Most people are defined by their titles, their cars, their house, where they came from, their color, their race, their religion. And so it's up to you to take control of your own life and define you. As long as you understand who you are and you have a solid foundation of understanding what your talents are, what your skills are.

There are always risks when you chase after a dream because growth requires that you leave your comfort zone and enter unknown territory. But without confronting those risks and facing your fears, you'll never, as Nike says, "Just do it." Now the truth is, you may fail in some of your efforts, but you will never succeed if you are not willing to risk failure. And even if you do fail, you can learn from the experience and try again. To do that, you will need courage, and you will also need to have faith in your ability to achieve your goals.

I've worked in the prison system for five years, and most of those folks in prison didn't have a direction.

Having a vision for your life allows you to live out of hope, rather than out of your fears.

You know, you're living in a society where if you say something that you might think may be OK, when it's more sensitive to that particular culture. You have to be very, very careful.

All your life you compare and contrast, explore and search. But knowing yourself well is, well, elusive.

And whenever you encounter a problem, no matter how insurmountable it might seem, there is one simple response that should be ingrained in your behavior: Never give up.