Hank [BS/MSEE,
MSM $$$, Ph.D. Mgmt] teaches 
Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch, who is dying from pancreatic cancer, gave his last lecture Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium. Matthias notes here that “Schools such as Stanford and the University of Alabama have mounted “Last Lecture Series,” in which top professors are asked to think deeply about what matters to them and to give hypothetical final talks. For the audience, the question to be mulled is this: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance?” For Randy, this was his last chance.
In his moving talk, “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams,” Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals. His blog is here: This one and a half hour video is a must watch for readers of this blog - you will be much better persons having watched it. Just do it for me, if not yourselves!!!!!
Here are a few lessons in life I took away from watching his Last Lecture:
*Live to enable the dreams of others
*You can’t change the cards dealt, but you can change how you play them
*Seek criticism. When it stops, no one cares about you anymore.
*Focus on others, not yourself
* Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted
*When you do the right thing, good stuff has a way of happening
* Don’t complain; just work harder
*Be good at something; it makes you valuable
And last: Brick walls are there for a purpose; they let us know how badly we really want things.
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Brick wall - great metaphor for entrepreneurs. Try to understand what is really important to you in life while you’re still alive - and then do something about it - beyond hopeful wishing and talk.
Think about Marvelous Marvin and Shea - you couldn’t have two better role models than Randy who is dying, and Shea, who is trying to live- albeit through Marvelous Marvin. Live your life on purpose. Hank
From what Randy talked about in his lecture is the precise reason I strive to be an entrepreneur. To me, Entrepreneur is not a fancy word that says I’m independent and want to do what I want, but a word that holds a mantra.
I realized that in high school I was just another kid blocking the road in the hallway, and then I had an epiphany that this is what a majority of my life will hold if I don’t do something about it. I only have one life to live, and I might as well try to do something not many people accomplish in life, and that is starting a successful company. If I fail, at least I actually went out and tried it instead of working in a dead end job only looking forward to the day I retire and cash in my 401k.
I have a great respect for people who are willing to give advice based on personal experiences, because that only means they have experienced something that many of us have not. I hope to one day be in spot like that where people are eager to hear the advice I have to share.
I couldnt have put it any better myself than what he did! As the time goes by you begin to relize things and I really liked the fact with the “way the cards are played” and “the brick wall” itjust oes to show you what youcan do in your life. As far as an entreprenuer concept though the brickwall is just something in he path that tries to stop us but never will succeed if we live to the best we can! This is just my added part otherwise Eric couldnt have said it any better!
That was deep, i dont think that i would be able to give a lecture knowing I was going to die. I would be too caught up in the whole fact that i was going to die.I am glad thier are people in the would like Professor Randy Pausch, they strive to give advice and help others out.
This was a great speech. Instead of talking about his life time achievements he actually gave advice.
This “talk” was worth every minute. The stories and wisdom portrayed here by Randy Pausch are invaluable. I was inspired by the fact that he lives by his dreams, and when he reached those, he wanted to help others see theirs to fruition. Not only did you stop with one student or a class of students or a 10 years of classes of students, but he went on to try and reach the world through Alice.
I think the way Randy lives encapsulates the heart of a good entrepreneur. Living in pursuit of your dreams is the only way that you’ll want it bad enough when you hit those brick walls. Otherwise, it’s just another day, another problem. All the wisdom in this lecture, and the takeaways Hank has listed above are wonderful proverbs, but the one that comes closest to me is “Focus on others, not yourself.” I often find that my life is most joyful and fulfilling when I am not bent on pleasing myself.
This reminds me of a book that I read in high school called Tuesdays with Morrie. In the book Morrie is giving advice, just as Randy is. Each point that Randy makes teaches a valuable lesson. It’s important to understand that the lessons he is providing us with are truly valuable.
Some people may live a whole lifetime without realizing half of these things that Randy is talking about. It is important to take all of this information in and apply it to our lives.
A Ton of great information. For example, just with the notion of the Brick Wall, someone else, Seth Godin, wrote an entire book called “The Dip” on this concept…
Even though it was his “last lecture” he made it seem like it was just another day. I know if I was going to die and this was my last speech I would not be as cheerful and upbeat as he was. He was giving jokes and acting like he will live forever. He was very inspiring to pursue any dream that can make you happy. He even stated that even not accomplishing a dream he got more out of it by the experience and the people that inflenced him. I enjoyed his “talk” because he clearly stated that patience and persistance can pay off in the end. Also I laughed when he said people asked why he wore his letterman’s jacket all the time and he said “because I can.” Nice Hank.
This man has courage beyond anyone I know. At first I though about just skipping through this video and picking up a few things to write about but once I started listening to what he said I watched the entire video. I have decided that this lecture was so good because he didn’t have to worry about what people thought about what he had to say. There was nothing but honesty in his speech. I had no idea who this guy was before today but I feel like I’ve know him for years. The most important thing that I got from his lecture was the part about the brick walls.
I wasn’t planning on watching an hour and half video after my horticulture meeting at 8:00 tonight. I thought there might be an easy way to accomplish this blog. I started looking at Hank thoughts. Some of the “lessons learned” seemed like they could offer some value. Then I started thinking about why I`m at college. I suddenly remembered, “to get some information, so I can do what I want”. I realized there is no easy way to do what you truly want. So I watched. I took my own notes. I thought! Some classes you can get by in with no thinking. Others you cannot.
As I took my notes, I realized there are some ideas in here not mentioned in Hanks. People in our society don’t typically just hand over information like Randy did . “Don’t be arrogant, you won’t be able to achieve as much” Never lose your ability to wonder. I was also reminded about the importance of appreciating humor. Life is about fundamentals. All of this advice is astounding. One man’s life lessons learned combined and condensed into a class. How extraordinary. I was curious is he currently alive? How could you not watch? I`m glad I watched this. I believe in my dreams again.
This was a great blog because it gives the hungry business wolves in this class a true dose of humanity. It takes your eyes off the profit and refocuses them on you contribuion to society as a whole.
Everything that he talked about made life seem so much more clear. He was speaking about entrepreneurs but it all applied to more than just starting a company or companies. This was great advice on life. He seemed be to a very experienced and knowledgeable speaker about being an entrepreneur and/or how to be successful in life. Everything he said made me think about where I am planning on going and how am I going to get to wherever it is that I choose to go.
This is very inspirtional speech. The advice that was delivered by Randy should really be taken to heart, especially if you have plans to start any type of business. The major points that were picked out by Hank should be commitments to the way you live your life, regardless of your health. A big point that suck out to me was “never lose your ability to wonder” because the only way to make something happen is to have a vision. What a great speaker.
After listening to Randy’s speech, I think I was most surprised by how upbeat and positive he was throughout. Given his situation, Randy could have packed it in and become cynical; yet, he did the exact opposite and tried to make the most out of his situation. Instead of dwelling on his misfortune, Randy relived all of the great moments in his life and all of the lessons he was grateful to have learned. His positive outlook on life helped get his message across to me, and I’m sure everyone else who watched the speech, because he stressed what can be done in life, not what can’t be achieved. Finally, I must say that my favorite part of the speech was how he kept reiterating the saying about brick walls. Many times in life we all run into brick walls, and they really do tell us how much we want what’s behind them. They make us decide if we are going to give up or keep going - the choice Randy obviously made when he was given the bad news about his health. Brick walls may slow us down, but if there is something that you want bad enough, a minor setback or hindrance along the way is not something that should stop us from going after our dreams.
This speech was obviously very moving, he started out the speech perfectly, by outlining exactly what he was not going to talk about which kept me from thinking about when he was going to talk about his cancer kids or family. The brick walls was def. the most inspirational part also. Randy is a great man who obviously has his life together and is not afraid what other people think about him which in my mind is a very admiral quality and God bless him.
If someone asked me to describe this lecture in one word, I’m not sure I could do it. I’d have to tell them to watch it. I wish I could have had Randy as a professor; he seems to bring such life to his presentations.
An amazing speech. If only every lecture I attended had such a profound impact. Its sad to see such a great teacher not be around anymore, but hopefully the things he said have made the impact he wanted in all those who heard it.