make your bed speech transcript

Admiral McRaven “Make Your Bed” Commencement Speech Transcript

Admiral William H McRaven Commencement Speech Make Your Bed Transcript

Admiral William H. McRaven gave a commencement speech at the University of Texas often referred to as the “Make Your Bed” speech. It’s considered one of the best and more inspirational commencement speeches. Read the full transcript of McRaven’s May 19, 2014 speech right here at Rev.com.

Admiral McRaven: ( 00:00 ) Thank you very much, thank you. Well, thank you president Powers, Provost Fenves, deans, members of the faculty, family and friends, and most importantly, the class of 2014, it is indeed an honor for me to be here tonight. It’s been almost 37 years to the day that I graduated from UT. I remember a lot of things about that day. I remember I had a throbbing headache from a party the night before. I remember I had a serious girlfriend who I later married. That’s important to remember by the way. And I remember I was getting commissioned in the Navy that day, but of all the things I remember, I don’t have a clue who the commencement speaker was and I certainly don’t remember anything they said.

Admiral McRaven: ( 00:59 ) So acknowledging that fact, if I can’t make this commencement speech memorable, I’ll at least try to make it short. So the university slogan is, what starts here changes the world. Well, I’ve got to admit, I kind of like it. What starts here changes the world. Tonight there are almost 8,000 students or there are more than 8,000 students graduated from UT. So that great Paragon of analytical rigor ask.com says that the average American will meet 10,000 people in their lifetime. 10,000 people, that’s a lot of folks. But if every one of you change the lives of just 10 people and each one of those people change the lives of another 10 people and another 10 then in five generations, 125 years, the class of 2014 will have changed the lives of 800 million people, 800 million people.

Admiral McRaven: ( 01:59 ) Think about it, over twice the population of United States go one more generation and you can change the entire population of the world. 8 billion people. If you think it’s hard to change the lives of 10 people change their lives forever, you’re wrong. I saw it happen every day in Iraq and Afghanistan. A young army officer makes a decision to go left instead of right down a road in Baghdad and the 10 soldiers with him are saved from a close in ambush. In Kandahar province, Afghanistan, a noncommissioned officer from the female engagement team senses that something isn’t right and directs the infantry platoon away from a 500 pound IED saving the lives of a dozen soldiers. But if you think about it, not only were those soldiers saved by the decisions of one person, but their children were saved and their children’s children, generations were saved by one decision, one person.

Admiral McRaven: ( 02:59 ) But changing the world can happen anywhere and anyone can do it. So what starts here can indeed change the world. But the question is, what will the world look like after you change it? Well, I’m confident that it will look much, much better. But if you’ll humor this old sailor for just a moment, I have a few suggestions that might help you on your way to a better world. And while these lessons were learned during my time in the military, I can assure you that it matters not whether you’ve ever served a day in uniform, it matters not your gender, your ethnic or religious background, your orientation or your social status. Our struggles in this world are similar and the lessons to overcome those struggles and to move forward, changing ourselves and changing the world around us will apply equally to all. I’ve been a Navy SEAL for 36 years, but it all began when I left UT for basic SEAL training in Coronado, California.

Admiral McRaven: ( 03:53 ) Basic SEAL training is six months, a long torturous runs in the soft sand, midnight swims in the cold water off San Diego, obstacle courses, unending calisthenics, days without sleep and always being cold, wet and miserable. It is six months of being constantly harassed by professionally trained warriors who seek to find the weak of mind and body and eliminate them from ever becoming a Navy SEAL. But the training also seeks to find those students who can lead in an environment of constant stress, chaos, failure and hardships. To me, basic SEAL training was a lifetime of challenges crammed into six months. So here are the 10 lessons I learned from basic SEAL training that hopefully will be a value to you as you move forward in life.

Admiral McRaven: ( 04:44 ) Every morning in SEAL training, my instructors who were at the time were all Vietnam veterans, would show up in my barracks room and the first thing they do is inspect my bed. If I did it right, the corners would be square, the covers would be pulled tight, the pillow centered just under the headboard and the extra blanket folded neatly at the foot of the rack. It was a simple task, mundane at best, but every morning we were required to make our bed to perfection.

Admiral McRaven: ( 05:13 ) It seemed a little ridiculous at the time, particularly in light of the fact that we were aspiring to be real warriors, tough battle-hardened SEALs. But the wisdom of this simple act has been proven to me many times over. If you made your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. And by the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that the little things in life matter.

Admiral McRaven: ( 05:51 ) If you can’t do the little things right, you’ll never be able to do the big things right. And if by chance have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made, that you made. And a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better. So if you want to change the world, start off by making your bed. During SEAL training the students, during training the students are all broken down in a boat crews. Each crew is seven students, three on each side of a small rubber boat and one cox and to help guide the dinging. Every day your boat crew forms up on the beach and is instructed to get through the surf zone and paddle several miles down the coast. In the winter, the surf off San Diego can get to be 8 to 10 feet high and it is exceedingly difficult to paddle through the plunging surf unless everyone digs in.

Admiral McRaven: ( 06:45 ) Every paddle must be synchronized to the stroke count of the coxswain. Everyone must exert equal effort or the boat will turn against the wave and be unceremoniously dumped back on the beach. For the boat to make it to its destination, everyone must paddle. You can’t change the world alone you will need some help and to truly get from your starting point to your destination takes friends, colleagues, the Goodwill of strangers and a strong coxswain to guide you. If you want to change the world, find someone to help you paddle. Over a few weeks of difficult training, my SEAL class which started with 150 men was down to just 42. There were now six boat crews of seven men each. I was in the boat with the tall guys, but the best boat crew we had was made up with little guys, the munchkin crew, we called them. No one was over five foot five.

Admiral McRaven: ( 07:42 ) The munchkin boat crew had one American Indian, one African American, one Polish American, one Greek American, one Italian American, and two tough kids from the Midwest. They out paddled outran and out swam all the other boat crews. The big men in the other boat crews would always make good natured fun of the tiny little flippers the munchkins put on their tiny little feet prior to every swim, but somehow these little guys from every corner of the nation in the world always had the last laugh sewing faster than everyone and reaching the shore long before the rest of us. SEAL training was a great equalizer. Nothing mattered but your will to succeed. Not your color, not your ethnic background, not your education, not your social status. If you want to change the world, measure a person by the size of their heart, not by the size of their flippers.

Admiral McRaven: ( 08:38 ) Several times a week the instructors would line up the class and do a uniform inspection. It was exceptionally thorough. Your hat had to be perfectly starched, your uniform, immaculately pressed, your belt buckle, shiny and void of any smudges, but it seemed that no matter how much effort you’re put into starching your hat or pressing your uniform or polishing your belt buckle and it just wasn’t good enough. The instructors would find something wrong. For failing uniform inspection, the student had to run fully clothed into the surf zone, then wet from head to toe, roll around on the beach until every part of your body was covered with sand, the effect was known as a sugar cookie.

Admiral McRaven: ( 09:22 ) You stayed in the uniform the rest of the day, cold, wet, and Sandy. There were many of student who just couldn’t accept the fact that all their efforts were in vain. That no matter how hard they tried to get the uniform right, it went on appreciated. Those students didn’t make it through training. Those students didn’t understand the purpose of the drill. You were never going to succeed. You were never going to have a perfect uniform. The instructors weren’t going to allow it. Sometimes no matter how well you prepare or how well you perform, you still end up as a sugar cookie. It’s just the way life is sometimes. If you want to change the world, get over being a sugar cookie and keep moving forward. Every day during training, you were challenged with multiple physical events, long runs, long swims, obstacle courses, hours of calisthenics, something designed to test your metal.

Admiral McRaven: ( 10:15 ) Every event had standards times you had to meet. If you fail to meet those times, those standards, your name was posted on a list and at the end of the day those on the list were invited to a circus. A circus was two hours of additional calisthenics designed to wear you down to break your spirit, to force you to quit. No one wanted a circus. A circus met that for that day. You didn’t measure up. A circus meant more fatigue and more fatigue meant that the following day would be more difficult and more surfaces were likely, but at sometime during SEAL training, everyone, everyone made the circus list. But an interesting thing happened to those who were constantly on the list. Over time those students who did two hours of extras, calisthenics got stronger and stronger. The pain of the circuses built inner strength and physical resiliency. Life is filled with circuses.

Admiral McRaven: ( 11:15 ) You will fail. You will likely fail often it will be painful. It will be discouraging. At times it will test you to your very core, but if you want to change the world, don’t be afraid of the circuses. At least twice a week the trainees were required to run the obstacle course. The obstacle course contained 25 obstacles including a 10 foot wall, a 30 foot cargo net, a barbwire crawl to name a few, but the most challenging obstacle was the slide for life. It had a three level 30 foot tower at one end and a one-level tower at the other. In between was a 200 foot long rope. You had to climb the three tiered tower and once at the top you grabbed the rope, swung underneath the rope and pulled yourself hand over hand until you got to the other end. The record for the obstacle course had stood for years when my class began in 1977.

Admiral McRaven: ( 12:10 ) The record seemed unbeatable until one day a student decided to go down the slide for life head first. Instead of swinging his body underneath the rope and inching his way down, he bravely mounted the top of the rope and thrust himself forward. It was a dangerous move, seemingly foolish and fraught with risk. Failure could be an injury and being dropped from the course. Without hesitation, the students slid down the rope perilously fast instead of several minutes it only took him half that time and by the end of the course he had broken the record. If you want to change the world, sometimes you have to slide down the obstacles head first.

Admiral McRaven: ( 12:52 ) During the land warfare phase of training, the students are flown out to San Clemente Island, which lies off the coast of San Diego. The waters of San Clemente are a breeding ground for the great white sharks. To pass SEAL training there are a series of long swims that must be completed. One is the night swim. Before the swim the instructors joyfully brief the students on all the species of sharks that inhabit the waters of San Clemente. They assure you, however, that no student has ever been eaten by a shark, at least not that they can remember. But you are also taught that if a shark begins to circle your position, stand your ground, do not swim away, do not act afraid. And if the shark hungry for a midnight snack, darts towards you, then summons up all your strength and punch him in the snout and he will turn and swim away. There are a lot of sharks in the world. If you hope to complete the swim, you will have to deal with them. So if you want to change the world, don’t back down from the sharks.

Admiral McRaven: ( 14:02 ) As Navy SEALs, one of our jobs is to conduct underwater attacks against enemies shipping. We practiced this technique extensively during training. The ship attack mission is where a pair of SEAL divers is dropped off outside an enemy Harbor and then swims well over two miles underwater using nothing but a DEF gauge and a compass to get to the target. During the entire swim even well below the surface, there is some light that comes through. It is comforting to know that there is open water above you, but as you approach the ship, which is tied to appear, the light begins to fade. The steel structure of the ship blocks the Moonlight. It blocks the surrounding streetlamps. It blocks all ambient light. To be successful in your mission, you have to swim under the ship and find the keel, the center line, and the deepest part of the ship.

Admiral McRaven: ( 14:56 ) This is your objective, but the keel is also the darkest part of the ship where you cannot see your hand in front of your face or the noise from the ship’s machinery is deafening and where it gets to be easily disoriented and you can fail. Every SEAL knows that under the keel at that darkest moment of the mission is a time when you need to be calm, when you must be calm, where you must be composed. When all your tactical skills, your physical power, and your inner strength must be brought to bear. If you want to change the world, you must be your very best in the darkest moments.

Admiral McRaven: ( 15:38 ) The ninth week of training is referred to as hell week. It is six days of no sleep, constant physical and mental harassment and one special day at the mudflats. The mudflats are an area between San Diego and Tijuana where the water runs off and creates the Tijuana slews, a swampy patch of terrain where the mud will engulf you. It is on Wednesday of hell week, which you paddle down in the mudflats and spend the next 15 hours trying to survive this freezing cold, the howling wind and the incessant pressure to quit from the instructors.

Admiral McRaven: ( 16:12 ) As the sun began to set that Wednesday evening, my training class, having committed some egregious infraction of the rules was ordered into the mud. The mud consumed each man until there was nothing visible but our heads. The instructors told us we could leave the mud if only five men would quit. Only five men, just five men, and we could get out of the oppressive cold. Looking around the mudflat it was apparent that some students were about to give up. It was still over eight hours till the sun came up. Eight more hours of bone chilling cold, chattering teeth and shivering moans of the trainees were so loud, it was hard to hear anything.

Admiral McRaven: ( 16:54 ) And then one voice began to echo through the night. One voice raised in song. The song was terribly out of tune, but sung with great enthusiasm. One voice became two and two became three and before long everyone in the class was singing. The instructors threatened us with more time in the mud if we kept up the singing, but the singing persisted and somehow the mud seemed a little warmer. And the wind a little tamer and the dawn, not so far away. If I have learned anything in my time traveling the world, it is the power of hope. The power of one person, a Washington, a Lincoln, King, Mandela, and even a young girl from Pakistan, Malala, one person can change the world by giving people hope. So if you want to change the world, start singing when you’re up to your neck and mud.

Admiral McRaven: ( 17:51 ) Finally, in SEAL training there is a bell. A brass bell that hangs in the center of the compound for all the students to see. All you have to do to quit is ring the bell, ring the bell, and you no longer have to wake up at five o’clock ring the bell and you no longer have to be in the freezing cold swims. Ring the bell and you no longer have to do the runs, the obstacle course, the PT, and you no longer have to endure the hardships of training. All you have to do is ring the bell to get out. If you want to change the world, don’t ever, ever ring the bell.

Admiral McRaven: ( 18:33 ) To the class of 2014 you are moments away from graduating, moments away from beginning your journey through life, moments away from starting to change the world for the better. It will not be easy, but you are the class of 2014 the class that can affect the lives of 800 million people in the next century. Start each day with a task completed. Find someone to help you through life. Respect everyone. Know that life is not fair and that you will fail often. But if you take some risks, step up on the times, you’re the toughest face down the bullies. Lift up the downtrodden and never ever give up. If you do these things, the next generation and the generations that follow will live in a world far better than the one we have today. And what started here will indeed have changed the world for the better. Thank you very much, hook ’em horns.

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The Full Admiral McRaven Speech Transcript

O n May 17, 2014, Former Admiral William. H. McRaven advised the graduates of the class of 2014 at the University of Texas. He served in the Navy for many years.

The former Admiral McRaven’s speech is very motivational, and the whole purpose of the speech is to show that anyone can change the world. In his speech, he gives ten suggestions on how anyone can see the world.

Article Topics

What is the theme of admiral mcraven speech.

The general theme of his ‘make your bed speech’ is that anyone can change the world; all you need is the courage to do it. He also explains how giving up isn’t an option no matter what you’re going through. Eventually, it will pass, and you will win.

Admiral McRaven also explains how it isn’t necessary to change everyone’s lives for the world to change. All you need is to change the lives of only a few people, and the generations to come will feel the effect. You would have changed their entire lineage’s lives.

Watch and Listen to this motivational video of the Admiral McRaven Speech on YouTube

What advice did navy admiral william.h.mcraven give in his commencement address and well known 'make your bed speech'.

Make your bed . Making your bed means that you’d have accomplished the first task of the day. It might seem small and mundane, but even after a long miserable day, at least you’ll come back to a made bed.
Find someone to help you paddle . You can’t change the world on your own; you need a support team, people to cheer you up and help you change the world. We all need help.
Measure a person by the size of their heart, not their flippers’ size . The physical aspects of who someone is don’t necessarily make up for a lot. What’s on the inside is what matters the most.
Get over being a sugar cookie and keep moving forward . Sometimes the universe just doesn’t recognize your efforts no matter how much you’ve put in. This shouldn’t make you lose hope, get over it and keep pushing.
Don’t be afraid of the circuses . Some situations will wear us down, but they are meant to strengthen your resolve by the end of the day.
Sometimes you have to slide down the obstacle head first . Even in the hardest of situations, you have to take a risk and face your problems head first. Sometimes that’s the only way to win.
Don’t back down from the sharks . Sharks are obstacles that you might face in your journey. Even when those obstacles show up, don’t back down. That’s the only way you’ll win.
If you want to change the world, you must be the very best in your darkest moment . During the darkest moments, it gets hard to see what lies ahead, but be hopeful because, after that darkness, there can only be light.
Start singing when you’re up to your neck in mud . In your darkest moments, be the person who stands up and gives others hope. Giving others hope will mean preventing them from giving up during those difficult moments.
Don’t ever ring the bell . Ringing the bell is the easiest thing to do. But for you to succeed in life, you will have to assume that giving up isn’t an option, and that’s when you can concentrate on winning.

The Full Admiral McRaven Speech

It’s been almost 37 years to the day that I graduated from UT. I remember a lot of things about that day. I remember I had a throbbing headache from a party the night before. I remember I had a serious girlfriend, whom I later married (that’s important to remember, by the way), and I remember that I was getting commissioned in the Navy that day.

But of all the things I remember, I don’t have a clue who the commencement speaker was, and I certainly don’t remember anything they said. So, acknowledging that fact, if I can’t make this commencement speech memorable, I will at least try to make it short.

The University’s slogan is, “What starts here changes the world.” I’ve got to admit. I kind of like it. “What starts here changes the world.”

Tonight there are almost 8,000 students (there are more than 8000) graduating from UT. So, that great paragon of analytical rigor, Ask.Com, says that the average American will meet 10,000 people in their lifetime. That’s a lot of folks. But, if every one of you changed the lives of just ten people and each one of those people changed the lives of another ten people,(just ten people) then in five generations 125 years, the class of 2014 will have changed the lives of 800 million people.

Eight hundred million people — think about it — over twice the population of the United States. Go one more generation, and you can change the entire population of the world — eight billion people.

If you think it’s hard to change the lives of 10 people, change their lives forever, you’re wrong. I saw it happen every day in Iraq and Afghanistan: A young Army officer makes a decision to go left instead of right down a road in Baghdad, and the ten soldiers with him are saved from a close-in ambush.

In Kandahar province, Afghanistan, a non-commissioned officer from the Female Engagement Team senses that something isn’t right and directs the infantry platoon away from a 500-pound IED, saving the lives of a dozen soldiers.

But, if you think about it, not only were those soldiers saved by the decisions of one person, but their children were saved. And their children’s children were saved. Generations were saved by one decision, one person.

But changing the world can happen anywhere, and anyone can do it. So, what starts here can indeed change the world, but the question is — what will the world look like after you change it?

Well, I am confident that it will look much, much better. But if you will humor this old sailor for just a moment, I have a few suggestions that may help you on your way to a better world. And while these lessons were learned during my time in the military, I can assure you that it matters not whether you ever served a day in uniform. It matters not your gender, your ethnic or religious background, your orientation, or your social status.

Our struggles in this world are similar, and the lessons to overcome those struggles and to move forward — changing ourselves and changing the world around us — will apply equally to all.

It is six months of being constantly harassed by professionally trained warriors who seek to find the weak of mind and body and eliminate them from ever becoming a Navy SEAL.

But the training also seeks to find those students who can lead in an environment of constant stress, chaos, failure, and hardships. To me, basic SEAL training was a lifetime of challenges crammed into six months.

So, here are the ten lessons I learned from basic SEAL training that hopefully will be of value to you as you move forward in life.

1. Make your bed

Every morning in SEAL training, my instructors, who at the time were all Vietnam veterans, would show up in my barracks room, and the first thing they would do is inspect my bed. If you did it right, the corners would be square; the covers would be pulled tight, the pillow centered just under the headboard, and the extra blanket folded neatly at the foot of the rack.

It was a simple task, mundane at best. But every morning, we were required to make our bed to perfection. It seemed a little ridiculous at the time, particularly in light of the fact that we were aspiring to be real warriors, tough battle-hardened SEALs, but the wisdom of this simple act has been proven to me many times over.

If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that the little things in life matter. If you can’t do the little things right, you will never be able to do the big things right.

And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made — that you made — and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.

If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.

2. Find someone to paddle with

During SEAL training, the students are broken down into boat crews. Each crew is seven students — three on each side of a small rubber boat and one coxswain to help guide the dingy. Every day your boat crew forms up on the beach and is instructed to get through the surf zone and paddle several miles down the coast. In the winter, the surf off San Diego can get to be 8 to 10 feet high, and it is exceedingly difficult to paddle through the plunging surf unless everyone digs in.

Every paddle must be synchronized to the stroke count of the coxswain. Everyone must exert equal effort, or the boat will turn against the wave and be unceremoniously dumped back on the beach.

For the boat to make it to its destination, everyone must paddle. You can’t change the world alone — you will need some help — and to truly get from your starting point to your destination takes friends, colleagues, the goodwill of strangers, and a strong coxswain to guide them.

If you want to change the world, find someone to help you paddle.

Admiral McRaven Speech Transcript - Find someone to paddle with

3. Measure a person by the size of their heart, not the size of their flippers

Over a few weeks of difficult training, my SEAL class, which started with 150 men, was down to just 42. There were now six boat crews of seven men each. I was in the boat with the tall guys, but the best boat crew we had was made up of the little guys (the munchkin crew we called them) no one was over about five-foot-five.

The big men in the other boat crews would always make good-natured fun of the tiny little flippers the munchkins put on their tiny little feet prior to every swim. But somehow, these little guys, from every corner of the nation and the world, always had the last laugh, swimming faster than everyone and reaching the shore long before the rest of us.

SEAL training was a great equalizer. Nothing mattered but your will to succeed. Not your color, not your ethnic background, not your education, and not your social status.

If you want to change the world, measure a person by the size of their heart, not the size of their flippers.

4. Get over being a sugar cookie and keep moving forward.

But it seemed that no matter how much effort you put into starching your hat, or pressing your uniform, or polishing your belt buckle — it just wasn’t good enough. The instructors would find “something” wrong.

For failing the uniform inspection, the student had to run, fully clothed into the surf zone, and then, wet from head to toe, roll around on the beach until every part of your body was covered with sand. The effect was known as a “sugar cookie.” You stayed in the uniform the rest of the day — cold, wet, and sandy.

There were many a student who just couldn’t accept the fact that all their effort was in vain. That no matter how hard they tried to get the uniform right, it was unappreciated. Those students didn’t make it through training. Those students didn’t understand the purpose of the drill. You were never going to succeed. You were never gonna have a perfect uniform.

Sometimes no matter how well you prepare or how well you perform, you still end up as a sugar cookie. It’s just the way life is sometimes.

If you want to change the world, get over being a sugar cookie and keep moving forward.

5. Don’t be afraid of the circuses.

Every day during training, you were challenged with multiple physical events — long runs, long swims, obstacle courses, hours of calisthenics — something designed to test your mettle. Every event had standards — times you had to meet.

If you failed to meet those standards, your name was posted on a list, and at the end of the day, those on the list were invited to a “circus.” A circus was two hours of additional calisthenics designed to wear you down, to break your spirit, to force you to quit.

No one wanted a circus.

A circus meant that for that day, you didn’t measure up. A circus meant more fatigue, and more fatigue meant that the following day would be more difficult, and more circuses were likely. But at some time during SEAL training, everyone, everyone, made the circus list.

But an interesting thing happened to those who were constantly on the list. Over time those students — who did two hours of extra calisthenics — got stronger and stronger. The pain of the circuses built inner strength and physical resiliency.

Life is filled with circuses. You will fail. You will likely fail often. It will be painful. It will be discouraging. At times it will test you to your very core.

But if you want to change the world, don’t be afraid of the circuses.

6. If you want to change the world, sometimes you have to slide down the obstacle head first.

At least twice a week, the trainees were required to run the obstacle course. The obstacle course contained 25 obstacles, including a 10-foot high wall, a 30-foot cargo net, and a barbed wire crawl, to name a few.

But the most challenging obstacle was the slide for life. It had a three-level 30-foot tower at one end and a one-level tower at the other. In between was a 200-foot-long rope. You had to climb the three-tiered tower, and once at the top, you grabbed the rope, swung underneath the rope, and pulled yourself hand over hand until you got to the other end.

The record for the obstacle course had stood for years when my class began training in 1977. The record seemed unbeatable until one day; a student decided to go down the slide for life head first. Instead of swinging his body underneath the rope and inching his way down, he bravely mounted the TOP of the rope and thrust himself forward.

It was a dangerous move — seemingly foolish and fraught with risk. Failure could mean injury and being dropped from the course. Without hesitation, the student slid down the rope perilously fast. Instead of several minutes, it only took him half that time, and by the end of the course, he had broken the record.

If you want to change the world, sometimes you have to slide down the obstacle head first.

Admiral McRaven Speech Transcript - change the world

7. If you want to change the world, don’t back down from the sharks

During the land warfare phase of training, the students are flown out to San Clemente Island, which lies off the coast of San Diego. The waters off San Clemente are a breeding ground for the great white sharks.

To pass SEAL training, there are a series of long swims that must be completed. One is the night swim.

Before the swim, the instructors joyfully brief the trainees on all the species of sharks that inhabit the waters off San Clemente.

They assure you, however, that no student has ever been eaten by a shark — at least not that they can remember. But, you are also taught that if a shark begins to circle your position, stand your ground.

Do not swim away. Do not act afraid. And if the shark, hungry for a midnight snack, darts towards you, then summon up all your strength and punch him in the snout, and he will turn and swim away.

There are a lot of sharks in the world. If you hope to complete the swim, you will have to deal with them.

So, if you want to change the world, don’t back down from the sharks.

8. Be your very best in the darkest moments.

As Navy SEALs, one of our jobs is to conduct underwater attacks against enemy shipping. We practiced this technique extensively during training. The ship attack mission is where a pair of SEAL divers is dropped off outside an enemy harbor and then swims well over two miles — underwater — using nothing but a depth gauge and a compass to get to their target.

During the entire swim, even well below the surface, there is some light that comes through. It is comforting to know that there is open water above you. But as you approach the ship, which is tied to a pier, the light begins to fade. The steel structure of the ship blocks the moonlight, it blocks the surrounding street lamps, it blocks all ambient light.

To be successful in your mission, you have to swim under the ship and find the keel — the centerline and the deepest part of the ship. This is your objective. But the keel is also the darkest part of the ship — where you cannot see your hand in front of your face, where the noise from the ship’s machinery is deafening, and where it is easy to get disoriented and you can fail.

Every SEAL knows that under the keel, at the darkest moment of the mission, is the time when you must be calm when you must be composed — when all your tactical skills, your physical power, and all your inner strength must be brought to bear.

If you want to change the world, you must be your very best in the darkest moments.

9. Start singing when you’re up to your neck in mud

The ninth week of training is referred to as “Hell Week.” It is six days of no sleep, constant physical and mental harassment, and one special day at the Mud Flats. The Mud Flats are area between San Diego and Tijuana where the water runs off and creates the Tijuana slues, a swampy patch of terrain where the mud will engulf you.

It is on Wednesday of Hell Week that you paddle down to the mudflats and spend the next 15 hours trying to survive the freezing cold mud, the howling wind, and the incessant pressure to quit from the instructors. As the sun began to set that Wednesday evening, my training class, having committed some “egregious infraction of the rules,” was ordered into the mud.

The mud consumed each man till there was nothing visible but our heads. The instructors told us we could leave the mud if only five men would quit — just five men — and we could get out of the oppressive cold. Looking around the mudflat, it was apparent that some students were about to give up. It was still over eight hours till the sun came up — eight more hours of bone-chilling cold.

The chattering teeth and shivering moans of the trainees were so loud it was hard to hear anything. And then, one voice began to echo through the night, one voice raised in song. The song was terribly out of tune but sung with great enthusiasm. One voice became two, and two became three, and before long, everyone in the class was singing.

The instructors threatened us with more time in the mud if we kept up the singing, but the singing persisted. And somehow, the mud seemed a little warmer, the wind a little tamer, and the dawn not so far away.

If I have learned anything in my time traveling the world, it is the power of hope. The power of one person — Washington, Lincoln, King, Mandela, and even a young girl from Pakistan, Malala — one person can change the world by giving people hope.

So, if you want to change the world, start singing when you’re up to your neck in mud.

Admiral McRaven Speech Transcript - Start singing when you are up to your neck in mud

10. Don’t ever, ever ring the bell.

Finally, in SEAL training, there is a bell. A brass bell that hangs in the center of the compound for all the students to see. All you have to do to quit is ring the bell.

Ring the bell, and you no longer have to wake up at 5 o’clock. Ring the bell, and you no longer have to be in the freezing cold swims. Ring the bell, and you no longer have to do the runs, the obstacle course, the PT — and you no longer have to endure the hardships of training. All you have to do is ring the bell and be out.

If you want to change the world, don’t ever, ever ring the bell.

Why does Admiral McRaven say to make your bed?

He emphasizes making your bed first thing in the morning because by doing that, you have accomplished your first task of the day. Making your bed means; you have already won something even before you’ve begun. And even if your day ends up being not perfect, at the end of the day, you will come back home to a well-made bed to rest on.

Making your bed in the morning will give you a sense of pride and accomplishment and help you get through the day. Having accomplished your first task in the morning will give you the encouragement needed to accomplish the other tasks ahead of you, making it not just one task but a couple of others that followed.

When did Admiral McRaven make his speech?

Admiral McRaven, the ninth U.S. Special Operations Command, made his speech at the University of Texas commencement on May 17, 2014.

Final Words

The Admiral’s speech is the most memorable speech ever given due to the amount of wisdom and advice. It is an encouragement to everyone that making a change in the world doesn’t require much except for will and drive. Never giving up is a very great tool that he shares multiple times in his speech.

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Luke Ocean is a writer, self-proclaimed bio-hacker, wellness advocate and yoga expert. Luke grew up on a small ranch in Montana and enlisted in the Navy to study and become a cryptologist. He later graduated from the US Naval Academy with a Minor in Mandarin and a Bachelor's of Science for General Engineering and a Major of English Literature. Luke's interests and career span multiple industries and various disciplines. Luke resides in San Antonio and is a Certified Yoga Instructor, a student of Zen Buddhism, practitioner of Holistic Psychology and has completed his CYT-200 and is studying for his 300-hour yoga teacher training.

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Retired Navy SEAL commander who led the Osama bin Laden raid tells MIT 2020 graduates: "To save the world, you will have to be men and women of great integrity."

William H. McRaven is a retired four-star admiral in the US Navy where he served for 37 years, former chancellor of the University of Texas system, and former foreign policy advisor to Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
In his commencement address to MIT's class of 2020, he shared what he believes to be the most important qualities to nurture in today's world: courage, humility, perseverance, and compassion.
McRaven said that above all, in order to be great and do your part to save the world, you have to be willing to sacrifice everything.
Read the full transcript of McRaven's speech below.
Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories .

Thank you very much for that kind introduction. President Reif, distinguished guests, members of the faculty, and of course, the MIT graduating class of 2020. It is truly an honor for me to have the opportunity to address you today.

I had an entirely different speech prepared for this afternoon. It was a nice little speech. It was about how you, the brilliant men and women of MIT are like the Navy SEALs of academia. I made some good analogies. I had some cute little anecdotes and some lessons from my career. But somehow, that speech just didn't seem right in light of all that has happened in the past five months. The fact that I am standing here alone, and that you are isolated somewhere at home, is proof enough that the world has changed.

But there is a part of the speech that I retained. It was the part about heroes and how after all these years I came to realize that the heroes we need are not the heroes I had been looking for. When I was a young boy growing up in the '50s and '60s, I always envisioned myself as the hero. I always wanted to be Superman, with his powers to fly, with his invulnerability, with his super strength. A hero who saved the world every day from some catastrophe. Or Batman, Spiderman, the Black Panther, the team of the X-men, and the Fantastic Four, and my favorite of all — Aquaman. I so wanted to ride on the back of a seahorse and fight evil underwater.

But as I grew up and travelled the world, and as I saw more than my share of war and destruction — I came to the hard truth that Captain America isn't coming to the rescue. There is no Superman, no Batman, no Wonder Woman, no Black Widow, no Avengers, no Justice League, no Gandolf, no Harry Potter, and no Aquaman. If we are going to save the world from pandemics, war, climate change, poverty, racism, extremism, intolerance — then you, the brilliant minds of MIT — you are going to have to save the world.

But, as remarkable as you are, your intellect and talent alone will not be sufficient. I have seen my share of real heroes, on the battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan, in the hospitals fighting COVID-19, on the streets keeping America safe and open — and I know that there are other qualities necessary to be today's hero. So, if you will bear with this old sailor for a minute or two, I would like to offer some thoughts on the other qualities you will need to help save the world.

First, you must have courage. Winston Churchill once said that courage was the most important quality of all because it guaranteed all the rest. He was not just talking about the physical courage to charge the hill, run into a burning building, or stop a madman with a gun. He was also talking about moral courage. The courage to stand up for your convictions. Physical courage has long been the hallmark of a great warrior, but I would offer that the moral courage to stand up for what's right has an equal place in the pantheon of heroes.

If you hope to save the world you will have to standby your convictions. You will have to confront the ignorant with facts. You will have to challenge the zealots with reason. You will have to defy the naysayers and the weak-kneed who have not the constitution to stand tall. You will have to speak truth to power.

But if your cause is good and decent and worthy and honorable and has the possibility of saving even one of God's creatures, then you must do what all heroes do. You must summon the courage to fight and fight hard for your convictions. You must yell them from the mountaintop. You must shout them from the lectern. You must write in bold, cursive, and underlined phrases. You must bring your convictions out from the darkness and the subtly of your heart — into the light of day. They must be made public and challenged and confronted and argued.

There will always be those who don't want to hear your convictions. Particularly if they are true.

Speaking the truth can be dangerous at times. But those that came before you, Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Madam Curie, Grace Hooper, and Katherine Johnson — those brilliant minds, those tellers of truth, who made the world a more knowledgeable place, a more compassionate place, a more livable place, they had courage. If you are going to save the world, you will need courage.

If you are going to save the world, you will need to be humble. In my career, I have been blessed to be around some great minds. I have seen how the brilliant men and women have helped eradicate disease, reduce poverty, create technological masterpieces but, conversely I have seen how the misguided geniuses, filled with conceit and convinced of their own righteousness, have tampered with nature, built apocalyptic machines, dehumanized social interaction, and tilted toward tyranny. If you do not approach the world with humility, it will find a way to humble you quickly.

I found in my time in the military that no experience on earth was more humbling than combat. The crucible of war teaches you everyday that you are not invincible — that the enemy in bare feet and carrying only Kalashnikovs can sometimes defeat the best soldiers and the best technology in the world.

And if you believe for a moment that you are superior, you will be humbled quickly. But if you approach every mission with a decent respect for the mountains, the rivers, the oceans, and the enemy — you are more likely to succeed.

In Plato's great rendition of Socrates Apology, Socrates defends the charges against him by telling the jury of Athenian nobles that he is the wisest man in the world — far wiser than any of the robed men sitting in judgment. When questioned about how he could be so bold as to make this statement, Socrates says that he is the wisest because he knows so very little of the world. To solve the world's problems you will have to realize how little you know. You must be able to look to the stars, peer through a microscope, gaze at the ocean — and be humbled.

Watch: Former Navy SEAL commander Jocko Willink shares the best gear he got to use

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Admiral William McRaven | One Person Can Change The World: The Power Of Hope

The “Make Your Bed” speech by US Navy Admiral, William H. McRaven, outlines the importance of doing the little things like making your bed, embracing the fears of life, taking risks, facing bullying, respecting others, and changing the world for generations to come.

00:00 – “Start Off By Making Your Bed”

00:46 – “Don’t Back Down From The Sharks”

01:45 – “Measure a Person by The Size of Their Heart not By The Size of their Flippers”

03:01 – “The Power of Hope – The Power of One Person”

Acknowledgements

Thank you Admiral William McRaven for your moving speech and thank you Goalcast.com for amplifying his message by creating this video. This content was not created by Boulder Crest Foundation or our partners. It has been added to our PTG Resource Library given the value it provides for our PTG community.

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“Make Your Bed“ Speech by Admiral William H. McRaven

This speech was delivered as the commencement address to the graduates of The University of Texas at Austin on May 17, 2014.

Speech Transcript

President Powers, Provost Fenves, Deans, members of the faculty, family and friends and most importantly, the class of 2014. Congratulations on your achievement.

It's been almost 37 years to the day that I graduated from UT. I remember a lot of things about that day. I remember I had throbbing headache from a party the night before. I remember I had a serious girlfriend, whom I later married — that's important to remember by the way — and I remember that I was getting commissioned in the Navy that day.

But of all the things I remember, I don't have a clue who the commencement speaker was that evening, and I certainly don't remember anything they said. So, acknowledging that fact, if I can't make this commencement speech memorable, I will at least try to make it short.

The University's slogan is, “What starts here changes the world.” I have to admit — I kinda like it. “What starts here changes the world.”

Tonight there are almost 8,000 students graduating from UT. That great paragon of analytical rigor, Ask.Com, says that the average American will meet 10,000 people in their lifetime. That's a lot of folks. But, if every one of you changed the lives of just 10 people — and each one of those folks changed the lives of another 10 people — just 10 — then in five generations — 125 years — the class of 2014 will have changed the lives of 800 million people.

800 million people — think of it — over twice the population of the United States. Go one more generation and you can change the entire population of the world — eight billion people.

If you think it's hard to change the lives of 10 people — change their lives forever — you're wrong. I saw it happen every day in Iraq and Afghanistan: A young Army officer makes a decision to go left instead of right down a road in Baghdad and the 10 soldiers in his squad are saved from close-in ambush. In Kandahar province, Afghanistan, a non-commissioned officer from the Female Engagement Team senses something isn't right and directs the infantry platoon away from a 500-pound IED, saving the lives of a dozen soldiers.

But, if you think about it, not only were these soldiers saved by the decisions of one person, but their children yet unborn were also saved. And their children's children were saved. Generations were saved by one decision, by one person.

But changing the world can happen anywhere and anyone can do it. So, what starts here can indeed change the world, but the question is — what will the world look like after you change it?

Well, I am confident that it will look much, much better. But if you will humor this old sailor for just a moment, I have a few suggestions that may help you on your way to a better a world. And while these lessons were learned during my time in the military, I can assure you that it matters not whether you ever served a day in uniform. It matters not your gender, your ethnic or religious background, your orientation or your social status.

Our struggles in this world are similar, and the lessons to overcome those struggles and to move forward — changing ourselves and the world around us — will apply equally to all.

I have been a Navy SEAL for 36 years. But it all began when I left UT for Basic SEAL training in Coronado, California. Basic SEAL training is six months of long torturous runs in the soft sand, midnight swims in the cold water off San Diego, obstacles courses, unending calisthenics, days without sleep and always being cold, wet and miserable. It is six months of being constantly harrassed by professionally trained warriors who seek to find the weak of mind and body and eliminate them from ever becoming a Navy SEAL.

But, the training also seeks to find those students who can lead in an environment of constant stress, chaos, failure and hardships. To me basic SEAL training was a lifetime of challenges crammed into six months.

So, here are the 10 lessons I learned from basic SEAL training that hopefully will be of value to you as you move forward in life.

Every morning in basic SEAL training, my instructors, who at the time were all Vietnam veterans, would show up in my barracks room and the first thing they would inspect was your bed. If you did it right, the corners would be square, the covers pulled tight, the pillow centered just under the headboard and the extra blanket folded neatly at the foot of the rack — that's Navy talk for bed.

It was a simple task — mundane at best. But every morning we were required to make our bed to perfection. It seemed a little ridiculous at the time, particularly in light of the fact that were aspiring to be real warriors, tough battle-hardened SEALs, but the wisdom of this simple act has been proven to me many times over.

If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter. If you can't do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.

And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made — that you made — and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.

If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.

During SEAL training the students are broken down into boat crews. Each crew is seven students — three on each side of a small rubber boat and one coxswain to help guide the dingy. Every day your boat crew forms up on the beach and is instructed to get through the surfzone and paddle several miles down the coast. In the winter, the surf off San Diego can get to be 8 to 10 feet high and it is exceedingly difficult to paddle through the plunging surf unless everyone digs in. Every paddle must be synchronized to the stroke count of the coxswain. Everyone must exert equal effort or the boat will turn against the wave and be unceremoniously tossed back on the beach.

For the boat to make it to its destination, everyone must paddle. You can't change the world alone — you will need some help — and to truly get from your starting point to your destination takes friends, colleagues, the good will of strangers and a strong coxswain to guide them.

If you want to change the world, find someone to help you paddle.

Over a few weeks of difficult training my SEAL class, which started with 150 men, was down to just 35. There were now six boat crews of seven men each. I was in the boat with the tall guys, but the best boat crew we had was made up of the the little guys — the munchkin crew we called them — no one was over about five-foot-five.

The munchkin boat crew had one American Indian, one African American, one Polish American, one Greek American, one Italian American, and two tough kids from the midwest. They out-paddled, out-ran and out-swam all the other boat crews. The big men in the other boat crews would always make good-natured fun of the tiny little flippers the munchkins put on their tiny little feet prior to every swim. But somehow these little guys, from every corner of the nation and the world, always had the last laugh — swimming faster than everyone and reaching the shore long before the rest of us.

SEAL training was a great equalizer. Nothing mattered but your will to succeed. Not your color, not your ethnic background, not your education and not your social status.

If you want to change the world, measure a person by the size of their heart, not the size of their flippers.

Several times a week, the instructors would line up the class and do a uniform inspection. It was exceptionally thorough. Your hat had to be perfectly starched, your uniform immaculately pressed and your belt buckle shiny and void of any smudges. But it seemed that no matter how much effort you put into starching your hat, or pressing your uniform or polishing your belt buckle — it just wasn't good enough. The instructors would find “something” wrong.

For failing the uniform inspection, the student had to run, fully clothed into the surfzone and then, wet from head to toe, roll around on the beach until every part of your body was covered with sand. The effect was known as a “sugar cookie.” You stayed in that uniform the rest of the day — cold, wet and sandy.

There were many a student who just couldn't accept the fact that all their effort was in vain. That no matter how hard they tried to get the uniform right, it was unappreciated. Those students didn't make it through training. Those students didn't understand the purpose of the drill. You were never going to succeed. You were never going to have a perfect uniform.

Sometimes no matter how well you prepare or how well you perform you still end up as a sugar cookie. It's just the way life is sometimes.

If you want to change the world get over being a sugar cookie and keep moving forward.

Every day during training you were challenged with multiple physical events — long runs, long swims, obstacle courses, hours of calisthenics — something designed to test your mettle. Every event had standards — times you had to meet. If you failed to meet those standards your name was posted on a list, and at the end of the day those on the list were invited to a “circus.” A circus was two hours of additional calisthenics designed to wear you down, to break your spirit, to force you to quit.

No one wanted a circus.

A circus meant that for that day you didn't measure up. A circus meant more fatigue — and more fatigue meant that the following day would be more difficult — and more circuses were likely. But at some time during SEAL training, everyone — everyone — made the circus list.

Life is filled with circuses. You will fail. You will likely fail often. It will be painful. It will be discouraging. At times it will test you to your very core.

But if you want to change the world, don't be afraid of the circuses.

At least twice a week, the trainees were required to run the obstacle course. The obstacle course contained 25 obstacles including a 10-foot high wall, a 30-foot cargo net and a barbed wire crawl, to name a few. But the most challenging obstacle was the slide for life. It had a three-level 30-foot tower at one end and a one-level tower at the other. In between was a 200-foot-long rope. You had to climb the three-tiered tower and once at the top, you grabbed the rope, swung underneath the rope and pulled yourself hand over hand until you got to the other end.

The record for the obstacle course had stood for years when my class began training in 1977. The record seemed unbeatable, until one day, a student decided to go down the slide for life head first. Instead of swinging his body underneath the rope and inching his way down, he bravely mounted the TOP of the rope and thrust himself forward.

It was a dangerous move — seemingly foolish, and fraught with risk. Failure could mean injury and being dropped from the training. Without hesitation the student slid down the rope perilously fast. Instead of several minutes, it only took him half that time and by the end of the course he had broken the record.

If you want to change the world sometimes you have to slide down the obstacle head first.

During the land warfare phase of training, the students are flown out to San Clemente Island which lies off the coast of San Diego. The waters off San Clemente are a breeding ground for the great white sharks. To pass SEAL training there are a series of long swims that must be completed. One is the night swim.

Before the swim the instructors joyfully brief the trainees on all the species of sharks that inhabit the waters off San Clemente. They assure you, however, that no student has ever been eaten by a shark — at least not recently. But, you are also taught that if a shark begins to circle your position — stand your ground. Do not swim away. Do not act afraid. And if the shark, hungry for a midnight snack, darts towards you — then summon up all your strength and punch him in the snout, and he will turn and swim away.

There are a lot of sharks in the world. If you hope to complete the swim you will have to deal with them.

So, if you want to change the world, don't back down from the sharks.

As Navy SEALs one of our jobs is to conduct underwater attacks against enemy shipping. We practiced this technique extensively during basic training. The ship attack mission is where a pair of SEAL divers is dropped off outside an enemy harbor and then swims well over two miles — underwater — using nothing but a depth gauge and a compass to get to their target.

To be successful in your mission, you have to swim under the ship and find the keel — the centerline and the deepest part of the ship. This is your objective. But the keel is also the darkest part of the ship — where you cannot see your hand in front of your face, where the noise from the ship's machinery is deafening and where it is easy to get disoriented and fail.

Every SEAL knows that under the keel, at the darkest moment of the mission, is the time when you must be calm, composed — when all your tactical skills, your physical power and all your inner strength must be brought to bear.

If you want to change the world, you must be your very best in the darkest moment.

It is on Wednesday of Hell Week that you paddle down to the mud flats and spend the next 15 hours trying to survive the freezing cold mud, the howling wind and the incessant pressure to quit from the instructors. As the sun began to set that Wednesday evening, my training class, having committed some “egregious infraction of the rules” was ordered into the mud.

The mud consumed each man till there was nothing visible but our heads. The instructors told us we could leave the mud if only five men would quit — just five men — and we could get out of the oppressive cold. Looking around the mud flat it was apparent that some students were about to give up. It was still over eight hours till the sun came up — eight more hours of bone-chilling cold.

The chattering teeth and shivering moans of the trainees were so loud it was hard to hear anything. And then, one voice began to echo through the night, one voice raised in song. The song was terribly out of tune, but sung with great enthusiasm. One voice became two and two became three and before long everyone in the class was singing. We knew that if one man could rise above the misery then others could as well.

The instructors threatened us with more time in the mud if we kept up the singingbut the singing persisted. And somehow the mud seemed a little warmer, the wind a little tamer and the dawn not so far away.

If I have learned anything in my time traveling the world, it is the power of hope. The power of one person — Washington, Lincoln, King, Mandela and even a young girl from Pakistan, Malala — one person can change the world by giving people hope.

So, if you want to change the world, start singing when you're up to your neck in mud.

Finally, in SEAL training there is a bell. A brass bell that hangs in the center of the compound for all the students to see. All you have to do to quit is ring the bell.

Ring the bell and you no longer have to wake up at 5 o'clock. Ring the bell and you no longer have to do the freezing cold swims. Ring the bell and you no longer have to do the runs, the obstacle course, the PT — and you no longer have to endure the hardships of training. Just ring the bell.

If you want to change the world don't ever, ever ring the bell.

To the graduating class of 2014, you are moments away from graduating. Moments away from beginning your journey through life. Moments away from starting to change the world — for the better. It will not be easy.

But, YOU are the class of 2014, the class that can affect the lives of 800 million people in the next century.

Start each day with a task completed. Find someone to help you through life. Respect everyone.

Know that life is not fair and that you will fail often. But if take you take some risks, step up when the times are toughest, face down the bullies, lift up the downtrodden and never, ever give up — if you do these things, then the next generation and the generations that follow will live in a world far better than the one we have today.

And what started here will indeed have changed the world — for the better.

Thank you very much. Hook 'em horns.

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The speech was originally published on the University of Texas website .

About the author

‍ Daniel Scrivner is an award-winner designer and angel investor. He's led design work at Apple, Square, and now ClassDojo. He's an early investor in Notion, Public.com, and Anduril. He founded Ligature: The Design VC and Outlier Academy . Daniel has interviewed the world’s leading founders and investors including Scott Belsky, Luke Gromen, Kevin Kelly, Gokul Rajaram, and Brian Scudamore.

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William H. McRaven: If You Want to Change the World, Start Off by Making Your Bed

William h. mcraven - change the world.

US Navy Admiral, William H. McRaven, delivers a speech about the importance of doing the little things like making your bed, embracing the fears of life, and changing the world for generations to come.

Transcript:

If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed. If you make your bed every morning, you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and will encourage you to do another task, and another, and another. By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Make your bed will also reinforce the fact that the little things in life matter. If you can't do the little things right, you'll never be able to do the big things right. If, by chance, you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made. That you made. And a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.

To pass SEAL training, there are a series of long swims that must be completed. One is the night swim. Before the swim, the instructors joyfully brief the students on all the species of sharks that inhabit the waters off San Clemente. They assure you, however, that no student has ever been eaten by a shark. At least not that they can remember. But you are also taught that if a shark begins to circle your position, stand your ground. Do not swim away. Do not act afraid. If the shark, hungry for a midnight snack, darts towards you, then summon up all your strength and punch him in the snout, and he will turn and swim away. There are a lot of sharks in the world. If you hope to complete the swim, you will have to deal with them. If you want to change the world, don't back down from the sharks.

Over a few weeks of difficult training, my SEAL class, which started with 150 men, was down to just 42. There are now six boat crews of seven men each. I was in the boat with a tall guys, but the best boat crew we had was made up of little guys, the munchkin crew, we called them. No one was over five foot five. The munchkin boat crew had one American Indian, one African American, one Polish American, one Greek American, one Italian American, and two tough kids from the Midwest. The out-paddled, out-ran, and out-swam all the other boat crews. The big men in the other boat crews would always make good natured fun of the tiny, little flippers the munchkins put on their tiny, little feet prior to every swim. But somehow these little guys, from every corner of the nation in the world, always had the last laugh, swimming faster than everyone and reaching the shore long before the rest of us.

SEAL training was a great equalizer. Nothing mattered but your will to succeed. Not your color, not your ethnic background, not your education, not your social status. If you want to change the world, measure a person by the size of their heart, not by the size of their flippers.

The ninth week of training is referred to as Hell Week. Is it six days of no sleep, constant mental and physical harassment, and one special day at the mud flats. The mud flats are an area between San Diego and Tijuana, where the water runs off and creates the Tijuana sloughs, a swampy patch of terrain where the mud will engulf you.

It is on Wednesday of Hell Week that you paddle down to the mud flats and spend the next 15 hours trying to survive the freezing cold, the howling wind, and the incessant pressure to quit from the instructors. As the sun began to set that Wednesday evening, my training class, having committed some egregious infraction of the rules, was ordered into the mud. The mud consumed each man until there was nothing visible but our heads. The instructors told us we could leave the mud if only five men would quit. Only five men. Just five men and we could get out of the oppressive cold. Looking around the mud flat, it was apparent that some students were about to give up. There were still over eight hours until the sun came up. Eight more hours of bone-chilling cold. The chattering teeth and shivering moans of the trainees were so loud, it was hard to hear anything.

Then one voice began to echo through the night. One voice raised in song. The song was terribly out of tune, but sung with great enthusiasm. One voice became two. And two became three. And before long, everyone in the class was singing. The instructors threatened us with more time in the mud if we kept up the singing, but the singing persisted. And somehow, the mud seemed a little warmer, and the wind a little tamer, and the dawn not so far away.

If I have learned anything in my time traveling the world, it is the power of hope. The power of one person. A Washington, a Lincoln, King, Mandela, and even the young girl from Pakistan, Malala. One person can change the world by giving people hope. So if you want to change the world, start each day with a task completed. Find someone to help you through life. Respect everyone. Know that life is not fair, that you will fail often. But if you take some risks, step up when the times are the toughest, face down the bullies, lift up the downtrodden, and never, ever give up, if you do these things, the next generation and the generations that follow will live in a world far better than the one we have today. And what started here will, indeed, have changed the world for the better.

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Stranger Has No Idea He's Hitting On A Female MMA Fighter

Dating is hard and courtship is confusing. Why does it seem the men we want to approach us never do and the ones we don't, we can't seem to keep away? We've all been there in one way or another. Someone we do or don't know expresses interest in us and the feeling isn't mutual. So what do we do when the feeling isn't mutual? For lots of single women, sometimes lying is easier. There's the old "I have a boyfriend" trick, or grabbing your nearest girlfriend and saying "we're together." Any white lie will do in order to turn the hot pursuit, cold! But sometimes suitors can be persistent. They put up a good fight – and dodging their advances can be a lot like stepping into the boxing ring. Thankfully, this female MMA fighter, Racquel Todor was more than up for the fight. But she had no idea she would soon meet the stranger who would prove to be a worthy opponent.

Stranger Had No Idea Who He Was About To "Hit On"

Racquel Todor, the rising star in the MMA scene, found herself at the center of attention in an unexpected encounter that left her both amused and bemused. It was just another day for Todor, casually going about her business when a stranger approached her, undoubtedly unaware of the caliber of the woman he was about to meet.

In her Instagram post that swiftly went viral, Todor recounted the scene with a wry sense of humor. The stranger's intentions were clear: he aimed to strike up a conversation, perhaps even ask her out. But Todor, like many women, wasn't exactly thrilled by the prospect. Her nonchalant eye roll spoke volumes, a silent protest against the all-too-familiar scenario of unsolicited advances.

Navigating such encounters can feel like dodging punches in the ring for many women, but Todor's background as an MMA fighter gave her a unique perspective. While she may possess the skills to hold her own in a physical altercation, even she acknowledges the challenge of deflecting unwanted attention with grace and poise.

The stranger, oblivious to Todor's skills, unwittingly stumbled into a situation where he was "hitting on" someone who could hit back — both literally and figuratively. Little did he know, his casual approach would soon lead to an unexpected twist that would leave him, and Todor's audience, utterly stunned.

Watch Racquel Todor's Video:

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Tee Rex (@dinosaur.arms)

He Said: "I'm Safe To Reject" And It Made All The Difference

Navigating the world of dating can feel like tiptoeing through a minefield, especially when faced with unwanted advances. Racquel Todor's recent encounter with a stranger hitting on her struck a chord with many women who have found themselves in similar situations.

In the midst of this all-too-common scenario, the stranger's unexpected declaration — "I'm safe to reject" — was a game-changer. It offered Todor a lifeline, a way to gracefully decline without resorting to the usual evasive tactics.

With those four simple words, the stranger shattered the stereotype of rejection leading to hostility or resentment. Instead, he created a space where Todor felt empowered to assert her boundaries without fear of backlash.This small but significant gesture highlights the importance of clear communication and mutual respect in romantic interactions. It's a reminder that consent should never be assumed and that everyone has the right to say no without guilt or judgment.

Women Don't Hate Being "Hit On" — They Hate Feeling Like They Can't "Hit Back"

Todor's experience prompts us to rethink the way we approach dating and relationships. Rather than viewing rejection as a personal affront, we should see it as an opportunity to foster mutual respect and understanding.

"It's not that I dislike being approached," Todor explains. "It's the feeling of being trapped, with no safe exit strategy."

In a culture where the fear of rejection often overshadows genuine connection, Todor's encounter serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of mutual respect. By embracing a mindset of consent and autonomy, we can create a dating landscape where everyone feels valued and respected.

So, the next time you find yourself in a similar situation, remember the significance of those four simple words: "I'm safe to reject." They may just pave the way for a more respectful and empowering approach to dating and relationships.

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Man Still Sends Ex-Wife Anniversary Cards Years After Split

When a couple divorces, it’s because they can no longer be together romantically. But that doesn’t mean that love can’t still exist between two former partners, which this man has proved for the past 22 years.

An Amicable Goodbye

Melvin Tavares and Mary Widman divorced in 2002, yet according to their daughter, Jodylynn Tavares, her father sends her mother an anniversary card or a text message every single year.

“There was only one year that he forgot, and my mom was kind of disappointed about it,” Jodylynn told People .

The 24-year-old was three when her parents divorced, but she has fond memories of how they co-parented her and her sister. That includes her dad sending her mom sentimental messages and cards, which could be considered a marker of the past and what their marriage represented.

“My dad always picks cartoon and funny cards. He isn’t a mushy card buyer. My dad usually writes, ‘Happy Anniversary Wifie, love Mel,’” Jodylynn continued.

“I think it shows that he still loves my mom, but not romantically. They both are living different lives; he does it out of respect. He still refers to her as his ‘wifie.’ My dad doesn’t mean any harm or have bad intentions; he is just a sentimental, mushy kind of guy.”

A Positive Upbringing

@jodylynntavares not the $1 bill

This year, Jodylynn marked the anniversary by sharing her parents’ story on TikTok. The video she shared, which included her mom receiving a card and a $1 bill, went viral. That’s likely because the heartwarming story is a positive example of co-parenting and being there for your kids, even when you can no longer be together.

To People , Jodylynn added that she and her sister lived with their mom in Hawaii for most of their childhood but spent summers with their dad.

“My mom was good and never talked bad about my dad,” she continued. “She always said that just because she couldn’t be married to him didn’t mean that he wasn’t still our dad. My parents were always on their best behavior when together for graduations, my sister’s wedding, and now they have grandkids together.”

Jodylynn also revealed that her mom has probably thrown away most of the cards she’s received, but she still has the one from the viral video.

“Married at one time but will always be connected to each other. My parents still love each other, but not romantically,” Jodylynn added.

Embracing the Love

When you’re hurt or disappointed to no longer have the life you once envisioned for yourself, it can be hard to forgive and move on with love in your heart. That’s especially true if someone who was supposed to be your life partner hurt you or acted unforgivably. However, there are circumstances where a positive post-divorce relationship can exist, and this story is one of them.

If you’re able to, working through the pain and remembering the love that brought you together in the first place — for the sake of kids or even for yourself — is essential to healing and growing. Making room for forgiveness and love can be powerful, and it can create surprising long-term bonds.

At the very least, it can help you get back to you after a period of loss and grieving. As with anything in life, letting go of what you thought was supposed to happen and making the best of the reality of a situation will open the door to happiness and success.

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Adm. McRaven Urges Graduates to Find Courage to Change the World

Naval Adm. William H. McRaven, ninth commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, delivered a memorable speech at the University-wide Commencement on May 17. See the full transcript.

View 10 Life Lessons from Admiral McRaven .

The following are the remarks by Naval Adm. William H. McRaven, ninth commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, at the University-wide Commencement at The University of Texas at Austin on May 17:

President Powers, Provost Fenves, Deans, members of the faculty, family and friends and most importantly, the class of 2014. Congratulations on your achievement.

It’s been almost 37 years to the day that I graduated from UT. I remember a lot of things about that day. I remember I had throbbing headache from a party the night before. I remember I had a serious girlfriend, whom I later married — that’s important to remember by the way — and I remember that I was getting commissioned in the Navy that day.

But of all the things I remember, I don’t have a clue who the commencement speaker was that evening, and I certainly don’t remember anything they said. So, acknowledging that fact, if I can’t make this commencement speech memorable, I will at least try to make it short.

The University’s slogan is, “What starts here changes the world.” I have to admit — I kinda like it. “What starts here changes the world.”

Tonight there are almost 8,000 students graduating from UT. That great paragon of analytical rigor, Ask.Com, says that the average American will meet 10,000 people in their lifetime. That’s a lot of folks. But, if every one of you changed the lives of just 10 people — and each one of those folks changed the lives of another 10 people — just 10 — then in five generations — 125 years — the class of 2014 will have changed the lives of 800 million people.

800 million people — think of it — over twice the population of the United States. Go one more generation and you can change the entire population of the world — eight billion people.

If you think it’s hard to change the lives of 10 people — change their lives forever — you’re wrong. I saw it happen every day in Iraq and Afghanistan: A young Army officer makes a decision to go left instead of right down a road in Baghdad and the 10 soldiers in his squad are saved from close-in ambush. In Kandahar province, Afghanistan, a non-commissioned officer from the Female Engagement Team senses something isn’t right and directs the infantry platoon away from a 500-pound IED, saving the lives of a dozen soldiers.

But, if you think about it, not only were these soldiers saved by the decisions of one person, but their children yet unborn were also saved. And their children’s children were saved. Generations were saved by one decision, by one person.

But changing the world can happen anywhere and anyone can do it. So, what starts here can indeed change the world, but the question is — what will the world look like after you change it?

Our struggles in this world are similar, and the lessons to overcome those struggles and to move forward — changing ourselves and the world around us — will apply equally to all.

So, here are the 10 lessons I learned from basic SEAL training that hopefully will be of value to you as you move forward in life.

If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter. If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.

And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made — that you made — and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.

If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.

For the boat to make it to its destination, everyone must paddle. You can’t change the world alone — you will need some help — and to truly get from your starting point to your destination takes friends, colleagues, the good will of strangers and a strong coxswain to guide them.

If you want to change the world, find someone to help you paddle.

SEAL training was a great equalizer. Nothing mattered but your will to succeed. Not your color, not your ethnic background, not your education and not your social status.

If you want to change the world, measure a person by the size of their heart, not the size of their flippers.

Several times a week, the instructors would line up the class and do a uniform inspection. It was exceptionally thorough. Your hat had to be perfectly starched, your uniform immaculately pressed and your belt buckle shiny and void of any smudges. But it seemed that no matter how much effort you put into starching your hat, or pressing your uniform or polishing your belt buckle — it just wasn’t good enough. The instructors would find “something” wrong.

Sometimes no matter how well you prepare or how well you perform you still end up as a sugar cookie. It’s just the way life is sometimes.

If you want to change the world get over being a sugar cookie and keep moving forward.

No one wanted a circus.

A circus meant that for that day you didn’t measure up. A circus meant more fatigue — and more fatigue meant that the following day would be more difficult — and more circuses were likely. But at some time during SEAL training, everyone — everyone — made the circus list.