Building a Life - Howard H. Stevenson (2013)

Howard H. Stevenson, Sarofim-Rock Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus

Video from 2013

[paulocorreiafilho]

One of the wisest things I've done in my life is trying to learn English. I'm not fluent, but I can, with some difficulty, understand. And man, a world opened up to me! So many lectures, videos, classes, documentaries etc that I would not have access otherwise, because not everything has subtitles. This lesson is an example.

[s.t.]

Success is sleeping in the night having peace of mind, free of burdens and worry free

[Cmroi]

47:03 “Everyone’s outside looks better than my inside” - a perfect summation of social media, influencer culture and the pressures it causes people young and old. Many fantastic lessons in this lecture.

[rebeccahuang]

1. achievement (who are we comparing ourselves to? past, present, or future? positive drivers or negative drivers ? )
twins >>> envy, greed, and fear OR recognition, pride and mastery
2. significance (I want to help other people, but who to help, and what i want to do for it? an internal and external choice)
twins >>> fairness, generosity, and caring [external] OR power and selfish
3. happiness (me and now)
twins >>> contentment, fulfilment OR laziness gluttony
4. legacy (other people define our legacy, our impact in the future) are uncorrelated.
twins >>> altruism and generative desire OR fear of death and need for control
Paradox example: an increase in legacy means a decrease in achievement.

> impact about me alone or others?
> context: ski to where the puck will be not where it is now.
> values: family influences.
> juggling and not balance

* Life has a timeline, as in we have different focus at different stage. (Why does it have to be that way? I will need to decide on my own.)
* Part 3: What is enough? (what are your values? measure my way of giving away money)
* Frank Batton (Landmark Communications): "Profit is constraint, not my goal. If I don't make enough money, I will be out of business. But it I make too much, that means I am not reinvesting enough into my people, community, and product."
* Inflection point: Is this freeing me in making a change in my direction?
* Culture matters: I might have failed in the wrong culture.
* Do not try to change the past, learn from it, and move forward.
* Get specific advice from specific people.
* ripples > splash
* Nothing is wrong with money, but the riches of your life won't be measure by it.

[steverrobbins]

Howard was one of my professors at HBS. He is a humble man, and a source of great wisdom. I'm honored to have studied with him.

[christineesser]

A lifetime worth of wisdom unpacked in less than an hour. Thank you.

[emmettob]

when you really have built a life where you're successful, you don't need to throw anybody under the bus, you don't need any external measurement, its being at the top of a mountain you've been climbing that doesn't exist for anybody else, but seeing that everybody else has their own mountains too

[eaaeeeea]

Listening to this guy I feel like I'm on a right path as a 29 year old. I have a lot of things I can be happy about now, and a will to go to a direction that is potentially good for me.

[charlotteroy]

My life began when I first saw this video, a year later I'm in a different financial world ❤🙏🙏

[psalm]

My father died with his bride of 50+ years that he loved deeply and his 7 children and his 30+ grandchildren around him. Extremely loved. The world would not look at him as a success but when I walked away from the body, I realized he was a great success. His last act was to make the sign of the cross as his trusted his last to his God. Read Eccliastes and you will see the things that are vanity and the things are worth it.

[cpruns]

I loved how he opened with the fact he died (and by all accounts should be dead) and you know in that moment he is going to give you the goods. This guy has nothing left to hold back or sugar coat. What an amazing video. How does this only have 700K views? The one I loved was the point about juggling. Every time you touch a ball you give it energy. Every time we "touch" something in our lives we need to give it energy.

[KK-bcok]

Marry someone who is happy. Great advice.

[javi_park]

"nothing wrong with money, but the riches of your life won’t be measured by it".

[Murder.dron.N.toonso]

8 YEARS LATER & HIS ADVICE LIVES ON, THANK YOU SIR!!!

[manmohanmitruka]

success is getting what you want and happiness is wanting what you get!

[gmoy]

1. strive for accomplishment and a legacy
2. happiness is a mixture of different things; juggling your goals according to set limits is a useful skill.

[BenX]

So I just watched a fantastic presentation from Harvard that was held 8 years ago. What a time to be alive!

[JaneDoe-prbl]

Marry a happy person! So true. This man has lots of wisdom to share.

[williambiancucci]

So much wisdom packed into fewer than 60 min, wow. Thank you Professor Stevenson, HBS, and YouTube!

[micaonyx]

This is my first time seeing this gentleman, not sure why he showed up in my suggestion but glad he did. To me one of the saddest thing in the world is measuring your success by other people and trying to keep up or even out do them even though it's NOT what you actually want. I compete with myself and only me, so when my friends achieve success I'm genuinely happy for them because their success doesn't diminish mines.