Commencement Speech at Villanova University by Pulitzer Prize winning author Anna Quindlen
“There will be hundreds of people out there with your same degree; there will be thousands of people doing what you want to do for a living. . . . So here is what I wanted to tell you today: Get a life. A real life, not just the manic pursuit of the next promotion, the bigger paycheck, the larger house . . . . Get a life in which you are generous . . . . All of you want to do well. But if you do not do good too, then doing well will never be enough. It is so easy to waste our lives: our days, our hours, our minutes . . . . It is so easy to exist instead of live. I learned to love the journey, not the destination. I learned that it is not a dress rehearsal, and that today is the only guarantee you get.”
Where are you on your journey of life? Have you found yourself chasing things that may not matter in the bigger scheme of this short life we have? I say let’s pivot here in 2022. Yes, let’s continue to strive to be better, more profitable, more efficient and continue to push for strategic growth but, let’s haver some fun! Let’s catch someone doing a good job and say Thank You! Let’s encourage someone in our family or on our team that they can Do It! Let’s be a breath of fresh air in someone’s life today.
Maybe take your family out to dinner for no reason just to say Thank You and I appreciate you! Maybe order pizza for your department and say Thank You for your hard work! Maybe rent the bowling alley and invite your team mates and their spouses and kids to join you on Friday night for a little fun and fellowship! Get to know your people outside of work. Say Thank You! Have some fun! Lastly, always celebrate the wins. Every time we hit our goal. Celebrate. Every time we did just a little better, celebrate. Every time that difficult team member makes a step of improvement, celebrate.
You got this. Let’s take the next 30-45 days to change our Paradigm and start new encouraging habits!
Check out a great book on changing and improving culture. https://www.tablegroup.com/product/the-advantage/