Lessons from Randy Pausch

I was blown a way (like millions) by Professor Randy Paush's Last Lecture. Not only did I print out the transcripts, but I watched it on the web...and forwarded to my friends and to my staff. He has encouraged Carnegie Mellon to keep this in the public domain, and not copyright it, and that gift to all of us is priceless...

Here are a few of my favorite thoughts of his:

"Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want"

On "hitting a brick wall: "Brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keeps 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. They're there to stop the other people..."

"Wait long enough and people will surprise you...when your pissed off at somebody and you're angry at them, you just haven't given them enough time. Just give them a little more time and they'll almost always impress you."

"It's very important to know when you're in a pissing match. And, it's very important to get out of it as quickly as possible."

"If you are going to do anything pioneering-you will get some arrows in the back"

"When you have had something for 10 years, it's the toughest thing in the world to hand over. And the only advice I can give you is to find somebody better than yourself to hand it to."

"Head fakes"= the best way to teach somebody something is to have them think they are learning something else."

"When your screwing up and no one is riding you, you are in a very bad place"

This from a female colleague: "It took me a long time but I've finally figured it out. When it comes to men that are romantically interested in you, it's really simple. Just ignore everything they say, and only pay attention to what they do. It's that simple. It's that easy."

"I'll take an earnest person over a "hip" person every day, because "hip" is short term, earnest is long term."

"Get yourself a feedback loop and listen to it"

"Decide if your a Tigger or an Eeyore: be a Tigger..."


The title of his lecture is:
Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams1 hr 25 min 21 sec - Sep 24, 2007Average rating: (713 ratings)Description: Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch, who is dying from pancreatic cancer, gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium. In his moving talk, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals.