Inspirational Graduation Speeches: The measure of success is what you think about what you've done

Our third pick on the 5 Most Inspirational Graduation Speeches ever given is Prof. Mark. S. Lewis’s commencement speech at the University of Texas in 2000.

In this speech the Clinical Psychology Professor tells new graduates that there are times when you are going to do well, and times when you’re going to fail. But neither the doing well, nor the failure is the measure of success. The measure of success is what you think about what you’ve done.

“Let me put that in another way: The way to be happy is to like yourself and the way to like yourself is to do only things that make you proud.”

He tells a number of interesting stories to illustrate his point but at the end of it all he advises that every graduate should pick these three lessons from his speech

First, he says there is going to come a time in your life when in order to succeed you will have to trust — when you will have to make a big leap of faith — and when that time comes he hopes you (the new graduate) “will swallow your fear and get into the wheelbarrow.”

Second, he says whatever strong belief you now hold about what it means to be successful he hopes you will stay open to the possibility that you’ve got it all wrong and graciously accept your new awareness when it comes, with gratitude and humility.

And third he hopes you’ll always and only do things that make you proud so that you can truly be your own hero.

Read his full commencement speech here

Also See More motivational quotes form other great people