Believe in yourself. No matter what anybody else does, you have to believe in yourself. Do not let anyone tell you what you can not do. My whole life I had people tell me "you'll never do that" or "you'll never be that." Things people said I'd never be able to do, I'm doing. I try and stress that to kids. A lot of inner-city kids have an overwhelming sense of hopelessness. I have to explain that there is hope. You have to believe in yourself, figure out what you want to do and do not let anyone stop you from doing it. Make the sacrifices. It worked for me.