The last lecture provides some universal life insight.
The Last Lecture Background Information
It was August 2007 when Randy Pausch was told he would have 3 to 6 months of good health left to live. Since he was a professor at Carnegie Mellon, he decided to give an upbeat lecture called, “The Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” in September of that year and published a book of the same theme, which is a New York Times bestseller (it provides a deeper insight on what was explored during the lecture).
Unfortunately, Pausch died from complications from his illness in July 2008. However, he did leave a parting gift for the rest of us to enjoy. Mainly his lecture and story. Below I share some of my favorite insights he shares.
Insight from the Last Lecture
1. Be Good at Something, it Makes you Valuable
In a world where it can seem like there is an increasing focus on being good at a vast majority of disciplines, one of the keys is to be good at something. Pick a skill you enjoy working on and getting better at. Cultivate this skill and use it in your career. This can serve as a reference point for a base level of skill and can always be compounded on with other skills as well.
2. Brick Walls are There for a Reason
When faced with obstacles, it is easy to give up. Brick walls are hard to overcome, be it either knocking them down through persistence or finding creative ways around them. Pausch instead sees these brick walls as great opportunities. It is easy to pursue dreams in fair-weather; everyone can do that. It is when things get hard that it matters. This is when most people give up. If this goal matters to us, we should thank the obstacles for deterring others, and providing us an opportunity to grow, and show our dedication to the goal.
3. Be prepared: Luck is where preparation meets opportunity
The brick walls lead into this point as well. We need brick walls to prepare us for our future opportunities. Learn as much as possible from failures, successes, and insights from others. Generating this constructive feedback loop, even when the criticism is hard to hear, can set us apart from others. By taking these learnings and continually getting better, even when times are hard, when the opportunity presents itself, we can get it. People will say it’s luck. Only you will know all the learning and sacrifice that had to get there.
4. Take Time to Show Gratitude
During Pausch’s last lecture, a moment that was very focused on him, he took time out of the presentation to have everyone recognize that it was his wife’s birthday. He even wheeled a giant cake out on stage for her and had everyone sing happy birthday to her. The diagnosis was hard on her too, and she was working on making the most of it, just like Pausch. He realized this and appreciated the effort his wife was providing him. He took time on his big moment to recognize her as well.
Gratitude can be tricky. Check out our guide on how to be more grateful with this guide!
5. Decide if you’re a Tigger or Eeyore
This is a mentality question, are problems opportunities, or are they the end of the road? A lot of the lessons from Pausch are about how-to better view problems. He had a huge personal problem, he was given six months of good health in his mid-forties. Instead of being an Eeyore, and saying “Woah is me”, he channeled his inner Tigger and saw this as an opportunity to share the insight he gleaned over his life. In this way, he was able to positively impact millions with his teachings, because of his attitude.
Main Take-Away
- Life is all about perception. It’s how we view our situation that counts. Challenges are either opportunities or setbacks. We get to decide.
Action Item
What is the biggest challenge in your life right now? How is your attitude facing that problem? Can you shift to see it as an opportunity in disguise? Write down three proactive ways you can work on the problem this week to help solve it or at least make it better.
