Apples to Oranges: What I Learned From Steve Jobs

Wow, it's amazing what you learn about someone once they've passed. I knew that Steve Jobs was a visionary, inventor and technology genius. But he had so much more to his story that is so fascinating in the lessons that it teaches. I am mostly struck by some of the twists and  turns in  his career that ended up serving him so well in the end. The so called "failures" that lead you to take new risks and uncover new opportunities.

It's something that is hard to teach our children I think. How to fail gracefully and learn from our mistakes. How to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and find ways to be stronger and better and even more successful.

Here's an exerpt from his speech to Standord graduates a few years back...

..."I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life..."

(later in the speech and quite eerie I might add)
"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..."


"...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."

Good words to live by...Is there an app for that?

Rest in peace Steve Jobs and thanks for all you have contributed to society. Here are 100 more things you didn't know about Apple and Steve Jobs