Steven Allan Spielberg

What if I can't find myself?

Not long ago, Spielberg gave a speech at the graduation ceremony of Harvard University. From the beginning, he indicated that he only graduated from college before 14, because he received the dream offer from Universal Studios Hollywood in his sophomore year and decided to drop out.

He said, "I dropped out of school because I knew what I wanted to do." But even so, he still doesn't know "who am I". And this is also a problem that many people will solve soon after graduation: the moment of defining personality.

Why don't you know "who am I"?

"In the first 25 years of life, we were taught to listen to other people's voices. Parents and teachers fill our minds with all kinds of wisdom and information, and bosses and tutors also tell us what the world is like from their standpoint. Usually these authoritative voices sound very reasonable. "

Spielberg said it's easy to nod in agreement with others. Even in high school, he used to let those voices define himself, which is why he doesn't know who I am.

He decided to change. "After dropping out of school, my worldview came from my own imagination, not from the outside world." Shielding some outside voices, almost all his early films reflected his most concerned values. This also made him realize that making movies is his mission.

Therefore, his advice is: listen to your inner voice, so that intuition will come.

"Your intuition and consciousness are different. They usually appear together, but there are still differences: your consciousness will say,' This is what you should do', and your intuition will remind you,' This is what you can do'. You must listen to your intuition and do what you can. This is the best definition of your role. "

2

Natalie Portman; Natalie Portman; Natalie Hershlag

Can you do things well without experience?

Natalie Portman's experience should be familiar to everyone. At the age of 9, he starred in "This black boy is not too cold". He is recognized as an actor who studied while filming. He was admitted to Harvard University with straight A's and graduated with a degree in psychology.

On 20 15, she returned to her alma mater to give a graduation speech and talked about her "lack of experience" in the familiar black swan.

Portman recalled that when the director asked her if she could play the perfect ballet dancer in Black Swan, she felt very good. But after filming, she found that her dance steps were far from the required level, which forced her to make a hundred times of efforts ... She admitted that accepting this role was not out of courage, but out of "inexperience", similar to "ignorance", which made her realize that she was facing a challenge.

"If I knew my limitations, I would never take the risk. Finally, this adventure became my best artistic experience and the best life experience. "

Portman was also in a state of "inexperience" when he directed the first film "The Story of Love and Darkness". This is a film in which all dialogues are in Hebrew, and she will play and become a screenwriter. She said that she was "unprepared and should have been afraid of all these challenges", but "inexperience" also became a unique self-confidence, which helped her complete all this.

What she wants to say is: "Your inexperience is a treasure, which will make you think in the most instinctive and unrestricted way. Whenever you start a new thing, you can either let this inexperience lead you to the path that others have taken, or let it help you open your own path, even if you don't know what you are doing. "

three

Cheryl Sandberg

How to choose a job?

This year, sheryl sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook, gave a speech at the graduation ceremony of the University of California, Berkeley, and shared what she learned from the "death" after her husband's unexpected death. Review can poke: please learn from me that death is like a child.

What I want to review here is her graduation speech at Harvard Business School on 20 12. Sandberg talked about a very practical problem: how to choose a job?

200 1 Sandberg left the government post and wanted to find his place in Silicon Valley. She didn't catch up with the good time, because all the small companies in Silicon Valley closed down, and the big companies were busy laying off employees, and the bubble burst. A CEO even told her directly: We can't consider hiring people like you.

After a while, Sandberg had several quotations in his hand. How to choose? She carefully compared the tasks, roles and company situation of each job. One of the offer is to go to Google to be the first general manager of the business department. At that time, no one believed that Internet companies like Google could make money (Google was founded in 1998), and other companies provided more advanced jobs than Google.

When Sandberg hesitated, eric schmidt, who had just become CEO of Google, told her "Don't be silly". Eric said, "Just get on the rocket. When the company develops rapidly and has great influence, your career will also develop together. If the company does not develop rapidly and has no significant influence, bottlenecks and office politics will come. If you have a chance to sit on the rocket, don't care where it is, just sit on it. "

Six and a half years later, she left Google, but she didn't forget this advice. So she chose Facebook and accepted the present job. At that time, someone asked Sandberg: Why do you want to work for a 23-year-old child?

Her answer is that career development is no longer the traditional ladder climbing mode.

"When you graduate from business school and start your career, you should look for opportunities, growth, influence and prospects. It doesn't matter if you transfer, demote, upgrade and leave. Develop your skills, not perfect a resume. Evaluate a job according to your own ability, not care about the position given to you by others. Do a real job. Accept the performance requirements, become a member of the group and do an operation job. Don't plan too much, and don't expect to be promoted soon. If I had planned my career when I was your age, I would have missed my present career. "

four

Robert Mario de Niro, Jr.; Robert Mario De Niro Jr.; Robert De Niro

What if I am rejected?

As an Oscar winner, Robert De Niro, who owns many word-of-mouth works such as Godfather 2, Taxi Driver, Angry Bull and Once upon a time in America, shared her rejection experience at the graduation ceremony of Tisch Art College of new york University on October 20th.

He told the graduates, "You are finished". "A brand-new door is opening for you-a door full of rejection. That is inevitable! "

De Niro mentioned the latest rejection at that time. He auditioned for the role of Martin Luther King in the movie Selma. He felt good about himself and thought that this role was born for him. But the director obviously doesn't think so.

This is not the worst "rejection". De Niro auditioned for the film "Drumming Slowly" seven times. First, he tried one of the roles, then he interviewed for the positions of director and producer, and then he went back to audition for another role ... After all this, he still got nothing.

On another occasion, he was called back by the crew after going to an audition. De Niro is sure that he will get the role. The result was rejected again. However, De Niro can understand that this is not his own fault. "It's just that the director has another candidate in mind."

Facing a group of art students, he explained that the actor's job is to assist the director. "You were chosen because the director saw something suitable for their ideas from your audition. You can seize the opportunity to do a little drama, but the final decision is the director's ... "

"The strength of directors and producers comes not from their positions, but from trust, respect, imagination and cooperation."

So being rejected is not your problem alone, and you don't need too much reflection.

De Niro suggested: "Even if you can't get the role, as long as you try your best." Because many times, it is not hard work that can bring good results.

He also shared his advice to children: "I encourage them to try all kinds of opportunities, keep an open mind and experience new things and new ideas." I told them that they would never know the result unless they tried. "

five

Peter Thiel

If you deviate from the "life track" ...

Peter thiel, one of the founders of PayPal, is known as "the godfather of venture capital in Silicon Valley". But it is such a person who wrote down the business philosophy of "from 0 to 1", but initially planned a life track for himself: becoming a lawyer.

This year at Hamilton College in the United States, peter teale gave a speech to graduates and shared his experience.

Teal chose law school. Although he doesn't know what a lawyer wants, school is a comfortable circle for him. He really studied hard all the way, from high school to college, passed all kinds of exams, and finally entered a large law firm in new york. However, this is different from Teal's imagination. "People outside want to come in and people inside want to go out."

Is this feeling familiar?

Seven months and three days later, Thiel left, which surprised all his colleagues. Because it's really hard to make up my mind to leave this place ... after all, this is their first job through fierce competition, a good job.

After leaving the law firm, Till went to interview for the position of Supreme Court, but he failed. He felt "it's like the end of the world". But 10 years later, an old friend who helped him prepare for the Supreme Court interview actually asked Thiel, "Are you glad you didn't get the job now?" Teal realized that if it hadn't been for that failure, he wouldn't have deviated from the career he set in middle school, and he wouldn't have moved to California to start a business.

He said: "Looking back on my determination to become a lawyer, it is not like a plan for the future, but more like a surrender to the status quo. When faced with questions from parents, peers and myself, this is a good answer. It seems that with it, there is nothing to worry about, and my life trajectory is perfectly unfolded. But in retrospect, my biggest problem is that when I set foot on this' life trajectory', I didn't consider where it would take me. "

When Thiel first founded PayPal, he found that the more senior the banker, the more convinced he was that PayPal could not succeed. And the result?

"Where you are now, it is the stage with the least restrictions, taboos and fears in life. Don't waste your ignorance. Go out and do something that your teachers and parents won't do and never thought about doing. "

six

Stephen Tyrone Colbert

Do we have to stick to our dreams?

Stephen colbert is a famous talk show host in the United States. He is always humorous and famous for his comedy performance style. But once, his dream was to perform Shakespeare's plays.

20 1 1 Return to my alma mater, Northwest University, to give a graduation speech and talk about my dreams. Before entering Northwest University, he studied philosophy in a small university in Virginia. He wants to transfer himself to a major that is easier to find a job: drama. At that time, he simply loved drama. "I don't just want to play Hamlet, I want to be Hamlet."

However, when he met director Del Close at Northwest University, he became interested in impromptu drama. Later, he performed with the comedians he knew. Later, he became a reporter for the American Comedy Center Channel and gradually got his own talk show ... Now he is doing TV, and in front of an expression pack, it seems that he has been far away from his dream of standing on the stage of drama.

Taking himself as an example, he cooked a pot of black chicken soup for graduates:

"People tell you to pursue your dreams. But what if that dream is stupid? For example, stephen colbert lived in the north with two men and three women 25 years ago. Now I know it is a brothel. He dreamed of living alone, with a beard, living in a spacious attic, wearing a kimono, with tatami on the floor and a boiling teapot. He will perform Shakespeare's plays for the homeless in the street.

Today, I have no beard. I am a father who lives in a suburban house, wears unkempt khaki pants and lives by telling Anthony Weiner jokes. I love this life. Thankfully, dreams can be changed. If we all cling to our first dream, I'm afraid the world is full of cowboys and princesses. "

seven

Jeff Bezos

"Choice" is a more difficult thing than being smart.

20 10 Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos shared one thing at Princeton University: your choice is more important than your talent.

When I was a child, Bezos often spent summer holidays with his grandparents and helped with some housework on the ranch. Bezos has a good relationship with his grandparents and will watch TV dramas together. "I love them very much and respect them very much."

However, in a road trip, Bezos couldn't stand the smell of grandma smoking. He decided to do an arithmetic with a slogan he had seen. The slogan is: "Every time you smoke, your life will lose a few minutes." He remembered it was two minutes. So Bezos immediately calculated the number of cigarettes her grandmother smoked every day and predicted how many cigarettes she needed to smoke ... Then he patted her on the shoulder and proudly announced: "If you smoke less than two minutes per cigarette, you will smoke less for nine years!"

The expected praise for his arithmetic skills and clever mind did not come. Grandma burst into tears. Grandfather looked at Bezos calmly and said, "Jeff, one day, you will understand that kindness is more difficult than cleverness."

Later, Jeff understood that "kindness is more difficult than cleverness", because kindness is a choice, and cleverness is a gift, which is innate. "Are you proud of your talent or your choice?"

He went on to tell about his experience in starting Amazon. He was 30 years old that year, married for a year, and saw the rapid development of the Internet with an annual growth rate of 2,300%. He is going to quit his job and do something crazy. Bezos also told this idea to his boss, who wanted to sell books on the Internet. But he is not sure whether it will succeed, because many startups have failed.

After listening for a long time, the boss finally said, "That sounds like a good idea. But for those who don't have good jobs, this idea is even better. "

Bezos gave himself the last 48 hours to think about this difficult decision, and finally accepted the boss's logic and decided to give it a try.

"If I make a decision but don't let go, I will definitely regret it." He is sure that what he is proud of now is his original choice.

"Tomorrow, the life that truly belongs to you will begin. What will you do with your talent? What choice would you make? Will you rely on inertia or follow passion? Will you follow the rules or listen to your heart? Will you choose a comfortable life or a life full of dedication and adventure?

……

Will you show your intelligence regardless of others, or choose kindness? "

This is a question raised by Bezos.

eight

Rowling

Get a sense of security from failure

At the graduation ceremony of Harvard University in 2008, Rowling looked back on her poor and miserable period.

When she goes to college, Rowling's parents want her to study a more useful degree, but Rowling wants to study English literature. "Of all the majors on this planet, my parents probably think there is nothing more useless than studying ancient Greek mythology. I'm afraid I can't even earn a separate bathroom."

The following facts are also true. "I used to be poor, and this is not a very noble experience. Poverty causes fear, stress and sometimes even despair. That means a lot of humiliation and hardship. It is something to be proud of to get rid of poverty by your own efforts. However, only a fool would think that poverty is romantic. "

Therefore, what she fears most is not poverty, but failure.

What is failure? Rowling thinks that perhaps for this group of Harvard students, their failure is regarded as success by others.

"Only seven years after graduation, my failure is like an epic. My short marriage soon broke up and I lost my job. I'm a single mother, and I'm the poorest person in modern Britain, except the tramp. ..... by any standard, I am the most failed person I know. "

"I won't tell you that failure is interesting. Life is very dark ... I don't know how long the dark period will last. "

"So, why should I talk about the benefits of failure? Just because failure means getting rid of those unimportant things. I stopped deceiving myself to be someone else, and I began to devote all my energy to the only thing I cared about. If I have never succeeded, I may not be determined to succeed in my professional field. I am completely free, because the worst has happened and I am still alive. I have a daughter, a typewriter and a great idea. The lowest valley of my life has become a solid foundation for me to rebuild my life. "

Failure gave her a sense of security.

If she returned to the age of 2 1, Rowling would say to herself, "True happiness lies in knowing that life is not made up of a series of achievements. Your qualifications and resume, those are not fate. ..... Life is hard, complicated and out of anyone's control. Knowing this will get you through the ups and downs of life. "

nine

Andrew Houston

Failure is no big deal, you only need to succeed once.

Andrew Houston is the founder and CEO of Dropbox, a cloud storage company. He was not yet 30 when he started his business. In 20 13, I returned to my school, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to give a graduation speech.

Houston said that many people feel "not ready" when they graduate. In fact, he felt that he was never "ready". He recalled how he felt when he received the first payment from investors at the age of 24: "Just like Christmas! ..... I was ecstatic to see my bank account change from 60 dollars to 654.38 dollars+200,000 dollars. "

But one day, the investor decided to withdraw his capital, and he fell into the situation of "drinking water from a fire hydrant". But he said, if a valve is closed, it is good to find another fire hydrant.

People may think that creating Dropbox is the most exciting and interesting thing in Houston's life. However, he said, "what I didn't share before was those experiences of shame, collapse and pain." I can't count how many times I have failed. "

However, no one can get full marks in life. "At school, maybe every mistake will affect your grades. But in the real world, if you haven't made a sharp turn or hit the warning line, you are too slow. Your greatest danger is not failure, but being too comfortable. "

He cited two failed examples: "Bill Gates' first company wanted to develop software for traffic lights, while Jobs' first company made plastic whistles so that people could make free calls. All failed. " However, now both of them have achieved great success. Does failure have any effect?

This is what Houston likes most about today's society: "You don't need to accumulate and bear the mistakes you made. From now on, failure is no big deal, you only need to succeed once. "

10

Arianna Huffington

People who deprive themselves of sleep rights are unsuccessful.

As the founder of Huffington Post, a news blog website, arianna huffington is recognized as the queen of online media. But she also experienced a failed marriage, tried to run for the governor of California (and finally quit), and it was not until 2005 that she successfully founded the Huffington Post.

In Huffington's view, what is "success"? She doesn't want to define success simply by money and power. She said, "You can sleep until you succeed".

Don't get me wrong, the word "sleep" here is "sleep" in the true sense. In 2007, Huffington himself fainted because of lack of sleep, hit his head on the table, fractured his cheekbone and had four stitches in his right eye. She said that lack of sleep not only affects health, but also seriously affects a person's creativity, efficiency and decision-making ability. "The space shuttle Challenger explosion, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant leak and the Three Mile Island accident, these consequences are more or less related to the decisions you make when you don't get enough sleep."

Therefore, she set up two "nap rooms" in the office of the Huffington Post. "At first, our reporters, editors and engineers didn't dare to take a nap for fear that others would say they were lazy. We should change the office culture and blame those who drag their tired bodies to work. " But then everyone slowly accepted this charging model, and she was also considering whether to open a third "nap room".

Huffington also recalled that when he was 12 years old, a successful Greek businessman came to his house and talked excitedly about the great contract he won. However, his own mental state is very bad. Huffington's mother said: "Your career may have a lot of capital, but you are your most important capital. Your health bank deposit is limited, but you are constantly withdrawing. If you don't save something, you will soon go bankrupt. "

So, stop pursuing "Beijing, Los Angeles, Harvard University Library at four o'clock in the morning …" and have a good sleep. After all, I have the strength to lose weight when I am full, and I have the spirit to give myself chicken blood when I am full!