Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

This morning, I came across this YouTube video sensation - over 6 million on-line viewings so far - and I have to tell you, this is one of the best 76 minutes and 26 seconds you can spend...unquestionably one of the most motivating, enriching, and enlivening lectures you'll ever hear/watch/attend...after reading this blog, I recommend you take the time to get comfortable and watch this video, with a cup of coffee, tea, glass of wine, beer, whatever refreshes you...you won't regret it. After you see it, I'm betting you'll want to share it.

This has really cool information about virtual reality, but far more valuable life lessons - I'll be sharing this with my kids...

In the end, listening to a brilliant man who knows he is soon dying is a gift that should not be passed up. Here are some of the most memorable quotes and key lessons he shares. And a running theme throughout the lecture is this:
The presence in our lives of brick walls is a constant. They keep us from getting to where we want to go. When you think about it, a lot of life is dealing with brick walls.

A Short List of Memorable Quotes and Life Lessons

Achieving Your Own Dreams

On dreaming: "It's important to have specific dreams."

On disappointment: "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted."

On learning: "A head fake is when we learn more important things while ostensibly learning less important things."

On persistence: "The brick walls are they to stop the other people, the ones who don't want it bad enough to keep going."

On personal relationships and difficult people: "Wait long enough and people will surprise and impress you."

Helping Others Realize Their Dreams

On conflict: It's very important to know when you're in a pissing match, and it's very important to get out of it as soon as possible."

On diplomacy: "How you say things is often as important, or more important, than what you say."

On his Vision: "The best way to teach someone something is to have them think they're learning something else....Millions of kids having fun while learning something hard. That's pretty cool. I can deal with that as a legacy."

Lessons Learned

On the role of parents, mentors, and students: "Mothers are people who love you even when you pull their hair." and "If your kids want to paint their bedroom, let them." and "You're such a good salesman ... be a professor ... you might as well be selling something worthwhile, like education." and "If you present (the task) as a story telling activity, they (girls) are perfectly happy learning to program."

On having fun: "I don't know how to not have fun. I'm dying and I'm having fun. And I'm going to keep having fun every day I have left. Because there's no other way to play it. You have to decide whether you are a Tigger or an Eeyore."

On loyalty: "Loyalty is a two-way street."

Best Piece of Advice for young ladies: "When it comes to men, just ignore everything they say and only pay attention to what they do. It's that simple."

On persistence: "Never give up."

On listening: "Get a feedback loop and listen to it ... when you do the right thing, good stuff has a way of happening. The hard part is the listening to it. Anybody can get chewed out. When people give you feedback, cherish it and use it."

On suffering: "Don't complain, just work harder."

And three final pearls: "Be good at something, it makes you valuable." and "Find the best in everybody. No-one is all evil." and "Be prepared, luck is truly where preparation meets opportunity."

The bottom line: "This talk's not about dreams, it's about how to live your life."

Finally (this conclusion from me). The Hook, the connection to metropolitan broadband, is this:

"City leaders have an opportunity to provide for dreams to be achieved for those in their cities whom they lead. Broadband infrastructure holds the key for some kids somewhere to become leaders as adults, to fulfill their own dreams. We should all work to give them that chance, to help make their futures. It's not easy, but it's worth it in the long run. This is what motivates me."

Happy New Year!