10 lessons from Admiral McRaven SEAL training speech. US Navy Admiral William H. McRaven, one of the most decorated US commanders of our time, delivers one of the best motivational speeches you will ever hear.
“Life is a struggle and the potential for failure is ever-present, but those who live in fear of failure, hardship, or embarrassment will never achieve their potential. Without pushing your limits, without occasionally sliding down the rope headfirst, without daring greatly, you will never know what is truly possible in your life.” ― William H. McRaven
Admiral McRaven Leaves the Audience SPEECHLESS, (15:59 min.), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBuIGBCF9jc, 2018
For this week’s Discussion Board, please complete the following:
Watch the video of Admiral McRaven and take notes about the 10 lessons the speaker learned from SEAL training.
Select 2 of the 10 lessons from the video, and describe how you can apply them to your life beginning today:
Why did you choose these 2 lessons?
How will you hold yourself accountable for implementing the lessons?
Admiral William H. McRaven gave a commencement speech at the University of Texas often referred to as the “Make Your Bed” speech. It’s considered one of the best and more inspirational commencement speeches. Read the full transcript of McRaven’s May 19, 2014 speech right here at Rev.com.
Admiral McRaven: (00:00)
Thank you very much, thank you. Well, thank you president Powers, Provost Fenves, deans, members of the faculty, family and friends, and most importantly, the class of 2014, it is indeed an honor for me to be here tonight. It’s been almost 37 years to the day that I graduated from UT. I remember a lot of things about that day. I remember I had a throbbing headache from a party the night before.
I remember I had a serious girlfriend who I later married. That’s important to remember by the way. And I remember I was getting commissioned in the Navy that day, but of all the things I remember, I don’t have a clue who the commencement speaker was and I certainly don’t remember anything they said.
Admiral McRaven: (00:59)
So acknowledging that fact, if I can’t make this commencement speech memorable, I’ll at least try to make it short. So the university slogan is, what starts here changes the world. Well, I’ve got to admit, I kind of like it. What starts here changes the world. Tonight there are almost 8,000 students or there are more than 8,000 students graduated from UT. So that great Paragon of analytical rigor ask.com says that the average American will meet 10,000 people in their lifetime.
10,000 people, that’s a lot of folks. But if every one of you change the lives of just 10 people and each one of those people change the lives of another 10 people and another 10 then in five generations, 125 years, the class of 2014 will have changed the lives of 800 million people, 800 million people.