Kind: captions
Language: en
tip number one decide to turn pain into
power the only real power we have in the
world is choosing our response we can't
choose what happens to us we can get
stuck into situations where we are
abused where we are not treated fairly
where any number of bad things can
happen and so the only choice we can
make is how to respond and I find that
that knowledge gives me so much freedom
because if something bad is happening to
me that I can say is beyond my control I
can say well at least you know I have
the power in my response to show the
world what kind of person I am and I
can't tell you the number of really
interesting examples of post-traumatic
growth that we're now cataloging people
who've lost everything people who've had
their kids murdered in front of them
people who've had just everyman manner
of hardship who are able to choose their
response and rather than shutting down
and you know getting more and more
depressed which is something that you
have to get through but the the choice
to take that painful experience and mold
it into something positive for the world
is I think the deepest kind of healing
we can have as humans and for me I think
part of what got me through those tough
times eventually as I matured was the
knowledge that I had transform that into
something good for the world tip number
two build grit every chance you get and
so I think grit was part of my
upbringing and I'm actually really
grateful for that because I think as an
entrepreneur probably the most important
attribute is not quitting and getting
through just rejection after rejection
and most of the really successful
entrepreneurs I know will tell me just
how many people rejected them along the
way so if you can have a thick skin
around that it's actually a huge asset
for me it was it was tough as a as a
child I was always kind of an outcast we
never had enough money to shop at normal
you know clothing stores we didn't have
TV at home so it's kind of a weirdo on
the playground I was a big nerd I read
books all the time and did science fair
competitions and I really found my
refuge and academics and was really
passionate about school
and so got lucky enough to get into
Harvard but didn't really have the money
to attend so I would I would cobble
together different jobs I did in fact
clean toilets for our campus we call it
dorm crew but it's like a janitorial
service run by students so it's funny
that imagine that at one point I was
literally like scrubbing the off of
the rich kids toilets however I do think
that a lot of that kind that kind of
work is truly character building I
remember that summer I would literally
calculate the value of everything I
purchased according to how many toilets
it would take me you know to clean to
purchase that and I and I think it gave
me this frugality and discipline which I
then brought into my entrepreneurial
career tip number three you don't need
to be a saint
to make an impact when we put people on
pedestals as Saints we sort of we turn
them into an other we turn them into you
know we we think of ourselves as us and
and lowly and we think of them as these
saintly people who are just somehow
different from us and therefore we don't
have a moral obligation to do the things
they're doing because they're uniquely
equipped let's remind ourselves that
some of the most famous and prominent
social leaders were not flawless MLK was
a known you know cheater he cheated on
his wife regularly
unfortunately Gandhi it's well known in
India was really really cruel to his
wife there's even a play that I watched
about it which was kind of shocking and
I guess the the moral of the story is
that no one is a saint you know even
when they're canonized they do there's a
there's a whole book that criticizes
Mother Teresa's work and I'm not saying
this to take down our heroes I think
that what all three of those folks have
done is truly heroic and great and
should be celebrated I see this because
it's important that we don't absolve
ourselves of a moral duty to act we all
have that duty to act you don't have to
be flawless these people are not you
know genetically different and I think
that's another problem with this
pedestal issue is that when we put
people on pedestals we then start
nitpicking and saying oh well if he or
she wears a nice dress and she can't
possibly care about poverty because
she's too consumed with her own
appearance or in MLK's case you know he
was many people tried to take him down
he had such great I think a great sense
of style those two things are not
incompatible you can have you can have
an interest in fashion and a desire to
make aesthetic choices that fit your
tastes and at the same time find poverty
to be morally objectionable and want to
do something about it people who do work
and service of humanity do not need to
be Saints we do not need to put them on
pedestals they don't have to you know
take vows of poverty I think when we
when we say that and do that it makes
ordinary people feel like they could
never enter this field and that's part
of the problem
[Applause]
[Music]