Steve Jobs, an epitome of hard work and hope

 

 A person becomes successful when his or her dreams come true. Just a dream of having something is not enough. It demands a strong determination, dedication and hard work. Several obstacles you might have to face on your way to achieve your goals. You need to develop enough self-confidence, patience, and most importantly, the required skills so as to deal with the problems. Human beings have a lot of potentials. They can do wonderful things that may seem even impossible in the beginning. The only things we require to succeed are positive thinking, focus on work and dedication.

Steve Job's biological mother put him up for adoption before he was born. She was not married when she gave birth to Steve. The lawyer and his wife who were about to adopt him at birth denied the adoption since they decided at the last minute that they wanted a baby girl. Then his parents who were on a waiting list became ready to adopt him. But his biological mother refused to sign the final adoption papers after she knew that they were not college graduates. Finally she agreed to sign on the condition that they would send him to college.

So Steve had to join a college as it was planned before he had any choice about himself. He went to college, but left after spending a few months there. He did not see any future there, but only the waste of his parents' hard earned money. Then he started working on his project in his parents' garage. Finally after the hard work of several years, he came up with his company Apple and its computer.

Steve was fired when he turned 30. He was thrown out of the company he had established. The Apple had hired a man believing that he was capable of running the company. Gradually Steve's vision began to differ from the man's. Finally the Board of Directors stood in favour of the man. It was a very bitter experience of his life since he had to leave the company he had founded.

For Steve, a person must be in love with his or her work in order to be great at it. When you love your work, you will get success sooner or later. Love with the work establishes your oneness with the work. Work becomes an integral part of your life. It intensifies your passion and dedication. You never get tired and can work upon your projects continuously. Even the obstacles and difficulties do not discourage you from giving continuity to the work. Owing to his love for his work, even after he was thrown out of the Apple, he continuously worked on his own. As a result, he was able to open the companies like NeXT and Pixar. Pixar, one of the most successful animation studios of the present time, made Toy Story the first computer animated feature film of the world. And interestingly, Steve returned to the Apple, and the technology he had developed helped Apple to take a giant leap in its business. This remarkable success of Steve was the result of his love for his work.

Some inspiring statements from Steve's Stanford University speech.

You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards

According to Steve Jobs, the things done at different times in the past help a person to materialize his project in the present. Whatever you did in the past does not go in vain, but everything turns out to be fruitful for your work you are doing now. By connecting the individual experiences and achievements you had in the past, you can create a full picture of your dream or project now. Unless Steve had left the college, he would not have been able to make the Mac. And if he had not dropped out, he would not have taken the calligraphy classes in the college. If he had not attended the classes, Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. Thus life is all about connecting the dots, i.e, utilizing the experiences you have had in order to make your dream project a success. Connecting the dots is not related with the future but with the present because we can join the things now from the materials or experiences that come from our past activities.

 You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.

 For Steve Jobs a person is certain to get success if he or she believes in something and does accordingly. First of all, it is necessary for you to recognize your interest. Then you need to develop your strong faith in it. In order to materialize the faith, you have to focus on it and carry out all the activities required for the work. The path you follow to achieve your target may look improper for others, but this should not discourage you from going ahead. Your determination and dedication in the long run will surely bring you the desired success. Steve left college to follow what he believed in. People go to college to build up their career, but he didn't find his future in college. And finally he became able to find what he wanted.

Your time is limited.  So don’t waste it living someone else’s life.

A man or woman has to meet with his or her goal utilizing every moment of the short life. For Steve Jobs, we have to live our life in order to reach our destination. In other words, we need to stay away from others' opinions and views of life. This enables us to listen to our inner voice and then recognize our true potentials. Mostly people live someone else's life here. Their thought, behavior and action are influenced and shaped by other people and the social structures they live in. We will reach nowhere if we continue to live in accordance with others' desires. We have to set our own goal post in order to achieve something meaningful. It is not easy to go against the forces that discourage us from doing something on our own. But we can do if we develop strong determination and enough courage to carry on our goals. Steve Jobs was adopted on the condition that his parents would send him to a college. After spending a few months there, he decided that he could not fulfill his goal if he gave continuity to his college life. So he left the college, and put his full effort on what he was interested. He knew what he was doing. And finally he was able to give his wonderful inventions to the human world. Had he followed the path already set for him, he would not have been able to do what had done. Thus, Steve Jobs establishes the fact that we are sure to live a meaningful life when we follow our own spirit.

Don’t settle

Steve Jobs wants people not to settle until they find what they are looking for. For him success is surely achieved if continuity is given. You have to choose a work that you love. It gives you a lot of satisfaction in your life. If you have not been able to find it yet, keep on looking for. Don't lose hope. Keep on doing till you have it. Sooner or later you will surely find it. Thus, for Steve Jobs continuity is a key to success.

Stay hungry; stay foolish

Steve Jobs puts an end to his speech with the slogan “Stay hungry; stay foolish” that he quotes from The Whole Earth Catalog. In the past he had wished it for him, and now he wishes this for the newly graduates who he is addressing to. This slogan uses two negative adjectives 'hungry' and 'foolish' in a positive way. Obviously it does not carry the idea of going without food and making wrong decisions.  Steve uses it for the motivational purposes. Here staying hungry means willingness to achieve something. Hunger is a metaphor for a strong desire of doing some work. Thus hunger is the only motivational factor that engages a person in any work. Staying foolish means following one's goals irrespective of what people view about it. When you choose any unconventional path, people may call you foolish. You had better turn a deaf ear to them and keep on doing what you are interested in. One day you can prove yourself. Steve left his college in order to pursue his career. It was an unconventional decision since people go to college to make their career. But finally when he showed his success to the world, he was able to prove the people who had not liked his decision incorrect.

To sum up, Steve offers us a key to success that is we should think differently.If you want to get success in your life, think differently. It will be clear when you see some success stories of the world. Wright brothers' idea of flying in the sky was a good example of different thinking. Wasn't Gandhi's weapon of hunger strike to fight against the then most powerful empire of the world an unusual thinking? New ideas are not accepted in the beginning. People refuse to believe even if evidences are produced. Even after Galileo presented the evidences, the church authorities did not accept the fact that the earth moved round the sun. But finally his idea of the heliocentric concept of the universe was established as the truth. Thus, though it is very difficult to go against the established ideas or way of thinking in the beginning, you can surely achieve your targets in the long run. Steve Jobs' idea of leaving college to make his career also seemed quite unusual since people are supposed to go to college for their bright future. With an idea like this, it's not easy for you to convince your parents and society. But finally you are sure to get success, and people who were against your idea in the past easily recognize your way of thinking now.

It's not easy to introduce a new idea in the society because people cannot easily accept new ideas. They are at ease with the things they are used to. So they never bother to think of new alternatives. And in course of living people develop a straight principle of life in the world and they reject everything that does not suit to their principle. This makes the path of the people who think differently more challenging. Furthermore, the parents wants to see a secure and safe life of their children, and so they are reluctant to help their children if the latter attempt to create a different path. Above all, new ideas are rejected when they are considered either meaningless or threat to the society. Thus, it's not easy to replace the old ideas. We have to struggle a lot in order to create a space for new ideas.