As of recently I have become quite intrigued by the man formerly behind Apple. Steve Jobs innovation is inspiring and he left many lessons behind for everyone to learn from not just entrepreneurs. I decided to share five of the ones I have noticed that cross over into the entirety of life.
1.Be Passionate About What Your Doing
“If you don’t love something, you’re not going to go the extra mile, work the extra weekend, challenge the status quo as much.” -Steve Jobs
Passion. Without acknowledging and understanding that the things you are passionate about are what you will go to great lengths for is a paramount lesson. To really be the best at something and make substantial impacts you need to have a passion for what you are doing. I personally connect to Steve on this level because it is so easy for me to lose track of time while doing something I genuinely am passionate about. Lesson number one is to identify your passion and do it, don’t be afraid to go the extra mile and love what you do, often these people are thought of as innovators over time.
2.Sowing Greatness, Reaping the Consequences.
“If you keep your eye on the profit, you’re going to skimp on the product. But if you focus on making really great products, then the profits will follow.” -Steve Jobs
As a young person who has been contributing to growing businesses since 14 this rings true with how I’ve grown to think. The lesson to take from these wise words is pretty obvious as are most of Steve’s inspiring quotes. Tying into the previous quote this one is about not just doing something for a payout, but doing something to change things. It might not always be world changing, but make the effort not for your own benefit, but for the greatness of all your effort and work to be seen as what they truly are, great. Ultimately, this is a lesson taught even from the Bible that we reap what we sow(Galatians 6:7). This is just more of a spin of entrepreneurial sense that if you do great things great things will follow just as we deserve what we get from the work we put in.
3.No Problems, Only Solutions
“Let’s go invent tomorrow instead of worrying about what happened yesterday.” -Steve Jobs
A quarterback needs to learn this lesson early on in their career. If you throw an interception you better have a short memory because you will need to get back on the field again and prevail. Worrying about what has already happened, about things we cannot change will only dilute your future. Learning to accept both your successes and your failures in this manner will always keep you moving forward towards solutions, not halted with problems. I gladly admit this is a hard lesson to learn and should be constantly reminded in times of stress and hardship.
4.Don’t Just Do, Put in the Work to Do Great Things
“Details matter, it’s worth waiting to get it right.” -Steve Jobs
It took me a very long time to finally understand this completely. I used to just do the work that I had to the amount of detail I wanted to deliver to the task. At the time doing electrical work I got away with it. However over time I learned it wasn’t about just delivering the detail that I put into it or that the task needed. It was about putting the amount of detail into all the aspects of the work to complement the good job, making it great. This is a wonderful life lesson especially professionally. Don’t just do something for completion, do it for perfection. In order to do this it may take time and concentration, which will be worth it in the end.
5.Decision Making
“Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do.” -Steve Jobs
This actually is my favorite lesson and until recently I hadn’t learned it. The way I normally phrase it is that even with inaction you have made an action, a decision. I wrote a little bit about this creatively in my previous post. A lot like a sail boat with the sails deployed, if you don’t choose a coarse you are still sailing. This is a important life decision as well as a professional decision. A business must choose what it does and doesn’t do, by doing this you create the appropriate expectations. Much like life you want to make the decisions to set yourself, your relationship, your child up for success. So, why would a business be any different? Even down to the little details of what exact products and services you offer, by not deciding to sell a product you are focusing on what you DO sell.
Do It for Yourself
Although Steve’s words don’t need much interpretative speaking with them, it is enjoyable to bask in points that clearly inspired such a successful man. A wise and some might say very different man with unique insights into the world and business from a man who revolutionize 4 industries. Learn these lessons and use them everyday for life and for business not for Steve, but for yourself.