Dream BIG - January 18, 2024
The Last Lecture by. Randy Pauch
Randy Pauch is actually one of my mentors and his book, “The Last Lecture” has changed my life. I have read it countless times and have even taught large seminars based on his teachings. I believe that everyone could use a bit of Randy in their lives, especially leaders.
In this Entrepreneurial Journal Blog Post, I will answer question posed by my instructor about Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture.
Why do you think Randy Pausch was able to achieve so many of his childhood dreams?
One of the things that Pauch talks about in his lecture is the “benefits of tenacity”. He said, “Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want.” What a cool outlook. I think that often people have dreams that they never even try to accomplish. But as Pauch explains, you can’t ever achieve a dream if you never try. He talks about obstacles as brick walls. He said, “brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.” If we each had the attitude that brick walls were for others and not us, we would do all that we could to overcome that brick wall and obtain our goal.
Do you feel that dreaming is important? Why or why not?
Yes! I do feel that dreaming is essential to having a fulfilling and meaningful life. Dreams teach us to work harder, overcome obstacles, find solutions, take risks, and enjoy the present. Pausch said, “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.” We should feed that part of us that dreams. If we are feeding that dream, then we are living our life in abundance.
Discuss at least one of your childhood dreams. Explain why you believe you can or cannot achieve this dream.
One of my childhood dreams was to have a home with a swimming pool. I do believe that I can achieve this dream. At 43, I am reinventing myself. I started school to get a bachelor’s degree (which is another childhood dream) so that I can obtain a job where there is growth. I left a company that I had been with for 19 years, because I had reached the top and found that I was stagnant both professionally and personally. So, I am focusing my time on completing school, which will happen in July of this year. Then I will focus on starting a new career, and work on getting a home with a pool.
Obviously there has been many obstacles and it has taken me a ton of time to get to this place. But along the way, I have learned so much about me and what I am capable of.
Closing Thoughts
The correlation between Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture and the idea or possibilities of being an entrepreneur are not lost on me. To be an entrepreneur you have to believe not only in yourself, but you also have to believe in your dreams. There is no dream that is too big and there is no brick wall too tall. Like Pausch says, “the brick walls are for other people”.
For me, I don’t have a problem with working hard to achieve my dreams, but I can be better at dreaming bigger. I think that I limit myself and stop my creativity and ability to simply dream. If Pausch is truly my mentor, I need to take his advice more often and dream bigger and more often.
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