It might be paradoxical, but there is actually one thing that I dislike and like at the same time. It is when people tell me their life stories. I dislike it because every time someone does it, they do it because they want to teach me what they’ve learned over the years, as if their mistakes, faults and errors, and their solutions to these are good to know.
At the same time, I love it when somebody makes me want to learn from their mistakes, faults and errors.
Randy Pausch is dead. He died last year due to pancreatic cancer. Before he passed away he was offered to tell what he have learned, as a professor, son, Disney Imaginaire, father, husband etc. This lecture can be viewed and downloaded via iTunes U – I suggest you do it. Instead of watching a movie this weekend. Watch his lecture on Time Management as well.
Luckily, I managed to grab a copy of his book from the library and finished it in four hours. If I where to say that it was amazing, I would be exaggerate. But if I were to tell you what I learned from it – I would not be able to fit it all in one post.
Notes:
- Whatever you do, know the basic of it.
- I’m a business student who loves marketing. To understand and develop this, I need to know the basic features of it.
“If no one tells you you’re doing it wrong, that means they’ve giving up hope in you.”
- If you do not understand what a person is telling you, there are two ways to go:
- Tell them that you do not understand, and then ask them to leave
- Tell them that you do not understand, and then ask them to tell you more
One quote that really stuck to me was said the day before Randy found out he had three-six months to live. This is what he told his wife, Jai, while visiting a water park.
Even if the results are bad tomorrow I want to you to know that it feels great to live and to be here with you today, alive. What ever they’ll tell us tomorrow does not mean that I will die as soon as I will hear it. I will not die the day after that, the day that follows, or the one after that. So, right now, today, is a wonderful day. And I want you to know how much I appreciate it.
Mr. Pausch was famous amongst his student to drop so called Pauschisms every now and then, he lists them as followed:
- Time, just like money, must be treated with care.
- You can always change your plans, as long as you have any.
- Always ask yourself: Do you consume your time the right way? – Randy used an example from a newspaper where a pregnant women complained about a construction site near her home. She was afraid that the noise form the jackhammers etc. would hurt her baby. In her hand, she held a cigarette.
- Delegate
- Take timeout!
On motivating:
If somebody blows your mind, tell them that you liked it, but that you believed the person to have more in them.
On complaining
Complaining is not a strategy that works, it won’t make you reach your goal, and it won’t make you happier. So, why do it?
On group dynamics. Randy was a university teacher, and to make the students work better in groups, he gave them the following guidelines:
- Properly greet everyone
- Find what you have in common
- Strive to have the optimal meeting – eat together
- Let everybody speak – and finish
- Leave the ego outside – it was not “your idea”, “Lisa’s idea” etc. It was the “idea of going to Ibiza“!
- Praise each other.
- Formulate everything as a question. – Don’t say “We should go to Ibiza”, say “How about Ibiza?”. This leave room for other people to discuss, instead of being locked inside your statement.
On how he could get a full-time employment one year prior to anyone else in his situation
It’s easy! Just call me at my office on a Friday, at 10pm!
On apologizing
A good apologize has three parts:
- What I did was wrong…
- …it hurts me that I hurt you…
- …how can I make it better?
This shows the person that you understand what you’ve done, that you feel what the person is feeling, and that you are ready to do whatever you can for the person to forgive you.
On working
There’s no job under one’s dignity!
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I will try to live after some of these ideas that Randy Pausch lived his life after. Somehow, I think I already do.
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Thank you Randy.
