John Mackey, the co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market, delivered the commencement address at Bentley College in 2008. Despite never having finished college himself—he dropped in and out of two Texas universities over six years, taking only classes that interested him—Mackey was receiving an honorary degree and finally fulfilling his late mother's dying wish that he earn a diploma. Mackey told graduates that life is short and death is certain, and that these existential truths should liberate rather than paralyze. He urged them to ask themselves what they truly care about, what their deepest passions are, and what they would do if they could do absolutely anything. The answers, he insisted, were already within them—their hearts were whispering even as he spoke. His own decision to drop out and start Whole Foods had come from exactly this kind of heart-led conviction.