12 Great Pieces of Life Advice from Old Steve Jobs Videos

I just love reading and learning about different people. I love hearing their stories and taking away nuggets of wisdom that I can use in my own life. Being an avid reader, one of the ways I scratch this itch is by reading biographies.  Just a few of my favorites are ones I have read on Mohammed Ali, Vince Lombardi, and Steve Jobs.  A few weeks ago, I somehow got sidetracked from my writing and ended up watching some old Steve Jobs videos. I was quickly amazed at how many nuggets of wisdom I was able to glean from them.

Seeing as how I care about all our readers (i.e. you!)…

…and seeing as how sharing is caring – my job today is to share some of the nuggets of wisdom I learned from two of those Steve Jobs videos. Now, I can’t do all the work here, and I don’t want you to get comfortable, so I am giving you a job too! Your full-time job for the next 5 minutes is to read this blog post to see if you can implement any of his words of wisdom into your life. And if you are feeling extra ambitious and want a part-time job or ‘side hustle’, I have embedded the videos into the post, so you can watch them too.

The first words of wisdom I am going to share with you come from a video that was filmed a couple months after Jobs returned to Apple way back in 1997 – remember he was fired from Apple in 1985:

This video is focused on Job’s visions for Apple’s marketing strategy, but if you listen closely there are so many sage words of wisdom that we can apply to both our jobs and our personal lives:

(1)  Get back to the basics:

He started the video by talking about Apple getting back to the basics of great products, great marketing, and great distribution, and how Apple has pockets of greatness but has drifted away from doing the basics well.

Make it actionable:  Many times, we complicate our lives and stray off our path. One piece of advice from Jobs is when that happens to just get back to the basics, figure out what you do well and get back to doing that.

(2)  Be focused:

Jobs discussed how when he came back there was way too much stuff in the product line, so they ended up getting rid of 70% of the stuff in the product line, so they could focus on the 30% of the gems to make them better.

Make it actionable:  You cannot do everything in life. Trying to do too much just means you will be ‘a jack of all trades and master of none.’ Figure out the few actions that you need to take that will get you to where you want to go, and then focus on them.

(3)  Know where you are going:

He spoke of the newfound excitement of his team once he debriefed them on the new strategy because they now knew the strategic direction they were headed in.

Make it actionable: Not knowing where you are going in your life can be a cause of great stress and cause you to run in circles. Conversely, knowing where you are going can be a great source of energy, motivation, and inspiration. Figure out exactly where you want to go and start heading in that direction. This is your personal mission statement.

(4)  Listen to your customers: 

Jobs was speaking about issues with too much inventory in their distribution pipelines and having to guess what customers wanted 6 months ahead of time, This is something that was near impossible to do – not even a genius like Einstein could do it. The solution was to get rid of all that inventory, listen to what the customers want, and then respond super-fast.

 Make it actionable:  In a recent post on how to build resilience, I talked about a common mind trap known as mind-reading. This is where you assume that you know what others are thinking (usually bad things). The problem is that it can make a negative impact by blocking communications because you already think you know what they are thinking. Instead of assuming and being wrong and building up that inventory of negativity, take time to simply listen to the people in your life rather than assume you know what they are thinking. In business, we call this the “Voice of the Customer.”

(5)  Invest in yourself:

Jobs said that ‘the best brands need investment if they are to retain their relevance and vitality.’

Making it actionable: If you read my recent post on sharpening your saw, we discussed the importance of taking time to invest in yourself every day by ‘sharpening the saw’ in the 4 different dimensions of your life: physical, mental, spiritual, emotional/relationships.

(6)  Stand for something:

He talked about marketing and how at the time Nike was doing an amazing job at marketing not by advertising their shoes but by letting people know what they stood for. He went on to say that Apple isn’t about making boxes for people to get their jobs done, although they do that well. At the core, Apple stands for ‘people with passion can change the world’.

Make it actionable:  Stand for something and try and change the world to make it a better place in your own way.

(7)  Never compromise your core values:

When he returned to Apple, one of his first jobs was to get Apple back to their core values, as values and core values should rarely change.

Make it actionable: Be true to your core values and never let anyone or anything compromise them.

(8)  Think different:

The theme of the new marketing campaign they were rolling out was, ‘Think Different’ and it paid homage to those who have changed the world and moved it forward such as Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Mohammed Ali, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, John Lennon, Alfred Hitchcock, amongst others.

Make it actionable:  See how you can think different in your life! If you need a tool to enhance your creative thinking, check out my recent blog post on lateral thinking which gives you some techniques to help you think different.

(9)  Don’t settle for great:

He ended the video by asking a question – ‘it’s not “can we turn around Apple”, but “can we make Apple really great again?” I loved this statement for 2 reasons: (1) it showed a ton of confidence – I KNOW we are going to make Apple great again, AND (2) let’s keep pushing for continuous improvement and innovation!

Make it actionable:  Always keep pushing yourself towards greatness in every area of your life.

The second video is the commencement speech that Jobs gave at Stanford back in 2005:

In the speech, he told 3 stories, each with a sage piece of wisdom:

(10) Connect the dots:

In the first story, he talked about how he dropped out of Reed College after 6 months but hung around for 18 months as a drop-in where he sat in on classes he was really interested in. One of the classes he dropped in on was a calligraphy class, which at the time had no hope of practical application in his life.

That was until 10 years later when Apple was designing the first Macintosh computer. Suddenly, everything he learned in that calligraphy class came full circle as the Mac became the first computer with beautiful typography. The lesson being, if he didn’t drop out of school and didn’t drop into the calligraphy class, personal computers may not have the beautiful typography they do today. It was impossible to connect the dots going forward when he was in college, but it was very clear looking back 10 years later. You cannot connect the dots going forward, you can only connect them going backward.

Make it actionable: Have the confidence to follow your heart, your curiosity and your intuition – even when it leads you off the well-worn path. Trust that the dots will connect themselves in the future.

(11)  Keep looking, don’t settle:

His second story saw him speak about getting fired from Apple at the age of 30 and thinking about running away from Silicon Valley. But then he realized that he still really loved what he did. Instead of quitting, he started Pixar and a company named Next, which would then be bought by Apple – which eventually caused him to return as CEO (as we saw earlier).  He also met the love of his life during that time.  Jobs was convinced that he wouldn’t have achieved what he did without going through that struggle, he was also convinced that he wouldn’t have kept going if he wasn’t doing something that he loved!

Make it actionable:  Find what you love (your passion); both in your work and with your life. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking, you will know when you find it. Don’t ever settle in any area of your life.

(12)  Stay hungry, stay foolish:

Jobs started his 3^rd story with a quote that made quite an impression on him when was 17, “if you live each day as if it was your last, someday you will most certainly be right.” He then started each day of the next 33 years by asking himself: “If today was the last day of my life, would I want to be doing what I am doing?” If the answer was ‘no’ too many days in a row, he knew he needed to change something. He went on to add: “Remembering you are going to die is the best way to not fall into the trap of thinking you have something to lose.”

To close out the speech, he talked about a publication he used to read back in the mid-1970’s. The publication eventually ran its course, but the back cover of the final issue made a lasting impression on Jobs. It was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind that you may find yourself hitchhiking on – if you were so adventurous. Underneath the photo were the words, “Stay hungry, stay foolish” – which is something he always wished for himself from that point on.

Make it actionable:  There were 3 actionable lessons I took from this story: (1) ask yourself: “If today was the last day of your life, are you doing what you would want to be doing?”, (2) when you fall into the trap of thinking you have something to lose, just remember that one day you are going to die, and (3) stay hungry, stay foolish!

What a speech!

Statistics tell us that the unemployment rate for today’s college graduates is 3.9% (at least as of April 2018) While I don’t know what the unemployment rate was for college students back in 2005, I do know one thing – every student who graduated from Stanford that day got ‘Jobs’!

Speaking of jobs…

Seeing as how this blog post has come to its conclusion, my job here is done!

As is yours! That is unless you are looking for another quick unpaid ‘side hustle’. Before you go, I would like to offer you one more part-time job. Which is this – if you enjoyed this blog post, please share it with one person you who you think may get something out of it! Sure, you won’t get paid for this job, but you will be rewarded with something better, giving someone the gift of knowledge.

I will sign off by saying a quick thank you to Steve Jobs for all the wisdom you have imparted on me. I’m not exactly sure where you are right now, or what your current job is. But if I had to guess I would say you are probably ‘staying hungry and staying foolish’ while helping God design a better heaven!

Until next time, stay hungry, stay foolish and as always…PYMFP!
–Rick

Use it or Lose It – Pieces of Life Advice from 2 old Steve Jobs Videos

Some of the words of wisdom gleaned from the Steve Jobs videos above were:

(1)  Get back to the basics.
(2)  Be focused.
(3)  Know where you are going.
(4)  Listen to your customers.
(5)  Invest in yourself.
(6)  Stand for something.
(7)  Never compromise your core values.
(8)  Think different.
(9)  Don’t settle for great.
(10)  Connect the dots.
(11)  Keep looking, don’t settle
(12)  Stay hungry, stay foolish!

When to Use It:

Use the words of wisdom from these Steve Jobs videos whenever it makes sense in your life.

What Do You Think?

Do you have any other lessons you have learned from the great Steve Jobs that have really resonated with you? Please share in the comments below!

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References

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/graduating-college-today-is-vastly-different-than-it-was-10-years-ago-2018-05-10