I have just finished a whirl-wind week traveling the country speaking to over 3,000 college students. On Monday, I spoke to 600 at Jacksonville State University in Alabama. On Tuesday, empowered 500 at NW Missouri State University. Then, this past Thursday, presented to my largest audience yet — about 1,800 at the University of Arkansas.
It was exhausting. It was exhilarating. It was inspiring. It was confronting. It was fulfilling. It was AWESOME! And, I want to express my deepest appreciation to these schools for booking me and presenting this program to their students. This shows a huge commitment to empowering their students to stand up and do what’s right. Thank you — thank you — thank you for everything you did and for all your hospitality during my visit.
I also want to thank each and every student who listened to my presentation. I am clear that it was mandatory that you be there and I still appreciate your participation and attendance.
Now, how can you thank me? To everyone who sat through my presentation, how can you show your appreciation to me? Many of you still text or Twitter me about how much you enjoyed the presentation and you thank me for coming. And, I really do appreciate this. However, what is the greatest form of appreciation you can show? The greatest and most powerful form of appreciation you can show is to actually have my presentation make a difference in your lives and the lives of others. There is no higher expression of appreciation than to actually take actions in your life to intervene against problematic behavior and alter the course of how that situation is going to go.
You now have what you need to intervene. All there is to do now is practice. Practice going beyond the barriers and acting anyway. Practice the skills of actually speaking up and intervening. Practice, practice, practice. It does take practice. And, you will fail — you really will. At least you will fail from the commitment to make a difference — not fail from doing nothing. Saying nothing. Taking action and failing is worth it. And, you will be surprised at how many times you don’t fail — at how many times you actually make a difference in someone’s life. You then get to know yourself as someone who can, and does, make that difference.
So, for all of you who still send me emails and text messages thanking me for my presentation — keep them coming. And, please show me the greatest form of appreciation by taking action and making a difference for others and for life itself.
Remember: it only takes one person to speak up and others will follow.
