21 Life Lessons from Steve Jobs

By: Nick Scheidies Topics: Entrepreneurship

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Steve Jobs will be remembered as a digital visionary the man who brought poetry to the
microchip.

But before he was a legend, he was a person.

We cant all be Steve Jobs, but we can all learn from his extraordinary life.

#1 Skate to Where the Puck is Going to Be

In 2007, Steve Jobs said, Theres an old Wayne Gretzky quote that I love. I skate to where the
puck is going to be, not where it has been. And weve always tried to do that at Apple. Since the
very, very beginning. And we always will.

Steves ability to anticipate future trends helped Apple dominate now-burgeoning markets like
digital music sales (through the iPod and iTunes Store).

#2 Accentuate the Positive

Steve started life out on the wrong foot. He was given up for adoption at birth.

Tough break? Young Jobs didnt think so: he was thankful for his loving adoptive parents
who happened to live in Palo Alto, California (which would eventually become Silicon Valley).

#3 Learn from Others

In high school, Jobs attended lectures at a small computer technology company called Hewlett-
Packard. Before turning 21, Steve had worked for both HP and Atari. He saw what these
companies were doing and learned what he wanted to do differently with Apple.

#4 Start Early

Because Steve was still a sponge-brained teenager when he started working with computers, he
learned quickly.

It also helps that he started Apple in his early 20s: when he was still full of energy, fresh ideas,
and not yet restrained by a family or career.

#5 College is Important

At its best, higher education challenges us to make connections and solve problems.

Jobs credits a college calligraphy course for part of the Macintoshs development:

If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had
multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts.

#6 But its Not Necessary

Reed University was expensive and Jobs didnt want to drain his parents savings. If Jobs hadnt
dropped out, he would have been a junior in 1975. He co-founded Apple Computer that year
instead.

#7 Travel the World

The year before he founded Apple, Jobs journeyed to India. Travel has a way of broadening a
persons perspective and expanding their sense of whats possible good traits in an
entrepreneur.

#8 Surround Yourself with Good People

Steve Jobs wasnt a great computer engineer. Apple would have had no chance if Jobs was the
only one building the computers. Thats why he recruited Steve Wozniak.

Through the years, Jobs companies have blossomed thanks to the brilliant people hes brought
on board like Apple CEO Tim Cook and Pixar CCO (Chief Creative Officer) John Lasseter.

#9 Expect Greatness

People tend to rise to expectations.

#10 Fake it Before You Make it

In Apples early days, Steve recognized that Palo Alto, California was the epicenter of
innovative computer technology. Steve wanted his company to be associated with this place
but Apple was still headquartered out of a garage in nearby Los Altos.

Jobs solution was to set up a PO Box in Palo Alto and hire a voice answering service. A
potential client would get the impression that Apple was a big company in the heart of Silicon
Valley even though the truth was that it was still just two sweaty guys in a garage across town.

#11 Obstacles are meant to be Overcome

Jobs and Wozniak ran out of money while developing the first Apple computer. Instead of giving in, Jobs sold his
van and Wozniak sold his graphing calculator. When theres a will, theres a way.
#12 Dont Value Money

As CEO of Apple, Jobs earned $1 a year. Jobs wasnt incentivized by his salary, but by his own
unrelenting pursuit of excellence. (Then again, his expansive stock holdings may have
been some incentive.)

#13 Value People

Jobs hired passionate people and cultivated exceptional company cultures at both Apple and
Pixar and their work speaks for itself.

#14 Take Risks

Jobs was willing to cannibalize his companys products in the name of progress. Many CEOs
would have been hesitant to develop the iPhone, knowing full well that it would help to make the
iPod obsolete but Jobs did it anyway (and took a big bite out of the lucrative mobile market).

Dont be afraid to take risks. Especially smart ones.

#15 Create a Personal Brand

Steve Jobs was one of the first people to recognize the growing importance of personal brands in the Internet age.
His black turtleneck is as instantly recognizable as the Apple logo.

#16 Have a Higher Purpose

Buddha said, We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts,
we make the world.

Jobs has turned his vision into reality since he began practicing Buddhism in the 1970s.
#17 Find the Right Partner

There is no more important decision in your life than the person you decide to share it with.
Choose wisely (as Steve did), and you have a partner who will help see you through daily
challenges.

#18 Fail Forward

Everybody fails. Its how you respond to those failures that makes all the difference. In 1984,
Steve Jobs was fired from Apple.

At Stanfords 2005 commencement address, he had this to say about it:

I didnt see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could
have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of
being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative
periods of my life.

#19 Learn How to Take a Brick to the Head

More inspiring words from the Stanford speech:

Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Dont lose faith. Im convinced that the only
thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. Youve got to find what you love. And that
is as true for your 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.

#20 Remember Youll be Dead Soon

Remembering that Ill be dead soon is the most important tool Ive 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.

Our time on this earth is short. Lets make it count.

#21 Put a Dent in the Universe

Jobs once said, Were here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise, why else even be here?

Having a higher purpose doesnt just help you find success. It redefines the meaning of the word.

Ready to Redefine Success?

Ill let Jobs have the last word:

The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you havent found it yet, keep looking.
Dont settle. As with all matters of the heart, youll know when you find it. And, like any great
relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it.
Dont settle.