Timothy Cook- Auburn University Commencement 2010

This speech is given by Timothy Cook, the current Chief Operating Officer of Apple Inc during the 2010 commencement ceremony of his alma matter, Auburn University. I find it very inspirational that he encourages his listeners, mostly undergraduate students who just received their Bachelor degree to not just make decisions based on logical reasonings but also intuition. 

"intuition is something that occurs in the moment and if you are open to it and if you listen to it, it has the potential to direct or redirect you in a way that is best for you"

                                                                                                         Timothy Cook


Growing up, most people are taught to be rationale in decision making and I believe everyone has their own way of defining rationality. Personally, being rationale means choosing the option that is better than the next best option or an economist would say, opportunity cost. I find it very inspirational to hear from someone like Mr Cook, who is hugely successful in his chosen field not to just always think the rationale or traditional way but also as equally important to follow your intuition.

                     "I will prepare and someday my chance will come" 

                                                                                                    Abraham Lincoln

Mr Cook also address the daunting job prospect that the 2010 class face in the current economic condition. He strongly emphasizes the importance of preparation and hard work in facing the uncertain times. He believes that we might not be in control of the timing of opportunity but we have to be well prepared in order to be ready and posses the ability to execute it well when it comes.


It just never cease to amaze me when people who has been successful in their chosen field relentlessly emphasize the importance of hard work as the core fundamental in achieving success. To me, hard work seems like an easy yet daunting task to achieve.     

Introduction

I decide to create this blog because I love listening to inspirational speeches by important and influential figures. I believe we can learn a lot from these people by just listening to their speeches as often they talked about the challenges they faced and the paths they took to get to where they are today.

As a person who is still trying to figure out many aspects of life, I find it very inspiring and helpful to listen to the speeches of these people. Through them, I will be able to know the many characteristics that are necessary for a person to posses in order to succeed in their chosen field. At the same time, I can learn from these people many invaluable life lessons, like how to handle failures and success. 

Here are the rules for my blog:

1. There must be something different for every post.
2. For each post, the speaker must be from different field/ area of specialization.
3. For each post, I must always at least quote one meaningful quote or sentence.
4. All the videos that I post must be either inspiring or humorous.
5. Proof read, spell check and word count.
6. The 1^st paragraph of the post is reserved for my own summary of the speech.
7. Link to the videos of the speeches is a must.