Not that anyone asked me to address the graduating class of 2026, but I do have some hard-learned lessons I’d like to share with the class of 2026, both high school and college.
Given that I have both a college graduate and a high school graduate in my family this year, it’s certainly something that’s been on my mind these past few months.
So...What a world, eh?!
There’s so much terrifying news wherever you turn. But there’s also so much good news too. People are living longer, thanks to medical technology, and that is only going to improve during your lifetimes. Some of you will live to 120 years old and doing so might be common by 2030.
Technology, while far from perfect or even positive some days, is also moving at leaps and bounds that will bring challenges during your lives – but also opportunities.
And let’s not forget how lucky you all are to be in America and getting an American education. That’s nothing to sneeze at. This country offers more opportunity than just about any country in the world. You’ve been given a great gift and you should make the most of it.
That’s part of the trick of life: count your blessings and don’t take a turn to negative town. While the world will seem dark at some points, there’s always something to look forward to, or a new road to take that might not have been there before.
Life is going to throw at you plenty of curve balls. You can bet on that with maximum confidence.
Nothing in this world is fixed or permanent. Not your career choice, not the structure of the country, not the economic model you’re going to live under. Nothing is permanent but change. And being able to adapt has always been a part of life.
Refusing to change with the times has always been a fruitless strategy.
Sometimes you’ll have to watch as a great deal of work doesn't work out as you hoped it would. This, as Rudyard Kipling so well wrote in his amazing poem “If,” is when you have to pick it all up and start again.
“If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss” then you have succeeded in life.
Now let’s talk now about taking chances.
Fortune favors the bold. That’s as simple as “scared money don’t make money.”
Today, you’re as young as you’ll ever be. And I’m guessing that most of you don’t have families to support or mouths to feed besides your own.
So now (and the decade or so ahead) is when it’s time to say yes to adventure. Say yes to a friend who is starting a company. Say yes to moving to Paris without knowing French or anyone besides a few people at the job. Say yes to sailing around on some sailboats for a few months. Say yes to moving to the west coast to see what’s going on out there. Say yes to going backpacking around Asia. Say yes to anything that might build character.
This is important because when you look back, when you’re in your 40s, it will astound you how little you had to lose from taking a few calculated risks. The payoff on these kind of risks while in your 20s can change the whole trajectory of your life and make you a far more interesting person than one that never took a risk in their life.
And that’s what AI can’t replace: Actual Intelligence. The AI machine will be hard pressed to help you make a friend at a company that you want to work for and can get you an interview. It will never be able to read a situation that feels off and makes you think that maybe something is suspect.
It will never be able to make a friend and build trust, trust that leads to building something new. A new career. A new way to see the world.
AI is a tool. And I mean that in all the ways. It is smart, yes. But I assure you that intelligence (or lack thereof) hasn’t stopped a great deal of people from climbing to places that they probably didn't deserve to be at.
Those people did it by building bonds, making friends, earning favors, learning secrets, and finding shared interests and problems to solve. And, when all else fails, being just a generally open and warm person that isn’t too judgmental is also a proven track to take.
I know it seems daunting to set off into a crazy world. But you can do this. I promise you that we adults are also waking up everyday, wondering what the new day will bring and what changes might be ahead.
The actionable steps I think you should take are simple but not easy. Push yourself to read books, talk to strangers, don’t be afraid of rejection and embrace the change. Read the business section. Go to strange places. Take time for yourself. Take time for your family.
And don’t try to fight the change. It’s rolling down the track anyway, so what’s the use? Trying to keep things from changing is an old mans game. Don’t play that game. You have too much road ahead of you.
Humans have been through great changes before. Far greater times of chaos than this time we’re living in. Think about people living through the French Revolution and how much change that must have involved. Or the American Civil war. That had to be absolutely terrifying.
But for those who rode the tsunami of change and adapted, those who kept their heads about them when those around them were losing their cool, for those people who stayed the course, the good times eventually arrived again.
So I say be bold. Don’t cower behind your phone. Go out there and get it. And embrace the fight for what you want. There will be setbacks and those just make the wins that much sweeter. As Tyler Durden says in "Fight Club": "How much can you know about yourself if you've never been in a fight?"
You all had a childhood that involved the Covid shutdowns. You’ve been through hard times before and it just made you stronger.
I wish you the best of luck and all of the success that you can dream of.
Thank you