Full transcript
0:00I was working at a financial firm in New
0:02York City with a bunch of very smart
0:05people and I had a brilliant boss I much
0:08admired I went to my
0:11boss and told him I was going to start a
0:13company selling books on the
0:16internet he took me on a long walk in
0:18Central
0:19Park listened carefully to me and
0:23finally said that sounds like a really
0:26good idea but it would be an even better
0:29idea for someone who didn't already have
0:31a good
0:33job you can have a job or you can have a
0:36career or you can have a calling and if
0:39you can somehow figure out how to have a
0:41calling you have hit the jackpot cuz
0:43that's the big
0:47deal I met Jeff basos 25 years ago and
0:51he told me Dave I want you to invest in
0:53my company what are you doing I'm going
0:54to start a bookstore in my garage okay
0:57I'm going to put it online people buy
0:59buy online and I'm a ship out of my
1:01garage but but if you invest in me
1:04Dave someday I'm going to be the richest
1:06man in the world I'll do over $100
1:09billion first of all there is no such
1:11thing as a100 billion 25 years ago
1:15statistically there's no such thing
1:18countries didn't have 100 our national
1:20debt wasn't $100 billion and this dude's
1:23telling me at 26 years old that he's
1:26going to be the richest man in the world
1:28cuz he has a garage and the
1:31internet that was his truth do that no
1:34but he did not he did not know it and
1:37neither did I but the difference between
1:39him and I is I was laughing scoffing and
1:41jesting at him and he was already
1:43applauding himself going at the right
1:45way at the perfect time I'm going to
1:47make as much as I can as quickly and I'm
1:49sitting there going there's no way this
1:50is going to be a big business do
1:52something you're very passionate about
1:56and don't try to chase
2:00what is kind of the hot Passion of the
2:04day seen in that light it really was a
2:07difficult choice but ultimately I
2:10decided I had to give it a
2:12shot I didn't think I'd regret trying
2:15and
2:16failing and I suspected I would always
2:19be haunted by a decision to not try at
2:24all after much
2:26consideration I took the less safe path
2:30to follow my passion and I'm proud of
2:33that
2:35choice as a young boy I had been a
2:37garage inventor I'd invented an
2:40automatic gate closer out of cement
2:42filed tires a solar cooker that didn't
2:46work very well out of an umbrella and
2:47aluminum
2:48foil baking pan alarms to entrap my
2:52siblings I'd always wanted to be an
2:55inventor and she wanted me to follow my
2:58passion was a mil military phrase that I
3:01especially love and it says slow is
3:05smooth and smooth is fast and I have
3:08seen that in every Endeavor I've ever
3:10been in that's the kind of thing that
3:12really allows you to make progress you
3:14know you get certain um gifts in life
3:17and you want to take advantage of those
3:19um but you I guess my advice on
3:23adversity and uh success would be to be
3:29be proud not of your gifts but of your
3:33hard work and your choices so you know
3:36you may be the kinds of gifts you get
3:38like you know you might be really good
3:39at math it might be really easy for you
3:42that's a kind of gift um but practicing
3:45that math and taking it to the next step
3:48that could be very challenging and hard
3:51um and take a lot of sweat that's a
3:54choice you can't really be proud of your
3:55gifts because they were given to you um
3:58you can be great f for them and thankful
4:01for them um and but your choices you
4:04choose to work hard um you choose to do
4:07hard things those are choices that you
4:11can be proud
4:13of you can choose we all get to choose
4:15our life stories and um it's the choices
4:18that Define us not our gifts everybody
4:20in this room has many gifts um I have
4:22many gifts you can never be proud of
4:24your gifts because they're gifts they
4:26were given to you you might be you know
4:28tall and or you might be really good at
4:31math or you might be extremely beautiful
4:34or handsome or you know there or there
4:37many gifts and you can only be proud
4:40really of your choices because those are
4:42the things that you are that you're that
4:44you are acting on and one of the most
4:47important choices that each of us has
4:49and you know this just as well as I do
4:52is um you can choose a life of ease and
4:58comfort or you can choose a life of
5:02service and
5:03adventure and when you're 80 which one
5:06of those things you think you're going
5:08to be more proud of you're going to be
5:10more proud of having chosen a life of
5:12service and
5:15Adventure never been a better time to be
5:17alive I mean it's just an incredible the
5:20amount of uh inspiration that the world
5:23generates uh for me and I think for a
5:25lot of people it's just it's insane the
5:28amount of change and convention and
5:33opportunity your life the life you
5:37author from scratch on your own
5:41begins how will you use your gifts what
5:44choices will you make will
5:48inertia be your guide or will you follow
5:51your
5:53passions will you follow
5:56Dogma or will you be original
6:00will you choose a life of
6:02ease or a life of service and
6:07Adventure will you wilt under
6:11criticism or will you follow your
6:14convictions will you Bluff it out when
6:16you're
6:17wrong or will you
6:21apologize will you guard your
6:24heart against
6:26rejection or will you act when you fall
6:29on
6:30love will you play it safe or will you
6:34be a little bit
6:37swashbuckling when it's
6:39tough will you give up or will you be
6:44[Music]
6:46relentless will you be a
6:49cynic or will you be a
6:54builder will you be
6:58clever at the expense of
7:01others or will you be
7:04kind every time you figure out some way
7:07of providing tools and services that
7:09Empower other people to deploy their
7:11creativity you're really on to something
7:13you know you're very lucky if you have a
7:15career a lot of people end up with a
7:18job if you don't love your work you're
7:21never going to be great at it Jules ver
7:24Mark Twain Galileo Newton all the
7:28Curious from the ages would have wanted
7:31to be alive most of all right
7:35now as a civilization we will have so
7:38many gifts just as you as individuals
7:41have so many individual gifts as you sit
7:43before
7:45me how will you use these gifts and will
7:48you take pride in your gifts or pride in
7:51your choices
7:56[Music]