Admiral William H. McRaven went viral on the internet for his speech titled, "make your bed." The speech was to the audience of the University of Texas, which is his alma mater.
He is a member of the Navy Seals, which is considered to be on the hardest of the United States armed forces to get into. During his speech, he taught about many lessons he had learned.
Here I summarize the speech and some of the most potent takeaways for your life.
"If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed." - Admiral Willims H. McRaven
Lesson #1 - The Little Things Matter
The first lesson learned from his persuasive speech is that the little things you do each day matter. They add up to make up your life.
Too many people look for significant events in life to change them.
- Graduations
- Getting married
- Earning a promotion
- Having kids
- Making a million dollars
These events can and will change you, but they often result from a bunch of smaller events.
Graduation is a sign of studying and preparing for many different tests and assignments. Getting married is the sign of taking care and making sure another person feels loved. Earning a million dollars is a sign of diligently working towards a mission for years.
The best way to be successful is to make your bed because its something that most people don't think matters. If you get up and leave your bed a mess, it sends a message that you don't care. That type of attitude will carry over into everything you do in life.
The best way to be successful is to make your bed because its something that most people don't think matters.
Lesson #2 - Start The Day With Success
Make your bed because its the easiest way to start the day with a win. Too many people wake up and roll over to their cell phones, looking for an email and social media posts. You start the day on the wrong foot when you do this because you have no control over what you see.
The first thing you can accomplish when you get up is making your bed. It does not take a lot of time, but you are setting a standard for your day and life.
You have to be faithful with a little before you can be in charge of a lot. If you can't handle making your bed each morning, how will you handle raising kids? How will you manage to be the CEO of a huge corporation?
When you make your bed, you start to seek the little things in your life that you can conquer early on in your day. It builds up momentum to keep on succeeding.
You have to be faithful with a little before you can be in charge of a lot. If you can't handle making your bed each morning, how will you handle raising kids? How will you manage to be the CEO of a huge corporation?
Subtitle #3 - You Can Change The World
You have the power to change the world. That power is in every one of us. The caveat is that you have to start with changing yourself. There is no changing the world without changing yourself first.
You see this happening everywhere in the world. People want their government to change. They want their community to change and even their family. But they don't want or see a need form themselves to change.
Make your bed each morning and start demanding change in yourself the same way you want to see that change in others. It would help if you held yourself to a higher standard than you do others.
People want their government to change. They want their community to change and even their family. But they don't want or see a need form themselves to change.
Make Your Bed and Never Back Down
When you make your bed in the morning, there will be a moment where you want to give up on it. You will feel like making your bed is pointless. You can't back down from the task.
If you back down to a small task like making your bed, what will happen when facing a mountain of debt? What will happen when you lose your job or face to face with depression?
You have to remind yourself each morning that you will never back down to a challenge. People think they can back down to the small stuff but be ready for significant challenges, but it does not work that way.
You need to prepare for the significant challenges by being ready to kick the butt of all of the small problems in your life. When you don't feel like making your bed, but you still do an excellent job, you will know you're ready.
When you make your bed in the morning, there will be a moment where you want to give up on it. You will feel like making your bed is pointless. You can't back down from the task.