Ashton Kutcher is my hero. Before Sunday night he was just another actor on the big screen, but after his speech at the Teen Choice Awards, I’ve got a whole new level of appreciation for him.

I haven’t seen a lot of teens buzzing about Ashton’s speech, but adults are blowing up social media applauding the actor for his words of wisdom.  Will Ashton’s words sink in with the kids?  I hope so, but then again, I remember being a teen and there was a little switch inside my ear that automatically turned to “off” whenever someone offered advice. But I wholeheartedly hope Ashton’s words WILL sink in and the teens who hear his message WILL take it to heart.

First, Ashton revealed his first name.  No, it’s not Ashton.  Ashton was born Christopher Ashton Kutcher and his name was changed when he was 19 and became an actor.

From there, Ashton said "I believe that opportunity looks like hard work". "Every job I had was a stepping stone to the next one, and I never quit a job before I had the next one" and he listed many of the jobs he had before becoming a celebrity and they were anything but sexy jobs.

Ashton followed up his comment about opportunity looking like hard work with "The sexiest thing in the entire world is being really smart. And being thoughtful. And being generous. Everything else is crap! … It's just crap people try to sell to you to make you feel less."

From there, Ashton told the teens that "everything around us that we call life was made up people who were no smarter than you… so build a life, don't live one. Build one. Find your opportunities and always be sexy."

Now do you understand why I say Ashton is my hero?  I think we need more public figures to speak to our kids this exact same way.

Check out Ashton's entire speech:

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