In his 2016 Hall of Fame induction speech, Bryan Cressey thanks the audience for the Junior Achievement (JA) award and reflects on the luck that brought him to this moment. He cites JA’s impact—95% of participants feel confident in job interviews and 76% feel equipped to start a business—highlighting the organization’s role in boosting graduation rates and academic performance. Cressey then shares his personal philosophy, first outlining three keys to a fulfilling life: love, gratitude, and forgiveness (especially self‑forgiveness). He follows with ten concrete “keys” that have guided his own success: learning from mistakes, planning life backwards, staying humble, adhering to a personal moral code, empathizing with others, caring for people, inspiring those around you, avoiding ruts, thinking creatively, and aiming high. He concludes by thanking family, friends, and CEOs, emphasizing the importance of deep connections, inspiration, and fun in life.
Chapters
I'm very honored and proud of getting Junior Achievement's award, and I feel very lucky. In fact, I calculated that the odds of me being born in entrepreneurial United States, being born to role model parents, and being born smart were about 1 in 4,000. So I am extremely lucky. to be here. JA helps kids tremendously. A small sample: 95% of the kids that go through JA feel confident in job interviews. 95%. 76% of their students feel they have the tools to start their own business. JA also increases high school graduation rates and improves academic performance. JA creates positive futures for kids where there were none. So now you can see from my white hair that I've been around long enough to learn something. So I'm going to try and share a few things, and you can tell me later in private how wrong they were. But I want to talk about 3 keys I've learned to having a fulfilling life. And after that, I'm going to give the 10 keys I think allowed me to succeed. Fulfillment, the first key is love, exuding love from yourself to those around you and absorbing their love. Second is gratitude, giving gratitude, feeling it every day for many, even small things. Is highly correlated with happiness. And show gratitude to others by helping them. Finally is forgiveness, especially forgiving yourself. Forgiving yourself for your shortcomings, your weaknesses, your mistakes. Love yourself. Forgive others. And I also would like to thank my family and friends and CEOs who are here tonight. And who through their accomplishments have done the near impossible, made me look good. Thank you. I've worked with many talented persons and companies over the years, and I'll share the 10 keys that helped make me successful. First, my greatest teacher in life was my mistakes. If you learn to admit and learn from your mistakes, they'll be your greatest teacher. Second is plan your life backwards. Gaze into the future and see where you want to be in the future, then figure the steps towards that and work those. Don't wait to see what happens to you. Plan your future. Third is to succeed, be humble. People will love you and they'll help you find the answers you need. I have seen arrogance fail consistently. Fourth, know your own moral code and don't behave below it because you can never get away with it. It's— the most important person in the world knows what you did, and that's you, yourself. Fifth, live in the other person's shoes. If you understand their desires, You will have a great relationship with them. 6th, care about others and show that you care. Know that you are of equal importance with each other person in this universe. And once you recognize they're as important as you are, treat them like that and seek win-win solutions. Don't try to take advantage. Win-win solutions keep people coming back to work with you. Seventh is inspire those around you. When I was 38 years old and at a restaurant alone one night traveling, I decided I wanted a motto to guide my life, and I came up with a 2-word motto which was, be inspiring. I remember that regularly and try to live by it. 8th is beware of letting your life fall into a rut. Ruts lead to disappointment. Constantly ask yourself, are you doing what you want to do? And if you're not, change what you're doing. 9th is think creatively and look for creative solutions to issues. 10th is Aim high. You only live once. Go for it. You don't get a tryover. I don't— well, I don't know that. There's people— there's priests in the house that knows more than that about— than I do. But you can take that up later. That's my assertion for now. Finally, have fun in life. So a summary of my life philosophy would be, Connect deeply with others and live an inspired, fun life.
Thank you. Thanks, Bryan. I think I see a book in your future. 10 Steps to Success, 10 Steps to Happiness. You know? You think, okay, all right, all right. I'm sure some publishers are in the house somewhere.
