The Late Great Steve Jobs

The saying “You never know what someone has gone through” is true, every one of us have a story to tell. I’ve had the chance of listening to a 2011 speech from the great Steve Jobs, at Stanford University’s commencement ceremony. Jobs named this speech “How to live before you die”, sharing with the soon to be graduates some of his life stories and lessons.

               His first point was called “Connect the dots” where he spoke on his past. Jobs told the story of how he made the courageous decision of dropping out of college, because it was costing too much of his parents savings. I admire this story because his decision to drop out of school made him even hungrier for success.

After Jobs dropped out he spent nights sleeping on the floor of many of his friends’ dorm rooms, and he’d often walk for miles to get a hot meal. Also, when he dropped out of the courses he was taking, he began “dropping in” on the courses he was more interested in. Those classes helped Jobs in his future endeavors with Apple, setting the Apple computer apart with its beautiful typography.

The next point I’d like to touch on from his speech is on “Love and loss”.  At one point in time, Jobs was fired from Apple after having a fall out with the company. Most people would see this occurrence as a time of grief, but Jobs did the opposite. Once again we can see Jobs using his time of hardships to start over and retaliate ten times stronger. Shortly after his fall out with Apple, Jobs started two companies named Next and Pixar. After Apple brought the company Next, Jobs was back at his stomping grounds stronger than ever.

One key lesson I’ve learned from Jobs’ speech is, sometimes it takes the moments of despair and struggle to help you refocus and go for the gold. It is best to take these moments and build on them rather than letting them be our demise. Also, Jobs spoke on passion. He expressed that passion will be one of the main factors in your success. I love this because it inspires young people like myself to find our passion, our love, the things we really care about. After all, if Jobs didn’t have passion for his work, he would have quit at the face of his trials a long time ago.

Resource: www.Ted.com - Steve Jobs