Someone introduced me to an inspiring and moving video on YouTube about a dying but high-spirited and still fun-loving 47-year-old professor, Randy Paush, of Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center.
He chose to speak at his "Last Lecture" about going after his childhood dreams and helping others to achieve theirs.
I find the 1 1/2 talk highy captivating, entertaining, and often funny. Randy is really good. And he presents his life experiences and achievements in generalised, universal terms that we can take and apply in any life situations.
Here's one (or three, or three in one) that I like, and which my business apprentices will find useful to remember every time they run into a brickwall (a.k.a. rejection, or a "stall"):
Brick walls are there for a reason: They let us prove how badly we want things.
Brick walls are there for a reason: They are there to stop other people
Brick walls let us show our dedication.
When you can find 1hr 44min from your busy schedule, go watch this inspiring video,
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5700431505846055184
&q=randy+pausch&total=19&start=10&num=10&so=0&type=search&pl
index=6
It'd be well worth the effort. I laughed through most of it and was moved to tears at the end :)
Even when Randy is done with his part, stay on the video, and listen to what significant others in his professional life say about his life's work. That's the really moving part. How often does a man live to listen to "eulogies" and buildings dedicated in his name? Normally not.
