Career Advice from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Point: Organizations celebrate African American History Month across America during the month of February. We often reminisce about the wisdom the world’s greatest civil rights leaders left behind. Today reflect upon the career advice that Dr. King left behind.

Advice: Many people view success as an endpoint. I tend to view success as a journey upon a path that will ultimately lead to benefiting the masses.

Dr. King said these words:

1. Never give up: “If you can’t fly, run. If you cannot run, walk. If you can’t walk, crawl. But by all means, keep moving.”
2. Believe in yourself: “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”
3. Always stand for what is right: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
4. Embrace change through resilience: “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.”
5. Take the high road: “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
6. Embrace diversity: “We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.”
7. Look beyond you own nest and give more than you take: “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”
8. Never pursue vengeance: “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”
9. Accept the fact that sometimes we fail: “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”
10. Your enemy is likely your footstool: “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.”

Challenge: Apply one of Dr. King’s principals to your life today.

Crystal Francis is part of the GovLoop Featured Blogger program, where we feature blog posts by government voices from all across the country (and world!). To see more Featured Blogger posts, click here.