Delatorro McNeal II tells the story of a fisherman and a young boy to explain how people fail to reach their full potential because they throw away big opportunities. We focus too much on little stuff that fits in our comfort zone that we miss out on "big mega opportunities out there." Here's how you can seize your potential and take your life to the next level.
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00:00It kind of reminds me of the story of the old man that was fishing in the lake.
00:03And there was an old man fishing in the lake and he was catching big fish and little fish
00:06and big fish and little fish.
00:07And there was a little boy off of the shore watching the man fish.
00:11Every time he caught that big fish, he would throw the big fish back.
00:14Every time he caught that little fish, he put that little fish on ice in his cooler.
00:17So this man's doing this for hours.
00:19He's catching big fish and little fish and big fish and little fish.
00:21So after a few hours, the storms begin to come in.
00:23So he brings the boat back and he begins to walk home.
00:25And the little boy runs up to the man and says, sir, hold on, hold on.
00:27You can't go home yet.
00:28I've been watching you for hours.
00:29You were catching big fish and little fish and big fish and little fish.
00:33And every time you caught that big fish, you throw that big fish.
00:36And every time you caught that little bitty fish, you put that little fish on ice in your
00:39cooler.
00:40And I don't understand why you did that.
00:43He reached into his book bag.
00:44He said, son, I hate the fact that every time I caught that big fish, I had to throw that
00:47big fish back.
00:48But you see, back at home, I only have a little itty bitty frying pan.
00:55And before you laugh too hard, many of us can't seize our potential because we throw
01:02back big opportunities.
01:04We throw back big doors and we hold on to the little things, y'all come on somebody,
01:08the small stuff that fits in our frying pan, the little stuff that fits in our comfort
01:14zone, the little stuff that fits in our background, the little stuff that fits in our pedigree,
01:18the little stuff that fits with our bank account, the little stuff that fits with the people
01:21that we grew up in and around.
01:24And we don't understand that there's big mega opportunities out there that we're supposed
01:29to be taking full advantage of if we would just be willing to seize our potential and
01:35take our lives to the next level.
01:36I learned a whole lot about potential from my parents.
01:39My mom raised me and my older brother, Michael, as a single parent.
01:42She struggled every day, all the time to make ends meet.
01:45I love my mom.
01:46She was my first mentor.
01:47She was my first coach.
01:48My mother was a Sunday school teacher.
01:50She was an English teacher.
01:51If you were going to be Olivia's kid, you had to be able to talk.
01:54So from the time I was in the third, fourth, and fifth grade, I got the longest parts in
01:57the Easter play and the Christmas play.
01:58I had to play Jesus, Moses, Abraham, Isaac.
01:59All of my friends got little stuff.
02:00Jesus, what?
02:01I got five pages of lines I had to memorize.
02:02And it was frustrating.
02:03But my mom would sit on the second, third row of church and she'd say, I can't hear you.
02:10Project more.
02:11Use your hands.
02:13My dad helped me realize my potential because my father's been in a wheelchair longer than
02:18I've been alive.
02:19And I know what it's like to go through the biggest pain of all for my mentor, my coach,
02:22my mom, who raised me way more than a parent, a mentor, a coach, a friend, an advisor to
02:28pass away on April 30th, 2013, 5.30 PM Eastern.
02:32Heart failure.
02:33We were caregiving for my mom every single day.
02:37We decided to go home and change clothes, me and my older brother, Michael.
02:39And by the time we got back home and changed clothes, we got a call from the hospital said,
02:42you better come back.
02:43By the time we got back to the hospital, she was already gone.
02:45We didn't get a chance to say goodbye.
02:49People say that time heals.
02:51I believe that time helps, but you have to learn to live with that loss.
02:54Anybody in this room ever lost a loved one?
02:56One of the greatest lessons that I learned about overcoming pain is to shift to gratitude.
03:02So I began to start writing in a gratitude journal every single day.
03:05My mom's favorite expression was, I'm blessed.
03:08So every morning I write in a gratitude journal and I write things that I'm grateful for.
03:11And I make a list of all the amazing things that I have to be grateful for in my life.
03:15My mentor taught me in college.
03:16He said, listen, the bottom line of results and anything else is rhetoric.
03:19Learn to focus on pursuing your passion.
03:21My friends, I want you to understand something.
03:22Here's what I've learned and realized.
03:24People are going to sum up your life with one word.
03:26You know what that one word is?
03:27Your primary passion.
03:29If I say Henry Ford, you say the automobile.
03:31Come on somebody.
03:32If I say Oprah Winfrey, you say television.
03:33Does that make sense?
03:34Every single one of us have a powerful passion.
03:36Slow down the word, pass I on.
03:38How do you pass yourself on to someone else?
03:40How do you learn how to be like a stamp and stick to one thing until it delivers?
03:44One of the biggest lessons that I learned and one of the biggest things that I realized
03:47that stops people from living their passion is the fact that we have inner voices in our
03:50head that stop us from going after the things we want and we don't understand that there's
03:55big mega opportunities out there that we're supposed to be taking full advantage of if
04:00we would just be willing to seize our potential and take our lives to the next level.
04:06The next time those voices come in your head and tell you what you're not good enough to
04:09do, you're not smart enough, you're not fast enough, you're not tall enough, you're not
04:12gifted enough, you're not connected enough, you're not networked enough, celebrate your
04:15uniqueness, fall in love with you, appreciate you.
04:19When you try to be like anybody else, the best you can be is second place.
04:24Understand how unique you are because if two of us are the same, one of us is unnecessary.
04:29My friend, be you.