https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Steve Jobs, CEO (chief executive officer) and co-founder of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, explains some of the most important points in his life and urges graduates to pursue their dreams and see the opportunities in life's setbacks -- including death itself -- at the university's 114th Commencement on June 12, 2005.
He never graduated from university college. He tells them three stories from his life.
The first story is about connecting the dots. He dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months. Why did he drop out? His biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put him up for adoption. She wanted that he was adopted by college graduates. His parents were working-class and had never graduated from college but promised that he would someday go to college.After six months in Reed College, he couldn't see the value in university. He had no idea what he wanted to do with his life. He had to sleep on the floor in friends' rooms and returned coke bottles for the 5 cent deposits to buy food with. He followed his curiosity and learnedcalligraphy. Ten years later, when they designed the first Macintosh computer, it was useful. He connected the dots: he understood the sense of his life. It's important to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.
His second story is about love and loss. He found what he loved to do early in life. He started Apple in his parents' garage when he was 20. In 10 years Apple had grown from just the two people in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. He was 30. And then he got fired. He had been rejected, but he was still in love with his job. And so he decided to start over. He started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become his wife. Apple bought NeXT and he returned to Apple. He never lost faith. The only thing that kept him going was that he loved what he did. "You've got to find what you love: and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work, to love what you do. Don't settle".
His third story is about death. For the past 33 years, he has looked in the mirror every morning and asked himself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And when the answer has been "No" he knew he needed to change something. Remembering that he'll be dead soon is the most important tool he has ever encountered to help him make the big choices in life leaving only what is truly important. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
About a year ago he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, a type of cancer that is incurable, and he should expect to live no longer than three to six months. But he had the surgery and he's fine now. No one wants to die. Death clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new are you, the graduates, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Our time is limited, so let's not waste it living someone else's life. We don't have to be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. The noise of others' opinions should not drown out our own inner voice. And most important, we need to have the courage to follow our heart and intuition. They somehow already know what we truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
When he was young, he used to read a publication called The Whole Earth Catalog. On the back cover of their final issue there was a photograph of a road. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." And he has always wished that for himself. And now, as they graduate, he wishes that for them: people need to choose for themselves and keep their curiosity. This is the best recipe for life, an open road.
