My daughter, Samantha, graduated from Duke a couple of weeks ago. Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, was the commencement speaker and gave a great talk. I love that we have guides everywhere. When you’re open to new ideas, a hot morning in a football stadium can turn into a cool well of inspiring thought.

Here were a few of my favorite take-aways from Mr. Cook.

1. Feel gratitude for everything. Everything.
2. The more you know, the more you know you don’t know. (Helen Keller)
3. A well-educated mind will always have more questions than answers. And then Tim quirked, “Parents are now saying, ‘I spent how much and you’re telling me you don’t know anything?'” 🙂
4. You’re not powerless to change things. You have the potential to change the world. Take the power you’ve been given and use it for good.
5. The best knowledge comes when you break with conventional wisdom.
6. Dare to think different – from his friend Steve Jobs who had “a restless refusal to accept things as they are.”
7. Choose a different path.
8. It’s not so much what can we do but what should we do. From RFK: You should be the last people to accept things as they are. Be the first to change it.
9. You are uniquely qualified – and therefore uniquely responsible to change.
10. Take the first step even if you don’t know where it’s leading – without fear of failure or rejection.
11. Act with decency and kindness even when no one is looking and the rest will fall into place.
12. From MLK: The time is always right to do right.

It’s cool to think about the greater context, that as you do good work and manage your time you’re contributing to the overall weave of the Universe.

And how about always being kind? And fearless? How about mixing kindness with business? How can you make these a daily practice as you organize and prioritize your work?

Here’s a link to the speech. If you’re looking for inspiration this week to do your best work, look no further :).

Happy Sunday! It’s finally feels and smells summerish in Maine as the lupines peak and the wild rugosa roses bloom along the shore. 

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