UPDATE!!!

This post was originally written in early 2008 and was updated after he had his liver transplant in 2009. In light of Mr. Jobs passing, this YouTube video of his commencement address has gone viral – (10Million hits later). We originally shared this video when it was in the low 6 figures. I felt it was important to bring this back to the TOP of the POST pile.

If you haven’t seen this video, it’s extremely worthwhile and the words below are designed to challenge your personal reflection.

Recall Aristotle’s famous quote: “Wisdom is an equal measure of Experience plus Reflection.

E + R = W

ENJOY!

Stanford Commencement Address 2005.
Mr. Steven Jobs; Monster-Entrepreneur, Apple & Pixar CEO, Super-Hero Extraordinaire

“Life can only be understood backward, but it must be lived forward.” ~Kierkegaard

Every time I see this speech I’m awed by the number of gems Steve shares. I find it interesting to overlay these anecdotes against the backdrop of my personal experiences. His tales of opportunity, following his heart, continuous learning, failure, humility, and of course, mortality are both profound and inspiring.

However, I ask you, “How unique are they?” Just how rare are these “coincidences?”

The question I encourage you to ask is, “where are the parallels?” Surely you recognize you don’t have to be CEO of a couple fortune 500 companies to notice that, ultimately, the song remains the same; that these synchronistic events happen daily for everyone. The real question is not, “how rare is this?” But rather, “How aware am I to the events and all the possibilities?”

Think about it. One day Jobs is walking eight miles to eat at a Hare Krishna Temple – the next, he’s revolutionizing the computing industry. A slight exaggeration perhaps. However, the point is not to be lost, those were two very real “stations” in his life separated only by awareness, purity of intent and of course time.

Enter Deepak
The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire by Deepak Chopra, M.D. [excerpt]

We cannot even imagine the complex forces behind every event that occurs in our lives. There’s a conspiracy of coincidences that weaves the web of karma or destiny and creates an individual’s personal life mine, or yours. The only reason we don’t experience synchronicity in our daily lives is that we do not live from the level where it is happening. Usually we see only cause-and-effect relationships. This causes that, which causes this, which causes that — linear trajectories. Yet beneath the surface, something else is happening. Invisible to us is a whole web of connections. As it becomes apparent, we see how our intentions are woven into this web, which is much more context-bound, much more relational, much more holistic, much more nurturing than our surface experience.

Very often we fall into ruts in our lives; we maintain the same routines and act in the same manner predictably day after day after day. We set our minds on a certain course of action, and simply proceed. How can miracles happen if we march mindlessly, unthinking and unaware, through our lives? Coincidences are like road flares, calling our attention to something important in our lives, glimpses of what goes on beyond everyday distractions. We can choose to ignore those flares and hurry on, or we can pay attention to them and live out the miracle that is waiting for us.
(pages 125-126, The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire, by Deepak Chopra.

Enter YOU
How can you relate to each of the lessons shared within Job’s speech? Hopefully, these questions challenge you to draw your own conclusions, to connect your own dots and ultimately TRUST what IS.

I found this exercise invaluable in helping me to keep the faith and trust – even during some extremely difficult times with my businesses. His themes; “follow your heart”, “stay hungry-stay foolish” “love what you do” and “trust” remain paramount and I’m hopeful they will continue as guideposts for as long as I live.

So, here for your entertainment, are a handful of questions designed to FREE your mind and to hopefully foster your trust… of what IS. To acknowledge that whether you know it or not, you’ve already connected a few dots

Question #1. How has chance played a role in your very existence?
When you ponder this question you literally become free. I’m sure you recognize you had no responsibility in the matter of your existence. But, how often have you considered it? It was neither your effort nor your ego which placed you “here”.

Question #2: Identify your most favored current relationship. Then ask, “How is it that I know this person?” “What events precipitated this relationship?”
How did that relationship manifest? How did you meet this person? What circumstances and coincidences played a role in the creation of that relationship? How much effort or control did you have in directly creating that relationship?

Question #3: How are you currently following your heart?
Recall, Jobs dropped out of school but not for the sake of dropping out. It was his intent to protect his parents investment and savings and so he could “drop in” on the classes that interested him the most, like calligraphy.

Question #4: How has a recent set back or failure affected your present mindset?
What was Steve’s first impulse when was fired from the very company he created? Then, what was it that kept him around and set him on a course of action and why?

Question #5: Are you able to connect the dots now?
Can you see that be looking back you’ve been the beneficiary of some fantastic, seemingly unrelated events that have brought you to your current career path or introduced you to something you are very passionate about?

Question #6: What question did Steve ask himself every morning?
What question do you ask yourself every morning? What do you choose to focus on?

Question #7: What is life’s greatest invention – it’s greatest change agent?
How much time do you think you have? How much time do you really think you need in order to make your dreams come true? Do you NOT think that SynchroDestiny (as Deepak calls it) must play a part in that vision? Particularly when you consider the meeting of two strangers is statistically incalculable
.

Enjoy.
~MWS

————
P.S: When I envisioned writing about Jobs this wasn’t the piece i had in mind. Far from it. I thought it’d be a post about the most brilliant execution of business strategy I’ve ever witnessed. Recall, his early days after being reinstated at the helm of Apple; his settlement with Microsoft to shore-up some badly needed cash then, secretly developing for the Intel platform and making the Apple OS open source. It was like watching Kasparov’s end-game. Simply brilliant. And, I haven’t even mentioned the iPod, iTunes or iPhone.

Mr. Jobs, Sir… thoughts and prayers to you and your family. We’re pulling for you and your speedy recovery.

btw: Thanks for making the world a far more creative and enjoyable place to live.

Cheers and God Bless.

~MWS

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1. When there is no “Why?” 9 Lessons in Achievement from a “Crazy” Man

What do you do?” he asked, wondering how I manage stress. I must have had a mouth full of food “meditate”, I told him. He nodded his head knowingly and said – “right, which ones?” I looked at him strangely. “What?” I said. He then said, “What kind of medications do you take?” I quickly chuckled. Then realizing the serious nature of his misunderstanding…

“No man MEDITATE, not MEDICATE” I said.

One of the most common requests I get is from people asking for ways to better manage stress. These are stressful times – OILflation combined with the remnants of a housing bubble aren’t making it any easier for anyone!

The other day, I was having lunch with a very successful fortune 500 executive (mid acquisition). Frankly, this great man was stressed beyond belief as company politics had him a state of fear. He was concerned about some “higher-ups” and some moves they may make.

As previously mentioned, I fully recognize these are stressful times. Truthfully though, have there ever been any times that weren’t stressful? I mean, do you not think World War II was a stressful time? Or Vietnam, or ???. Look, seeking the answer in a bottle or pill can NOT be THE answer! It’s AN answer and it’s the wrong one. (Thanks Woody). The answer, as always, is in responsibility and mindful self-control.

Our lunch conversation proceeded into a discussion where I reviewed a handful of the techniques shared below.

#1: MOVE IT
Go for a run or go for a walk, but just go! “Motion creates emotion” -Tony Robbins. Move to get out of your own head. A body at rest stays at rest. What you need is a different perspective simply exercising and creating some endorphins helps to creates a favorable mental state. Tell me the last time you saw a depressed runner?

#2: MEDITATE
My experience tells me that if you sit quietly for a minimum of just 3 minutes reflecting on all the good in your life you will have removed the stress immediately. If you are saying right now – “there is no good.” You need (as the old man used to say) your head screwed on tight! For starters, you are reading this so your eyes work, last time I checked, you were FREE to do as you pleased, (statistics tell me the majority of you are from the US) you’re using a computer that is tapped into the vast knowledge of the world. Chances are you can probably type and write, hear, see, smell, walk, etc. I’d imagine you have family and friends… etc. (remember, to have friends you need to be a friend). But I digress. The point is, to relieve stress meditating on all the good in your life – what you are thankful for is very helpful.

Here are just a couple processes. Just repeat quietly in your head ” I’m thankful for …” Or, “I’m grateful for…” or “God Bless…my eyesight, my hearing ….”Again, go through your personal list, sitting quietly with your eyes closed and your back straight. I do this on my knees, some people cross their legs – either way works. Some people like to lie down, however, some tend to fall asleep. Another terrific process is to mentally navigate your body. To go through in your mind and touch your toes, travel with the blood through our heart to your fingertips – up through you head, into your brain, etc. This helps you to recognize and be grateful for your body, your health. Finally, finish your three minutes with a minute of visualization of how great your day will be and how the events of the day will unfold in your favor. See all the things you need to get done today getting finished without hassle.

#3: NO NEWS IS TRULY GOOD NEWS
This should be easy! Do not watch any news for a week. I promise, this won’t kill you. Quite the contrary actually. The news today is designed for drama – the more fear they can instill in the viewers- the higher the ratings! It has become comical. Just last night, Larry King had this poor CEO of Chevron – blasting him for the “billions in profits.” The news is absolutely loving the oil price run up. If i see another “live action” shot of a person filling up his tank my TV is gone!

#4: WORST CASE
To manage stress – many times the best path is to actually follow the worst case scenario. This is always a good exercise. If you can’t shake the fear- embrace it, go with it. Just ask these questions; what would have to happen to have this fear realized? what other events would have to happen? What is the order it would have to happen in? What is the related timeframe? Often times, when a situation is put into that perspective – people realize some pretty unrealistic events would have to happen in a set sequence to realize their worst case and this helps to remove the stress. Also, it really helps to know that if you have the FREE things; health, integrity, family and friends – everything else is secondary and even a “worst case” scenario is manageable!

#5: INTEREST
Zig Ziglar likes to say, FEAR is False Evidence Appearing Real. I’ve also heard it said that fear is paying interest on a loan you are not even sure you’re going to have. Both suggest the same thing – fear is simply the projection of a future condition which need NOT affect your present situation. Do you want to pay interest on a loan you don’t even have?

#6: YODA
“Fear is the path to the dark side, fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” Who wants to be led to suffering? Not me – thank you. Yes, as always, the simple is the profound.

#7: CONTROL
How many things do you control? (We’ll leave this for the comments section and allow you all to answer later)

#8: DETACH
Stop trying to control the office politics, your boyfriend, the traffic, your friend, girl fiend, etc. Detach. Let them take the house (i know, easy for me to say) but, consider for a moment the freedom – that comes with that statement. what happens to the stress when you say, “take it”. This was shared with a close colleague of mine who was stressed beyond belief. He did lose his home about 5 months ago. today he’s happier than he’s been in a long time. The stress about losing the home – was far greater then the actual event. Ed side note: since this is likely effecting a lot of people. They were smart and came to the lender proactively – worked on a deal. However, they were unable to short sell. But, they were forthcoming and didn’t run or hide from the lenders. Ultimately they detached and were free from the stress.

#9: ONE SONG
(see picture above) Walk outside- down the street, to a park on the beach. watch the birds – stare at a tree or a flower – recognize the UNI-verse (one song) is in play. It is all working on its own timetable. The tree isn’t stressed it isn’t going to get water tomorrow. you shouldn’t be either.

#10: PERSPECTIVE
take a step back. recognize all the other times you thought you were doomed. You remember, you were in such a mess you thought there was no way out – you’d never get a job that good, or meet another person or…. and, you made it out just fine. Perspective always helps in cases of stress by removing the tunnel vision.

#11: PRAY
Finally, as Keb Mo likes to say “hand it over, get on your knees and pray”. Combined with meditating makes for a powerful calming force. Remember, meditating is listening. Prayer is talking. Since you have two ears and one mouth you should meditate twice as much as you pray.

Be sure to share your tips and comments for others.

Enjoy a happy, stress free fourth. May you be independent of FEAR and responsible for Freedom in all her forms

~MWS

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