Blog + Diamonds
VIDEO SUMMARY
Charting Your Course: Vital Steps Toward a Purposeful Life
Hey there, superstar! Ever felt like you’re stuck in a rut, just going through the motions? 🤔
Well, guess what? You’re not alone! We’ve all been there. But here’s the kicker – there’s a whole world of opportunity waiting for you just around the corner! 💫
Imagine this: You’re on a quest for personal growth and success, but you’re not quite sure where to start. 🌟
That’s where we come in! We’ve got the inside scoop on how to unlock your full potential and become the rockstar you were meant to be. 🎸
From choosing the right life partner to surrounding yourself with positive influences, we’ve got the lowdown on all the juicy secrets to living your best life. 🌈
But wait, there’s more! We’ll even spill the beans on how to turn your wildest dreams into reality – no magic wand required! ✨
So, what are you waiting for? Take a leap of faith and join us on this epic adventure of self-discovery and growth. 🚀
Trust us, you won’t want to miss out on what’s in store! 😉
#UnlockYourPotential #DreamBig #SelfDiscovery
Step-by-Step Guide
Step 1: Identify Your Passion
Description:
Identify something you’re deeply passionate about, something that truly excites and motivates you.
Implementation:
- Reflect on your interests, hobbies, and activities that bring you joy and fulfillment.
- Consider your long-term goals and aspirations to determine what aligns with your passion and purpose in life.
- Take note of any patterns or recurring themes in your interests to help pinpoint your true passion.
Specific Details:
- Take time for introspection and self-assessment to understand what drives and inspires you.
- Don’t rush this process; it’s essential to genuinely connect with your passion to sustain motivation in the long run.
Step 2: Embrace Hard Work
Description:
Commit to working diligently and persistently towards your passion, dedicating significant time and effort.
Implementation:
- Allocate every waking hour to pursuing your passion, prioritizing it above other activities.
- Accept the necessity of hard work and embrace the challenges that come with it.
- Maintain a strong work ethic and be willing to put in extra hours to make meaningful progress.
Specific Details:
- Develop a routine that allows ample time for focused work on your passion project.
- Stay disciplined and avoid distractions that could derail your progress.
- Understand that success often requires sacrificing leisure time and comfort for the sake of your goals.
Step 3: Take Calculated Risks
Description:
Be willing to take calculated risks in pursuit of your passion, even if it means deviating from conventional paths.
Implementation:
- Dream big and set ambitious goals that align with your passion and purpose in life.
- Focus on the desired outcome rather than dwelling on potential obstacles or failures.
- Assess the risks involved in pursuing your passion and develop a strategy to mitigate them effectively.
Specific Details:
- Cultivate courage and resilience to navigate challenges and setbacks along the way.
- Be prepared to step outside your comfort zone and challenge conventional wisdom.
- Continuously evaluate your progress and adapt your approach as needed to stay aligned with your goals.
Step 4: Invest in Yourself
Description:
Recognize the importance of investing in your personal and professional development to support your pursuit of passion.
Implementation:
- Prioritize self-improvement through education, skill development, and self-discovery.
- Allocate resources, such as time and finances, to acquire knowledge and experiences that enhance your abilities.
- Cultivate a growth mindset and remain open to learning from both successes and failures.
Specific Details:
- Seek out mentors, courses, workshops, and resources that can expand your expertise and perspective.
- Allocate a portion of your budget and schedule for continuous learning and skill-building activities.
- Remember that investing in yourself is a long-term commitment with invaluable returns on your personal and professional journey.
Step 5: Seek Harmony Between Instinct and Analysis
Description:
Achieve a balance between trusting your natural instincts and avoiding over-analysis when making decisions.
Implementation:
- Embrace your natural instincts and intuition as valuable guides in decision-making.
- Avoid excessive analysis paralysis by trusting your gut feelings and making quick decisions when necessary.
- Cultivate the courage to act swiftly based on your instincts, even in uncertain situations.
Specific Details:
- Practice mindfulness and self-awareness to recognize when you’re over-analyzing a situation.
- Trust your intuition but remain open to gathering relevant information before making decisions.
- Develop a habit of making swift decisions based on your instincts, acknowledging that not all outcomes can be predicted or controlled.
Step 6: Recognize Opportunities
Description:
Train yourself to identify opportunities early and act decisively to pursue them.
Implementation:
- Stay alert and attentive to potential opportunities in various aspects of your life.
- Connect the dots between seemingly unrelated events or circumstances to uncover hidden opportunities.
- Develop a proactive mindset that seeks out opportunities rather than waiting for them to present themselves.
Specific Details:
- Keep an open mind and explore new experiences and perspectives to broaden your awareness of potential opportunities.
- Network and engage with diverse individuals and communities to increase your exposure to new ideas and opportunities.
- Continuously evaluate your goals and aspirations to align them with emerging opportunities and trends.
Step 7: Relentlessly Chase Opportunities
Description:
Demonstrate unwavering courage and determination in pursuing opportunities once identified.
Implementation:
- Commit to pursuing opportunities with passion and dedication, regardless of potential challenges or setbacks.
- Overcome fear and self-doubt by focusing on your long-term goals and the potential rewards of success.
- Embrace failure as a natural part of the learning process and use setbacks as opportunities for growth.
Specific Details:
- Maintain a relentless pursuit of your goals, even in the face of adversity or criticism from others.
- Stay resilient and adaptable, adjusting your approach as needed to navigate obstacles and seize opportunities.
- Celebrate progress and small victories along the way to stay motivated and inspired on your journey.
Step 8: Follow Your Beliefs
Description:
Prioritize doing what you believe is right, even if it’s challenging or risky.
Implementation:
- Trust your instincts and convictions when making decisions about your life path.
- Recognize that pursuing what you believe in may involve facing obstacles and uncertainties.
- Embrace the courage to stand by your beliefs and pursue your passions with determination.
Specific Details:
- Reflect on your values and principles to guide your decision-making process.
- Understand that following your beliefs may require sacrifice and perseverance, but it can lead to fulfillment and personal growth.
- Surround yourself with supportive individuals who encourage you to pursue your convictions and dreams.
Step 9: Conquer Fear and Uncertainty
Description:
Overcome fear and uncertainty by tapping into your inner courage and self-belief.
Implementation:
- Acknowledge and accept the natural fear that accompanies significant endeavors or challenges.
- Cultivate a mindset of self-assurance and confidence in your abilities to overcome obstacles.
- Challenge yourself to step outside your comfort zone and confront fears head-on.
Specific Details:
- Practice visualization techniques to envision success and build confidence in your abilities.
- Seek inspiration from stories of resilience and triumph over adversity to fuel your determination.
- Embrace failure as a stepping stone to growth and view challenges as opportunities for personal development.
Step 10: Pursue Excellence and Success
Description:
Commit to pursuing excellence in all aspects of your endeavors, knowing that success will follow.
Implementation:
- Set high standards for yourself and strive for continuous improvement and innovation.
- Focus on honing your skills and expertise to become the best in your field or passion.
- Embrace challenges as opportunities to demonstrate your commitment to excellence.
Specific Details:
- Develop a growth mindset that values learning and development over immediate success.
- Surround yourself with mentors and peers who inspire and challenge you to reach your full potential.
- Stay resilient in the face of setbacks and setbacks, maintaining a relentless pursuit of excellence in all your endeavors.
Step 11: Stay Positive and Optimistic
Description:
Maintain a positive and optimistic outlook on life, believing in your ability to overcome obstacles and achieve your goals.
Implementation:
- Focus on the possibilities and opportunities rather than dwelling on potential setbacks or failures.
- Cultivate a sense of self-confidence and belief in your capabilities to navigate challenges successfully.
- Surround yourself with positivity and dismiss negative influences that may hinder your progress.
Specific Details:
- Practice gratitude and mindfulness to foster a positive mindset and resilience in the face of adversity.
- Visualize success and envision yourself accomplishing your goals to reinforce your optimism.
- Stay committed to your dreams and aspirations, knowing that your attitude and mindset play a crucial role in shaping your reality.
Step 12: Harness Your Gifts and Make Choices
Description:
Utilize your talents and abilities to shape your life and make conscious choices that align with your values and aspirations.
Implementation:
- Reflect on your unique gifts and strengths to identify areas where you can make a positive impact.
- Consider the consequences of your choices and prioritize actions that contribute to your personal growth and fulfillment.
- Embrace your autonomy and agency in authoring your own life story, recognizing the power of your decisions.
Specific Details:
- Create a vision for your future and set goals that leverage your talents and passions.
- Practice self-awareness and introspection to understand your values and priorities when making decisions.
- Be proactive in shaping your life trajectory, avoiding complacency and embracing opportunities for growth and fulfillment.
Step 13: Choose Originality Over Conformity
Description:
Embrace your individuality and originality, avoiding the trap of conformity or dogma in your pursuits.
Implementation:
- Challenge conventional wisdom and embrace innovative thinking to explore new possibilities and solutions.
- Prioritize authenticity and creativity in your endeavors, resisting the pressure to conform to societal norms or expectations.
- Cultivate a mindset of curiosity and exploration, valuing diversity of thought and expression.
Specific Details:
- Trust your instincts and intuition to guide you towards unique and unconventional paths.
- Surround yourself with individuals who celebrate your authenticity and encourage your creative expression.
- Embrace failure as an inevitable part of experimentation and innovation, learning and growing from each experience.
Step 14: Embrace Challenges and Adversity
Description:
Welcome adversity as an opportunity for growth and resilience, refusing to be deterred by setbacks or criticism.
Implementation:
- Adopt a mindset of perseverance and resilience, viewing challenges as opportunities for learning and improvement.
- Embrace discomfort and uncertainty as catalysts for personal and professional development.
- Stay committed to your goals and convictions, even in the face of resistance or skepticism from others.
Specific Details:
- Develop coping strategies and resilience-building practices to navigate difficult situations with grace and determination.
- Seek support from mentors, peers, and loved ones during times of adversity, recognizing the importance of community and connection.
- Reframe setbacks as temporary obstacles on your journey to success, maintaining a positive and proactive attitude towards overcoming challenges.
Step 15: Seize Opportunities and Innovate
Description:
Seize opportunities for innovation and growth, leveraging technology and creativity to make a meaningful impact.
Implementation:
- Stay curious and open-minded, actively seeking out opportunities for innovation and improvement in your field or passion.
- Embrace technology as a tool for efficiency and scalability, harnessing its potential to amplify your impact.
- Foster a culture of innovation and experimentation, encouraging yourself and others to think outside the box.
Specific Details:
- Stay informed about emerging trends and technologies in your industry or area of interest, proactively seeking opportunities to leverage them for innovation.
- Collaborate with like-minded individuals and organizations to brainstorm new ideas and solutions, fostering a culture of creativity and collaboration.
- Embrace failure as a natural part of the innovation process, viewing setbacks as learning opportunities that propel you closer to success.
Step 16: Follow Your Curiosity and Ambition
Description:
Embrace curiosity and ambition as driving forces for personal growth and fulfillment.
Implementation:
- Explore new interests, ideas, and opportunities with an open mind and a sense of curiosity.
- Set ambitious goals that challenge and inspire you to reach new heights in your personal and professional journey.
- Refuse to settle for mediocrity or conformity, choosing instead to pursue your dreams with passion and determination.
Specific Details:
- Create a vision board or journal to document your aspirations and track your progress towards achieving them.
- Seek out mentors and role models who embody the qualities of curiosity and ambition that you admire.
- Take calculated risks and embrace failure as a natural part of the learning process, viewing setbacks as opportunities for growth and discovery.
Step 17: Live Your Own Destiny
Description:
Embrace your unique identity and pursue your own dreams and aspirations, rather than conforming to societal expectations.
Implementation:
- Define your own definition of success and fulfillment based on your values, passions, and goals.
- Prioritize authenticity and self-discovery, allowing yourself the freedom to live a life true to yourself.
- Refuse to be swayed by external pressures or opinions, choosing instead to follow your heart and intuition.
Specific Details:
- Reflect on your core values and beliefs to guide your decision-making process and shape your life path.
- Surround yourself with supportive individuals who celebrate your individuality and encourage your personal growth.
- Practice self-compassion and forgiveness, recognizing that it’s okay to make mistakes and veer off the expected path on your journey towards self-discovery.
Step 18: Invest in Continuous Learning
Description:
Recognize the importance of lifelong learning and self-improvement in staying relevant and adaptable in a rapidly changing world.
Implementation:
- Cultivate a passion for learning and intellectual curiosity, seeking out opportunities to expand your knowledge and skills.
- Invest time and resources in formal and informal education, workshops, seminars, and self-study to enhance your expertise.
- Embrace new technologies and advancements in your field, staying abreast of emerging trends and best practices.
Specific Details:
- Develop a personalized learning plan that aligns with your interests and goals, incorporating both formal and informal learning experiences.
- Engage in interdisciplinary learning to broaden your perspective and enhance your problem-solving abilities.
- Foster a growth mindset that embraces challenges and setbacks as opportunities for learning and growth.
Step 19: Surround Yourself with Positive Influences
Description:
Choose your associations wisely, surrounding yourself with individuals who inspire, challenge, and support you in your personal and professional growth.
Implementation:
- Seek out mentors, peers, and colleagues who embody the qualities and values you aspire to cultivate in yourself.
- Create a supportive network of friends and allies who encourage and uplift you during both triumphs and challenges.
- Distance yourself from negative influences and toxic relationships that hinder your progress and drain your energy.
Specific Details:
- Attend networking events, conferences, and workshops to connect with like-minded individuals who share your passions and goals.
- Join professional organizations, clubs, or communities that provide opportunities for collaboration and mentorship.
- Foster genuine connections and reciprocity in your relationships, offering support and encouragement to others as you receive it in return.
Step 20: Choose Integrity and Leadership
Description:
Embrace integrity and leadership as guiding principles in your personal and professional endeavors, making decisions based on ethical considerations and moral values.
Implementation:
- Prioritize honesty, transparency, and accountability in all your interactions and decisions, even when faced with difficult choices.
- Lead by example, demonstrating integrity and ethical behavior in your actions and words.
- Inspire and empower others to uphold high standards of integrity and ethical conduct in their own lives and work.
Specific Details:
- Practice self-reflection and introspection to ensure alignment between your values and your actions.
- Seek feedback from trusted mentors and colleagues to hold yourself accountable to your ethical standards.
- Advocate for ethical practices and policies within your organization or community, fostering a culture of integrity and trust.
Step 21: Choose Your Spouse Wisely
Description:
Selecting the right life partner is crucial for personal and professional fulfillment, as they play a significant role in your journey.
Implementation:
- Prioritize compatibility, shared values, and mutual respect when considering a life partner.
- Seek a spouse who complements your strengths and challenges you to grow and improve.
- Embrace open communication and collaboration in your relationship, fostering a strong and supportive partnership.
Specific Details:
- Take the time to get to know your potential partner on a deep level, exploring their values, goals, and aspirations.
- Consider the long-term implications of your relationship and envision how your partnership can support your individual and collective dreams.
- Look for qualities such as empathy, kindness, and integrity in a spouse, as these traits are essential for building a strong and lasting relationship.
Step 22: Choose Your Role Models
Description:
Selecting the right role models can inspire and guide you towards personal and professional excellence.
Implementation:
- Identify individuals whom you admire and respect for their values, achievements, and character.
- Study their journey and learn from their experiences, extracting valuable insights and lessons.
- Emulate their positive qualities and behaviors, incorporating them into your own life and leadership style.
Specific Details:
- Seek out role models from diverse backgrounds and industries who embody qualities you aspire to cultivate in yourself.
- Engage with their content, whether through books, podcasts, interviews, or social media, to gain deeper insights into their mindset and approach.
- Build relationships with mentors or advisors who can provide guidance and support as you navigate your personal and professional journey.
Step 23: Find Inspiration and Purpose
Description:
Seek out sources of inspiration and purpose that fuel your passion and drive towards meaningful contributions.
Implementation:
- Explore activities, causes, and experiences that resonate with your values and ignite your enthusiasm.
- Surround yourself with positivity and optimism, seeking out uplifting and motivating influences.
- Align your actions and decisions with a sense of purpose and fulfillment, contributing to a greater good.
Specific Details:
- Engage in hobbies, interests, or projects that bring you joy and fulfillment, nurturing your sense of purpose and identity.
- Connect with communities or organizations that share your values and vision for positive change, finding support and camaraderie in collective efforts.
- Embrace a growth mindset and continuous learning, recognizing that personal development and contribution are ongoing journeys.
Step 24: Keep Searching for Fulfillment
Description:
Remain open to new opportunities and experiences that align with your passions and values, even if it requires patience and perseverance.
Implementation:
- Embrace a mindset of curiosity and exploration, staying open to new possibilities and avenues for personal and professional growth.
- Trust in your intuition and inner guidance to lead you towards fulfilling opportunities and endeavors.
- Persist in your pursuit of fulfillment, remaining resilient and adaptable in the face of setbacks or challenges.
Specific Details:
- Set aside time for reflection and self-assessment, regularly evaluating your goals and aspirations to ensure they align with your evolving values and priorities.
- Embrace uncertainty and ambiguity as opportunities for growth and discovery, reframing challenges as stepping stones on your journey towards fulfillment.
- Surround yourself with supportive individuals who encourage and uplift you in your quest for meaning and purpose.
Step 25: Express Gratitude and Good Wishes
Description:
Express gratitude for the opportunities and experiences that have shaped your journey, and extend well wishes to others as they embark on their own paths.
Implementation:
- Reflect on the lessons and blessings you’ve received along your journey, expressing gratitude for the people and circumstances that have supported you.
- Offer words of encouragement and support to those embarking on new endeavors or transitions, acknowledging their potential and resilience.
- Share your optimism and hope for the future, inspiring others to pursue their dreams with confidence and determination.
Specific Details:
- Write thank-you notes or messages of appreciation to individuals who have played a significant role in your personal or professional development, expressing your heartfelt gratitude.
- Offer mentorship or guidance to others who may benefit from your wisdom and experience, paying forward the support you’ve received along your journey.
- Celebrate the achievements and milestones of those around you, fostering a culture of positivity and encouragement in your community or workplace.
COMPREHENSIVE CONTENT
Intro
Do something you’re very passionate about and don’t try to chase what is kind of the hot passion of the day. Work hard. Like, I mean every waking hour, that’s the thing. I would say, now is the time to take risks, dream big, align your passion and purpose in life with a goal. If you focus on the goal, you will overcome all obstacles. If you focus on obstacles, you will never reach your goal. You should never be satisfied, and you should always be frightened and on the kivive. Always puts you in question. Is what we do really enough? Are we doing good innovations? Are we managing in the right direction? What can go bad? Everyone gets opportunity in their life, so will you. The questions you will need to answer: Do you have the courage to relentlessly chase it down? I have a story about following dreams, or maybe more accurately, it’s a story about finding a path to make those dreams real.
[Music]
Well, by far the best investment you can make is in yourself, but it’s just hugely important. And if you invest in yourself, nobody can take it away from you. I mean, you, that people should do what they believe is the right thing to do. However, usually that’s also the most difficult thing to do, and it’s the riskiest thing to do. But if they believe in something, they should pursue it. Failure and invention, after much consideration, I took the less safe path to follow my passion, and I’m proud of that choice. Seen in that light, it really was a difficult choice. But ultimately, I decided I had to give it a shot. I didn’t think I’d regret trying and failing, and I suspected I would always be haunted by a decision to not try at all. I believe in all of my best decisions in business and in life have been made with heart, intuition, guts, you know, not an.
Analysis and Work Ethic
When you can make a decision with analysis, you should do so. But it turns out in life that your most important decisions are always made with instinct, intuition, taste, heart. You cannot invent and pioneer if you cannot accept failure. To invent, you need to experiment. And if you know in advance that it’s going to work, it is not an experiment. So that’s a very important thing. They are inseparable twins: failure and invention. So, you know, it’s always embarrassing to fail, but you have to say, no, that’s not how this works. You work super hard. You need to work, depending on how well you want to do, and particularly if you’re starting a company, you need to work super hard.
Work Ethic Continued
So what does super hard mean? Well, when my brother and I were starting our first company, instead of getting an apartment, we just rented a small office and we slept on the couch. And we showered at the YMCA. And we were so hot up, we had just one computer. So, the website was up during the day, and I was coding at night. Seven days a week, all the time. And I mean, if you do simple math, say like, okay, if somebody else is working 50 hours and you’re working 100, you’ll get twice as much done in the course of a year as the other company.
Taking Risks and Seizing Opportunities
The final thing I would encourage you to do is don’t just follow the trend. Now is the time to take risks. You don’t have kids. As you get older, your obligations increase. So, once you have a family, you start taking risks not just for yourself, but for your family as well. It gets much harder to do things that might not work out. So now is the time to do that, before you have those obligations. So, I would encourage you to take risks now, do something bold. You won’t regret it.
I was 16 years of age when I left studies. I was a good student, but because of my family circumstances, I had to drop out of school. I left home having lunch with two core values from my father: first, commitment to the promises you make to yourself, and commitment to the promises you make to others. Both of these have to be in absolutely harmony. Second, avoid over-analysis of situations and have the courage to make quick decisions based on your natural instincts.
Seizing Opportunities
An essential part of my learning throughout is that everyone gets opportunity in their life, so will you. The two questions you will need to answer: can you connect the dots early enough to recognize the opportunity coming at you, and then do you have courage to relentlessly chase it down? All that we had was raw enthusiasm, all that we had for the belief in ourselves. Rest is the history.
Continuous Improvement
Never be satisfied. First of all, I think…
Business Philosophy and Work Mindset
In the business, which is successful as is his business, I always say to my team, you should be thinking that the worst is coming and you should never be satisfied. In a way, the state of mind is to be positive paranoid and always in a situation, think of what can go wrong. So on one end, we try to be thinking of the words, but on the other hand, we are optimistic. I try to be optimistic long term but pessimistic short term. That’s a good set of mine. I think I learned the program in college. I didn’t love programming, but it was fun, and I was good at it. In my life, I thought I was making real progress on my journey of self-discovery. I had found a cause. I was pretty happy with my life. My wife was not. What she saw was a college dropout who spent too much time in the mountains doing foolish things. She wanted me to work full-time as a computer programmer or go back to college and finish my degree. We compromised, sort of. I took several classes, but the only one I can remember was a sailing class taught at Berkeley Marina. Once again, I fell in love and began a lifelong affair with the limitless omnipotent Pacific Ocean.
Embracing Different Paths
When my class was over, I wanted to buy a sailboat. My wife said this was the single stupidest idea she had ever heard in her entire life. She accused me of being irresponsible, and she told me I lacked ambition. She kicked me out, and then she divorced me. This was a pivotal moment in my life. My family was still mad at me for not going to medical school, and now my wife was divorcing me because I lacked ambition. It looked like a recurrence of the same old problem: once again, I was unable to live up to the expectations of others. But this time, I was not disappointed in myself for failing to be the person they thought I should be. I had discovered things that I loved, their dreams, and my dreams were different. I would never confuse the two of them again.
Pursuing Beliefs and Courage
People should do what they believe is the right thing to do. However, usually, that’s also the most difficult thing to do, and it’s the riskiest thing to do. If they believe in something, they should pursue it. Nobody has ever achieved anything big in business or in any walk of life without courage. Of course, whenever you do anything big, you do feel a little scared, but you’ve got to conquer fear to discover the hidden hero within you. With courage, with self-belief, and the can-do spirit, you overcome any adversity. I want you to realize that achieving your potential is the quest of the ordinary. Conquering the impossible is your destiny. There is no substitute for hard work. Even more important, pursue excellence. Aim at being the best. Pursue excellence, and success will chase you. The future belongs to you. Today, you have a fabulous platform that will enable you to achieve multiples of what has been achieved by my generation.
Optimism and Self-Confidence
It is very important to be positive and optimistic in life. Dismiss the prophets of doom, have self-confidence, believe in yourself. Confidence, okay, yes, we can and we will.
Starting Amazon
The idea to start Amazon. I got the idea to start Amazon 16 years ago. I was working in a financial firm in New York City with a bunch of very smart people, and I had a brilliant boss I much admired. I went to my boss and told him I was going to start a company selling books on the internet. It took me on a long walk in Central Park, listened carefully to me, and finally said, “That sounds like a really good idea, but it would be an even better idea for someone who didn’t already have a good job.” That logic made some sense to me, and he convinced me to think about it for 48 hours before making the final decision.
Choices and Gifts
What I want to talk to you about today is the difference between gifts and choices. Gifts are easy; they’re given. After all, choices can be hard. You can seduce yourself with your gifts, if you’re not careful, and if you do, it’ll probably be to the detriment of your choices. In the end, we are our choices.
Conclusion
Build yourself. Great story. How will you use your gifts tomorrow?
Life Choices and Challenges
In a very real sense, your life, the life you author from scratch on your own, begins. How will you use your gifts? What choices will you make? Will inertia be your guide, or will you follow your passions? Will you follow dogma, or will you be original?
[Music]
Will you choose a life of ease or a life of service and adventure? Will you wilt under criticism, or will you follow your convictions? Will you bluff it out when you’re wrong, or will you apologize?
[Music]
Will you guard your heart against rejection or react when you fall in love? Will you play it safe, or will you be a little bit swashbuckling? When it’s tough, will you give up, or will you be relentless? We all have adversity in our lives. I doubt if you really know somebody, any friend, or anybody that you talk to, there’s no lack of adversity. And by the way, that’s good because it’s what teaches us how to get back up. You fall down, you get back up. It always happens. Stop dreaming.
[Music]
Sometimes it’s important to wake up and stop dreaming. You know what it’s like to wake up in the middle of the nights with a vivid dream, and you know how if you don’t have a pencil and pad by the bed, it will be completely gone by the next morning. I had one of those dreams when I was 23. When I suddenly woke up, I was thinking, what if we could download the whole web and just keep the wings? And I grabbed a pen and started writing. And we’ve made a really great search engine, and Google was born. When a really great dream shows up, grab it.
Embracing Crazy Ideas
But when I started, it was not my intention to build a big company. One crazy idea gave birth to a giant company. I call it a crazy idea because at the time, everyone told me it was a crazy idea. The idea was to build the world’s first relational database. The collective wisdom of computer experts was that while relational databases could be built, they would never be fast enough to be useful. I thought all those so-called computer experts were wrong. And when you start telling people that all the experts are wrong, at first they call you arrogant, and then they say you’re crazy. So remember this, graduates, when people start telling you that you’re crazy, you just might be onto the most important innovation in your life.
[Applause]
Times when the experts were wrong, arrogance and insanity turned out to be innovation in disguise. The Oracle database proved to be a defining technology at the dawn of the information age.
Embracing Laziness for Innovation
Technology, and especially the internet, can really help you be lazy. Lazy. What I mean is, a group of three people can write software that then millions can use and enjoy. Can three people answer the phone a million times? Find the leverage in the world so you can be truly lazy.
Pursuing Ambition and Dreams
I know it seems like the world is crumbling out there. It’s actually a great time in your life to get a little crazy, follow your curiosity, and be ambitious about it. Don’t give up on your dream. The world needs you all. Each of you has a chance to discover who you are rather than who you should be, a chance to live your dreams, not the dreams of others. Live your own destiny. It is said in the Gita, it is better to live your own destiny imperfectly than to live an imitation of somebody else’s life with perfection.
Purpose and Continuous Learning
Purpose is identified as something that you see as your destiny 10, 20, or 30 years from now. It is my power of purpose that keeps alive my will to win. With the rate at which science, technology, economics, and geopolitics are merging, the only way you stay on top of this is by ensuring you are continuously learning. Therefore, develop a passion for learning. This is the only way you never cease to grow.
Leadership and Tough Decisions
Every tough decision is a lonely decision. When you’re a founder or if you’re the chairman or the leader of a company, every tough decision is a lonely decision. Most of the time, it’s disagreement on what should be done. Go against your colleagues and do what you believe is right, or fall in line with what they say, which is often a difficult thing because you should be doing what you believe is right.
Investing in Yourself and Choosing Associations
By far, the best investment you can make is in yourself. It’s just hugely important. And if you invest in yourself, nobody can take it away from you. For example, communication skills. If they just learn to communicate better, both in writing and in person, they increase their value at least 50 percent. The most important thing is really who you associate with. You want to associate with people that are better than they are. You want to have the right heroes. If you want to emulate somebody, you better pick very carefully who you want to emulate. And obviously, you can’t pick your parents, but you get choices as you go down the line and who you admire.
Choosing a Spouse and Maintaining Optimism
The most important, for most people in terms of that decision, is their spouse. It’s also important, a partner in business with a partner in life, is the most important one. You want to pick a spouse that’s a little bit better than you are. There are a lot of negative things in the world. There’s a lot of terrible things that are happening all over the world all the time. But life cannot just be about solving one miserable problem after another. It can’t. There need to be things that inspire you, that make you glad to wake up in the morning and be part of humanity.
Keep Searching and Embrace Opportunities
Keep searching, young friends. You and me, you take our nation to greatness. And looking at your energy, optimism, and self-confidence, I am assured that the future is in good hands. I am thankful to each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart. Soon, many of you will begin a new job. I hope it interests you, challenges you, and rewards you with a sense of purpose and satisfaction. But if it doesn’t, keep searching. It’s out there. It might take a while, but keep searching until you find a job that ignites your passions like I did. Even better, you just might find one that you love. It is because of each one of you that we are who we are today. I wish and I pray may good luck and fortune shine on each and every one of you, and may every day be even more fulfilling and rewarding for all of us. All the very best, good luck, God bless, and thank you very much for everything.
