I recently wrote a guest post for the Cool Graduate where I mentioned a video that has been a pretty huge source of inspiration for me in recent times.

The video is of Neil Gaiman (author and husband of Amanda Palmer, who I’ve written about in the past) giving a commencement speech at the University of the Arts.

Whilst the talk is aimed at the art students in attendance, all of the points that he makes are applicable outside of the arts too.

The part that has really stuck with me is the idea of treating your progress towards your goals as a journey towards a distant mountain. Sometimes the mountain can seem incredibly far away and detached from the present but all you need to do is make sure that you’re constantly heading towards it.

I often find myself feeling uncertain about whether every decision I make is the best option for me. This uncertainty is unavoidable – I can’t predict the future. Focusing on simply heading in the right direction (even if it turns out I didn’t take the optimal route) makes these decisions easier.

There will always be bumps in the road. There will always be mistakes, delays and regrets. Just keep heading towards that mountain.

You can view the video below. You can also find a transcript of the speech at the University of the Arts website.

Also published on Medium.