line version of the Wall Street Journal last week, I came across a life-changing article. Steve Jobs, who has been at the helm of Apple Inc twice--and started two companies, NeXT and Pixar in between--gave a commencement address in 2005 at Stanford University. In the speech, he made several observations about life that I want to highlight. I believe it is always wise to listen to a person who has looked death in the eye, and has come back from the encounter as a sober messenger with lessons learned. Jobs, just last week, stepped down as CEO of Apple for medical reasons. Here is a bullet version of his main points from the address and, in numbers, what I took away from it..
Connect the dots
1. Sometimes our failures and difficulties lead us to where we are ultimately meant to be.
2. Know when to let go of things that seem right and honorable for someone else in exchange for what you know is the right path for you.
3. God has a future and a hope for everyone.
Jobs says, "...you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."
The Importance of Loss and Love
1. When we face rejection or failure, especially from something or someone very important to us, it may help us launch into a direction that we may have never before considered.
"I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life."
2. Love what you do.
"Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle."
Finding Life in Death
1. If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right.
"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."
2. Its okay to make life corrections--to start over, even in the middle of life.
"When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."
3. Time is limited--don't waste it.
4. Live your own life, not someone else's.
"Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."
In Conclusion...
1. Stay hungry.
2. Stay foolish.
"When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation...It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: 'Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.' It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you."
No comments:
Post a Comment