Randy Pausch - Last Lecture - How to Live your Life

In September, Kelly sent me a link to an incredible speech done by Randy Pausch. This was his last lecture at Carnegie Mellon where he is a professor. He has pancreatic cancer and has a couple of months to live. The speech was so uplifting with words of advice on how to live your life that it was in the Wall Street Journal; he was a guest on Oprah and Good Morning America. If you have the time watch his speech on the internet. You'll be moved like I was. If you can't watch his speech some of his lesson on life.

Last lecture on how to live your life.
If you live your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself, and the dreams will come to you.

1. Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things.
2. Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.
3. Never lose the child-like wonder, are you a Tigger or an Eeyore.
4. If we do something which is pioneering, we will get arrows in the back. But at the end of the day, a whole lot of people will have a whole lot of fun.
5. Be good at something; it makes you valuable.
6. Work hard
7. We need to work well with others.
a.Be patient, no one is pure evil. If you wait long enough they will show you
their good side and impress you.
b. Tell the truth
c. Apologize (properly)
i. I'm sorry
ii. It's my fault
iii. How can I make it right
8. When you’re screwing up and nobody’s saying anything to you anymore, that means they gave up. Your critics are the ones telling you they still love you and care.
9. Be prepared. Luck is truly where preparation meets opportunity.


I just got on his home page and found out he went through some experimental treatments. His last CAT scan showed that some of his tumors had gotten smaller. In typical Randy Paush humor "probably just bought an extra 2-4 months of good health. Said another way, I may have just doubled my life expectancy - you try to do that"