I just finished watching a great YouTube video of Steve Job’s Stanford Commencement Speech, discussing some of his life experience, as well as some of his personal life lessons.
Two of the life lessons from Steve Jobs speech that I found interesting were….
Love what you do…
“…sometimes life is going to hit you in the head with a brick, don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love, and that is as true for 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, and don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know it when you find it. And like any great relationship it just get’s better and better, as the years roll on. So keep looking. Don’t settle.”
You cannot underestimate the power of passion in life and in successful leadership. All successful people are passionate about what they do. I have yet to find a successful leader that does not love what they are doing with their life. Do you love what you do? Is it a passion?
Live each day like it’s your last…
“When I was seventeen I read a quote that went something like, ‘if you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right’. It made an impression on me, and since then for the past thirty three years, I’ve looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself, ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?’ Whenever the answer has been ‘NO’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.”
The question “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” is a good way to test if we are doing what really matters… How would you answer this question?
Technorati Tags: Steve Jobs, Passion, Vision, Speech, Love, Death, Leadership, Management, Business, Purpose
Related posts:
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Fantastic! I have watched this video myself numerous times and I think it is awesome. Simple words, honest and very true!
For more than three and a half decade, I have always been in competition with only myself and not others. I know that there is a powerful potential within my ability to unleash and look forward to all that I am about to achieve. Have a wonderful 2009
Excellent speech. I’ve actually seen this a few times. At my university, the commencement speech was delivered by Senator Carl Levin and, let me tell you, it was quite pathetic. Not that he didn’t have insightful things to say, but it was highly political (i.e. the Iraq war this, blah blah that). When delivering a speech like this, do what Steve Jobs did - talk to the kids about the future or about what you’ve learned in life that may assist them through their life. Again, excellent speech.
It’s one of speech which influenced me a lot. There’s one more great point. “The Important of Connection” I realized it from my life….