The first rule is: trust yourself. What I mean by that is so many young people

are getting so much advice from their parents, and from their teachers, and from everyone.

But what is most important is, that you have to dig deep down, deep deep down and ask yourselves,"W;ho

do you want to be?" Not "what" but "who." And I'm talking about not what your parents

and teachers what you be, but you. I'm talking about figuring out for yourselves what makes

you happy. No matter how crazy it may sound to other people.

So rule number one is of course trust yourself no matter how or what anyone else thinks.

And of course rule number two is: break the rules. We have so many rules in life about

everything. I say break the rules, not the law, but break the rules. It is impossible

to be a maverick, or a true original, if you're too well behaved and don't want to break the

rules. You have to think outside the box that's what I believe after all, what is the point

of being on this earth if all you want to do is be liked by everyone and avoid trouble?

The only way that I ever got any place was by breaking some of the rules.

Which of course brings me to rule number three. Don't be afraid to fail. Anything that I've

ever attempted, I was always willing to fail. You can't always win but don't be afraid of

making decisions. You can't be paralysed by fear of failure, or you will never push yourself.

You keep pushing because you believe in yourself and in your vision. And you know that it is

the right thing to do and success will come. So don't be afraid to fail.

Which brings me to rule number four which is: don't listen to the naysayers. I mean

how many times have you heard you can't do this and you can't do that and it's never

been done before? As a matter of fact I love it when someone says,"No one has ever done

this before." Because then when I do it, that means I am the first one that has done it.

So pay no attention to the people who say it can't be done.

You gotta love it ladies and gentlemen. You gotta love it, its gotta be what you are supposed

to do. You want to sing even though they won't invite you to Carnegie Hall, you gonna sing

to anybody that will listen to you including singing to yourself. You gotta write even

if no one published your book write because that was given to you to do. You do what it

is you're supposed to do. You supposed to build something? You're supposed to create

something? "I don't know how to do it." Learn! Do whatever is required. It's necessary

if you want it you gotta go into action. You gotta be willing to experiment. You gotta

be willing to fail and to succeed. You gotta be willing to form and develop new relationships.

It's you, it's on you, you gotta make that happen. Nobody is going to bring it to you

on a silver platter and say,"Here's your dream manifested." No! It's hard, yes it's hard.

It's difficult, that's right. And it's worth it.

That brings me to rule number five what is the most important rule of all: work your butt off.

You never want to fail because you didn't work hard enough. I never wanted to

lose a competition, or lose an election because I didn't work hard enough. I always believed

leaving no stone unturned. Muhammad Ali, one of my great heroes had a great line in the

70's when he was asked,"How many sit ups do you do?" He said,"I don't count my sit ups.

I only start counting when it starts hurting. When I feel pain, that's when I start counting

because that's what makes you a champion." That's the way it is with everything.

No pain, no gain.

"Whatever it takes, I will do." That's the answer I want to hear from you. And if you

do not see it, and if you do not believe it, who else will?

That takes me to rule number six. Whatever path that you take in your lives you must

always find time to give something back. Something back to your community, give something back

to your state or to your country.

Remember those six rules. Trust yourself.

Break some rules. Don't be afraid to fail.

Ignore the naysayers. Work like hell.

And give something back.