i just got done reading “The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch, and I really enjoyed it. The book is short and to the point, (only about 200 pages) but it is packed with a bunch of life lessons that I often need to be reminded of. Pausch was a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon, and he was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2006. Carnegie Mellon had a tradition of giving retiring professors their “last lecture”, a speech giving their parting wisdom to the student body. Pausch decided to do one, and his was more special than most, because he wasn’t retiring voluntarily. You might not identify with him, but I did, because he was a little nerdy, but very intuitive and loved life. Here are a few things I got out of the book:
Pursue your childhood dreams.
This was the main thesis of his speech and his book. It’s not groundbreaking advice, but I read about the ways he was able to pursue many of his childhood dreams, I was inspired to continue to do the same. Pursuinig your childhood dreams doesn’t mean that you need to fulfill them in the form of a job or a career. You can do volunteer work, take up a hobby, or do an apprencticeship/internship to give you a taste of what you dreamed about as a kid. In a way, I have fulfilled one of my childhood passions. English was always my favorite subject in school, and I remember telling teachers in junior high school that I wanted to be a journalist. I’m not traditional journalist, but I do blog about personal finance for 60,000 visiitors per month. In a way, I have fulfilled my childhood dream about communicating to people through the written word.
Be relentless when you really want something
Pausch talks about how he was first rejected by Carnegi Mellon to study for his Ph.D, but he was relentless and eventually they accepted him into the program. There was a job in insurance that I really wanted, because it gave me the flexibilty of working from home and gave me a company car. I was turned down for hte promotion at first, but when their first candidate for the job snubbed my company, I continued to pursue the positioin, and they gave it to me. Be relentless when you really want something, a new career or job in particular. You will be surprised that hiring managers respect your pursuit for the job.
Time Management
Time management became a reality for Randy Pausch when he was told that he only had 3 to 6 months to live. He had always been good with time management, but now he knew why time is so precious. I don’t respect time the way that I should. Being late is disrespectful of other people’s time, sleeping too much is a waste of time, watching too much TV or playing too many video games are a waste of time, and I have been guilty of all of these in the past. I think leisure time is necessary and not a waste of time when appropriate and in moderation, but our culture definitely wastes too much time. We have no idea when we’ll depart this earth, so we must be good stewards of the time we do have.
This book won’t rock your world, but I thought it was an inspirational read during a time when the news about the economy can really be a drag. If you’ve read it, comment on some of things you took out of the book.
