Make Your Bed - William H. McRaven
Penguin Random House UK
Sometimes we all need a pep talk. We need something to jolt us out of autopilot and make us look at things just that little bit differently. We need a spark of sage advice from someone who has been there and lived it. A story told with heart and optimism so powerful it can bring the passion back into life and redefine the mundane.
On 17 May 2014, Admiral William H. McRaven gave one hell of a pep talk to the graduating class of the University of Texas at Austin on their Commencement Day. It has since been streamed over 7 million times on YouTube and become a number one New York Times Bestseller.
The speech is good. The book is better.
Admiral McRaven served for the best part of 4 decades in the US Navy. He has a story or two to tell of testing times, resilience and the emotional highs and lows of it all. His speech, and in more detail his book, focuses on the ten principles he learnt during Navy Seal training that helped him overcome challenges on the job and in his life.
*spoiler / not spoiler alert (because it’s the stories that count)* this extract will give you a flavour of the ten.
“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 when the times are toughest, face down the bullies, lift up the downtrodden, and never, ever give up...” then McRaven recons you’ll be alright.
He actually ends with “Hook’em, Horns”... I think that’s a Texan thing.
Read a copy and pass it on. Happy to share our Bumblebee Collective copy, just drop us a message and we’ll start the chain.
Book Review: Make Your Bed - William H. McRaven