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by Fred C. Wilson III
December 1, 2011
A tribute to Steve Jobs
“Many of the most successful people in the world started with nothing, so what is your excuse not to become all that you can be.”
-Daniel M. Wood-
I believe that life is an adventure not a minor event to be endured until death. Life is active involvement not passive resistance. In tribute to Steve Jobs whom I consider a great man, I’ve decided to explore his seven rules of success adding an eighth rule at the end. Anybody who has been reading Philippine Adventures for any appreciable length of time will know that I’m a student of the Human Potential Movement. Why talk about changing the world if you can’t change you? I don’t believe in going with the flow/swimming with the current. I’m countercultural; my politics are radical, and my religion Christian (orthodox Roman Catholic).
Do what you love: “Positive people with passion can change the world for the better.” I used to tell my students that if you don’t enjoy your work even if you’re good at it you will eventually hate it. In time both hater and innocent people will suffer. We used to have career sessions in my Moral Development class. One of the hot topics was future jobs. It took me little time convincing the kids of their necessity of knowing what they wanted from life, assessing their individual talents, and training needed to attain their career goals. Reader I’m pushing 66. When I was a kid I used to enjoy astronomy. Last week I got a volunteer position at Chicago’s Adler Planetarium as a telescope facilitator once I successfully complete training. BE ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT WHAT YOU’RE DOING OR YOU WON’T LAST!
Make your mark in the universe: Steve Jobs was a visionary. The man had the ability to see beyond what was presented him. This reminds me of the best preacher I’ve ever heard next to Billy Graham. Fr. Jason Kommer, OFM contrary to what folks say about supposed dull Catholic homilies in comparison to the more fiery Protestant sermons. This man was a real ‘Bible pounder.’ I say this to honor him. One of his main premises was that WE SHOULD MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE JUST BECAUSE WE’RE IN IT he’d shout. Don’t you dare lose sight of your ‘Big Picture!’ I’m quite sure Steve and the good priest is sharing a few beers as you read this article while they discuss the fate of the multiverse (expanding Cosmos).
Make connections: I live in a senior citizens residence. Most of the folks are decent people. Collectively speaking most appear to share this trait: they don’t like their minuscule worlds rocked. Sitting alone in their tiny rooms waiting for that ‘check’ (retirement payment) to arrive while watching TV until death do they part just ain’t my ‘cuppa.’ LIFE IS A LEARNING EXPERIENCE; you stop growing you start dying and where I live many do both. I nicknamed this place ‘Roach Motel’ for obvious reasons. Residents check in but they don’t check out unless they’re dead. Take art and writing classes, learn Spanish, study beer brewing, bread making, volunteer time at a museum, and do hospital ministry. Your growth potential is endless! Don’t sit on your a** and do nothing; Steve didn’t.
Just say no: Steve Jobs said ‘no’ to more things he said ‘yes’ to. He reduced Apple Computers 350 products to a mere 10 all in a two-year period! He was a man for quality not how much stuff he could crank out in a given period. You can learn many things in life. You can only develop a certain number of talents. Too many cooks spoil the broth-FOCUS!
Create insanely different experiences: Reader we’re all different. I can’t do it for you. I can only give you a general idea and let you fly or fall with it. Develop many different ideas and projects that if you had the money, time, and extra hands to develop them all each of them would be universes unto themselves! If they can train fleas to pull wagons surely you as a human being could do a lot better than a flea or a trained circus rat. You’re your own greatest salesperson/customer. ENRICH AND DIVERSIFY YOUR LIFE!
Sell dreams not products: I love to dream! I sleep with a notepad with pen next to my pillow, been doing this for decades. I log everything. When I wake and rub the crust from my eyes I read my scribbling. I recall totally the night/early morning’s dreams within minutes. Your family, customers, friends, boss, and significant others could care less about your dreams. They expect you to use yours to enrich theirs. Jobs taught us to HELP OTHERS ACHIEVE THEIR DREAM AMBITIONS.
Make friends: I’ve added an 8th rule. One of my main failings in life, and Steve’s too I’ve read, is that I never cultivated the Art of Making Friends. It’s not that I’m a terminal a****** as one of my brothers told me it’s just that I’m not one for small talk, gossip, wasted words though I do talk a lot, nor can I just sit and rant about some mindless TV shows, movie ‘stars’ (unless they’re pretty women-LOL!), or about some local scandal. Time is precious to me. I value time like money. My attitude isn’t conducive to making friends. Reader MAKE FRIENDS. With all that electronic crap hanging from people’s ears in societies attempt to drown out reality, its’ hard and getting harder, according to an article I read in the Chicago Tribune, to make and cultivate relationships; try anyway-texting doesn’t count! I hope you’re a lot luckier than this old boy (LOL!).
Fil-Ams are strong in the points mentioned. Their non-Filipino counterparts could use considerable assistance in all of the above. If you want to know more about what you can do to enrich your life and those lives around you here’s a short list of source material. ‘Steve Jobs and the 7 Rules of Success’ by Carmine Gallo, www.entrepreneur.com, and ’50 Motivational Quotes about Succeeding in life’ edited by Daniel M. Wood. That’s it; GOD bless.
(vamaxwell@yahoo.com)