On May 17, 2014, Admiral William H. McRaven, a commander in the U.S. Special Operations Command and alumnus of the University of Texas at Austin, spoke at the institution's 2014 commencement ceremony. To this day, it is still my favorite commencement speech; my dad showed it to me before my high school graduation in 2014 and these 10 lessons that Admiral McRaven shares from his six months of Navy Seal training have carried me through the peaks and valleys of life. With UT Austin's motto in mind, "What starts here changes the world," Admiral McRaven asks what the world would look life if each person made positive changes to it. Though he learned these important lessons in the military, he stresses that they apply to each and every person regardless of their ethnic background, gender, and or socioeconomic class. Take these lessons and the stories behind them into consideration as we begin a new week.

Lesson 1:

Admiral McRaven explained that in seal training, the students had to make their beds perfectly each day.

"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. And at the end of the day, that one task completed will turn into many tasks completed... and if by chance that you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made."

Lesson 2:

During seal training, the students were broken down into boat crews, three on each side of the boat and with one coxswain. They had to get through the surf zone and paddle several miles down the coast, which he explained was always very difficult with the high surf. Every paddle had to be synchronized to the count and everyone was expected put in equal effort or the boat would not make it to its destination.

"You can't change the world alone. You will need some help and to truly get to from your starting point to your destination, take 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."

Lesson 3:

He recalled that there was a "munchkin crew" in the larger group of trainees. None of the men were over 5 feet and 5 inches tall, and it was diverse group from all over the world.

"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 would put on their tiny little feet before every swim... 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."

Lesson 4:

The students had uniform inspection several times a week. Their uniform had to be immaculate and perfectly intact but no matter how hard they tried to get it just right, the instructors always found something wrong. The punishment of an imperfect uniform was being wet and sandy all day; they called this being a "sugar cookie."

"Those students didn't understand the purpose of the drill. You were never gonna succeed. You were never gonna have a perfect uniform. The instructors weren't going to allow it. Sometimes no matter how well you prepare or how well your perform, you still end up as a sugar cookie. It's just the way life is sometimes. If you wanna change the world, get over being a sugar cookie and keep moving forward."

Lesson 5:

The students had physical events every day of training -- long runs, long swims, obstacle courses, and hours of calisthenics. They had standards that they had to meet and if you didn't meet the standards, you had to go to what was called "the circus," an additional two hours of calisthenics that was designed to bring you down physically and mentally. Everyone made the circus list at some point and those who were constantly on it, got tougher and tougher.

"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."

Lesson 6:

Twice a week, the trainees were required to run the obstacle course. It was very difficult and the toughest obstacle in the entire course was called the "slide for life." The record seemed unbeatable and had been for years until one day a student decided to go down the rope head first, a dangerous and somewhat impulsive decision. That student amazingly broke the record by a landslide.

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

Lesson 7:

The trainees were flown out to San Clemente, off coast of San Diego, for a night swim. This area is a breeding ground for great white sharks but the men were taught that if any shark were to come near to stand their ground and be defensive.

"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."

Lesson 8:

As navy seals, the men had to conduct underwater attacks against enemy shipping. They practiced this a bunch during training. Students were dropped off outside an enemy harbor and then swam over two miles underwater with only a little bit of light, which eventually faded as the students approached the ship. They had to find the keel, which lied the center, deepest part under the ship. It's entirely pitch-black and it's so loud under the ship, it's almost deafening.

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

Lesson 9:

The ninth week of training is known as "hell week" and it's six days of no rest. The trainees spent a day at Mud Flats, between San Diego and Tijuana, a swampy patch of mud that will engulf one's entire body. They had to withstand the freezing cold mud for eight hours and the instructors informed them that only five people had to quit for them to leave. Instead, one guy began singing with enthusiasm and eventually, everyone else sang along. Admiral McRaven stated that it became a little less cold and a bit more bearable. That one person gave all those men faith in themselves.

"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, Mandella and even a young girl from Pakistan—Mallah—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."

Lesson 10:

Admiral McRaven said that in seal training, there was a brass bell; it was a bell that hung in the center of the compound. If a trainee rang the bell, it was the signal that they are quitting. One ring of the bell and all the early morning wake-up calls, tiring workouts, and harsh training conditions would be done with.

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

He concludes, "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–if you do these things, then 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."

I hope this article gives readers a little extra inspiration for the week ahead. Let's change the world one day at a time! Admiral McRaven certainly believes in our ability to do so.

Here is the link to Admiral McRaven's 2014 Commencement Speech at UT Austin. The speech is truly worth taking 20 minutes out of your day to watch, listen and reflect!