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00:00I wanted to make my family proud, and I don't understand why I'm different from all the
00:11other kids.
00:12A lot of people don't know that I had a brain injury when I was a child.
00:16One day at school, somebody says, hey, look at all the fire engines outside.
00:20And most of the kids in the class never saw a fire engine, and firefighters are like my
00:23heroes.
00:24I want to see it.
00:25I take my chair, and I carry it to the window, so I put it down here.
00:28And I climb on it, and I can just kind of see the outline of it, and I see the firefighters.
00:33And I'm like, bliss.
00:34And just when I had that highest moment, one of the other kids is grabbing my chair.
00:38And I go back to turn like this to see who's doing it, and I fall headfirst right into
00:44the radiator, and I was bleeding, you know, everywhere.
00:47There was a pool of blood.
00:49And my parents, the way they described it, it was very traumatic.
00:52They said that I was never the same, especially when it came to learning.
00:55I mean, I became painfully shy.
00:58I wasn't myself.
00:59And where I really showed up was in school, because I didn't understand things very well.
01:04And teachers would have to repeat themselves over and over and over.
01:09I became so introverted and not talking to anybody.
01:13And the big thing was, like, also, I couldn't read.
01:15I would just look at pages, and I'd just see letters, and they didn't mean anything to
01:19me.
01:20We would get in circles, and the teacher would give a book out, and one by one, you would
01:24have to read out loud to the other students.
01:27My heart's beating out of my chest right now, even thinking of it, because every time
01:31somebody finished, it would get closer, the book would get closer and closer and closer
01:36to me.
01:37And I would just, because I couldn't read.
01:39And then when the book got to me, I just didn't know what to do.
01:42And I would just stare at it, and I would just start crying.
01:45The teacher would come and take the book, and then pass it on to the next person.
01:48And I remember my teacher pointing to me, talking to another adult, saying, that's the
01:52boy with the broken brain.
01:54And I always thought, you know, it really pushed something deep inside of me, saying
01:57that I'm not enough.
01:59There's something that was wrong with me, that I wasn't like everybody else, that I
02:03couldn't be like them.
02:04And it took me an extra three years to learn how to read.
02:08I taught myself by reading comic books when my parents thought I was sleeping.
02:12I would be under the covers with my flashlight every night, looking at the pictures.
02:16My favorite comic books growing up were the X-Men.
02:19Not because they were the strongest, or the fastest, it's just they didn't fit in, because
02:23they were mutants.
02:24And they were bullied, like I was bullied.
02:27And they were pushed aside, and told that they weren't worth anything.
02:30It was a metaphor for me of what people were capable of, and what humans, their potential
02:36is.
02:37At night, when I was doing my nighttime reading, I found out the school of the gifted, Professor
02:40X School for the Superheroes, was in Westchester, New York.
02:44And that's where I grew up, in the suburbs of New York City.
02:47The next day, I got on my bicycle, and I started riding around my neighborhood, trying to find
02:52a school for the X-Men.
02:54And I did that consecutive, every single weekend, that's what I did.
02:57It brought the words to life, and I learned what reading was for me.
03:00And so, I remember though, we had a parent-teacher conference, where my parents came in.
03:05I had one chance to really succeed, and it was this book report.
03:09They were willing to make this, like, my book report, to count it more, because I was not
03:13doing well.
03:14And we decided on a topic, and that topic was on Leonardo da Vinci.
03:19She thought that it would be interesting for me to study, to learn about this genius.
03:24They say that he had dyslexia, and he had some learning challenges.
03:28And I had this heart-to-heart talk with my parents, saying, you know, I know I haven't
03:31measured up to this point, but I'm going to make you proud.
03:34And I picked up every single book on Leonardo da Vinci.
03:37And I just dreamt about Leonardo, and at breakfast, I would read about Leonardo, and everything
03:42was about this person.
03:43This was like my, where the spotlight is on you, and you have to be able to perform.
03:49And this is going to decide if I was something.
03:51And that, it was more than a book report.
03:53And when we get there in class, the teacher said, okay, Jim, I want you to give a presentation
03:59in front of the class about it.
04:01And my life just, right now, my world just crumbled.
04:05Because growing up with learning difficulties, I was painfully shy.
04:08Because it was like going back to that reading circle again, where I had to talk in front
04:12of a group of people.
04:13Because up to that point, I never did that.
04:16And so I looked her right in the eyes, because my heart was beating on my chest, I was sweating
04:19so much.
04:20And I said, I didn't do the book report.
04:22And I basically lied.
04:24She just took me for my word, and I got a zero.
04:27While I had in my backpack, like bound, this book report, which signified all my dreams
04:32and my potential there.
04:33I remember to this day, walking up, you know, out of the classroom, and there was a trash
04:37can right there.
04:38And I threw the book report in there.
04:40And along with that, everything in terms of my hopes and my abilities, my pride, my promise
04:45is it just felt like it just went in the trash.
04:48And I still look back with, you know, regret and sorrow that I didn't step up to be able
04:53to do that.
04:54But I was a product at that moment of my conditioning.
04:57I was believing my self-talk, that I wasn't enough.
05:00Your brain is the supercomputer, and your self-talk is the program it will run.
05:04So you have to be very mindful of your thoughts.
05:07And so when you grow up with these challenges, and you're the boy with the broken brain,
05:10you suffer and struggle, and you wonder why.
05:12At the age of 18, I wanted to run away.
05:15I didn't know how to tell my parents how I was going to quit school.
05:19And I remember at that time, my friend said, hey, why don't you come with me over the weekend?
05:24I'm going to go visit my family.
05:26Get some space.
05:27Get some perspective.
05:28And I go to California.
05:29And I remember like it was yesterday.
05:30The father is walking me around his property and asked me a very innocent question, a question
05:35you would ask an 18-year-old kid, but it was the worst question on earth to ask me.
05:40How's school?
05:41I break down, and I just collapse, and I just start crying to this complete stranger, because
05:45I have all the pressure that I'm holding in.
05:47And I tell him my whole story about growing up with learning challenges and difficulties
05:50and my brain injury, and I'm going to disappoint my parents and be a bad role model to my younger
05:55brother and my younger sister.
05:56And he looked at me, and he asked me a question.
05:59He said, Jim, why are you in school?
06:01What do you want to be?
06:02What do you want to do?
06:03What do you want to have?
06:04What do you want to share with the world?
06:05I didn't have any answers, because I've never asked myself that question before.
06:09And he pulls out a journal out of his back pocket, and he takes out a couple of sheets
06:12of paper, tears them out, and hands them to me with a pen, and he makes me write down
06:16my answers.
06:17And he looks at me, and he says, Jim, you are this close to everything on that list.
06:21And he spreads his index fingers about a foot apart.
06:23And I'm thinking, there's no way.
06:25Give me 10 lifetimes.
06:26I'm not going to crack that list.
06:27And he takes his index fingers, and he puts them to the side of my head.
06:32And between that, you know, obviously is my brain, meaning that's the bridge to everything
06:35that I need in life.
06:36And that's the key to unlock this, to unlock my dream life.
06:39And so fast forward.
06:40I'm back at school, and I'm sitting at my desk, and I have a pile of books that I have
06:44to read for school, and a pile of books that I committed to that I want to read.
06:48So what do I do?
06:49I don't eat.
06:50I don't sleep.
06:51I don't work out.
06:52I don't do anything.
06:53I don't spend time with friends.
06:54I just live in the library.
06:56After a while, I end up passing out one night in the library.
06:59I fall down a flight of stairs again.
07:01I hit my head again.
07:03And I wake up in the hospital two days later.
07:06And I have wasted away.
07:07I'm down to 117 pounds.
07:10I thought I died.
07:11I mean, it was the darkest time in my life because I felt like, what's my value on this
07:16planet?
07:17But when I woke up in that hospital bed, another part of me woke up saying, there has to be
07:21a way of fixing this.
07:22And as soon as I had that thought, the universe responded.
07:26The nurse came in with a mug of tea.
07:28And on that mug of tea was a picture of a genius, Albert Einstein.
07:32And it had a quote, the same level of thinking that's created your problem will not solve
07:37your problem.
07:38And it made me ask another question again.
07:40What's my problem?
07:41And I said, my problem is I have a very slow brain.
07:44I'm a very slow learner.
07:46Maybe I can learn how to learn faster.
07:48And I was like, OK, where do I go to learn?
07:50And I thought, oh, school.
07:52I started looking through all the classes, and I start reading every single one.
07:55And I realized all these classes are on what to learn.
07:58But there were zero classes on how to learn.
08:02How does my brain work so I could work my brain?
08:05How does my memory work so I could work my memory?
08:07And I made that my study.
08:09And that was my aha moment.
08:10A light switch just went on.
08:12And I started to understand things for the very first time.
08:14I started to have better focus.
08:16I started to read faster.
08:18And I wasn't getting distracted all of a sudden.
08:20I mean, I started to make friends.
08:22I started being more confident and being more happy and having more joy and enjoying myself.
08:28And I remember when I had that epiphany, I couldn't help but help other people.
08:32Because why did I have to suffer and struggle, go through all this difficulty, when I could
08:37have been taught these easy-to-learn techniques about how my mind worked, how memory worked?
08:42And so I wanted to start helping everybody.
08:45That's been my quest for the past 25 years.
08:47And I remember recently, I remembered somebody's name in an audience, and that person referred
08:52me to the chairman of 20th Century Fox.
08:56I get a call from their office saying, hey, I heard about your work.
08:59I want you to please come in and spend a half a day with our executive team.
09:02And I go there on a Friday morning, and I give one of the best trainings I've ever done.
09:06When I'm done, the chairman of 20th Century Fox comes to me and says, Jim, this was incredible,
09:11one of the very best trainings we've ever offered.
09:13And I see a movie poster of Wolverine.
09:16And it was for a movie that wasn't coming out for a few months.
09:19And I was like, wow, I can't wait to see that film.
09:22And the chairman comes to me, he says, Jim, I didn't know you liked superheroes.
09:25We have another 30 days of filming the new X-Men movie in Montreal.
09:29How would you like to go there and be there and just experience it?
09:33And I was like, that's incredible.
09:35I've never been on a movie set before.
09:36And so he picks me up the next morning, Saturday morning, 8 o'clock.
09:39We get on the plane.
09:40We call it the X-Jet.
09:41Waiting on the plane for me is the entire cast of X-Men.
09:45I see Wolverine and Professor X.
09:48And I'm sitting between Jennifer Lawrence and Holly Berry, and I get to share some of
09:52my brain tips and speed reading and memory tips to these amazing superheroes.
09:57And when we get to Montreal, the very first scene took place in Charles Xavier's superhero
10:03school.
10:04And I'm still this nine-year-old boy, and I'm looking at this school, the place I've
10:07always dreamed, that I've always searched and seeked for.
10:10And I got to see my superheroes come to life right in front of me.
10:13When I go home after that, there's a package waiting for me.
10:17It's the size of maybe a television.
10:18And I open it up, and it's this photograph of me and the entire cast of X-Men.
10:24There's a note in there from the chairman of Fox.
10:26And it says, Jim, thank you so much for sharing your superpowers with all of us.
10:31I know you've been looking for your superhero school ever since you were a child.
10:35Here's your class photo.
10:37What I've learned is this.
10:38A lot of people say, oh, I'm not that smart, or how smart am I, or how smart are my kids?
10:43They're asking the wrong question.
10:44It's not how smart you are.
10:46It's how are you smart?
10:48A superhero for me is somebody who is on the path of discovering and developing their
10:53superpowers, like their strengths, their unique ability, their unique talents.
10:58And I feel like the world needs more superheroes.
11:00And the world deserves more of us to be able to show up, that there's a superhero version
11:05of all of us.
11:06Find your superpower.
11:12I said, I can't move.
11:14I said, there's a shock going through my whole body.
11:16I can't feel anything, man.
11:18I still remember the day I was in the film room watching film, and I was watching the
11:22California Bears.
11:23And my defensive back coach, Larry Slade, came in the room.
11:26He said, Inky Johnson, I got some good news for you.
11:28And I dropped the clicker.
11:29And I said, coach, what is it?
11:31He said, son, you're a projected top 30 draft pick.
11:35He said, all you have to do is play these next 10 football games.
11:38You're an automatic multi-millionaire.
11:41I ran out of the room.
11:42I got on the phone.
11:43I called my mother and my grandmother.
11:44I said, listen.
11:45I said, after this season, our lives are about to change forever.
11:48And little did I know, our lives were really about to change.
11:52First game, we come out, play against California Bears.
11:54I get an interception.
11:55We shut them down.
11:56We get the victory.
11:58Second game, we're playing against Air Force.
11:59It gets late in the game.
12:00We found ourselves in a dogfight.
12:01And I approach the tackle like I approach any other tackle.
12:03And the way I'm approaching it, either I'm going to knock you out or you're going to
12:06knock me out.
12:07I'm 165 pounds.
12:08I can't play with anybody.
12:10But at the point of contact, when I hit this guy, something different happened that had
12:13never happened to me before in my life.
12:15I hit him, and it seemed as if every breath in my body left.
12:19My body went completely limp.
12:20I fell to the ground.
12:21I blacked out.
12:22I looked at the doctor because I couldn't feel my right arm.
12:25They had poked me with all types of needles.
12:26Inky, can you feel this?
12:27Can you feel I've come full of pain?
12:28They took me back.
12:29They ran the CAT scans, and they rolled me back into my room.
12:33And I'll never forget it.
12:34All in about a 15-second time frame, I was lying there in my bed.
12:37My father, he went to take a step in, and he looked at me and he said, son, I can't
12:41do it.
12:43And he walked out.
12:44My mother, she came in.
12:45She was running.
12:46She kissed me on my forehead.
12:47She said a prayer.
12:48She said, Inky, everything is going to be okay.
12:49And she ran out.
12:50And as soon as my mother stepped outside of the room, the doctor rushed in from the opposite
12:55side, and he said, hey, get in here.
12:57We got to rush this guy back to emergency surgery.
12:58He's about to die.
12:59I said, what?
13:00I said, my mom just told me everything is going to be okay.
13:07He said, son, what happened?
13:08You have busted up subclavian artery in your chest.
13:10You're bleeding internally.
13:12I have to rush you back and take the main vein out of your left leg and plug it into
13:15your chest in order to save your life.
13:17And when I woke up from recovery, the same doctor was standing over me.
13:20He said, Inky, I have some good news and some bad news for you.
13:22I said, you got some bad news for me?
13:23I have to tell him that I was about to die.
13:24I'm still alive.
13:25How bad can it get?
13:26I'm still here.
13:27He said, the good news is, son, we saved your life.
13:32I said, thank you, sir.
13:34He said, the bad news is you have nerve damage in your right shoulder.
13:38You probably can never play the game of football again in your life.
13:42I said, doc, no disrespect, man, but I'm eight games away.
13:46I've been working for this ever since I was seven years old.
13:49Doc, there's no way.
13:50God, not now.
13:51God.
13:52Like, let me make it to the NFL so I can help my family first.
13:55Like, we miss Mills.
13:57I said, there's no way.
13:58I never cheated.
13:59I never cheated myself.
14:00I gave everything I had to it, and I respected it.
14:02I never cheated.
14:03There's no way that my career can be over.
14:05I said, send me up to the Mayo Clinic.
14:07And after several visits, I'll never forget, this is when reality set in.
14:10It was me, my mother, my father in the room, and the doctors came in.
14:13They said, Inky Johnson, here's the deal.
14:15They said, son, we hate to tell you, but your arm, it would never be the same again.
14:19Your hand, it would never be the same again.
14:21Son, you can never play the game of football again.
14:23They said, son, here are your surgery options.
14:26We can take a muscle out of the back of your left leg, plug it into your right arm, but
14:29there's a possibility that you'll be left with a weak left leg and a weak right arm
14:32the rest of your life.
14:34Or we can take a nerve out of your left arm, reroute it up through your chest, down into
14:37your right arm, but there's a possibility that you'll be left with two weak arms the
14:40rest of your life.
14:41Or we can take a nerve out of your left rib, reroute it up through your chest, down into
14:45your right arm, but there's a possibility that you'll be left with a breathing problem
14:48and a weak right arm the rest of your life.
14:50By the way, tell us what you want to do in the morning.
14:52And the next morning, I walked into the doctor's office.
14:54They said, son, what option did you choose?
14:56I said, no disrespect to you, doc.
14:58I'm not choosing an option.
14:59My situation is out of your hands.
15:01I said, no disrespect to you, doc.
15:03They cut me where you got to cut me.
15:04I said, I know I will come out of this situation okay.
15:07As I stand right here on this stage before you today, they cut me six times down my left
15:11thigh.
15:12They cut me two times across my right rib.
15:14They cut me two times across my right pec.
15:16They cut me one time across the left side of my neck, one time across the right side
15:19of my neck.
15:20They cut me from the bottom of my armpit all the way down to the bottom of my hand.
15:23And after they got through cutting on me, they said, son, you're going to be in this
15:26hospital for the next 40 days.
15:28I walked out of the hospital on the third day.
15:29They said, you broke a record.
15:30How did you do it?
15:31And I said, first and foremost, the thing I want you all to understand, I would never
15:38let a circumstance or a situation define my life.
15:49But most importantly, you know what I had invested?
15:52I had sweat equity.
15:55I had been working my whole life, and what I didn't understand by being determined to
16:01chase something, by being committed to it, and what commitment is, commitment is staying
16:04true to what you said you were going to do long after the mood that you have set it in
16:07has left.
16:08You see, people think commitment is saying, yes, I'll do it on the days when it feel good.
16:12But I had been committed to everything that I ever started in my life, and I never stopped,
16:15and I never quit it.
16:16And so by being committed to everything that I started, I finished it.
16:20It built a certain type of spirit.
16:21It built a certain type of mentality.
16:23It built a certain type of individual.
16:25And so now I couldn't quit even if I wanted to.
16:28I couldn't lay in a bed even if I wanted to.
16:30I couldn't stop even if I wanted to.
16:32I had too much sweat equity in my life and everything that I was doing.
16:36I understood the process is more important than the product.
16:39It wasn't about the outcome for me.
16:41Whether I made it to the NFL or not, that was inconsequential in God's plan for my life.
16:45But I was going to fall in love with that process because I understood by falling in
16:49love with that process, it was going to turn me into a machine.
16:53A lot of people need a little extra money to get motivated.
16:55A lot of people need, you know, whatever the case may be, a little bonus to get motivated.
17:00I don't need anything but breath in my body and life.
17:04And every day I wake up, I understand I got two children depending on me.
17:08I understand I got a wife depending on me.
17:10I understand I got a world that needs me.
17:11The reason I go at life with the passion and the zeal that I go at it with is because I
17:15understand every day of my life, it's somebody in the world that is depending on me.
17:19It may not be you.
17:20And if it's just about you, you're in trouble because I'm telling you, you're going to hit
17:23something in life that's a lot tougher than you and it's going to test your will and it's
17:26going to test your heart.
17:27And if it's just about you and if it's just about the product, it will bust you.
17:31Every day I get up, I understand it's somebody in a free world that's looking at me to see
17:34if I'm going to keep going.
17:36And so I can't quit.
17:37And so I went back to school the next week after they had just saved my life.
17:41I was back in class.
17:42I had to learn how to write all over again, had to learn how to walk all over again, had
17:45to learn how to tie my shoe all over again, had to learn how to bathe all over again,
17:49had to learn how to live life all over again.
17:51Never one time did I say, let me go home, I need a break.
17:57You see, the thing we have to understand about everything that we're a part of, first and
18:00foremost, it's a blessing by God.
18:03And when it's a blessing, you can't help but to give everything you got to it.
18:06My life got saved.
18:07I got spared my life, almost died.
18:10The doctor came to me on the field.
18:11He was on one knee and he grabbed my wrist and he said, son, you don't have a pulse.
18:14I don't even know how you're still living.
18:17The thing about it, my wound, like you can see this.
18:22You can see my arm.
18:24My wound is visible, but it's a lot of people in this room that are wounded and you can't
18:30see it and it's internal.
18:34And so the opportunities that we pass up to be a blessing to other people, we can save
18:38their life with just one encounter.
18:41And my last doctor visit, they came to me and they said, sorry, Inky Johnson, you will
18:45never be able to use this arm and hand again in your life.
18:47I said, no disrespect to you, doc, but I will use this arm and his hand every day for the
18:51rest of my life, by the way that I live my life.
18:53Every day, I'm going to impact someone's life.
18:56Every day, I'm going to empower someone.
18:57Every day, I'm going to inspire someone.
18:59Every day, I'm going to encourage someone.
19:06I lived in death for 10 days.
19:08I was on a training bike ride with my fellow teammates headed for the 1988 Winter Olympics
19:14in Calgary.
19:15As we made our way up to the beautiful Blue Mountains west of Sydney, it was the perfect
19:20autumn day.
19:22We'd been on our bikes for around five and a half hours when we got to the part of the
19:25ride that I loved and that was the hills because I loved the hills.
19:29I looked up to see the sun shining in my face and then everything went black.
19:35Where was I?
19:36What was happening?
19:37My body was consumed by pain.
19:40I'd been hit by a speeding truck with only 10 minutes to go on the bike ride.
19:45I was airlifted from the scene of the accident.
19:47I'd broken my neck and my back in six places.
19:50My whole right side was ripped open and filled with gravel.
19:54My head was cut open across the front, lifted back, exposing the skull underneath.
19:58I had head injuries, I had internal injuries and I had massive blood loss.
20:02For 10 days, I drifted between two dimensions.
20:06I was in the fight of my life.
20:09After 10 days, I made the choice to return to my body and when I did, the massive internal
20:16bleeding miraculously stopped.
20:19The next question was whether I would walk again because I was paralysed from the waist
20:23down.
20:24I woke up in intensive care to the news that the operation had been a success because at
20:30that point, I had a little bit of movement in one of my big toes and I thought, great
20:36because I'm going to the Olympics.
20:39But then the doctor came over and said to me, matter of factly, Janine, the operation
20:44was a success but the damage is permanent.
20:48There's central nervous system nerves and there is no cure.
20:51So although we think you may get some feeling back from the waist down, you will have internal
20:55injuries for the rest of your life.
20:57You will have to use a catheter and if you walk again, it will be with calipers and a
21:02walking frame.
21:03You're going to have to rethink everything you do in your life because you are never
21:07going to be able to do the things you did before.
21:10I was an athlete.
21:11My body was everything.
21:13If I couldn't do that, if I wasn't that, then who was I?
21:18After almost six months, it was time to leave the spinal ward.
21:23I was in a wheelchair and a plaster body cast.
21:26All I wanted to do was to go home and get my life back and learn how to walk.
21:29But the head nurse at the hospital had said, Janine, I want you to be ready because when
21:32you get home, something's going to happen.
21:34She said, you're going to get depressed.
21:36I said, not me, not Janine the machine.
21:39She said, it happens to everybody.
21:41I was in a wheelchair, a plaster body cast attached to a catheter bottle.
21:45I had no feeling from the waist down.
21:48I wanted my life back.
21:49I wanted to put my running shoes on and run out the door, but I couldn't.
21:55And I got depressed.
21:56And there were days when I didn't want to get out of bed and days when I didn't get
22:00out of bed.
22:01And I can remember my mum sitting on the bed and we were both crying and she said, I wonder
22:04if life will ever be good again.
22:06And I thought, how could it?
22:07Because I've lost everything that I valued.
22:09At home, sitting outside in my plaster body cast, an airplane flew over my house.
22:15And in that moment, my eyes and my mind were open.
22:18I stopped asking, why me?
22:22And I began to ask, why not me?
22:25And I looked up and I thought, well, that's it.
22:29If I can't walk, then I might as well fly.
22:34So weeks later, my mum and my friend, Chris, they bought me a pair of baggy overalls and
22:39they drove me to the local airport, Bankstown airport, and they carried me in and I held
22:43onto the counter because I couldn't even stand on my own.
22:46I said, I'm here for my flying lesson.
22:49And they ran out the back to draw short straws.
22:51Oh my God.
22:53And this guy came out, Andrew, he said, hi, I'm going to take you flying.
22:56I said, great.
22:57So they put me in the car and they drove me down to the tarmac.
23:00And there on the tarmac was a red, white and blue airplane.
23:03I had never seen anything so beautiful before.
23:06They lifted me up into the aircraft.
23:08They put me in the front seat.
23:10They did my seatbelt up.
23:11We got a clearance from the tower and he took off down the runway and as the wheels
23:15lifted off the runway, I felt the most incredible sense of freedom.
23:20And then as we flew over the training area at Bankstown airport, Andrew said to me, he
23:24said, right, you see those mountains over there?
23:28And I said, yes, as I looked towards the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, where my journey
23:33had begun.
23:35And he said, you take the controls and you head towards those mountains.
23:42And I did.
23:44And I was flying.
23:47And I knew right then that I was going to be a pilot.
23:51I didn't know how on earth I'd ever pass a medical, but that didn't matter because I
23:55had a dream and nothing was going to stop me.
24:00All I could do in the beginning was lie on the ground and lift my legs.
24:04As far, maybe an inch, but it was better than nothing.
24:08And I practiced my walking as much as I could.
24:10And I went from the point of two people holding me up to one person holding me up to the point
24:15where I could walk around the house holding onto the furniture as long as it wasn't too
24:19far apart.
24:20So while the doctors continued to put my body back together again, I went on with my theory
24:24study and then amazingly, eventually I passed my pilot's medical and I had my bag of medication
24:31and catheters and my funny walk and they would look at me and think, who is she kidding?
24:35She's never going to be able to do this.
24:37And sometimes I thought that too, that there was something inside of me that was burning
24:41so bright that said, don't stop.
24:43And eventually I learned to fly.
24:46I went for my first solo and I got my private pilot's license.
24:50And then I learned to navigate.
24:52I flew around Australia and I got my unrestricted private pilot's license.
24:58And then I learned to fly in bad weather as well as fine weather.
25:01And I got my instrument rating and then I got my commercial pilot's license and then
25:07I got my instructor rating and then I found myself at that same school where I'd gone
25:13for that very first flight teaching other people how to fly.
25:20In just over 12 months after I'd left the spinal ward.
25:26I wasn't meant to live.
25:27I wasn't meant to walk and I wasn't meant to fly.
25:31Our bodies may be limited, but it's our spirit that's unstoppable.
25:36I now know that it wasn't until I let go of who I thought I was that I had the freedom
25:41to create something completely new for my life.
25:44It wasn't until I let go of the life I thought I was supposed to have, that I'd worked so
25:47hard for, that I was able to embrace the possibilities that waited for me.
25:53I now know that my real strength never came from my body.
25:57Unlike anything you can lose in life, the defiant human spirit remains steadfast.
26:05And of this I'm certain, I am not my body.
26:10And you, my dear friends, are not yours.
26:15When you choose courage in the face of fear, you defy the things that hold you back from
26:21greatness.
26:22It's a daunting task.
26:25And you might well ask, where do I begin?
26:29Where do I start?
26:31Well perhaps the simple words of this poem might offer a clue.
26:36He said to build a better world.
26:38I said I would, but how?
26:40The world is such a cold, dark place and complicated now.
26:46For I am small and helpless.
26:48There's nothing I can do.
26:51He said, of course there is.
26:54Build a better you.
27:02Have you ever done anything that you now realize was a big mistake?
27:06When I was a kid, I saw little boys in my neighborhood playing with fire and gasoline.
27:12What these little boys would do is they would sprinkle some gasoline on a sidewalk.
27:18They would strike a match, throw the match on top, and the gasoline would dance to life.
27:25And when you're nine and you're a boy, this is fun.
27:29This is awesome.
27:30Mom and dad are gone, the house is mine, I walk into the garage, light a piece of cardboard
27:36on fire, bend down next to a five-gallon container of gasoline.
27:41Nobody's watching before the liquid comes out of it.
27:45What shows up first?
27:47The vapor, the fumes, the invisible stuff.
27:51In life, my friends, it's very seldom what we see coming that burns us.
27:56That day those fumes raced out, grabbed that little flame, pulled it back into the container,
28:02created a massive explosion, picked me up, and launched me 20 feet against the far side
28:09of the garage.
28:11As a little boy, I got scared, I panicked, I ran on fire through the flames back into
28:20my mom and dad's house, a decision that changed my world.
28:24One moment I'm a perfectly happy and healthy little fella, and then it changes.
28:29I found myself as a nine-year-old on my back with burns on 100% of my body.
28:39I am dying.
28:41I'm laying there, I'm scared and afraid and mad and sad and looking up at the ceiling,
28:47and all I can think as a child is, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, my dad is going to kill me when
28:52he finds out.
28:53He walks over to me, points down, John, look at me when I'm talking to you.
28:59So I look up at my mean dad and he says, I have never been so proud.
29:07And then my dad said, I love you.
29:11I love you, I love you, and hearing all of this, I'm nine, I cross my arms, shut my eyes
29:16and thought, oh my gosh, nobody told my dad what happened.
29:23I had months to reflect and to listen and to pause.
29:28I hear my door open up, somebody walks in, I hear footsteps, and then this voice speaks
29:34light into the darkness.
29:37And the voice says loud and clear, kid, wake up, wake up.
29:48Jack Buck was my childhood hero.
29:52I listened to him all nine years of my life, loved him.
29:57When he walked away, he moved his way down three doorways, leaned his head against the
30:02glass door and just started weeping.
30:04One of the nurses walks over to him, kneels down in front of him, looks up and says, Mr.
30:09Buck, are you okay?
30:12And the announcer looks down and says, I'm not sure.
30:15The little boy won't make it, will he?
30:17The expert looks up and says, Mr. Buck, there is absolutely not a chance.
30:24It's just his time.
30:26What Jack Buck does, it's a great example.
30:29He takes it home, he cries, he prays, he reflects, and he journals on one question,
30:35what more can I do?
30:37The following day, a little boy named John O'Leary is hanging out in darkness.
30:41I'm stretched out in this bed, tied down, can't move.
30:46I hear footsteps, a chair, a cough, and then a voice, kid, wake up, I'm back.
30:58You are going to live, you are going to survive, keep fighting.
31:04Gets up, walks out, leaves me tied down still.
31:07Is in eight second increments, the man changed my world.
31:11What I learned years later, and this is cool news for all of us in this room, it also changed
31:15his life.
31:16It always changes the life of the giver.
31:18He encouraged a little boy to fight on, which allowed me to endure five months in the hospital,
31:24which allowed this little boy, miraculously, to come home.
31:29And then a month later, he sends me this baseball.
31:32Ozzie Smith was a shortstop for the Cardinals, he became a Hall of Famer, he was one of my
31:36boyhood idols.
31:37Below that ball was a note from Jack, and the note read, kid, if you want a second baseball,
31:45all you have to do is send a thank you letter to the guy who signed the first one.
31:51What's one problem, Jack?
31:54What's the problem?
31:55Dude, you can't write.
32:00So why would he make me do something, my friends, that he knew ahead of time that I can't do?
32:04To show you you could, to make you.
32:07My mom and dad were trying to show me that I could, and they were trying to inspire me
32:10and make me what my mother used to do.
32:13She would try to hand it to me, and she would say, baby, when you learn how to write again,
32:17you get to go back to school.
32:20Does a little boy want to go back to grade school?
32:23Probably not.
32:24Does a little boy want a second baseball, yes or no?
32:28Good leadership is about rising up and coming onto the stage and saying, people, rise up.
32:33But great leadership and great mentoring, great love, is always, not sometimes, always
32:41about coming down.
32:43It's about meeting people where they are, in their struggles, in their challenges, in
32:48their adversity.
32:49Jack came all the way down to the level of a nine-year-old.
32:53I wrote the note, mailed it off, and two days later, I got a second baseball.
32:58With the second note that read, kid, if you want a third baseball, 1987, a busy announcer
33:08sends a little boy 60 baseballs.
33:1460.
33:19Jack taught a little boy how to write, which allowed that little boy to go back to grade
33:22school.
33:23Somehow, through God's grace, man, you graduate.
33:26Who knows how you graduate?
33:30Graduation night, who shows up right on time is this leader that I have looked up to my
33:35entire life.
33:37My mentor, my hero, my buddy, Jack Black.
33:40He shows up with a package and a note.
33:42Open up the letter, then I open up the box, kid, this means a lot to me.
33:46I hope it means a lot to you, too.
33:48This is the baseball that I received when I went into the Hall of Fame.
33:52There's only one like it in the entire world.
33:56It's yours.
33:57My mentor gave me this priceless gift that changed me from the inside out, because finally
34:03I can start believing in my dreams and the ability to build something even bigger than
34:07myself.
34:08With hands that you may think look broken, but they're not broken, they're just different.
34:12And difference is not bad, I think difference is good.
34:14We are part of something in this room, I think, that is global changing.
34:18It's not just about one, it's about many, it's about the world, and you are part of
34:22it.
34:23If you can leave with one takeaway, one, to change your business, to elevate your relationships,
34:32to inspire you in the community, what's one more thing you can do to live each day in
34:38pure joy?
34:44I was diagnosed with a brain tumor.
34:46They said it wasn't possible for me.
34:48Then I was the 300-pound kid who said I wanted to be a Nike athlete.
34:52Does that even make sense?
34:54I was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and they thought it was over for me, but I'm here.
35:00I'm on a winning streak!
35:03I'm on a winning streak!
35:06Let's go!
35:07When I was eight, I had this dream.
35:11I always wanted to be a Nike athlete, but I was a chubby kid.
35:16It didn't matter to society what I was passionate about.
35:20It only mattered what I could realistically accomplish.
35:23I'm 305 pounds, so insecure that I wouldn't even want to go out to the club.
35:28I would be afraid of everything.
35:31My first thought in the morning was fear to look in the mirror.
35:35My second thought was fear of my first meal.
35:37See, I was addicted to food.
35:39I would have to deal with it every single day.
35:42I would eat so much.
35:43I would eat 10,000, 15,000 calories in a day.
35:46I would wake up the next morning, and my skin would be bruised because I would expand so
35:51much.
35:52Then I would just binge so much to make myself so sick that I didn't even want to do it again.
35:57That's when I went back.
35:59I went back to my childhood dream because what society told me to do, be a businessman, it
36:07meant nothing to me when I was looking at death.
36:09What did I want to do?
36:11I'm 28 years old, 300 pounds, diagnosed with a brain tumor, and I'm going to my business
36:16partners, and I'm going to my mom, and I'm saying, I want to retire.
36:23What do you mean you want to retire?
36:24I said, I want to be an athlete.
36:25I have to do it.
36:26Like, how are you going to make money?
36:29I said, it's not about the money.
36:31I've got to do this for me.
36:33I said, I'll figure all that out.
36:34I said, well, how are you going to do it?
36:36I said, I'm going to do an Ironman in New Zealand.
36:38They thought I was crazy.
36:40How are you going to do an Ironman?
36:42That's like the most difficult thing in the world to do.
36:45It's a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and then run a full marathon, 26.2 miles.
36:52I said, I'm going to do it, and I'm going to do it in 10 months, and I walked away from
36:57my business.
36:58So I just started running.
36:59I started running around the block.
37:01Then I ran a little further.
37:04In a year's time, I lost 125 pounds and started reversing my brain tumor, building momentum
37:11for an Ironman in New Zealand.
37:13That was the contract I made for myself.
37:16So I got on a plane with my best friend, Scott, and we set out to become Ironmen.
37:22But deep inside, I was afraid I wouldn't finish.
37:25I mean, how could a guy like me be an Ironman?
37:29I've always been the underdog.
37:32So it's race day.
37:34Scott and I, just two common guys surrounded by elite athletes, and we're dancing down
37:39the starting line.
37:41We hop in the water for our swim, and honestly, it was easy.
37:45It felt like we could see the finish line from here.
37:48We transitioned into the bike ride, and the fans were going crazy.
37:53I think they were cheering me on because, well, I was one of them.
37:58The common man.
38:00New Zealand.
38:02Still roaring hills, but those same roaring hills broke our bodies down.
38:07Twelve hours into the race, and we're almost in last place.
38:11The Ironman's race director got afraid we're not going to finish.
38:14Steve from Ironman, how you doing?
38:17Whereabouts are you guys?
38:19You're going to need to get behind him.
38:21You have to give him a bit of a push.
38:23So if you guys can get a word to him.
38:25The cutoff is 5.30, and he will be out on the road by 5.30.
38:31I was scared.
38:32I left my company, changed my entire life.
38:35Everything was in jeopardy.
38:37I was throwing up, and my digestive system was shutting down.
38:41It hurt to even high-five the supporters.
38:44We were minutes away from disqualification.
38:47Everything was crashing down on me.
38:50Everything.
38:52My promise I made to myself, to everyone who believed in me.
38:57When you have that wall, sometimes that wall isn't just in front of you.
39:01You're surrounded by the wall.
39:03I couldn't go over.
39:05I couldn't go through.
39:07And I couldn't go around.
39:09I had to dig deep.
39:11I picked myself up, fighting disqualification.
39:14And there I was.
39:16The finish line to an entire chapter of my life.
39:19This wasn't about 140 miles.
39:22This was about the contract I made to myself.
39:27I'm going to be honest with you guys.
39:31I still to this day get scared to chase my dreams.
39:34But I knew that if I was going to become a Nike athlete, I needed to do more.
39:39I needed to inspire people the same way Nike inspired me.
39:44I wanted to do something that very few people on this earth have ever done.
39:49Bike across America, from Los Angeles to New York.
39:52And to help people along the way.
39:55I wanted to do it with my best friend Scott.
39:58I was scared, and so was he.
40:01Neither of us really knew what we were doing or what we were getting ourselves into.
40:06We wanted to be the inspiration for others to say,
40:09if they can do it, so can I.
40:12That is Charlie Jabaly.
40:14Charlie Jabaly.
40:15This is Charlie. Good morning to you, Charlie.
40:17Take a look at this man's transformation right here.
40:20Went from that to that.
40:22Where we go, we're looking for people who have dreams and how we can help them.
40:27And then he heard about Siona.
40:29Siona! Surprise!
40:32By the dumpster, Charlie Jabaly popped up with balloons surprising Siona Brynn
40:37with a gift that is a dream come true. Her own car.
40:41We all know that paying a mortgage weighs heavy on anyone's shoulders.
40:45Imagine having to do so while you're battling breast cancer.
40:50This is Charlie. Remember him from the 6 o'clock hour.
40:52We are completely paying off your mortgage.
40:55I want to introduce you to the dream machine.
40:59I'm going to wrap it in a blank canvas.
41:01Have everybody across the country write their dreams on it.
41:05We started to realize that your actions and identity become your dream.
41:09And your dream starts to become you.
41:12To quote the late JFK,
41:14we didn't do it because it was easy, but because it was hard.
41:18Because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills.
41:23Because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept.
41:27One we are unwilling to postpone.
41:29And one we intend to win.