The Last Lecture

If I were to give anyone starting out their entrepreneurial journey some advice, I will first tell them that they can do hard things. If they haven't had any significant challenges in their life and overcame them, then they are lacking valuable experience to help them on their journey. When they face challenges, face them head on. It is easy to say now, but when we first experience a trial, our first instinct may be to avoid it at all costs. We have to train ourselves to welcome the challenge. That is the only way we can truly gain valuable experience that we can use and build on.

I will also suggest that they do not set their sights on money, fame, or power. It may seem common sense when we are at the bottom of the ladder, but as we climb, they become even more alluring. Set worthy goals early on, and figure out what is important right now. It is important to set priorities now, and hold to them. Schedule other, less important items around your priorities, so you can keep a good balance. You don't want to look back on your life and regret not learning a new skill or spending more time with family.

Money is not evil, it just depends on how it is used. Money can provide a good living, fight hunger, help give service, donated to a good cause, etc. Or it has the power to ruin nations, tear families apart, fund evil practices, etc. I heard a saying that money can turn a great man greater, a good man bad, or a bad man worse. Consider what you might do with the wealth you may attain, and prepare yourself to be able to handle it responsibly.

Also consider the impact you can have on the world, to improve conditions, to change people’s lives for the better. What is your true motivation? Will you stick to your morals when the time comes that they are tested? There is much success to be had at the end of the journey, but it requires effort. Persistent effort. If you can attain one trait, it should be persistence. That is what will drive you to keep trying even when others would have normally given up. There is no better reward than to succeed after you have tried over and over again only to fail.

Keep your head up, and remember that there are those around you that will be there to support you along the way. I believe in you. I know you can do it. It is up to you to take the first step.