Seven Lessons from Taylor Swift to the Class of 2022

Taylor Swift Delivers New York University 2022 Commencement Address

Photo: Getty Images

Taylor Swift gave the commencement address to New York University's class of 2022 at Yankee Stadium yesterday. And she doled out some legit advice to the grads. Here are seven highlights:

 

1.  You Didn't Do It Alone: "We are each a patchwork quilt of those who have loved us; those who have believed in our futures, those who showed us empathy and kindness or told us the truth even when it wasn't easy to hear. Those who told us we could do it when there was absolutely no proof of that." She added that if those people are still in your life, make sure you show them some gratitude.

2.  You Get What You Get . . . It's What You Do With It: "You don't always get all the things in the bag that you selected from the menu in the delivery service that is life. You get what you get. And as I would like to say to you, you should be very proud of what you've done with it."

3.  Learn to Catch and Release: "You can't carry all things, all grudges, all updates on your ex, all enviable promotions your school bully got at the hedge fund his uncle started. Decide what is yours to hold and let the rest go . . . You get to pick what your life has time and room for. Be discerning."

4.  Embrace the Cringe: "I promise you, you're probably doing or wearing something right now that you will look back on later and find revolting and hilarious. You can't avoid it, so don't try to . . . Trends and phases are fun. Looking back and laughing is fun."

5.  Effortlessness Is a Myth: "Never be ashamed of trying . . . The people who wanted it the least were the ones I wanted to date and be friends with in high school. The people who want it most are the people I now hire to work for my company."

6.  Mistakes Do Not Equal Failure: "In your life, you will inevitably misspeak, trust the wrong people, underreact, overreact, hurt the people who didn't deserve it, overthink, not think at all, self-sabotage . . . And I'm not gonna lie, these mistakes will cause you to lose things. I'm trying to tell you that losing things doesn't just mean losing. A lot of the time, when we lose things, we gain things too."

7.  Breathe In, Breathe Through, Breathe Deep, Breathe Out: "Hard things will happen to us. We will recover. We will learn from it. We will grow more resilient because of it. As long as we are fortunate enough to be breathing, we will breathe in, breathe through, breathe deep, breathe out." 

 The entire speech was great! You can watch it here.

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