The Resilient Mind - No More Excuses - Eric Thomas

Episode Date: September 23, 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 No More Excuses with Eric Thomas. Get access to the Resilient Mind Journal by clicking the link in the show notes. Enjoy. And for those of you, if you're going to legitimately get to 120%, you have to be in pain at 70. And the reason why you have not gone to the next level is because you don't have a problem with 60. You don't. There are those of you in this room, you're losing.

You're coming up short and it doesn't bother you. It doesn't hurt you. And you can't change what doesn't hurt. You have to get to look. I was homeless. I was eating out of trash cans, guys. But why was I doing it? Because it didn't bother me.

It didn't hurt until I got to a point where I saw other kids going to college. Other kids being happy and living their life. I'm like, why are you sleeping in the abandoned buildings? I said, enough is enough. enough is enough E when I had my son my father was a high school dropout

my grandfather was I was I didn't want that for my son I said enough is enough I've gotten on the plane like E why you always got sitting in the back E why you always got to take three flights to get to one place E why you got to stay in that hotel E why you got to drive that car E why can't you afford

I got sick and tired of being sick and tired I'm gonna be real with you You can walk out of here if you want to saying you're going to go from 70 to 100. But if you're not sick and tired of 60, you're going to stay on 60. Let's be real. Come on, I got one more before we go. Let's just be real. How many of you guys are at 60 or 70 and you want to be at 120?

60 or 70 ain't really, you feel like you ain't going to die if you stay at 60 or 70. Raise your hand. Be honest. I ain't going to die. Hands down, right? And until you get to the point where you feel like you're going to die, you're never going to get to 120. you got to get to the point where it hurts. You got to get to the point, guys.

I told you I took me 12 years to get a four-year degree, but can I tell you something? I don't say this all the time. I went to every graduation. The year I was supposed to graduate, I went to the graduation. And I went every year up to 12 years. And do you know why I went every year up to 12 years?

Because it hurt. And because I wanted it to hurt. And so I would go. No, fifth year I go. E, you ain't graduated yet? No. When are you going to graduate? Someday.

The sixth year, my boys, E, what's up? You still here? Yep, what you doing here? I'm going to graduate one day. The eighth year, E, what's up? My little sister graduating. You still here? Yep, I'm still here.

What you're doing here? I'm going to graduate. The 10th year, E, my little cousin here, now. What you're still doing here? I'm going to graduate. that every year were burned. But on that 12th year, I had enough. And I end up getting my four-year degree.

And it felt so good to finally be in the number that I wanted to keep getting that feeling. This is what's so sweet about success that as long as you stay in failure, that, like, you know, you get satisfied with that when you actually come over to success. It's the same thing. Like, you've got to have more and more and more of it.

Just like when you're in poverty, keep doing it when you become successful. So I went with the master degree. Then when I went with the PhD, I just kept, we came out with an album. I wrote three books. Are you hearing what I'm telling you? Now I'm at a point where I have this sensationalable desire

for more success. So after I finish with the degree, now I start working out. I'm ready to hit this marathon. Now I got another book coming. Now I'm trying to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Now we're trying to do a reality show. I'm telling you would get from the dark side you get from being a loser

low self-esteem doubt and fear and if you could find your way on this side guys it's sweeter on this side so I'm old school this is how we used to do it back when my father them like that generation when they would shake your hand that was the contract back in the day

some of y'all too young that noted but if I'd say I'd see you tomorrow at 8 and we go like this I would see you at 7.4 the next day or something bad had to happen and I didn't make it to you. So contract is something you can get out of. Covenant means when I tell you we're going to do it is nothing. I'm going to be a man or woman of my word. I made a covenant to myself 120.

And then I told you all two years ago I found out my wife had seven legions on her brain. I'm going to be real with you. I wasn't struggling when I found out. Why? Because I was 120. I wasn't struggling because I knew I was 120. I was 120 in motivation. So I was about to let her have it.

We in the hospital room, sister girl is about to start crying. Like, she's strong. So she ain't going to never cry, cry. It's going to be those. And when you have them in here, but they'll never really, my girl's strong.

So they're right here. And I see her. Like, she's emotional. I'm like, shoot, I got seven legions on my brain. And I look at my girl and say, I can, I will, I must. Like, if you've ever seen that video before,

that video didn't come from a book. That video came from me being in room with my wife and seeing my wife going through it, looking at my wife and saying, we can, we will, and we must get through this. Because when you deal with an illness, it's just not the illness that's going to break you.

It's your mental toughness, your mental strength. And I told my wife, we're going to get through this like we've gotten through everything else. I was 120. I didn't become ET when my wife got sick. Are you hearing what I'm saying?

You don't know what's ahead of you. And that's 70% you giving right now? A trial or a tribulation might come. A storm might be coming. And it's going to break you if you as sick. My wife has a chronic illness, and I looked at that chronic illness and said, you will not destroy us. You will not defeat us.

This disease will make us stronger. It will not break us as a family. So we came home, the doctor gave her Copaxin. It was a long needle like this. And I asked the doctor, I'm like, yo, doc, I'm like, how long we got to do this? She said, well, you're going to have to do it every day. I said every day for how long. She said every day for the rest of her life.

I said, I don't accept that. Listen to me, I'm about to close. Listen to what I'm telling you, y'all, 120, why I'm telling you to get 120. I looked at the doctor and was like, I don't accept that. I don't care what school you went to. I don't care how deep you are. I do not accept that my wife, I don't know how many of y'all like needles, but my wife don't. I do not accept the fact that she going to be doing this for the rest of her life.

I do not. Went home, prayed about it. Went home, looked at my wife and said, do it. But do not do it. But every time you do it, say, this is the. last time. Whatever you do when you do it, do not embrace it. Whatever you do when you do it, do not say this is going to be a part of my life because somebody told you was going to be a part of your life. You need to start rejecting some of the stuff people

telling you. You need to stop embracing it. Just because they said it, it doesn't mean it's true for you. Just because you don't believe, just because you're going to be in poverty, just because your marriage ain't going to work out, just because your kids aren't going to be successful. I'm not owning that. That's not my life. Six months later, I tell you no lives six months later. FDA came out with a new hookup. It was the same medication, but now it was a little bit more in a smaller needle, and it was only three times a week. And the doctor was like, Eric, you should be happy. And I said, I am, but I still don't settle. I still don't accept that she's going to be taking a needle three times for the rest of her life. And two years later, doing our homework,

we found a gelatinian appeal that you can take. I didn't accept. I didn't accept. I didn't accept what they Stop accepting what people tell you and you start speaking stuff into existence. I do not believe in a needle for the rest of her life and it's not even my body and I don't believe in it. Okay women, watch this. And I ain't said this the whole time I've been here. This was the challenge with the needle. Like you, you feel me? So when you take a needle and you stick the needle in your body, it does what to your body?

Bruises. So my girl can't wear shorts no more. So what's crazy is when you got to do something every day, you can't do it in the same. spot. So I'm watching my wife, okay, boom, okay, boom, and she got to remember where she did it. So we're going seven days. Okay, I did it here. All right, Eric, what I did it? Would I do it here or yesterday? And all you see is these big bruises starting to, so now she's not wearing, she can't wear the nice, you know, topless because she got the arm. You can see the bruises are starting to travel down. I'm like, I don't accept this. And I thought the three was going to be at least

cool, but what happens when you take it once on Friday, do you don't take again the Monday? It hurts even worse on Monday because you went Saturday and Sunday without it. And then when we got that pill, I was like, yep, yep, got the pill. And the doctor was like, well, the reason why I didn't tell you about the pill is because it's expensive. And the insurance company is probably not going to pay for it. I was like, all right, let's try. You're telling me they're not.

Can we try? Are you hearing what I'm saying? Some of y'all, you're not even trying. You don't even try to do it. You've given up before you even tried. So she went to the insurance company. insurance company came back and said it's denied. It costs too much. I was like, how much is too much? We're talking about my wife's health. They said $10,000 a month, $120,000 a year.

I was like, all right, cool. Let's try it one more time. We tried one more time they denied. I told my wife, my wife said, try a third time. Like, I ain't begging. If you want to try, you can try. I'm not begging. I went to the doctor and said, what pharmacy? Do I give you $10,000 a month, or do I got to give y'all $120,000 a year? What if I wasn't doing $120? What about I was still giving 60%. I was working at a job that didn't even pay me $100,000 a year. My wife said, I know you're making good money, but that's an extra $10,000 a year. I said, don't even worry about it, sweetheart.

I was working for Nike at the time. I was like, I charged them an extra $10,000 a year. I'm about to give my PhD. Don't worry about it. I charge under armor an extra $5. Maybe I charge Nike five more and under armor five more. But don't worry about it. They ain't going to come out of our pocket.

You think when I told Nike I needed an extra $5, $10,000? You think Nike told me no? You think Nike going to find another dude to come to come and in the hood and talk to these kids. Like I talk to them. What? You think they're going to call? Do you think about to come to the hood and talk to a group of kids?

You think about to come to Detroit, inner city and tell these kids. Come on. Who are you going to call? I've craved out a whole calling for myself that don't nobody else have. Who are you going to call? You're going to call one of the other top ten motivational speakers in the world. And you think they're about to come to this prison and talk. You're giving 60% you can't call Nike and charge Nike extra five.

You can't call underarm and charge of extra five when you're giving 70. But when you giving 120, I never knew my girl was going to get sick. I never knew my girl was going to need $120,000 a year to go to college. That's 170,000. I never knew that. You giving 60 is going to cost somebody. You giving 70 is going to cost somebody one day. It might not cost them the day, but somebody might get sick.

Somebody might need something from you and you don't have it. Not because you don't have the potential to have it, but because you're giving 50%. I challenge you. Michael Jordan, execution is worshiped. I showed y'all something up there. Michael Jordan won six titles. He's a billionaire. He won six titles.

There's about seven other guys who won five titles. And they don't make the money Mike makes. Why? Because he won one more, execution. He was 120. Michael Phelps. I had Michael Phelps. My man, Michael Phelps, this guy got 22 medals in the Olympics as a swimmer.

He got caught smoking weed twice and they didn't kick him off the team. I'm like, you're not supposed to be like a swimmer in America and get caught smoking weed and still get to swim. Like, don't you're supposed to get in trouble? Yeah, he is. But if you kick Mike off the team, what's the chances of bringing home a goal? You think the other dude, I don't even know his name. I'm from America. I don't even know the other swimmer's names.

Only name I know is Michael Phelps. Everybody knows if you know anything about the Olympics. You know who this kid is. My man got caught smoking weed. It's just stop it. Don't do it again. If he was given 70% He'd have been off the team

But if you think about kicking him off All you just, oohsh, 120 120, 120. They're like, all right, just stop doing it. My man got caught on YouTube doing it again. He didn't just get caught like in a room somewhere. He was on YouTube with his friends at a swimming pool like, hey, hey,

oh, no, I'm worried about it. They're not going to do nothing. You worried about why people, why my boss treat me like this? Why do people treat me like that? Because you're not giving 120. If your boss knew he could lose you. If your boss knew you could go to the other, the competitors company and bring that competitor some money, he went, when you won 20, they don't treat you a certain way.

Eric, don't you, how do you feel in the America? Look, Delta Airlines, I'm diamond status. When I walk up, I don't even, they don't even know what color. I'm diamond. If I call and say, I need to change my flight, they know how much money I spend. They're like, he's diamond. As C, see, he'll go with me. They're like, we can only do one bag.

I'm like, I'm diamond. How many bags, do you? you have become bring us all your bags diamond status are you diamond status and if you're not diamond status you need to get there execution guys write this down execution is worshipped execution is worship

execution is worship execution is worship execution is worship you get away with a lot of stuff when you start executing so I want you to think about an area of your life you say you're given 70% but I want you to think specifically about an area of your life, area of your life where you're not executing, and then I need you to just put a seven-day plan together and a 21-day plan together. And you say, Eric, in the next seven days, this is where I'm going to execute. In the next 21 days, this is where I'm going to execute.

And in the next 30 days, this is where I'm going to execute, where I wasn't executing before. And I'm telling you, if you execute, you're going to be on a whole other level. Thank you for tuning in. Continue strengthening your mind by listening to to our other episodes.