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Steve Jobs, Synchronicity, Connecting the Dots & Trust
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.
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Listen carefully… THERE ARE NO FRICKEN “SECRETs”!
for the love of GOD, people, please stop looking for more »
Guest Post: This is where the story really begins…
“What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.” ~T.S. Eliot
It was a beautiful spring day, the sun was out, the birds were singing, squirrels were playing in the yard, and I Brian Webb a recent college graduate was deciding my future. I was at home in Maysville, Kentucky discussing what I should do with my life and what endeavors I should partake. The decisions were made that I should move to Cincinnati and live with my father and work in the IT field with his company as a mentor/internship. With my education, it was believed that I can move up to management. With that decided, I drove back to Lexington content on my decision.
“Life tends to happen when you are making plans.” I arrived at my apartment in Lexington, Kentucky and decided to lay down on the couch to take a nap. However, I couldn’t sleep, I had a strange headache coming on stronger and stronger. Bam! Bam! BAM!!! Felt like a nail was being driven in the back of my skull. The pain was excruciating! So, painful in fact that I got sick and passed out.
My brother came rushing to my side and called 911. The ambulance delivers me to the ER in a coma. End of story.
Now, this is where the adventure really begins…. more »
Guest Post: Kill Your Inner Cynic
“What is a cynic?
A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.”
I read a magazine article today about cynicism, and it really got me thinking. The author basically stated that the reason that men fail in their endeavors is an abundance of cynicism. And of course the cynics in us all are automatically skeptical of this statement, but he further goes on to ask us to stop and see if we can think of ONE successful cynic. Just one. It’s damn near impossible.
Incredibly successful people, whether they’re actors, entertainers, athletes or just general moguls, all share one thing: a sincere belief in themselves and in other people. It’s not enough just to be self-confident and self-sufficient. To be successful also requires that you sincerely believe in the good of mankind.
more »
Guest Post: Pep Talk
Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential.
~Winston Churchill
Guest Post by: Suzanne Grenoble
What might I share with your audience?
Aristotle once said: “Excellence, then, is not a single act, but a habit.”
So, the reverse must hold true: Failure is not a single act, it is a habit.
Who knowingly practices the habit of failure? None of us, I am sure. But tiny things erode our success. It is the small detail that sets us back. For example, the habit of blaming others prevents us from changing ourselves. So this habit might be part of a framework of habits that surround failure.
There is no doubt that neither failure nor success are guaranteed. We control what we put out, and how we deal with feedback. If our efforts come to nothing, we can make improvements in our practice, or we can make excuses to avoid working on weaknesses and liabilities.
The choice is daily, and the choice is ours. Look at the success stories of history. Winston Churchill is credited for saving England from total collapse under Nazi bombardment. Yet he experienced failure, and depression. For Churchill to live through World War II and the Allied Victory, only to be voted out of office when England had arrived safely in the harbor of peace, must have been a blow. Yet he is remembered for his valor and deep belief in England and in freedom, not for petty politics. He endured when others gave up, because he knew those who had little courage or faith needed him, and he came through.
We pick ourselves up and carry on, we set our sights high, and we do not settle for anything less than the best of ourselves.
I think success is the habit of catching the little things, of starting over, and of aiming high, day after day. Success is indeed a habit, the habit of believing.
——
Suzanne, Thanks again! Wonderful post and appreciate you sharing!
BTW: All others, we are accepting guest posts if YOU are interested and brave like Suzanne submit your post to {Mitchwsteel AT G m A iL .C Om} oneword. We will review and put in the queue!
peace
~mws
Write Your Own Obituary; The Best Advice Nobody Ever Gave Me
You might consider this the ultimate “begin with the end in mind” exercise and, really, it falls perfectly in line with one’s attempt to create their ideal future – their success.
Rest assured, there isn’t a greater ‘end’ to consider than YOUR END- (your death/departure from this planet).
So, if it’s helpful to ‘begin with the end in mind’ for goals and projects you can bet it’s pretty darn valuable for your life.
For those who haven’t heard the story there is a terrific anecdote about Dr. Alfred Nobel. What you may not know is that while today everyone hears his name “Nobel” and thinks “Peace Prize” originally, this was far from the case.
In fact, turns out that in 1888 a French paper erroneously proclaimed “The merchant of death is now dead.” The story went on to explain that the man who invented and patented dynamite (his original claim to fame) and a faster, cheaper, quicker way to kill people died in a fatal explosion. As you might expect, a very alive and able Dr. Nobel read this account of his death and its merciless headline and was mortified by the prospect that his lifetime work and his legacy would be relegated and labeled synonymous with death and destruction. This was not the legacy the good doctor had in mind.
Turns out, after reading his own obituary he instantly knew he had to redefine just what his life was to mean; what he was to represent and how he wanted to be remembered.
Drum roll please…
So, here’s a couple KEY questions for YOU to answer…
What do you want your life to represent?
How would you like to be remembered?
Courage; A Call To All Creatives…
“We do not try things because they are hard,
they are hard because we do not try them.”~Seneca
Is that you? Are you NOT trying “hard” things…
The 3 C’s of Succcess was written for YOU or “a really good friend” designed to showcase the absolutely essential ingredients necessary for you to “Create Your Ideal Future” – your SUCCESS!
So, back to YOU. I’m calling on those creative and courageous souls who have an inspirational story or lesson to share based upon any one of the 3 C’s; Creativity, Character & Completion.
So, what is it that keeps people from achieving their ideal future – their success? YOU tell me.
Please submit any content for posts at “mitchwsteel (AT) Gmail (.) com.
never forget “It’s ALL a choice.”
peace
~mws
Time: Don’t Manage it – Channel it
Time may be the ultimate illusion but in the final analysis it’s is all we have. Consider that without it there literally is nothing else, not within our perceivable, physical realm. And with it, seemingly all possibilities exist.
Yet how people “manage” their time is ultimately what separates those who achieve their ideal future – their success, and those who don’t. On the most basic level, “success” becomes a derivative of time management. But, the question is; do high achievers really “manage” their time or do they do something else? Do they regard time differently?
PERCEPTION & RELATIVITY
“Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. Now THAT’S relativity.” – Einstein
Not only is time relative – it’s illusive. more »
Amazon, “Inside the Book” Tour
Now that The 3 C’s of SUCCCESS is selling on Amazon; honest, quality reviews are requested and welcomed. Even if you’ve only downloaded and read the FREE version, (yes, there are a few of you) please consider taking a few minutes to share a review. Feedback is the breakfast of champions as Ken Blanchard likes to say.
It’s been remarkable to watch the book go from a sales rank (about two weeks ago) of #1,879,087 in sales all the way up to the X00,000’s! The 3 C’s isn’t being distributed through any big publishing house. To date, there has been no concerted marketing effort - this is essentially a grass-roots effort, sold through a micro publisher.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, with some very modest early success in sales, we’ve decided that it made a great deal of sense to reward the two non-profits who were largely responsible for the inspiration of the work; Big Brothers Big Sisters and Junior Achievement.
Proceeds to the tune of $1 per book will go to each non-profit. My direct experience volunteering and working with these fine agencies the last 10 and 5 years respectively helped to inspire the book and we want to make certain their fantastic missions and visions are realized to support and inspire our great country’s youth.
Thanks so much for the continued support. ***Just added, check out this youtube video i found clearly demonstrating the power of positive role models! INCREDIBLE!
Enjoy.
~MWS
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Ten Great Life Lessons from a Legend; Coach John Wooden
Success is the peace of mind which is the direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing that you made the effort to become the best at what you are capable of becoming.”
~ John Wooden
Whether you like basketball or even know what a basketball is — chances are you will love this man! At 98, John Wooden is still regarded a quick wit and sage to many players, coaches and friends seek his friendship and counsel. To give you a little flavor, this from the same article referenced above.
“When asked about the keys to successful aging, Coach was quick to respond: stay busy, stay active, enjoy every day like it is your masterpiece, have some variety and try to learn something new every day,” Castel said. “One of Coach’s famous quotes, ‘When I am through learning, then I am through,’ illustrates his lifelong commitment to learning.
“Make everyday your masterpiece!?” I almost let the brilliance of that comment escape me. It sounds too cliché, right? “Make everyday your masterpiece.” Wow! That is super powerful. If I could only possess that type of presence, that type of awareness – to make each encounter, each moment of each day a masterpiece. In order for each day to be a masterpiece, each moment would have to be a masterpiece. By definition that is what a masterpiece is right? All pieces/component parts masterfully interwoven to produce magnificence? I ask you, just what affect would that have on my life’s outcome?
And, “Lifelong commitment to learning.” Sound familiar? more »
