The other day it was my huge honour to deliver the commencement address at the University College London (UCL) MBA Graduation.
Sitting in the front row and wearing my university robes for the first time in 20 years, I was humbled to hear from the graduating students how much they had sacrificed to complete their studies over four years alongside busy day jobs. And the common threads in each person's story were the human connections that they had made through the programme.
I talked about how my deepest underlying sense of purpose is about finding freedom to choose, and helping others to find their own freedom. Here is a little of what I said:
ย
--
ย
"๐๐บ ๐๐ฃ๐ก๐ค๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ข ๐ด๐ฐ๐ญ๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ.
๐๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ.
ย
๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ.
๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ.
๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ.
๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ถ๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ด๐ด.
๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ญ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ญ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ.
ย
Society makes us feel that some paths are better than others. Doctor, lawyer, engineer, professor, CEO.
But here, in simplicity, is the truth.
ย
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐๐ก๐ฌ๐๐ฎ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ญ๐ต๐ช๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ด.
๐๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ."
--
When I spoke to people afterwards, the message that resonated the most was how we need to find time to pause and reflect, and through reflection we can find our own control and freedom.
Next time youโre feeling overwhelmed and out of control, find a pause, even a short one, so you can be more intentional about choosing the path ahead thatโs exactly right for you.
Have a good week!
--
The Unlock Moment podcast is brought to you by Dr Gary Crotaz, PhD. Downloaded in over 110 countries. Sign up to The Unlock Moment newsletter at https://tinyurl.com/ywhdaazp Find out more at https://garycrotaz.com and https://theunlockmoment.com
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Nikki Glaser Podcast
Every week comedian and infamous roaster Nikki Glaserโฏprovides a fun, fast-paced, and brutally honest look into current pop-culture and her own personal life.