21.8M views · May 19, 2014 · 19:27 · 3 HN recommenders · 4 mentions · discussed 2017–2026
Admiral William McRaven's 2014 University of Texas commencement address, built around lessons from Navy SEAL training. It famously opens with the case for making your bed every morning.
Why Hacker News points people here: Recommended in life-advice and motivation threads as worth watching in full, especially for its point about starting small by changing yourself.
“Worth the whole watch”HN comment, 2020
“Worth the whole watch”
Compelling case for making your bed each morning
Obligatory UT Admiral William H. McRaven Commencement Address[1] Worth the whole watch, however it’s makes he makes a very compelling argument for making your bed in the morning. I’ll add cleaning as part of the morning routine is also highly effective to get moving. this video
“Just got a recommendation for this great correlating speech by a friend actually”
Speech friend recommended as relevant to talking across divides
That's why I call it DeplorablesBook but that's also where the problem lies maybe. Most probably. Maybe certainly. We need to engage in those tiresome discussions collectively. We need to talk more, with more people from more diverse backgrounds if we want to change anything actually. Let's educate everyone so that we get an even better internet than the one we came to love back in the 90s and early 00s! Just got a recommendation for this great correlating speech by a friend actually: this video
“My takeaway: if you want to change the world, start by changing yourself.”
McRaven on changing the world by starting with yourself
First and foremost, what you are describing is metacognition - thinking about the way you think. Hopefully that will aid you in your search for things! Secondly, here are some of my favorite influential material: - Li Ka-Shing, Tips on Life. My takeaway: invest in yourself. link - Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture. My takeaway: don't limit yourself link - Guy Kawasaki, Make Meaning. Aimed for startups, but equally applicable in life. My takeaway: Have the proper motivations for doing things. link - Admiral William H. McRaven, Make your bed. My takeaway: if you want to change the world, start by changing yourself. this video - David Foster Wallace, This is Water. My takeaway: Take a big picture view, and don't sweat the small stuff. link - “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I'll meet you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about.”― Rumi - Man's Search for meaning. My takeaway: We make meaning. link - "All the livin that you're saving, won't buy your dreams for you" - Townes Van Zandt - Idiot wind by Bob Dylan My takeaway: Your reaction to things can be just as bad as the actual thing. link - Stoicism and Marcus Aurelius, Seneca. My takeaway: Focus on what matters. link (read this one first for a good foundation) link link - Buddhism. Our takeaway: Meditation is important, the doctrine of emptiness (not nihilism!) is super interesting. link link link link link - Leonardo Da Vinci My take
“Later, I heard a similar anecdote in a speech”
It could be that height says nothing about competence as a CEO, or it could be that the people who attain CEO and succeed despite height bias need to have an exceptionally strong mix of merit/will/effort. I've heard the latter theory at least a couple times about US Navy SEALs. The first time, it was a retired SEAL I knew (well over 6', and a brick wall) who one day out of the blue said something like, "You shouldn't feel bad about being short. The best SEAL I knew was a short guy, and he could kick my ass." Later, I heard a similar anecdote in a speech: this video
