Why do I feel like I have lost someone really close to me? That’s the question that kept popping in my head when I heard of Steve Jobs’ death. I didn’t know the guy, didn’t have much hope to ever meet him, don’t know much about his life, and yet get this strange feeling of loss and emptiness. My love for him has nothing to do with the madness surrounding Apple products. It started back in 2007 when I first saw a video of him giving the Stanford commencement speech. Until then, he was just another rich guy trying to get richer by exploiting the insane consumerism that plagues our society. Or so I thought.
I just read an article on the man and while I believe everyone has a right to their own opinion some of the comments left me a little confused, even a bit angry. People fail to understand what made Jobs a hero, nay, a legend. Was it because he invented the ‘mouse’, several ‘fonts’, the Macbook, iPhone, iPad, and made us all lament our poverty and lack of ‘coolness’? No, not at all! The only Apple product I own is an iPhone and I honestly prefer a Nokia 1200 to it – being a mother to a toddler, the torch is really more useful than having a Facebook app.
No matter what words I choose, I don’t think I’ll be able to do justice to what Jobs stood for, so I am going to let the following quotes do the talking.
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. 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.”
“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.”
“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me. Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful, that’s what matters to me.”
“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.”
Rest in Peace, Steve. You have left young entrepreneurs like me with amazing inspiration and valuable lessons. You are a hero, a legend, and you’ll live on in our memories forever.
——————————————————————————————–
Disclaimer: All views/opinions expressed in this blog don’t necessarily reflect the organization’s stance on the subject.
0 comments:
Post a Comment