Tonight, I am here to congratulate all of you on your hard work finishing school and making it to graduation. No matter what happens, no one can take this moment or this achievement away from you. You have all done a great thing, and you are now stepping out into life as an adult. You will be launching careers, building businesses, maybe starting a family, and changing the world.
As you move forward, you take with you all that you have learned and all your experiences so far, both in school and in life. These will shape the person that you are now and the person who you will become in the future. You need to keep all the things that you have learned but also remain open to learning more. As the world changes you will need to change with it, adapt to the way that things are done and learn the new processes and developments. No matter what job, career, or business you build the technology and needs will constantly be evolving. I always said to myself: “Asif Ali Gohar, move with the time”!
Always look forward. Pay attention to what others are doing around you. Other companies, other people, other cultures. There are ideas everywhere and nearly endless inspiration for them if you just pay attention to what is going on around you. This will help you to develop your own new ideas and keep up with the others.
Ongoing education is a great tool for learning new ways to do things and to keep up to date with technology. Take the classes, go to the conferences, try new things every year. Continue to grow, both in your profession and your personal life, because it is not all about work but about the living you do in the other hours. Take a class on something that is unrelated to what you do, take an art class, a cooking class, or a join a team. It is important to enjoy all areas of life, to travel, to read, watch movies made in other countries, listen to music, or watch a ballet. Expand your horizons as often as you can, even if it’s without leaving home.
You can create your life in the way that you want, surround yourself with people who make you happy, do things that you love, and find hobbies you enjoy. Don’t work just to work all the time, but to grow and learn and become better. Build a network of people with similar passions and interests. Networking never ends, but it doesn’t have to be stuffy meetings in boardrooms, it can be eating at a new restaurant with a colleague, having lunch with the new person at work, or saying good morning to everyone you pass and learn something about everyone you work with. A network of professionals in the same or similar industries will provide growth opportunities but also help you to grow as a person. Take this foundation that you have built and create a wonderful future with it.