Steve Jobs is unarguably the modern symbol of innovation. There is no one who does not know who Steven Jobs is. Two phrases from Steven Jobs’s speech at Stanford University resounded within me; “Stay hungry, stay foolish.” As his own words, he tirelessly and endlessly researched and challenged himself and others. And, he was not afraid to walk the path never traveled before. Jobs had left Apple, Inc then later returned and developed iPhone. When Jobs and his partners founded Apple, the company flourished. However, upon his departure, Apple, Inc. began to decline and was on the brink of bankruptcy. When he returned, he demanded his annual salary to be $1, which demonstrated his goal and intention was only to revive Apple, Inc., not the money and glory. He, then went on to develop iPhone and iPad, and consequently brought Apple, Inc. to the top of its game. Let’s take a look at this for a moment. When Jobs was with Apple, the company was flourishing. But when he left, it began to decline. Why was that so? When Jobs left, Apple had a solid foundation which allowed it to flourish, however his departure brought the beginning of its downfall. Steve Jobs is the key word for success, one we should all learn from. With the coming of the year 2013, we all have new hopes and dreams of our own success. All of us hope that this year will be better and that there will be more success and accomplishments.
For betterment, we need to learn to listen to people like Jobs who have already tasted the sweet fruits of success. We all know that complaining about a lack of outcome from our efforts does not exactly bring us success. Upon the dawn of 2013, we must learn from someone like Jobs. Steve Jobs was known to start his day by looking at himself in the mirror and asking what he would do if it were his last day.
This means he absolutely did his best with all his passion every single day.
There is an expression, “It is not that someone is lazy but that someone has not found the work he is passionate about.” Ask yourselves if you have that passion of living the day as if it were your last day, as Steve Jobs had done. We already know how to become successful. We also know how to become rich. But why are we unable to become rich and just struggle every single day? As Steve Jobs said, we are not hungry yet. We actually don’t want to make efforts to become a better self but just hope for some betterment by luck, like going to Seven Eleven every day to scratch a lottery ticket…
Steve Jobs, on the other hand, made billions of dollars by himself, without scratching lottery tickets. We are all the same human beings, but some of us succeed while others fail. Why is that so? It is said that these two have even less than 1% of a difference. Jobs spent every day tirelessly doing his best, whereas ordinary people wish everything would work itself out without putting in any efforts and without wasting their time on worrying. At this time, the start of a new year, we need to change our mindsets. There is an old saying: ‘what you decide in your mind comes true.’ What not only Jobs but other successful people have in common is that they work at least ten times more than ordinary people do every day. It means they make superhuman efforts that ordinary people cannot even imagine. Their eyes are always sparkling, full of energy and ideas. Besides, they are never satisfied with where they stand and just keep pushing forward. Therefore, how can they not be successful?
The successful are super positive, while the ordinary just complain. They even complain that they are so exhausted with their work, even though it is the only responsibility they currently have.
I have two friends; one earns $1500 per month and the other earns $4000+. They don’t have any difference but one. The former tells me he’s tired every day. He just complains about how exhausting his work is and that he wants to change his job. On the other hand, the latter is always cheerful, bright and hopeful. The second friend only studies how he can work more efficiently and how he can earn more money than he does now. That’s the only difference. He’s always hungry, but dedicates all of his strength to his work as if it were his last day, just like Steve Jobs did.
The number of people committing suicide has increased over the past few years. It wasn’t that these people had no hope. They merely couldn’t change their own minds. There was no passion in their mind, so they just complained about their unlucky and boring lives. But the problem was indeed within themselves.
Well, let’s change our mindset. Steve Jobs and I are the same human beings. Then, how come I am not as passionate as he was?
Leave that old self behind, totally get rid of it and start thinking that today is the last day you have been given. Then, jot down some things you’ve put off for a while: reading a book for an hour a day, waking up early in the morning, and so on. Think that today is really your last day. You cannot put it off anymore. It cannot be done at all unless you carry it out right now. When humans live with this mentality, they’ll feel the passion that slowly sparked up from within their minds. Then, you need to make a precise plan, for example, ‘I will buy a house in three years’ or ‘I will get into that company in one year’. Write down those wishes and then the detailed strategies for implementation, too. What’s the most important is this: Steve Jobs actually executed his plans while we only made plans and left it at that. We must always be hungry, remembering the passion Steve Jobs had. Crave for success and invest in self-development to allow yourself to continue developing. It would also be a good idea to improve by cleansing your mind through Yoga or meditation (a trend these days). Likewise, do your best by not wasting a single hour of the day, and working to become a better self. Following this new plan, in 2013, you will definitely gain huge outcomes, compared to the year before. Why? Because if you do something with all of your passion, you will work at least four to five times more than you used to.
In that way, it’s impossible not to be successful. Let’s create a prosperous year in 2013, with new hopes and passion.
