Let’s all make our beds!

This short little book — which I listened to, read by the author — is an expansion of William H. McRaven’s commencement speech to the graduating class of the University of Texas at Austin in 2014. Apparently the speech, which covers 10 important life lessons that McRaven learned in the military, went viral. So he wrote a book explaining each in more detail.

“The common people and the great men and women are all defined by how they deal with life’s unfairness: Helen Keller, Nelson Mandela, Stephen Hawking, Malala Yousafzai, and—Moki Martin. Sometimes no matter how hard you try, no matter how good you are, you still end up as a sugar cookie. Don’t complain. Don’t blame it on your misfortune. Stand tall, look to the future, and drive on!”

The lessons are simple — make your bed, work as a team — but can be applied to anything from SEAL training to doing well at your job. It’s a quick, often humorous read and McRaven makes it interesting rather than lecture-y (obviously a word). I recommend the audio version — took just an hour or so to listen to, and kept my attention while running.