recently I’ve read a commencement speech
given by Supreme Court Justice John
Roberts he’s delivering the speech to
his son’s ninth grade graduating class
and I thought it was so revolutionary I
thought everybody needed hear this but
prior to me reading it to you I want to
tell you about how important this is
people ask me they say Pat why do you
think you are where you are today well
very simple I lived in Iran I
experienced what war was and I hated it
as a kid I had fear of my spirit when we
came to Germany I was discriminated
lived at a refugee camp I came to the
States and my parents got a divorce my
mother cried straight six years straight
every day she cried because in a Middle
Eastern culture when a husband and wife
get a divorce it’s very difficult on the
wife
and so I’m witnessing her pain every day
every day I started working out because
I just wanted to find a way to you know
release this tension and anger and
temper that I had at this age of 14 to
18 years old and I hated it then I go
into the army and I’m the only Iranian
at the army I have large white Hispanic
and african-american and Asian and
they’re looking at me were you from why
this guy looked the way he does with the
big ears and nose and Middle Eastern and
big guy and all this other stuff and
then I went into business and I had to
fight my way to the top in a company in
an industry that’s predominantly white
Caucasian insurance industry the average
agent is a 59 year old white male with a
four-year degree and I’m a 23 year old
middle-eastern from Iran without a
4-year degree how am I going to make in
that industry and when we started the
insurance company had a guy named Ed
that bullied us non-stop every day
spreading rumors lies all this other
stuff and another guy named Shawn and
the list goes on one day this whole
story will be told and then we get to
where we are today
that we’ve had nine quarters of the
company growing that the top-line
revenue is beat in the prior record and
people ask me what is the key to success
every one of those tough times that I
had a heartbreak my first girlfriend our
iris that I love you in the army
groaning Monica who when I get out two
weeks that I’m supposed to have her come
to Allen’s stay with me she gets into a
car accident and
first Gladwell said I love you to all of
those things are the reasons why I am
Who I am today and this Supreme Court
justice the speech he’s given he goes
into a direction which I am so aligned
with this message and I think every
teenager young entrepreneur grown man
grown woman needs to hear this message
let me read you the part that is the
main part so he’s going into this talk
and and all of a sudden transitions and
he says now the commencement speakers
will typically also wish you good luck
and extend good wishes to you I will not
do that and I’ll tell you why from time
to time in the years to come I hope you
will be treated unfairly so that you
will come to know the value of justice I
hope that you will suffer betrayal
because that will teach you the
importance of loyalty sorry to say but I
hope you will be lonely from time to
time so you don’t take your friends for
granted I wish you bad luck again from
time to time so that you will be
conscious of the role of chance in life
and understand that your success is not
completely deserved and that the failure
of others is not completely deserved
either and when you lose as you will
from time to time I hope every now and
then your opponent will gloat over your
failure it is a way for you to
understand the importance of
sportsmanship I hope you’ll be ignored
so you know the importance of listening
to others and hope you will have just
enough paint or wrong compassion whether
I wish these things or not that are
going to happen and whether you benefit
from them or not will depend upon your
ability to see the message and your
misfortunes that’s how we finishes up
the message I think sometimes we want
anything life’s I think sometimes we
want everybody to love us and buy from
us and so easy it’s so greater to all
the time and we all my mom during
treatment she didn’t tell me I was
special my dad didn’t do this to me my
ex cheated on me my expertise and this
person did this and my friend did this
and my boss oh my gosh this is why I’m
loosen
those are all the reasons why you have a
shot at doing something big with your
life those are all the reasons those are
all the reasons why you can use as an
ammunition to save some world I’m coming
I’m gonna do something big with my life
and no one expected so rather than
looking at someone
these tough times that you may be going
through today and that you will be going
through in the future because depending
on whatever age you are you go from
going to birthdays to going to weddings
to go on a birthday kids being born to
go into kids birthday parties then you
go to funerals no matter what we’re all
going to funerals eventually if you
haven’t already started going to
funerals that’s called life and the
sooner you anticipate tough times and
the sooner you overcome every single one
of these tough times that you think
you’re the only one that’s going through
it when they’re going to look up and
people going to look at you as an
example of somebody who was tough enough
to go through the difficult times and
now they’re a leader winning big and they one day want to be just like you
given by Supreme Court Justice John
Roberts he’s delivering the speech to
his son’s ninth grade graduating class
and I thought it was so revolutionary I
thought everybody needed hear this but
prior to me reading it to you I want to
tell you about how important this is
people ask me they say Pat why do you
think you are where you are today well
very simple I lived in Iran I
experienced what war was and I hated it
as a kid I had fear of my spirit when we
came to Germany I was discriminated
lived at a refugee camp I came to the
States and my parents got a divorce my
mother cried straight six years straight
every day she cried because in a Middle
Eastern culture when a husband and wife
get a divorce it’s very difficult on the
wife
and so I’m witnessing her pain every day
every day I started working out because
I just wanted to find a way to you know
release this tension and anger and
temper that I had at this age of 14 to
18 years old and I hated it then I go
into the army and I’m the only Iranian
at the army I have large white Hispanic
and african-american and Asian and
they’re looking at me were you from why
this guy looked the way he does with the
big ears and nose and Middle Eastern and
big guy and all this other stuff and
then I went into business and I had to
fight my way to the top in a company in
an industry that’s predominantly white
Caucasian insurance industry the average
agent is a 59 year old white male with a
four-year degree and I’m a 23 year old
middle-eastern from Iran without a
4-year degree how am I going to make in
that industry and when we started the
insurance company had a guy named Ed
that bullied us non-stop every day
spreading rumors lies all this other
stuff and another guy named Shawn and
the list goes on one day this whole
story will be told and then we get to
where we are today
that we’ve had nine quarters of the
company growing that the top-line
revenue is beat in the prior record and
people ask me what is the key to success
every one of those tough times that I
had a heartbreak my first girlfriend our
iris that I love you in the army
groaning Monica who when I get out two
weeks that I’m supposed to have her come
to Allen’s stay with me she gets into a
car accident and
first Gladwell said I love you to all of
those things are the reasons why I am
Who I am today and this Supreme Court
justice the speech he’s given he goes
into a direction which I am so aligned
with this message and I think every
teenager young entrepreneur grown man
grown woman needs to hear this message
let me read you the part that is the
main part so he’s going into this talk
and and all of a sudden transitions and
he says now the commencement speakers
will typically also wish you good luck
and extend good wishes to you I will not
do that and I’ll tell you why from time
to time in the years to come I hope you
will be treated unfairly so that you
will come to know the value of justice I
hope that you will suffer betrayal
because that will teach you the
importance of loyalty sorry to say but I
hope you will be lonely from time to
time so you don’t take your friends for
granted I wish you bad luck again from
time to time so that you will be
conscious of the role of chance in life
and understand that your success is not
completely deserved and that the failure
of others is not completely deserved
either and when you lose as you will
from time to time I hope every now and
then your opponent will gloat over your
failure it is a way for you to
understand the importance of
sportsmanship I hope you’ll be ignored
so you know the importance of listening
to others and hope you will have just
enough paint or wrong compassion whether
I wish these things or not that are
going to happen and whether you benefit
from them or not will depend upon your
ability to see the message and your
misfortunes that’s how we finishes up
the message I think sometimes we want
anything life’s I think sometimes we
want everybody to love us and buy from
us and so easy it’s so greater to all
the time and we all my mom during
treatment she didn’t tell me I was
special my dad didn’t do this to me my
ex cheated on me my expertise and this
person did this and my friend did this
and my boss oh my gosh this is why I’m
loosen
those are all the reasons why you have a
shot at doing something big with your
life those are all the reasons those are
all the reasons why you can use as an
ammunition to save some world I’m coming
I’m gonna do something big with my life
and no one expected so rather than
looking at someone
these tough times that you may be going
through today and that you will be going
through in the future because depending
on whatever age you are you go from
going to birthdays to going to weddings
to go on a birthday kids being born to
go into kids birthday parties then you
go to funerals no matter what we’re all
going to funerals eventually if you
haven’t already started going to
funerals that’s called life and the
sooner you anticipate tough times and
the sooner you overcome every single one
of these tough times that you think
you’re the only one that’s going through
it when they’re going to look up and
people going to look at you as an
example of somebody who was tough enough
to go through the difficult times and
now they’re a leader winning big and they one day want to be just like you
Please follow and like us: