The Last Lecture: The first time I watched this video, it blew my mind. The last lecture continues to inspire me in many ways, with the key takeaway being – don’t stop chasing your dreams. We will face multiple roadblocks and challenges in our journey. But it is our responsibility to fight for what we truly believe in. We owe it to our dreams and passions to ensure that we do justice for these thoughts.
It remains one of the most inspirational videos about the pursuit of dreams and a life with purpose. The theme of this life purpose and attaching ourselves to something beyond us comes across powerfully in this video.
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Why is the last lecture so famous?
The last lecture is famous for the wonderful message that Randy Pausch leaves us with. It is a beautiful thought about love, advice and inspiration that touches on a multitude of notes. It is also a popular book as a 2008 best seller. The video can be found on YouTube below. Some of my favourite themes from this last lecture are:
The Last Lecture – Achieving your childhood dreams
It sounds fascinating doesn’t it – to be able to live our childhood dreams? As we grow up, we keep losing this ability to dream for numerous reasons. We fail to look beyond what we can see and forget to be curious about life. We also seem too eager to agree with what’s given to us instead of fighting for what we think is right. In many ways life beats out the ability to dream from us and the naivety of being a child is gone.
In the last lecture, Randy Pausch challenges us to think about these dreams and what they mean to us. Maybe these dreams have morphed into something else. What we’ve discarded as childhood fantasies may very well have the key to lead a magical life that we can be happy with. If only we give ourselves the permission to relive these dreams, there’s a chance that we can make some of these come true.
We don’t always get what we want – Experience
We don’t always get what we want. But that doesn’t mean that we must stop fighting or looking for things that we want. Sometimes not getting our dream gets us closer to a destiny which might be far more rewarding. We gain something remarkable in the name of experience. If only we find a way to use this experience to fuel our dreams and let them grow with us, we create a new chance for the old dream.
Life isn’t simple – we will face many challenges and failures. Failures however are not bad, they give us valuable feedback. They serve the purpose of telling us whether something is working or not. We can’t afford to take these failures personally. The best thing we can do is dust ourselves off and move on.
Make dreams Specific and SMART
Our dreams keep changing with time. However, they always revolve around a set of values. If you hone into these values, they indicate a pattern. Following that, you’ll be able to create the dream. Make sure you can connect your abilities to your dream to get the best outcome. The SMART dream approach will help you create a specific and realistic journey with your dreams.
Enjoying our experiences and work
I love the reference to finding joy in the journey. We can’t be fixated only on the final result – it adds too much pressure to perform. The final goal is a direction for us to travel. If we’re not having fun through the journey, then we’re making a mistake. Even success will leave you with a sour taste and a feeling – is that all there is?
Not losing our curiosity and wonder
The ability to be awestruck and curious is a beautiful gift of our childhood. We tend to lose it on the pretext of being realistic. But the childlike wonder has a beautiful aspect of joy and fascination in it. We need to find that balance to keep our creativity and innovative spirit alive.
Doing the right thing
We have an inner voice that keeps telling us what the right thing to do is. Unfortunately, we ignore these voices due to fear of judgement and being put down by others. Our voice is telling us to be ourselves. Ignoring this can come at its own cost. Yes, it is risky to be ourselves. But the world is overpopulated with people trying to please others. Why fall into the same trap?
Quotes from the last lecture
In this section, I’d like to talk about a few inspiring quotes from the last lecture. Randy Pausch’s words are filled with simplicity and excitement. Some of those statements from his book and the lecture stand out as quotes below.
- Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted. And experience is often the most valuable thing you have to offer
- Brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls aren’t there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to show us how badly we want things.
- We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand
- It’s not about how to achieve your dreams, it’s about how to lead your life, … If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself, the dreams will come to you
- Showing gratitude is one of the simplest yet most powerful things humans can do for each other.
- Complaining does not work as a strategy. We all have finite time and energy. Any time we spend whining is unlikely to help us achieve our goals. And it won’t make us happier.
- It’s not how hard you hit. It’s how hard you get hit…and keep moving forward.
- A lot of people want a shortcut. I find the best shortcut is the long way, which is basically two words: work hard.
- The questions are always more important than the answers
- A good apology is like antibiotic, a bad apology is like rubbing salt in the wound
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Pausch
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40611510-the-last-lecture