Graduation Speech: The Secret to Success

 There are two types of people in the world.  The difference between them lies in how each type responds to a problem. As you enter the next stage of your lives, there are many parts of your life you cannot control, many aspects of your future you cannot choose.  But everyone chooses which one of these two types of people we will be. Everyone chooses how they define success.

Whether it is building a cohesive family, a profitable business, or a socially valuable non-profit, one characteristic is common to the people who are more likely to find satisfaction in their relationships and ventures. When it is all said and done, do you find the adventures you experience on life’s journey satisfying, worth your time, helpful to the people you care about and love?

There are two types of people in the world. The first type sees a problem and thinks, “I need to fix this problem, or find someone who can help me fix it.” The second type sees a problem and thinks, “Boy, that’s a real problem. Someone (else) should do something about it! It’s not my job.”(Or ‘I don’t care’; or ‘I am too busy’; or ‘I don’t know how’; or ‘I don’t know who to call.’ And on and on.)

The type of person I would hire for my business or bring alongside on a new project are the people whom I know to be the first type.  The volunteers who make our church possible are the people who ‘find a need and fill it’, to borrow a phrase. The people who made the law firm I managed for many years successful were those who saw what needed to happen to make our clients successful and wouldn’t stop trying until that occurred.

Sure, you can get through life, even make a good living, by being the second type. You can join the crowds who see a problem and complain that ‘someone’ doesn’t fix it. But that just makes you grumpy; not happy.

Or you can decide that you will be the one with the heart of a servant. At the end of your life, you will have the satisfaction, the joy, of knowing that you made a difference.  Be ‘Mr. Fix-it’; ‘Ms. Problem-solver.’

Choose to succeed.