Randy Pausch - You Were One Really Cool Guy...

I remember seeing this video "Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" months back and it profiled a Carnegie Mellon last lecture series, apparently a long standing tradition....except in this case, it really was Randy Pausch's last lecture. Having been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer - he was given 2-3 months to live, and as a courageous fighter, he survived over 10 months since this lecture. Unfortunately his life came to an end yesterday July 25th, 2008 at the age of 47.

I'll let the lecture speak for itself - it's very powerful and there's a reason why it has received over 4 million YouTube views.  If there's one thing to takeaway from his message is that we're all dying everyday, just in Randy's case, it was on an accelerated, sped up basis - so with that in mind, wouldn't you want to live your life in a different way to maximize its happiness and enjoyment for yourself and others?  It's a great message from a really cool guy.

Other valuable life lessons from Randy Pausch:

- Brick walls are there for a reason,  they let us prove how badly we want something

- Testament to great education is having students have fun while learning something hard

- Let your kids paint their bedroom walls

- Respect authority while questioning it

- Never lose child-like wonder - are you Tigger or Eeyore?

- Help others

- Loyalty is a two-way street

- Ignore what prospective friends say, pay attention to what they do

- There are moments in your life that are pivotal, it's amazing to be able to know them as they happen

- Tell the truth

- Be earnest

- Apologize when you screw up

- Focus on other people, not yourself

- Don't bail, the best gold is found at the bottom of bails of crap

- Get a feedback loop and listen to it

- Show gratitude

- Be good at something, it makes you valuable

- Don't complain, just work harder

- Find the best in everybody, wait a long time if you need to

- Be prepared - luck is where preparation meets opportunity

- It's when they don't tell you what you're doing wrong, that you're in trouble, because they've stopped caring

- Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted

A nice "life mirror" for a Saturday afternoon... you will be missed Randy Pausch.