#graduation #GraduationMessages #GraduationSpeeches
Graduation speeches, at least to the graduates who are just looking to celebrate and party afterward, can often draw a groan.
It seems to many of them to be something they must sit through. Perhaps it’s good training for the next corporate meeting they will have to attend.
But they also may find a few nuggets of good advice among the long, drawn-out talks.
Jena McGregor, in a Washington Post article, highlighted some well-known speakers’ pearls of wisdom. The article was also published May 29, 2018, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Oprah Winfrey, for example, gave the typical “do what you love” advice when she spoke at the Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California, the article says. Then, she said:” You need to know this: Your job is not always going to fulfill you,” McGregor writes.
Yet, Oprah also advised the graduates to be so good at what they will do that “your talent cannot be dismissed,” the article quotes her.
Undoubtedly, some of those graduates will find out that even though they are very good at what they do, perhaps even winning awards etc., whoever they work for might not recognize it. And, they may also discover that even good people get laid off when each of the many reorganizations they will witness takes place.
Meanwhile, Hamdi Ulukaya, CEO of the Chobani Greek yogurt company, told this to grads of the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania: “It’s great that you are a Wharton MBA. But please, don’t act like it,” the article quotes him.
His point was the great training that Wharton has given the graduates shouldn’t make them think less of others who have not been so academically blessed.
“Don’t let (your degree) get in the way of seeing people as people and all they have to offer you, regardless of their title or position,” the article quotes him.
Certainly, graduates have their own ambitions. They have come this far and have put in the work and time – hopefully having some fun along the way. Some may come out of school not knowing exactly what they want to do. For some, it may be a craps shoot as to what opportunities their degrees will give them – or not.
Then, they face the issue of jobs not turning into what was expected or promised. Will they be able to roll with whatever happens? Make no mistake: the unexpected will happen.
If you are a new graduate in a period of indecision about your future, know that there are many ways out there to earn a potentially substantial income with a few part-time hours a week away from your W-2 job. To check out one of the best, message me.
Meanwhile, sift and sort every piece of advice you get. Some advice, though well meaning, can stifle what you might want, or be destined, to do. Other advice can encourage you to shoot for the moon. Know that the moon can be there for the taking if you shoot properly and consistently over time.
See the good in everything you do, and everyone you encounter, as you endure some drudgery in each endeavor. Don’t ever be afraid of pursuing your dream. It, too, could be there for the taking with the right effort and strategy.
Peter
Tag Archives: ” Oprah Winfrey
HOPE, INSPIRATION FROM SOME GREAT WOMEN
#GreatWomen #inspiration #hope
“You may never fail on the scale that I did, but some failure in life is inevitable.”
So said J.K. Rowling, who was once on the verge of poverty, but who went on to write the Harry Potter series of books.
Peggy Anderson has compiled great messages from great women in a book titled, “Great Quotes from Great Women: From Marie Curie to Michelle Obama – inspiring words from women who have shaped our world.”
“The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude,” the book quotes mega TV star Oprah Winfrey.
“If I had to embrace a definition of success, it would be that success is making the best choices we can … and accepting them,” the book quotes Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook, and author of the bestselling book, “Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead.”
These disparate quotes have one thing in common: success involves choices.
That’s a hard concept for some to grasp. Many think they are governed by circumstances. They see very few real choices to make their lives better.
Rowling and Winfrey were each poor at one time. They made the choice to break away from that to do something great.
Sandberg, too, had to fight hard battles to succeed as a woman in a largely men’s world of technology.
The point they make is that circumstances happen, but they don’t have to define or defeat you.
Many folks have had a rough time of it over the last decade or so. Some may have had good jobs that disappeared. If they were lucky, during that time they found other work which more than likely doesn’t pay as well as the job they lost.
With a job loss often comes a loss of lifestyle and, to some, a loss of identity.
Yet, as one looks around, there is so much good to be thankful for.
Once way to get your head right is to focus on what’s good in your life – family, friends etc. Be thankful for what’s good, and the bad in your life will be much easier to overcome.
Also, there may be much good out there that you don’t yet know about. Be on the lookout for that person either in your life or who will come into your life that may show you a way you can better your circumstances. There are many such ways to better one’s financial circumstance and, at the same time, help one grow as a person.
If you are someone looking for something good to come into your life, and are willing to check out something you may know nothing about, message me.
Rowling, Winfrey and Sandberg all found something good to come into their lives. Some might say they were lucky. Most who find great success acknowledge their good fortune, but also believe they put themselves in position for good fortune to come to them. They looked for it, made themselves ready for when it would come and embraced it when it did.
Certainly, they had some talent. But there are ways out there to succeed without any special talent, education or expertise – just a willingness to learn and desire to make one’s life better.
So if you’re tired of your current situation, take on the attitude that if it is to be, it’s up to me. Then, just go for it.
Peter
LUCK: ANYONE CAN HAVE IT
“If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.”
That’s paraphrasing a lyric from a song, titled “Gloom, Despair and Agony on Me,” made popular on the TV show “Hee Haw.”
We’ve often thought of those who have made it in their lives as “lucky.” By extension, we’ve regarded those who are struggling as “unlucky.”
We certainly have things happen to us that we can’t control. Some are good. Some are bad. We always hope that we can cherish the good in our lives, and overcome the bad.
But as TV star and successful businesswoman Oprah Winfrey has said, “Luck is a matter or preparation meeting opportunity.”
Most successful people view themselves as lucky. Yet their luck did not come by accident. It came from the wisdom of seeing an opportunity, and the work it took to make it happen.
Some of us shy away from opportunity. We think we don’t have it in us to pursue it. Or, to put it bluntly, we don’t have the AMBITION it takes to make it happen.
Those who believe luck is an accident also believe it will never come to them. Actually, most people have enough good in their lives to consider themselves lucky, but they don’t see it. Even if an opportunity were placed in front of them, they wouldn’t see it. They don’t want it badly enough to see it.
But let’s break down Winfrey’s statement: how does one “prepare” for luck? Preparation starts with a dream. Dreams start when “realism” is suspended. We all like to consider ourselves realists, but realism gets in the way of dreams.
After one establishes a dream, one needs the desire to make it happen. Such dreamers have just enough realism to know that their dreams may not come overnight. They also know that they will need to work to make it happen.
In short, a dream, plus the desire to make it happen, is preparation for luck.
Then comes opportunity. The preparation for luck allows a person to KNOW an opportunity when he sees it. He is constantly looking for the opportunity, and the power of his dream will allow him to eventually find it.
How does he find opportunity? He looks for it. He meets people. He finds out how they became successful. He determines whether the vehicle other people have used would work for him. If so, he goes for it.
Since he knows he will have to work, he is just looking for the vehicle for his efforts. There are many such vehicles out there. To check out one of the best, visit www.bign.com/pbilodeau. It may or may not be the vehicle you are looking for, but if you have the dream and the desire, it just might work for you.
When you’ve prepared to meet opportunity, know that success may not come quickly, or without setbacks. You’ll meet some pitfalls on your journey to success. You might even have to see less of your friends who sing, in one form or another, “Gloom, Despair and Agony on Me.”
So if your dream is big enough, and your drive is strong enough, you have sufficiently prepared to be lucky. You will know enough, despite how little or much education you’ve had, to look for a good opportunity, and to recognize it when you find it.
Best of luck to you!
Peter