With the recent release of ‘Jobs’ the film in the States (and I assume soon to be released in the UK) following the life of Steve Jobs, from his early adopted childhood to his successes as an adult. I thought, it would be a good time to cover and recap on all of the advice and lessons from Steve Jobs that he has taught and given us over the years; some of which are sure to be shown in the film.
Being a techie kind of guy myself and interested highly in both the media and business, Steve Jobs has been a huge idol to me ever since a child. With his quirky ways (a few of which I could always even relate to myself) and his huge impression on technology, business and the media, he was a fascination and an inspiration.
Steve has always tried to teach others, contrary to the well publicised and in some case’s true image making him out to be a stiff and cruel man. Giving numerous lectures and interviews over the years, and a well known Stanford commencement address in 2008, there are a lot of quotes about life lessons from Steve Jobs to be learnt. I’ve listed a few below.
Quotes About Life Lesson from Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs Lesson 1: Resist the pull of dogma and achieve fully in life.
- Stanford Commencement Speech 2005“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.”
Steve Jobs Lesson 2: Gain varied experiences and become innovative in life.
- Academy of Achievement Speech 1982“The key thing is, if you’re going to make connections that are innovative, your going to connect two experiences together, and so you have to not have the same bag of experiences as everyone else does, or else your going to make the same connections, then you wouldn’t be innovative.”
Steve Jobs Lesson 3: Value life and don’t be scared to take it on.
- Stanford Commencement Speech 2005
“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.”
Steve Jobs Lesson 4: Connecting the dots of your life – Work hard in the direction of your life and trust it will all work out.
- Stanford Commencement Speech 2005“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.”
Steve Jobs Lesson 5: Achieve simplicity and move mountains.
“That’s been one of my mantras – focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”
Steve Jobs Lesson 6: “Stay hungry, Stay foolish.”
A well known saying from Steve, initially taken from the final Whole Earth Catalogue during his early years and repeated well since. Although everyone takes something a little different from the saying, to me, it means to stay hungry to learn and grow more, and to stay foolish and never become complacent or happy with where you are. To stay foolish and never stop learning the next thing there is to learn.
Wrote by Joe Brown
