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Denzel Washington is one of the greatest actors of a generation, yet success did not come easy to the two-time Oscar winner.
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Washington struggled academically as a student at Fordham University where he nearly flunked out.
In Brief:
“FAIL BIG… THAT’S RIGHT – FAIL BIG. YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE. TAKE CHANCES PROFESSIONALLY..BE PASSIONATE ABOUT IT, NOT JUST A JOB…DON’T BE AFRAID TO FAIL…DON’T BE AFRAID TO GO OUTSIDE THE PREDICTABLE BOX THAT OTHER PEOPLE ONLY DO… DON’T BE AFRAID TO THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX… DON’T BE AFRAID TO DREAM BIG OR TO FAIL BIG…BUT REMEMBER, DREAMS WITHOUT GOALS ARE JUST DREAMS. SO HAVE DREAMS AND HAVE GOALS…LIFE GOALS, YEARLY GOALS, MONTHLY GOALS, AND DAILY GOALS…AND UNDERSTAND THAT TO ACHIEVE THESE GOALS YOU MUST APPLY DISCIPLINE AND CONSISTENCY…
“IF YOU WANT SOMETHING YOU HAVE TO WORK AT IT EVERY DAY AND YOU HAVE TO PLAN IT EVERY DAY…HARD WORK WORKS…WORKING REALLY HARD IS WHAT SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE DO…AND REMEMBER, JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE DOING A LOT MORE DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU WILL GET A LOT DONE…DON’T CONFUSE WORK WITH PROGRESS UPON GOALS… MAKE SURE THAT WHAT YOU ARE DOING MOVES THOSE GOALS CLOSER…SO CONTINUE TO STRIVE… CONTINUE TO HAVE GOALS AND TO PROGRESS TOWARD THOSE GOALS.. AND THEN ANYTHING YOU WANT ..THAT IS GOOD.. YOU CAN HAVE… WANT IT, AIM AT IT, AND YOU CAN GO GET IT…AND DON’T JUST ASPIRE TO MAKE A LIVING, ASPIRE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
Click on the video below to watch Washington’s inspiring speech:
What could one of the greatest actors of a generation possibly know about failure? After all, the two-time Oscar winner has delivered one master class performance after the other over an acting career that spans nearly four decades. Yet, as talented as Washington undoubtedly is, success did not come easy and certainly not early.
As a theater student at Fordham University, the tour-de-force actor was on the verge of flunking out after scrounging his way to a 1.8 semester gpa and limped from one failed audition to the other. Washington’s sheer grit and determination in the face of countless failures awarded him a life he could only dream of as that college kid in danger of flunking. The best entrepreneurs are those who follow Washington’s blueprint for success.