As a dear friend to me recently said, “Plant the seed, and sooner or later it will blossom”… or something like that. Nevermind that I probably butchered it and it is a cheesy statement, but she actually has a great point. My generation is the “me first” generation, and we are consistently sitting around waiting for opportunity to slap us in the face. It just doesn’t happen that way. Wake up every morning and work your ass off. Along the way, plant a few seeds, write a few letters, and do good work for the sake of doing great things. Sooner or later the right things will start happening. Then you will be laying in a buttery, comfortable bed on the top floor of the Hilton in Cincinnati thinking back to what brought you to this point. You will realize that some of the smallest and most seemingly insignificant events will be some of the defining pieces of your life that really pull things together down the road. Keep on fighting. Never stop. You will never second guess your decisions.

There are non-profits like FrontlineSMS who are doing an amazing job or making great open-source software to help these people increase their quality of life. They have also have software for medical purposes (FrontlineSMS:Medic) and for building credit (FrontlineSMS:Credit). Keep an eye on the projects surrounding their software because it is some of the most exciting and imagination-capturing stuff going on out there, in my opinion. Keep that in mind this summer when you are complaining about what features the new iPhone doesn’t have. The CNet article is here.

All I ask of you, especially young people . . . is one thing. Please don’t be cynical. I hate cynicism — it’s my least favorite quality and it doesn’t lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen. I’m telling you, amazing things will happen.

Here is Greg’s post. Read to the end. It is beautiful.

She didn’t mention sandwiches until I asked her which one she liked the most. She didn’t mention that the owners traveled extensively picking ingredients at tiny farms and bakeries, or brag about their customer service (their founder wrote a best-selling book about it), or describe their massive mail-order sales, or explain the seminars and tastings from which they generate a substantial profit, etc. In short, she didn’t really say anything at all, and yet the kids around me were taking notes

That’s the root of the problem. That’s what the business school teaches us to do. Not once has a professor told us to “make great products” or “do something people love.”