Five Thoughtful Lessons From Steve Jobs’ Stanford Speech 

Steve Jobs was one of the greatest visionaries of our time. His fiery passion for making better products and his ability to shape the future with creative imagination shaped his legacy.

Steve Jobs – Connecting the Dots – Motivational Video by Fearless Soul:

Here is what you can learn from Steve Jobs’ Stanford speech:

1. Much of what I stumbled into by following by curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. You can’t connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backwards.

Steve Jobs’ parents had spent all their savings on his college tuition. But six months in, he dropped out of college. He took calligraphy classes and invented the beautiful fonts that we read on our phones and computers today.

The lesson here is that nobody can predict their future. But if we follow our intuition, we will be guided by the force that is greater than us. And that is where the gold lies. Even if your intuition leads you to a different path than others, the risk will be worth it five or ten years down the road.

2. Sometimes life’s gonna hit you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith.

Steve Jobs was fired from his own company. But soon Apple executives realized that they couldn’t run the company without Jobs and called him back. In the meantime, Jobs had started two companies, Pixar and NeXt, and both became highly successful.

This shows that the worst circumstances often lead to biggest opportunities in life. So if you’re going through hell, keep going. It will all work out in your favor in the end.

Steve Jobs' Stanford speech

3. 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.

Jobs had to return the coke bottles to buy food and walk seven miles to eat a good meal every Sunday. But he persisted and became a legend because he loved what he did.

When you love what you do, your circumstances will not bother you. Your passion will give you tremendous strength to keep going. This lesson shows you how to never give up – clearly an amazing lesson from Steve Jobs’ Stanford speech. 

4. 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. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.

If you want to do great work, you need to do what you love. And if you don’t know what you love, keep looking, keep exploring, keep trying new things until you find the one. People often find it hard to find their passion. But you don’t find your passion, you create it.

The right way to create your passion is to try new things. Try new things, keep a journal and write about the ones that appeal the most to your heart. And remember, when in doubt, take the smallest step.

Don’t settle with average. Life is too short for average. Go all-in on your passion. That’s the only way to live happily.

Steve Jobs' Stanford speech

5. If you lived every day as if it were your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.

Jobs used to ask himself every morning “If today was the last day of my life, would I do what I’m about to do today?” Ask yourself this question every day and if the answer remains no for a long time, it means you’re doing something wrong.

Ask yourself, “Why am I not doing what I love?”

  • If you don’t have money or have financial responsibility, create a savings plan or talk to a financial planner.
  • If you don’t have the right education, spend the next ten minutes looking for online or nearby classes.
  • If your family is against it, let them know you’re not going to compromise anymore. They can either join you on your path or see you go alone.

Steve Jobs’ Stanford speech urges you to ponder over your own death. It’s not easy to speculate your own death, but if you do it right, it can become your strength.

The truth is that every problem you face today has been solved by someone else in the past. And they probably had half the resources as compared to you.  

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