One Last Blog Post
Posted on 21 September 2007 by DeanHunt
I recently watched a moving video of a rapidly dying 47-year-old professor giving his ‘last lecture’.
It was a moving video, and was really inspirational.
You can see the summary video below.
The full video is here: One Last Lecture.
It is rare these days for someone to speak from the heart, without worrying about how to make money from it.
Video Below:
So this got me thinking… what would you do if you had to give one final speech, or one final lecture? What would you say? What advice would you leave us with? What would the mood be?
How about we do our own tribute, why don’t we do “One Last Blog Post“.
The rules are simple, you post one blog post on your blog with the title “One last blog post”, and you write about whatever you would write about if it was your last ever contact with the world.
If you don’t have a blog then you can email me your entry at: admin@streetlessons.com
You are also welcome to email and request that the post be anonymous.
I will personally link to each blog post, so you are guaranteed an audience for your “One Last Blog Post”.
Thankyou, and I hope the video was inspiring to you as it was to me.
Dean
PS: if you want to do a podcast or video then please do so.
September 21st, 2007 at 1:34 pm
http://www.byronrode.co.za/blog/general/one-last-blog-post
September 21st, 2007 at 2:20 pm
Dean,
What a powerful video. How amazing! I have made my blog post, which ended up being a lot longer and more reflective for me than I thought it would be.
One Last Blog Post
thanks for this, I was happy to be able to do this tribute post!
September 21st, 2007 at 3:28 pm
What an inspiration.
September 30th, 2007 at 7:04 pm
why the fuck is it ruined by some blert talking about what he says? this is typical vanilla-ized bullshit crap that had a chance and could have really meant something before it was sanitised by some beaut who should’ve just shut the fuck up. I am totally serious about this – it is so strong itself – obviously – that why do I have to listen to some cunt attempting to explain why I should find this important? Fuck you – I can at least listen, if maybe not comprehend totally the gravity of a man giving his final talk to the world.
October 2nd, 2007 at 11:08 am
Calm down Joe – the voice over guy was annoying but this was only a short summary. There’s a link to the full, non-interrupted version in the article.
October 9th, 2007 at 6:16 pm
I saw it on Michel Fortin’s blog. The takeaways I took from the talk were:
* Be prepared to dream
* Dream specific dreams (zero gravity not be an astronaut)
* Have something to bring to the table
* Get the fundamentals right (As Marlon S would say – “Lock the ball in”
* When you are doing something badly and nobody is telling you – that’s a very bad place to be because they have given up on you.
* Most of what we learn we learn indirectly (what he calls a head fake)
* Brick walls are there for a reason: They let us prove how badly we want things **My favourite from the talk**
* Become more self-reflective
* Everybody should be involved helping others
* You can word things in a way that people are much more receptive too:
“Randy, It’s such a shame that people perceive you as so arrogant because that will limit what are going to be able to accomplish in life” rather than “You’re acting like a jackass”
“You are such a great saleman that you might aswell be selling something worthwhile like education” – convincing him to become a teacher
* Decide if you are a Tigger or an Eeyore – nobody gained more out of life by feeling sorry for themself
* Never lose child like wonder
* Never give up – love how he dealt with rejection by Carnegie Mellon. Also “Don’t bail; the best gold is at the bottom of barrels of crap”
* You can’t get there alone – get others to help you
- tell the truth, be earnest (hip is short term, earnest is long term), apologize when you screw up, focus on others not yourself
* Brick Walls let us show our determination (Embrace a wall)
* When you do the right thing – good stuff has a way of happening
* Cherish feedback and use it
* Show gratitude
* Don’t complain; just work harder
* Find the best in everybody; no matter how long you have to wait for them to show it
* Be prepared: “luck” is where preparation meets opportunity
Paul
P.S I realize better to watch the video and come up with your own takeaways but some people are short on time – perhaps if you learnt something I overlooked you can post too. This was done with multiple attendees at a Jay Abrahams event I attended and different people picked up different things because of their unique “maps of the world”
October 10th, 2007 at 3:29 am
Can someone please delete joe’s rant above, it has no place in a comment about a video such as this.
Would joe like to be remembered for those comments
October 10th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
Wow, Joe has really taken this advice to heart, hasn’t he? Is that the comment you want to be remembered for, Joe?
I liked the video. “The brick walls are there to stop the other people.” That’s sort of the way I tend to think anyway, but it’s a good way to think about it.
October 10th, 2007 at 1:37 pm
I think what Joe was trying to say was that this was a moving and powerful video, but it was partially spoiled by the cheesy American style voice-over.
Shame Joe couldn’t have worded it like that though.