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Most of us already know who Randy Pausch was. (For those who don’t you can check the wiki page). I, like many others, knew nothing about Randy and the first time that I heard him was via The Last Lecture. The lecture that he gave for his kids, his students and the world is still viral on most of the social networks. I believe the honesty with which this lecture was delivered can never be matched. Randy left us this day last year on 25th July 2008. Today being his death anniversary, I take this moment to salute this great teacher who has taught not just by his lectures but by his life.

Following are the 7 lessons that I still remember from the Last Lecture. For those who have not yet seen the video, I will embed it right here.

Randy said, with a smile that every time you hit a barrier - remember that these Brick walls are supposed to be there. They are there to test you. Check how badly you want something. And they stop those who are not worth taking on because they can’t fight back. Every time you are stuck understand that this is a temporary mishap which will test whether you are the chosen one to win the game. That’s the time when you are supposed to give your best!

• What’s more than achieving ones dreams

As Randy said that rather than achieving ones dream, what will give you more pleasure and satisfaction and even meaning to your life is helping others achieve their dreams. Potential is there in every being, a true leader makes you realize how you can achieve your dreams with your potential. I believe that’s what Leaders are made of.

• Why you should love your critics

This one was really good, specially for the ones who get pissed off by others who keep on criticizing them. As he said, remember when some one is criticizing you, he actually loves you. And that is the reason he wants you to improve. If you keep on doing goof-ups and the ones near you don’t criticize you, means that they have given up on you. Not getting any criticism is that the worst thing that can happen to you.

• What happens when things go wrong

We always believe that a veteran will always have an upper edge to an armature and that an amateur is bound to fail. But what we don’t realize is that a veteran is nothing but a sum of all the failures. Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want.

• What you should do when you are a leader

Randy talked about leaders as empowerers. As a leader you have to first give a task that raises the bar from the teams performance and push the team to realize them their potential. Once you have engineered the team this way, have patience and see the way the team will amaze you with the results.

• What you should do when you have completed your leadership tenure

As you already know I am quite feisty with this topic of leadership succession, Randy talked about his fun filled days at work and how he achieved what he wanted by helping others achieve their dreams. And once that task is done you have to move on. Handle things to a more better person, someone who will take the legacy forward. Randy did that and was proud of his succession planning.

• Randy’s last advice

Randy’s last advice was to parent to let their kids paint their bedrooms. To let the ones you manage learn the way they want. Let them goof up a bit that helps them to not mess up in the long run. I believe we all are becoming perfectionists to demand the best from others. Its OK to have small blunders because the one who never did any mistake is the one who have never achieved his dreams.

I have tried to keep this post very much to the point because to I know the honesty that Randy has filled in his words will always out shine. Hope you take these lessons learnt as I have and use it for a better life. Needless to say pass it on to our team mates and enable them to achieve their childhood dreams.

In the memory of Randy Pausch. May his soul rest in peace.

“Dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die today.”

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