The other day it was my huge honour to deliver the commencement address at the University College London (UCL) MBA Graduation.

Sitting in the front row and wearing my university robes for the first time in 20 years, I was humbled to hear from the graduating students how much they had sacrificed to complete their studies over four years alongside busy day jobs. And the common threads in each person's story were the human connections that they had made through the programme.

I talked about how my deepest underlying sense of purpose is about finding freedom to choose, and helping others to find their own freedom. Here is a little of what I said:

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"𝘔𝘺 𝙐𝙣𝙡𝙤𝙘𝙠 𝙈𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯.

𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯.

𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦.

𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦.

𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥.

𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴.

𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘦.

Society makes us feel that some paths are better than others. Doctor, lawyer, engineer, professor, CEO.

But here, in simplicity, is the truth.

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘴.

𝘖𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶."

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When I spoke to people afterwards, the message that resonated the most was how we need to find time to pause and reflect, and through reflection we can find our own control and freedom.

Next time you’re feeling overwhelmed and out of control, find a pause, even a short one, so you can be more intentional about choosing the path ahead that’s exactly right for you.

Have a good week!

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The Unlock Moment podcast is brought to you by Dr Gary Crotaz, PhD. Downloaded in over 120 countries. Sign up to The Unlock Moment newsletter at https://tinyurl.com/ywhdaazp Find out more at https://garycrotaz.com and https://theunlockmoment.com