but we're not willing to make guarantees to ourselves. Now, for I'm going to say it again. Like, somebody gave you a guarantee $30, 30, day guarantee. In 30 days, if you don't make what they told you was going to make, in 30 days you got an attitude, you want your money back. But you've never demanded your money back from yourselves. You've never looked at yourself in the mirror and said,

you let you down. Until you get to that point, you let you down. You've never, you're not brave enough. You want to put it on somebody. The reason why I'm not successful is because of my boss. Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror and said, I'm not getting up on time. I'm not going to work on time. I'm not putting it 120% when I'm at work.

I let me down. And when you get to the point where you can say you let you down, I don't care to me, no disrespect. I don't care about Glenn. That's not why I do what I do. And I love Glenn. I don't come here and do what I do so Glenn can affirm me so he can give me a pat on my back. I care more about me than I care about what Glenn thinks about me.

I have standards. I have values. I don't care how much you pay me. If I speak at an elementary school for $300, I chose to do that for $300. If I chose to speak at a prison for free, I chose to do that. And I will not go in there giving those prisoners less than when somebody pays me $100,000. Why? Because I value myself enough to give 120% or don't do it.

That's the problem with some of you. You always want to blame other people. You want to hold other people to the fire. but you're not holding yourself to the fire. You just said you're giving 50%. You owe you an explanation. You owe you an explanation. You need to look at yourself in the mirror

and say, why are you only giving 50%? What's wrong with you? You need to put yourself on punishment. Put yourself on punishment. You need to tell you no more TV, no more snacks, no more desserts, no more, no, we're working out now. No, no more alcohol, not right now. Not no, I can't handle it right now.

You need to tell you that you owe you something. Stop going back to, you keep going to the mall with the receipt. This is what y'all said it was. Glenn, you didn't do what you said he was going to do. Well, you didn't do what you were supposed to do. So how am I going to do what I was supposed to do for you? You walk out of this room. You owe yourself.

I didn't get here making excuses. So what my father wasn't in my life. The truth of the matter is, he ain't never coming in my life. So what I'm going to wait for the rest of my life for my man to come? He ain't coming. I live in America. I'm an African-American male. They don't treat us the same.

It's something called racism. I ain't going to cry about it. It's probably going to be racism to the day I die. But I'm not going to cry about it. I'm still going to be a millionaire. I'm still going to be one of the top motivational speakers in the world. No, I didn't grow up on that side of the time. No, my mama don't have no network.

No, I don't know a whole lot of people. No, I'm not at a country club. No, I don't play golf, and I don't plan on playing no time soon. No, I'm not a part of the country club. Nope, I'm not, I don't hang out with them, but I'm still going to be successful. I'm still going to get you where they are. Why? Because I owe it to myself. And can't nobody stop me but me. Thank you for tuning in. Continue strengthening your mind by listening to our other episodes.