Leave your comfort zones - James Amps III

Leave Your Comfort Zone - James Amps III.

Busines, Keynote, Motivational Speaker James Amp from FIVE STAR Speakers on Vimeo.

"If you help someone who's not doing well, that shows your character."

'Don't Let Others Mess with Your Vision'
Middle School Receives Inspirational Visitor

This article on James Amps III was featured in the OPELIKA-AUBURN NEWS A MEDIA GENERAL NEWSPAPER Friday, February 16, 2001.

From a bad conduct discharge from the U.S. Navy to a national motivational speaking circuit, James Amps III has come a long way.

And through this life journey, Amps picked up a few tips along the way - tips that he shared with Samford Middle School eighth-graders during an emotion-filled assembly Tuesday.

Amps held the auditorium's audience captive, urging the students to break out of their day-to-day comfort zones. "We have to come out of our comfort zones to grow," Amps said. "We've got to get outside of the zone to excel."

Amps said both youth and adults are prone to both racial and spiritual comfort zones, and he said it was important to break out of these routines. "People can work together and go to school together," Amps said. "But at lunch, you've got whites, Latinos and blacks all sitting in their own groups in the lunchroom.

"We have to pay attention to the friends we surround ourselves with" he said. "We just know we belong to a certain group. If your crew does something wrong, you don't know."

Amps said this is what led to his release from the Navy. "I had a bad conduct discharge from the Navy," he said. "I was running around with a group that was doing wrong."

Amps said one of his friends stole about $300,000 from the Navy, and he refused to "rat" on him to Naval officers, leading to his discharge.

"My dream was pulled from me," he said. "I let another person mess with my vision. Don't let others mess with your vision."

Amps, president and CEO of Amps Communicators, speaks nationally on topics ranging from personal goals to personal accountability.

"Once you lose time, it's gone forever," he said. "Time doesn't care how many DKNY shirts or Air Jordan shoes you have. Time doesn't care about big houses and fancy cars."

The purpose of life is to set goals and do what you enjoy as a career choice, Amps said. "Our parents never chose their jobs. Their jobs chose them," Amps said. "People would be happy if they did what they loved."

Amps told the students they could be their own bosses and own their own businesses. "If you have a passion for something, you can sell it," he said.

He also urged students to reach out to others who were less fortunate or struggling in school and life. "If you want to have a good school, you've got to get with people who are having a hard time and help that person," Amps said. "If you help someone who's not doing well, that shows your character."

"Put your hands together, notice your lifeline," Amps said. "Your destiny is in your hands."

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