I’ve watched Steve Jobs’ 14 minute Stanford commencement speech at least five times by now.
Related:4 C’s To Career Success
Why? Well, not only is it absolutely brilliant, with life-changing wisdom that always seems to get me back on track. I also love hearing personal stories from exceptional people. Even if I don’t want to be exactly like them, there’s almost always a couple critical traits or ideas I can model and apply in my own life.
In this article, I’m going to give you my favorite pieces of wisdom from Steve Jobs’ Stanford speech that you can use to advance your career today, and I’m going to share with you my formula for modelling success and getting your dream job.
What We Can Learn From Steve Jobs
See, by studying successful people like Steve Jobs, I like to think that we become a bit of a patchwork quilt made up of the traits we admire in others. Our lives then become a beautiful mosaic, combining elements of success and happiness that we learn from others.
This is the fastest way, in my opinion, to become the person you want to be and achieve the results you want in your life. That could be getting your
first job, your dream job. or starting a business. Modelling success is the key.
1. Do Great Work
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do… 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.”
Don’t settle until you find what you love to do. Couldn’t say it better myself, Steve.
2. Live Each Day Like It’s Your Last
Steve says that every morning he would look at himself in the mirror and ask himself this question:
“If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I’m about to do today?”
What a powerful question. He goes on to say that whenever the answer was “no” for too many days in a row, he knew he had to change something.
So, are you settling with your comfortable, unpleasant job right now? Would you want to do what you’re about to do today if it were your last day? If the answer is no, then keep reading. At the bottom, I share a resource for finding a job that’ll get you excited to hop out of the bed in the morning.
3. Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish
This was his closing remark in that powerful speech, and it’s how he said he strove to live his life.
Your time is limited. And Steve says not to waste it living someone else’s life. He advises to “follow your heart and your intuition - they somehow already know what you want to become.”
So, if you haven’t watched his Stanford commencement speech at least twice by now, I’d advise to go do so. And if your answer to Steve’s powerful question has been “no” for too long, then consider checking out the GameChangers 500.
It’s a list of organizations like Patagonia, Zappos, and Google who are committed to empowering and inspiring their employees, making a difference as well as a profit, and being environmentally conscious.
Now, these companies aren’t like traditional corporations - in fact they’re the furthest thing from them. Therefore, you’ll need a radically different approach to get their attention...
My friend and mentor, Andrew Hewitt, is the founder of the GameChangers 500, and together we’ve assembled a free video with his best tips for getting your dream job with a GameChanging company.
So, remember these tidbits of wisdom from Steve Jobs, watch his talk, and take the next step toward your dream job today.
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