- Geekmaster
- 2020-06-21 09:45:25
- 11 minute(s)
If you want to learn how to get the most out of your life, there isn’t a much better teacher than Steve Jobs , who appeared to pack several lifetimes, never mind several careers, into his 56 years on our planet.
Steve Jobs was one of the most influential businessmen and visionaries of our time. He left behind a legacy, and many important lessons for us to learn.
He wasn’t an engineer, did not completed his college degree, yet he was able to turnaround the near-bankrupt Apple into the most valuable brand in the world.
Steve Jobs was one of the greatest visionaries and pioneers of the 21st century.
He’s been called the modern day Thomas Edison, the Beethoven of business, and the most prolific visionary since Henry Ford. Yet as Steve Jobs steps down from the helm of Apple, he has left us with so much more than incredible technology .
His saga is the entrepreneurial creation myth writ large.
Steve Jobs co-founded Apple in his parents’ garage in 1976, was ousted in 1985, returned to rescue it from near bankruptcy in 1997, and by the time he died, in October 2011, had built it into the world’s most valuable company.
Steve Jobs not only transformed one industry but several others such as mobile phones, computers, and movies.
ImportantSteve Job’s ability to anticipate future trends helped Apple dominate now-burgeoning markets like digital music sales (through the iPod and iTunes Store).
We can’t all be Steve Jobs, but we can all learn from his extraordinary life.
When we examine how great Steve Jobs was, we are able to gain a lot of insights which provide us with invaluable lessons. Here are six useful lessons we can learn from Steve Jobs.
If we do what we truly love then we do that particular work with complete passion. We don’t make any excuses for not giving everything we have .
We all have bad jobs at one point or another in our lives.
WarningBut the big question you have to ask yourself is: Have I found the right company? Will this lead to fulfilling work and thus a fulfilling career? If yes, great. If no, change things quick.
Life doesn’t go on forever. Get on your right path now.
Steve Jobs loved what he did with a passion . Even after he was fired from Apple in the early years, he realized that this was what he really wanted to do in life. We too should not deflect from our path — our persistence will pay off.
Steve Jobs has always put passion first.
ImportantHe followed his heart and let the operational details fall into place. He refused to put a governor on his burning desire to reach new heights .
As a child, Steve Jobs was bored in school because he was not being challenged.
When he reached the 4th grade, he encountered a teacher that inspired him to do his coursework. It rekindled a passion for learning in him, and it would not be long before he was offered the opportunity to skip two grades and go straight to junior high.
Because Steve Jobs was still a sponge-brained teenager when he started working with computers, he learned quickly.
FactsThe only thing which kept him going while facing challenges and obstacles was the fact that he was doing what he loved. He also said to find what you love both in your professional and personal life .
What I Learned From Steve Jobs
Throughout his life, Steve Jobs had a great “bozo” detector. He did a super job of not letting bozos proliferate at his companies .
Bozos make bozo decisions. They are incompetent, stupid, and negative people.
ImportantSteve Jobs had no time for these people and got rid of them when he could. They are like weeds and they will also hire like-minded people .
Stamp them out. Don’t let them take root around you.
Even if you are unable to fire them, you can make strenuous efforts to have as little to do with them as possible. Surround yourself with positive and upbeat colleagues who will inspire you .
Don’t surround yourself with those who always see the glass half-empty.
WarningJust focus all your energy and dedication on the positive things in your life. If something is negative, it will always drain your energy and you would not be able to live your life to the fullest.
Don’t let your ego get in the way of who you choose to interact and work with.
Steve Jobs hired passionate people and cultivated exceptional company cultures at both Apple and Pixar – and their work speaks for itself. He hired Steve Wozniak because he knew that he was better than Jobs in building computers .
You should ignore what are saying naysayers, whatever it takes.
FactsIf he listened to the “sound advice” of them, we’d never even know his name. He never let the fear of others interfere with his own trajectory .
What I Learned From Steve Jobs
One of Steve Jobs most widely used quotes is something that almost sounds a little silly, but in the business world, we all grow accustomed to steady paychecks and that original motivation we once had disappears .
Steve Jobs’s own life suggests to never stop pursuing bigger and better things.
Steve Jobs was exiled from his company, and could have retired a wealthy man, but he kept on inventing and eventually ended up back at Apple . He only got back into Apple due to his clever and daring business tactics.
We should not fear failure because it is not the end of the end. We should treat failure as an opportunity to improve oneself.
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak ran out of money while developing the first Apple computer. Instead of giving in, Steve Jobs sold his van and Wozniak sold his graphing calculator .
When there’s a will, there’s a way.
ImportantDuring the development of almost every product he ever created, Steve Jobs at a certain point “hit the pause button” and went back to the drawing board because he felt it wasn’t perfect.
Critics complain of his exacting style and “unrealistic” demands.
WarningThere’s a natural gravitational force of mediocrity, and sometimes it takes an aggressive stance to rise above the sea of sameness. Where others throw in the towel, Steve Jobs stared into the abyss and never accepted defeat .
Reflecting on his life, Steve Jobs has had his fair share of failures, in addition to his many triumphs.
My biggest takeaway is to not let a bad situation get in the way of your happiness . Many people brush off this kind of advice as just a useless platitude, but it’s so important to use all of your experiences as a lesson learned.
Learn to see your obstacles as an opportunity to succeed.
Facts If you really want to do something, you will always find a way to complete it . Once you have this mindset, then nothing can stop you from overcoming your obstacles.
What I Learned From Steve Jobs
Simplicity, among other things, is a conscious choice between inclusion and exclusion. Often the magic is in what you leave out . Steve Jobs’s attitude towards creating products was very simple – impeccable products are the only products that should be in a consumer’s hands.
According to Steve Jobs, simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
WarningWhen developing the iPod, Steve Jobs insisted that there should be no buttons at all. The engineers were skeptical, but Steve Jobs would not relent. Keeping the whole operation simple was essential to many of his projects .
We can learn from Steve Jobs that laser focus can sharpen our minds and help us to prioritize.
ImportantSteve Jobs’s Zen like ability to focus was accompanied by the related instinct to simplify things by zeroing in on their essence and eliminating unnecessary components.
Steve Jobs aimed for the simplicity that comes from conquering, rather than merely ignoring, complexity.
Achieving this depth of simplicity, he realized, would produce a machine that felt as if it deferred to users in a friendly way, rather than challenging them.
You don’t beat the competition at their game. You redefine the game.
The leading smartphones before the iPhone all had physical keyboards like the BlackBerry. Apple came up with something utterly different . So much so that most people referred to it in the first couple of years as the “Jesus Phone.”
Don’t just beat the competition. Think different to create a new game.
As CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs earned $1 a year. Steve Jobs wasn’t incentivized by his salary , but by his own unrelenting pursuit of excellence.
Don’t value money. Expect greatness. People tend to rise to expectations.
ImportantSteve Jobs wanted to change the world and put a ding in the universe. His projects were all designed to create amazing products to make the world a better place . Making money was not his primary aim.
Money need not dictate your projects.
When Steve Jobs and his small team designed the original Macintosh, in the early 1980s, his injunction was to make it “insanely great.” He never spoke of profit maximization or cost trade-offs .
Focus on making the product great and the profits will follow.
FactsEventually, Steve Jobs didn’t chase the mighty dollar . Rather, he focused on making the biggest possible impact and the money followed.
WarningMost people believe that it was his constant need for perfection that drove him to persevere, but his biggest motivation was his desire to leave something behind that changed everything . He wanted to change the world and technology for the masses.
Having a higher purpose doesn’t just help you find success. It redefines the meaning of the word.
In Apple’s early days, Steve Jobs recognized that Palo Alto was the epicenter of innovative computer technology . He wanted his company to be associated with this place – but Apple was still headquartered out of a garage in nearby Los Altos.
Steve Jobs’ solution was to set up a PO Box in Palo Alto and hire a voice answering service.
A potential client would get the impression that Apple was a big company in the heart of Silicon Valley – even though the truth was that it was still just two sweaty guys in a garage across town.
Steve Jobs never lied about the first iPhone, he just told the truth prematurely.
The story goes back to 2007, when Apple was first introducing the iPhone. Steve Jobs knew that he had a product that would have an enormous impact on the way humans use technology.
Being a pioneering device, the 1st iPhone was riddled with bugs and problems that Apple probably could not predict.
WarningYet, he planned to demo the iPhone to an audience at the company’s Macworld conference. All he had to show them was a flawed, unfinished model and some big ideas . The iPhones’ displays were also pre-programmed to show a five-bar internet connection at all times, even though the Wi-Fi signal probably wasn’t as strong.
So what did Steve Jobs do? He decided to mislead his audience.
Final Thoughts
Though Steve Jobs has passed away, his legacy will be with us forever. He was an inspiring human being who was and is respected by many . Steve Jobs will be remembered as a digital visionary — the man who brought poetry to the microchip.
Steve Jobs famously said he wanted to “put a ding in the universe.”
You have done that, my friend, and so much more. Thank you for taking the path less travelled, for conquering the never-been-done, and for leading with purpose. Thank you for changing the world .
Steve Jobs was an inspiring example we need to follow.
ImportantFor every day he was on this earth he somehow achieved an incredible amount of work, mainly due to his work ethic and desire to change the world . In our eyes, he was one of the greatest motivational speakers ever, and his humble lessons will echo on throughout time.
Your time on this earth is short. Let’s make it count.
How has the life of Steve Jobs inspired you? Let us know in the comment section below.
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