My Motivational Speech

Good Day, ladies and gentlemen, my speech today is not simply about me, but also about being different. I have chosen this topic because it is something that is very dear to me and something I have made a personal philosophy and which I endeavor to live by.
THE WALK
I think it all started when I was 18 years old and in my first year at campus. That was about the time that I started to observe people’s behavior and just to think about life. In that time, I just feel inferior. I just thought that I was useless. It was a real different situation with my past life. But, something changed me. The environment could change me, the people, the interaction. By the time, I found the real me. Now, I can feel the difference between me and others. I could be just my self.
So, WHAT DOES BEING DIFFERENT MEAN?
Being different means: - Not being afraid to challenge the norm. - Being willing to take a chance. - Asking why. - Making your own track, not just following the well trodden path. - Charting your own course and destiny. - Being the person that you were meant to be.
I believe that everyone is born unique. But through the years we work very hard to be like everyone else. We conform to society’s so-called “common-sense.” Unfortunately it is just that – “common sense.” That does not mean its “good sense.”
I remember wisdom from someone, If you want to get what everyone is getting, do what everyone is doing. I mean, just imitate what everyone is doing when you want to be better like him, or even better than him!
THE FOLLY OF EDUCATION
If I were to take just the people in this room, it is likely that most of you have spent anything from 15 to 20 years getting an education so you can get the jobs you have. Doesn’t it strike you as irresponsible that one can spend so much time getting an education and yet so many people don’t make any deliberate effort to develop their greatest asset – themselves!
Most of us won’t even read unless there’s an exam in sight. But you know what? Everyday of your life is an exam. Everyday you either pass or fail the test of life. Everyday is an opportunity to grow beyond your present barriers and circumstances. Everyday is a chance to become a better person.
The saddest part is most of people don’t realize this. If they had to be graded at the end of their lives you know what they’d get? D, D and more D’s. And yet they thought they were doing very well. They let society’s “common sense” grade them.
MY ADVICE
If I can leave you with one piece of advice it would be this: READ
Read books and explore yourselves! Doing that one thing regularly will put you way above the rest. Read books that challenge you and that make you think.
I have decided to read at least one book every month. I’m already amazed at the results.
MY FINAL WORDS
In closing I’d like to say to those of you that are skeptics out there, those of you that are saying “oh, he is just drink with the omnipotence of youth. He’ll get over it, and then he’ll be just like everyone else.”
My words to you are: “I ain’t going out like that. I know that I have an abundance of potential within me and I will bring it out to fruition. Why?” “Because…I’M DIFFERENT!”