I’ve been invited to join the UC Berkeley Commencement Ceremony this weekend as a member of the faculty who has students graduating from the Haas School of Business, MBA Program this spring.

This invitation is such an honor for me, and it is one of the most memorable invitations I’ve ever received in my life. And I had received some memorable invitations in the past, such as last year’s invitation from Mrs. Michelle Obama to join her and President Obama at the White House to celebrate Iranian New Year (Norouz) as one of our nation’s Iranian-American thought leaders.

The invitation to join Berkeley’s commencement is special to me for two primary reasons:

1) This past spring was my first time teaching. I had the opportunity of teaching the Product Management course, which I had designed from scratch, to the MBA students at Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley. Now, watching my students walk down the stage, proud to complete their higher education degree from such a fine institution, feels rewarding and satisfactory.

2) It was only 11 years ago that I myself walked the same stage, graduated from UC Berkeley as an undergraduate. I once again can feel the exuberance I experienced that day. As a first member of my family immigrated to the United States and barely spoke any English at that point, graduating from UC Berkeley was out of realm of possibilities. But I did it! I did it with lots of hard work and struggles. I did it because I didn't let myself believe that limitations could hold me back. My mentality was to solve issues and remove hurdles rather than give in to them.  

After graduation, I had no idea what I would end up doing in my life in the years to come. I surely had no idea which institutions I would end up joining next (Harvard, Fitbit, AthenaHealth, etc), what amazing people I would end up working with and what kinds of personal and professional challenges I would face along the way. As one of my heroes and role models, Steve Jobs, noted, “You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.”

Today, I can look back and connect the dots of the last decade. By working in four different industries (digital health, venture capital, investment banking, and academia), being involved with over a dozen for-profit and nonprofit organizations, living in various parts of the world, overcoming personal challenges, celebrating successes, facing family issues, and cherishing some special moments in life, I learned some key lessons that I would like to share with the newly graduated students. I hope you can take these points and be a few steps ahead of where I started when I graduated: 

1) Be a human above and beyond any other role you accept: We all take many roles in our lives: father, mother, daughter, son, teacher, investor, writer, friend, wife, sister, brother, advisor, advocate, doctor, coder, administrator, mentor, board member, president, CEO, founder and the list goes on.

We do some of these roles better than the others. What’s sad is that a lot of times people lose their humanity and compassion along the way, their sense of caring for others. I want to encourage you to always be human above and beyond any other role you may hold.      

2) Listen to your heart and follow your passion: Listening to your heart and doing what you love will lead to true happiness which most of the time is SO hard to achieve.

3) Discover your life mission: Living a mission-driven life allows you to wake up everyday and go to ANY battle because you know what you are doing is important. Having clear life mission empowers you to say NO to things that are not aligned with your goals and missions. That makes your decision making process so much easier and your life more fulfilling. Life is too short to do things that you don’t value.

4) Define the metrics of success for your life: Many of us tend to set goals and metrics of success for our companies, products, etc. However, a lot of times we are overwhelmed with our demanding day-to-day lives and forget to set goals and metrics for our own lives; we forget to ask questions like:

What do I value the most?

What kind of life do I want to have?

Do I want family or not? What about career?

Do I care to spend time with my parents, friends, etc?

Do I want to be the best father or the best astronaut? What are the tradeoffs if any?

To get better in setting and tracking your life metrics, I would recommend that you read “How Will You Measure Your Life”, the book from the reputable Harvard Business School Professor, Clay Christensen.

5) Stand behind what’s right: This could be challenging at times and subjective in many cases. But use your best judgment and always support what’s right. It will eventually pay off.  

6) Try to put yourself in other person’s shoes before any action or reaction: Every time you want to criticize someone or have a harsh response to them, take a breath and put yourself in their shoes; I can guarantee that your reactions will be different 90% of the times. Adhere to the golden rule and treat others how you want to be treated.

7) Try to be helpful and it will go a long way: If you develop the mentality of being helpful first and foremost - before thinking about what is in it for you, things may have surprisingly positive outcomes for you. With that attitude, others naturally will be gravitated to you; they want to be your friend; they want to be on your teams. These will lead to having a tight network of family, friends, colleagues, and teams that will make your life fulfilling, rewarding, and worth living.

8) Be unstoppable, yet flexible. Life is tough, so you need to be tough too! Throughout your life and career you might face countless challenges and need to overcome them. Life has unexpected surprises - some are very good and other not so much. You should not let challenges and hardships stop you from pushing forward to the best of your abilities. On the other hand, you want to be flexible to changes or else you will constantly hit at the wall. Flexibility in your thinking and attitude allows you to find a door or window to pass through rather than hit a wall.

9) Use challenges as opportunities… and don’t give up: If you view any challenge you face as an opportunity to learn and get better, you will be much happier person and more in peace with yourself.

10) Don’t just say you want something, strategize how you can get there: Then put your mind and energy behind it.  

CONGRATULATIONS to all the new graduates -- particularly to my students -- and their families. Graduating from college is a big life milestone and one that doesn't come without a lot of hard work, commitment, and family support. Congratulations for reaching to the finish line! I'm certain each of you will have a great life ahead and will get a chance to take many steps towards making the world a better place. Live your life to the fullest and be awesome!