The Last Lecture by Dr. Randy Pausch “How to Really Achieve Your Childhood Dreams” He was a Carnegie Mellon Professor (Oct. 23, 1960 – July 25, 2008) that inspired millions of people and gave his last lecture at the university on Sept. 18, 2007.
Key Points directly from video:
Head Fake – Indirect Learning. The best way to teach somebody something is to have them think they’re learning something else.
The head fake in the video was making you think it was about achieving your childhood dreams, however it was really about HOW TO LEAD YOUR LIFE. If you can do this, the Karma will come to you; your dreams will come to realization.
Brick Walls – Remember, the brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough.
You get people to help you by telling the truth. Being earnest. I’ll take an earnest person over a hip person every day, because hip is short term. Earnest is long term.
Apologize when you screw up and focus on other people, not on yourself.
Get a feedback loop and listen to it. Anybody can get chewed out. It’s the rare person who says, oh my god, you were right. When people give you feedback, cherish it and use it.
Find the best in everybody. No one is all evil. Everybody has a good side; just keep waiting, it will come out.
And be prepared. Luck is truly where preparation meets opportunity.
Inspirational Story of Team Hoyt – Ironman Competitors
True Love – Champions have HUGE hearts. Those battling through tremendous odds and chronic illness/injuries are already Champions.
Son to Father, “Dad when you run it feels, as if my disability goes away.”
Story’s like this show how much more we can do everyday in each of our own lives.
This is NO such thing as QUIT OR CAN’T - remove these words from your vocabulary.
Life Lessons:
1. Connecting the Dots. Follow your gut and passions. You cannot connect the dots looking forward, but only in hindsight. He dropped in on a caligraphy course (his interest and passion), after dropping out of college. That course helped him integrate that style into the MAC computer 10 years later. Have to trust that the “dots” will somehow connect down the road. “Believing that the dots will connect down the road, will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well worn path and that will make all of the difference”.
2. Being fired from Apple was the best thing that happened to him. It helped him LET GO of the “heavyness of being successful, and replaced it with the lightness of being a beginner again.”
“Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish” ~ Steve Jobs
