Selamat Dehai family, a friend of mine forwarded this message to me and I
enjoyed it. Enjoy it!!!!
HaWkum Solomon
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>GRADUATION SPEECH BY GUY KAWASAKI, one of founders of Apple Computer who
>helped create the MAC:
>
>"Hindsight" by Guy Kawasaki
>
>Palo Alto High School Baccalaureate Speech 6/11/95
>
> Speaking to you today marks a milestone in my life. I am 40
>years old. 22 years ago, when I was in your seat, I never, ever thought I
>would be 40 years old.
>
> The implications of being your speaker frightens me. For one
>thing, when a 40 year old geeser spoke at my baccalaureate ceremony,
>he was about the last person I'd believe. I have no intention of
>giving you the boring speech that you are dreading. This speech will be short,
>sweet, and not boring.
>
> I am going to talk about hindsights today. Hindsights that
>I've accumulated in the 20 years from where you are to where I am. Don't
>blindly believe. Don't take what I say as "truth." Just listen.
>Perhaps my experience can help you out a tiny bit.
>
> I will present them ala David Letterman. Yes, 40-year old
>people can still stay up past 11.
>
> #10: Live off your parents as long as possible.
> When I spoke at this ceremony two years ago, this was the
>most popular hindsight-except from the point of view of the parents. Thus,
>I knew I was on the right track.
> I was a diligent Oriental in high school and college. I took
>college-level classes and earned college-level credits. I rushed
>through college in 3 1/2 years. I never traveled or took time off because I
>thought it wouldn't prepare me for work and it would delay my graduation.
>Frankly, I blew it. You are going to work the rest of your lives, so don't
>be in a rush to start. Stretch out your college education. Now is the time
>to suck life into your lungs-before you have a mortgage, kids, and car
>payments. Take whole semester off to travel overseas. Take jobs and
>internships that pay less money or no money. Investigate your passions on your
>parent's nickel. Or dime. Or quarter. Or dollar. Your goal should be
>to extend college to at least six years.
> Delay, as long as possible, the inevitable entry into the
>workplace and a lifetime of servitude to bozos who know less than you do, but
>who make more money. Also, you shouldn't deprive your parents of the
>pleasure of supporting you.
>
> #9: Pursue joy, not happiness.
> This is probably the hardest lesson of all to learn. It
>probably seems to you that the goal in life is to be "happy." Oh, you maybe
>have to sacrifice and study and work hard, but, by and large, happiness
>should be predictable.
> Nice house. Nice car. Nice material things. Take my word for
>it, happiness is temporary and fleeting. Joy, by contrast, is
>unpredictable. It comes from pursuing interests and passions that do not
>obviously result in happiness.
> Pursuing joy, not happiness will translate into one thing
>over the next few years for you: Study what you love. This may also not be
>popular with parents. When I went to college, I was "marketing
>driven." It's also an Oriental thing.
> I looked at what fields had the greatest job opportunities
>and prepared myself for them. This was brain dead. There are so many
>ways to make a living in the world, it doesn't matter that you've
>taken all the "right" courses. I don't think one person on the
>original Macintosh team had a classic "computer science" degree.
> You parents have a responsibility in this area. Don't force
>your kids to follow in your footsteps or to live your dreams. My father
>was a senator in Hawaii. His dream was to be a lawyer, but he only had a
>high school education. He wanted me to be a lawyer.
> For him, I went to law school. For me, I quit after two
>weeks. I view this a terrific validation of my inherent intelligence.
>
> #8: Challenge the known and embrace the unknown.
> One of the biggest mistakes you can make in life is to accept
>the known and resist the unknown. You should, in fact, do exactly the
>opposite: challenge the known and embrace the unknown.
> Let me tell you a short story about ice. In the late 1800s
>there was a thriving ice industry in the Northeast. Companies would cut
>blocks of ice from frozen lakes and ponds and sell them around the world.
>The largest single shipment was 200 tons that was shipped to India. 100
>tons got there unmelted, but this was enough to make a profit.
> These ice harvesters, however, were put out of business by
>companies that invented mechanical ice makers. It was no longer
>necessary to cut and ship ice because companies could make it in any
>city during any season.
> These ice makers, however, were put out of business by
>refrigerator companies. If it was convenient to make ice at a
> manufacturing plant, imagine how much better it was to make ice and
>create cold storage in everyone's home.
> You would think that the ice harvesters would see the
>advantages of ice making and adopt this technology. However, all they
>could think about was the known: better saws, better storage, better
>transportation.
> Then you would think that the ice makers would see the
>advantages of refrigerators and adopt this technology. The truth is
>that the ice harvesters couldn't embrace the unknown and jump their curve
>to the next curve.
> Challenge the known and embrace the unknown, or you'll be
>like the ice harvester and ice makers.
>
> #7: Learn to speak a foreign language, play a musical
>instrument, and play non-contact sports.
> Learn a foreign language. I studied Latin in high school
>because I thought it would help me increase my vocabulary. It did, but trust
>me when I tell you it's very difficult to have a conversation in Latin
>today other than at the Vatican. And despite all my efforts, the Pope has
>yet to call for my advice.
> Learn to play a musical instrument. My only connection to
>music today is that I was named after Guy Lombardo. Trust me: it's better
>than being named after Guy's brother, Carmen. Playing a musical instrument
>could be with me now and stay with me forever. Instead, I have to buy CDs at
>Tower.
> I played football. I loved football. Football is macho. I was a
>middle linebacker--arguably, one of the most macho positions in a
>macho game. But you should also learn to play a non-contact sport like
>basketball or tennis. That is, a sport you can play when you're over the hill.
> It will be as difficult when you're 40 to get twenty two guys
>together in a stadium to play football as it is to have a conversation in
>Latin, but all the people who wore cute, white tennis outfits can
>still play tennis. And all the macho football players are sitting around
>watching television and drinking beer.
>
> #6: Continue to learn.
> Learning is a process not an event. I thought learning would
>be over when I got my degree. It's not true. You should never stop
>learning. Indeed, it gets easier to learn once you're out of school because
>it's easier to see the relevance of why you need to learn.
> You're learning in a structured, dedicated environment right
>now. On your parent's nickel. But don't confuse school and learning. You
>can go to school and not learn a thing. You can also learn a tremendous
>amount without school.
>
> #5: Learn to like yourself or change yourself until you can
>like yourself.
> I know a forty year old woman who was a drug addict. She is a mother
>of three. She traced the start of her drug addiction to smoking dope
>in high school.
> I'm not going to lecture you about not taking drugs. Hey, I
>smoked dope in high school. Unlike Bill Clinton, I inhaled. Also unlike
>Bill Clinton, I exhaled.
> This woman told me that she started taking drugs because she
>hated herself when she was sober. She did not like drugs so much as
>much as she hated herself. Drugs were not the cause though she
>thought they were the solution.
> She turned her life around only after she realized that she
>was in a downward spiral. Fix your problem. Fix your life. Then you won't
>need to take drugs. Drugs are neither the solution nor the problem.
> Frankly, smoking, drugs, alcohol--and using an IBM PC--are
>signs of stupidity. End of discussion.
>
> #4: Don't get married too soon.
> I got married when I was 32. That's about the right age.
>Until you're about that age, you may not know who you are. You also may not
>know who you're marrying.
> I don't know one person who got married too late. I know many
>people who got married too young. If you do decide to get married,
>just keep in mind that you need to accept the person for what he or she is
>right now.
>
> #3: Play to win and win to play.
> Playing to win is one of the finest things you can do. It
>enables you to fulfill your potential. It enables you to improve the world
>and, conveniently, develop high expectations for everyone else too.
> And what if you lose? Just make sure you lose while trying
>something grand. Avinash Dixit, an economics professor at
>Princeton, and Barry Nalebuff, an economics and management professor at the
>Yale School of Organization and Management, say it this way:
> "If you are going to fail, you might as well fail at a
>difficult task. Failure causes others to downgrade their expectations of you
>in the future. The seriousness of this problem depends on what you
>attempt."
> In its purest form, winning becomes a means, not an end, to
>improve yourself and your competition.
> Winning is also a means to play again. The unexamined life
>may not be worth living, but the unlived life is not worth examining.
>The rewards of winning--money, power, satisfaction, and self-confidence--
>should not be squandered.
> Thus, in addition to playing to win, you have a second, more
>important obligation: To compete again to the depth and breadth and height
>that your soul can reach. Ultimately, your greatest competition is
>yourself.
>
> #2: Obey the absolutes.
> Playing to win, however, does not mean playing dirty. As you
>grow older and older, you will find that things change from
>absolute to relative. When you were very young, it was absolutely wrong to
>lie, cheat, or steal.
> As you get older, and particularly when you enter the
>workforce, you will be tempted by the "system" to think in relative terms.
>"I made more money." "I have a nicer car." "I went on a better vacation."
> Worse, "I didn't cheat as much on my taxes as my partner." "I
>just have a few drinks. I don't take cocaine." "I don't pad my expense
>reports as much as others."
> This is completely wrong. Preserve and obey the absolutes as
>much as you can. If you never lie, cheat, or steal, you will never
>have to remember who you lied to, how you cheated, and what you stole.
> There absolutely are absolute rights and wrongs.
>
> #1: Enjoy your family and friends before they are gone.
> This is the most important hindsight. It doesn't need much
>explanation. I'll just repeat it: Enjoy your family and friends
>before they are gone.
> Nothing-not money, power, or fame-can replace your family and
>friends or bring them back once they are gone. Our greatest joy has
>been our baby, and I predict that children will bring you the
>greatest joy in your lives--especially if they graduate from college in four
>years.
>
> And now, I'm going to give you one extra hindsight because
>I've probably cost your parents thousands of dollars today. It's
>something that I hate to admit to.
>
> By and large, the older you get, the more you're going to
>realize that your parents were right. More and more-until finally, you become
>your parents. I know you're all saying, "Yeah, right." Mark my words.
>
>
> Remember these ten things: if just one of them helps you helps
>just one of you, this speech will have been a success:
>
> #10: Live off your parents as long as possible.
> #9: Pursue joy, not happiness.
> #8: Challenge the known and embrace the unknown.
> #7: Learn to speak a foreign language, play a musical instrument,
> and play non-contact sports.
> #6: Continue to learn.
> #5: Learn to like yourself or change yourself until you can like
> yourself.
> #4: Don't get married too soon.
> #3: Play to win and win to play.
> #2: Obey the absolutes.
> #1: Enjoy your family and friends before they are gone.
>
>Congratulations on your graduation. Thank you very much.
>
>
>
>
>
Mei Yee Kwan
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