5 Life Lessons I Learned From Mr. Spock

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I was the stereotypical nerd. When I was a kid, I would rather watch classic episodes of Star Trek than an NFL game.Star Trek was a big influence in my life, so I was really saddened with the recent death of Leonard Nimoy.

In his honor, here are five lessons I learned from the iconic Mr. Spock.

• It’s okay to be different: I grew up as the only Asian kid in my elementary class in El Paso, Texas in the 70’s. I was constantly labeled “Jap,” “Chink,” and “Gook.” Spock was my role model on how to handle racism. He was the only Vulcan on the Starship with a crew of 400 and he was constantly called names like “Green blooded,” “half-breed,” and “hob-goblin.” He never let it bother him and focused on excelling. As such, I also did my best to ignore the taunts and focused on being the best student in the class academically.

• Science and technology is cool: It was the standard Star Trek plot formula, the crew of Enterprise would encounter some cosmic calamity, and Spock, being the ship’s Science Officer, would come up with some innovative scientific solution that saves the day. Because of this, I grew to love science which eventually led to getting a degree in engineering and my life long career in technology.

• The nobility of being a military officer: Spock was an officer in the fictional Star Fleet which was modeled after the U.S. Navy. This was my exposure to military service and what it meant to be an officer. Although fictional, I think it was a good portrayal of officer traits like leadership, duty, honor, integrity, and discipline. I believe this is one of the things that led me to get my commission as an officer in the U.S. Navy.

• Decision making: In Star Trek II, Mr. Spock sacrifices himself to save the Enterprise and calmly states to Captain Kirk, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” This is such a simple statement but is a mantra for every hard decision. What is the greater good?

• Have long term goals: Finally, Spock’s typical farewell that accompanies the Vulcan salute is “Live Long and Prosper” which is an elegant way to state what everyone’s ultimate long term goal should be.

By Rich Foreman, CEO / Apptology and Director of Startup Grind Sacramento. Rich co-authored the book Tap into the Mobile Economy and his blog has been listed in the Top 20 Mobile Marketing Blogs of 2014. Follow Rich on Twitter at @ApptologyCEO or attend a Startup Grind Sacramento Event.