Best commencement speech ever? Admiral McRaven at University of Texas: “Changing the world can happen anywhere”

“If you want to change the world, don’t ever, ever ring the bell.”

Admiral William H. McRaven did not promise the University of Texas class of 2014 an easy road. He promised them, and every one of us who have listened to it since, something better: a way to face the hard one.

Speaking at UT Austin’s university-wide commencement, the retired Navy SEAL and former commander of U.S. Special Operations Command delivered what has since become one of the most famous graduation speeches of the last decade. He made those gathered laugh, but beneath the humor was the kind of advice that really hits home.

Please watch it for yourself, even if not for the first time... it’ll give you a lift.

Why Admiral McRaven’s commencement speech went viral

McRaven began with a joke about not remembering his own commencement speaker, then quickly turned to the university’s slogan: “What starts here changes the world.”

His message was not that graduates needed fame, money or power to make an impact. In fact, he said the opposite. “Changing the world can happen anywhere and anyone can do it,” he told the crowd. He explained the exponential impact of everyone graduating changing the lives of just 10 people.

From there, he walked through 10 lessons from Navy SEAL training, each one tied to a vivid story from Coronado, California.

What was the famous ‘make your bed’ lesson

The best-known moment came early. McRaven explained that SEAL trainees had to make their beds perfectly every morning. It seemed small, even silly, but the point of it was simply discipline.

Start the day by completing one task, he said, and it becomes easier to complete another. Little things matter. And after a miserable day, at least you come home to a bed you made yourself.

That line became the heart of McRaven’s message: if you want to change the world, start by making your bed. I laugh at myself when I remember this each morning... but then sort out the pillows.

A Navy SEAL guide to life

The speech also moved through lessons about teamwork, failure, courage and hope. McRaven told graduates to find someone to help them paddle and to judge people by the size of their heart, not their flippers. He also said they should accept that life will sometimes turn you into a “sugar cookie,” cold, wet and covered in sand.

He urged them not to fear failure, not to back down from “sharks,” and to be their best in the darkest moments. In one of his most moving stories, he recalled a brutal night in the mud during SEAL training, when one trainee began singing, even though it was “terribly out of tune.” Soon, the whole class joined in.

The lesson: even just one person can give others hope. Powerful, right?

Why McRaven’s speech still works

McRaven’s speech endures because it doesn’t try to sound grand. It turns life advice into images anyone can remember: a made bed, a rubber boat, a brass bell, a dark swim under a ship. Visualization works.

And his final warning was the simplest of all, at least to understand. In SEAL training, anyone who wanted to quit could ring a bell. McRaven told the graduates that, whatever happened next, they should never ring it.

For a commencement speech, that is about as memorable as it gets. Go give it another listen, then get on with changing the world...

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