Over the holiday weekend, I read “The Last Lecture,” a little book by Randy Pausch, the professor at Carnegie Mellon whose talk on “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” got worldwide attention. This 47-year-old husband and father of three died in July of pancreatic cancer.
Pausch’s legacy comes in those little reminders of how precious life is and to use your time wisely. A few treasures that resonated with me are:
- Brick walls (obstacles to our goals) are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something.
- Earnest is better than hip.
- The best judge of character is to watch what people do, not what they say.
- Be “the first penguin,” unafraid to jump in the water and make some mistakes so you can learn and eventually succeed.
- Send hand-written thank you notes.
- Get in touch with your crayon box–the creativity and hope you had as a young child.
Visit The Last Lecture website.
If you read “The Last Lecture,” what were the treasures that resonated with you?