If you don’t know who Casey Neistat is, just think of your typical YouTuber with his iconic pair of sunglasses, rides around on his electric skateboard in New York City while vlogging, and inspires millions of people every single day. Casey has been known for his extremely high quality filmmaking talent, but more specifically for his outlook on work, play, and turning dreams into reality.
Casey recently came to CMU to give a lecture to teach us just that. His advice to us college students is to realize and figure out our dreams. In his terms, these were not the same thing. Figuring out our dreams is easy, but realizing them is the hard part. We are engulfed in a society of people who love telling other people what to do. As a result, all we do is go through the motions because that’s what we’ve been told to do, without taking a minute to acknowledge what we want to do, even if it means straying from the status quo.
This past weekend, we also had Freddy Anzures speak at our TEDxCMU event. Being a CMU alumni, Anzures has certainly mastered the art of putting his heart in the work. However, I’m not even sure this is a skill that all CMU students master after graduating. Building on top of Casey’s wisdom, Freddy focused more on thinking outside of the box to achieve our dreams. Freddy’s career travelled across many fields from design to engineering. He was able to draw connections between the unexpected, which led him and his career on the adventurous trajectory that it took.
CMU is typically associated with the motto, “My heart is in the work.” Casey and Freddy are great models of this slogan, as they continue to fearlessly pursue their dreams, as crazy as they may seem. Most importantly, neither of them cease to find adventure in their work.
So what are your dreams? What do you do that gives you life and mesmerizes you? How could you make your dreams a reality so that you can find adventure in your work? That is how you put your heart in the work.