Brief Summary
This speech encourages graduates to embrace risk-taking, failure, and perseverance in their pursuit of dreams and goals. It highlights the importance of consistency, learning from failures, and using one's talents to serve the world. The speaker shares personal anecdotes to illustrate these points, emphasising that true success comes from pushing boundaries, staying resilient, and contributing to the greater good.
- Embrace risk-taking and don't fear failure.
- Set goals to turn dreams into reality.
- Use your talents and gifts to help the world.
- Persevere through failures and keep moving forward.
The speaker opens by asserting that a worthwhile life involves taking risks, echoing Nelson Mandela's sentiment that playing it safe leads to a life of unfulfilled potential. He challenges the conventional advice of having something to "fall back on," arguing instead for the importance of "falling forward" to confront challenges head-on and learn from them. This approach encourages graduates to pursue their passions and embrace the possibility of failure as a necessary part of growth.
The speech emphasises that failure is an inevitable part of life and should be embraced rather than feared. The speaker uses the example of Reggie Jackson, who struck out more times than any other baseball player but is remembered for his home runs, to illustrate that success often follows numerous failures. Thomas Edison's persistence through 1,000 failed experiments before inventing the light bulb further reinforces this point. The key message is that each failure is a step closer to success, and perseverance is essential.
The speaker shares a personal story about auditioning for a Broadway musical early in his career, a role he was ill-suited for due to his lack of singing ability. Despite not getting the part, he persisted in auditioning and facing rejection. Years later, he starred in a play at the same theatre where he had initially failed, highlighting the importance of not giving up and continuing to strive towards one's goals. This anecdote underscores the idea that perseverance eventually leads to a breakthrough.
The speech paints a vivid picture of the regrets one might face on their deathbed, represented by the "ghosts" of unfulfilled potential, unused talents, and ideas never acted upon. These ghosts symbolise the opportunities missed and the potential contributions never made. The speaker urges the graduates to consider how many of these "ghosts" will surround them at the end of their lives, encouraging them to take action and make the most of their abilities.
The speaker broadens the scope to address the needs of the world, citing poverty and various global issues. He calls upon the young graduates to use their time, talents, prayers, and resources to make a difference. Regardless of their specific skills or fields of study, he encourages them to consider how they can contribute to the greater good, emphasising that the world needs their help and their unique gifts.
The speech highlights that failure can be a valuable tool for discovering one's true path. The speaker recounts his own academic struggles and shifts in focus during university, ultimately leading to a low GPA and a suggestion to take time off. This low point led him to an unexpected encounter with a woman who prophesied his future success, illustrating that sometimes, failures can lead to unforeseen opportunities and a clearer sense of direction.
The speaker shares a transformative experience where a woman in his mother's beauty shop prophesied that he would travel the world and speak to millions. This prophecy came to fruition through his work in movies, allowing him to connect with audiences he couldn't physically see. He expresses encouragement and strength in seeing the potential of the graduating class, urging them to be open to new ideas, take chances, and embrace the people they meet along the way.
In closing, the speaker reiterates the importance of taking risks, being open to new experiences, and valuing relationships. He encourages the graduates to give everything they have and to never be discouraged. The final message is a call to "fall forward" when facing life's inevitable challenges, embracing failure as a part of the journey and continuing to move towards their goals with resilience and determination.
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Transcript
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0:00 [Music] i found that nothing in life is worthwhile unless you take risks nothing nelson mandela said there is no passion to be found playing small in settling for a life that's less than the one you're capable of living now i'm sure in your experiences in school and applying to college and picking your major and deciding what you want to do with life i'm sure people have told you to make sure you have something to fall back on make sure you got something to fall back on honey but i never understood that concept having something to fall back on
0:46 if i'm going to fall i don't want to fall back on anything i want to fall forward i figure at least this way i'll see what i'm going to hit without consistency you'll never finish so do what you feel passionate about passionate about take chances don't be afraid to fail there's an old iq test was nine dots and you had to draw five lines with a pencil within these nine dots without lifting the pencil the only way to do it was to go outside the box don't be afraid to think outside the box don't be afraid to
1:32 fail big to dream big but remember dreams without goals are just dreams reggie jackson struck out 2600 times in his career the most in the history of baseball but you don't hear about the strikeouts people remember the home runs [Music] fall forward thomas edison conducted 1 000 failed experiments did you know that i didn't know that because the one thousand and first was the light bulb [Music] fall forward every failed experiment is one step
2:19 closer to success got to take risks and i'm sure you've probably heard that before but i want to talk to you about why that's so important you will fail at some point in your life it you will lose you will embarrass yourself you will suck at something there's no doubt about it and i know that's probably not a traditional message for a graduation ceremony but hey i'm telling you embrace it because it's inevitable in the acting business you fail all the time early on in my career i auditioned for a part in a broadway musical
3:04 perfect role for me i thought except for the fact that i can't sing i didn't get the job but here's the thing i didn't quit [Music] i didn't fall back i walked out of there to prepare for the next audition and the next audition and the next audition i prayed i prayed and i prayed but i continued to fail and fail and fail but it didn't matter because you know what there's an old saying you hang around the barber shop long enough sooner or later you're gonna get a haircut
3:52 so you will catch a break and i did catch a break [Music] last year i did a play called fences on broadway but here's the kicker it was at the court theater it was at the same theater that i failed that first audition 30 years prior the point is every graduate here today has the training and the talent to succeed but do you have the guts to fail if you don't fail you're not even trying [Music] i'll say it again if you don't fail you're not even trying
4:38 to get something you never had you have to do something you never did imagine you're on your deathbed and standing around your deathbed are the ghosts representing your unfulfilled potential the ghost of the ideas you never acted on the ghost of the talents you didn't use and they're standing around your bed angry disappointed and upset they say we we came to you because you could have brought us to life they say and now we have to go to the grave together
5:24 so i ask you today [Music] how many ghosts are going to be around your bed when your time comes [Music] i just got back from south africa it's a beautiful country but there are places there with terrible private poverty that need help and africa is just the tip of the iceberg the middle east needs your help japan needs your help alabama needs your help tennessee needs your help louisiana needs your help philadelphia needs your help the world needs a lot and we need it from you
6:10 we really do we need it from you young people i mean i'm not speaking for the rest of us up here but i know i'm getting a little grayer we need it from you the young people because remember this you got to get out there you got to give it everything you got whether it's your time your your your talent your prayers or your treasures what are you going to do with what you have i'm not talking about how much you have some of you are business majors some of you are theologians nurses sociologists some of you have money some of you have patience some of you have kindness some of you have loved some of you have the gift of long-suffering whatever it is whatever your gift is what are you going to do
6:57 with what you have all right now here's my last point about failure sometimes it's the best way to figure out where you're going your life will never be a straight path i began at fordham university as a pre-med student i took a course called the [Music] cardiac morphogenesis i couldn't read it i couldn't say it i surely couldn't pass it so then i decided to go into pre-law then journalism and with no academic focus my grades took off in their own direction i was a 1.8 gpa and the university very politely suggested that it might be better to take some time off
7:46 i was 20 years old i was at my lowest point and then one day and i remember the exact day march 27 1975 i was helping my mother in her beauty shop my mother owned a beauty shop up in mount vernon and there's there was this older woman who was considered one of the elders in the town and i didn't know her personally but i was looking in the mirror and every time i looked in the mirror i could see her behind me and she was staring at me she just kept looking at me every time i looked at her she kept giving me these strange looks so she finally took the dryer off her head and said she said something i'll never forget she said young boy i have a prophecy a spiritual prophecy she said you are going to travel the
8:31 world and speak to millions of people [Music] and in the years that follow just as that woman prophesies i have traveled the world and i have spoken to millions of people through my movies millions who up until this day couldn't see me who up till this day i couldn't see while i was talking to them and they couldn't see me they could only see the movie they couldn't see the real me [Music] but i see youth today [Music] and i'm encouraged by what i see i'm strengthened by what i see [Music] because taking risk is not just about
9:16 going for a job it's also about knowing what you know and what you don't know it's about being open to people and to ideas the chances you take the people you meet the people you love the faith that you have that's what's going to define you never be discouraged never hold back give everything you got and when you fall throughout life remember this fall forward [Music]
10:04 you
