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Friday, March 7, 2008

Stay hungry, Stay Foolish - Steve Jobs

I read and listened to this commencement address delivered by Steve Jobs at a Stanford graduation ceremony in 2005 and ever since '05 I find myself periodically reading/referencing it again. So...in the past few weeks...I have started mentioning this speech again...in fact, during several of the interviews I've done recently and also in some social settings...

Check out the video in RealPlayer, Quicktime, or WindowsMedia Player

[Click here for text transcript]

Some quotes I really like;

"Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."

"You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle."

"No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

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."

...and he makes really cool looking products ;)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Encouraging words as I foolishly commit to an uncertain future with my own Web 2.0 venture... will keep it close to my heart & mind!

staffordmasie@gmail.com said...

You can only connect the dots looking backwards ;) Good luck with the new venture...we need more guys like you in ZA!

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