Steven Jobs gave a commencement address to the graduating college students of Stanford University. The message however was not meant to the students present. It was an address to all the young people searching for the meaning in their life. It was for people who were searching and longing to do what they love. Finding and doing well what you love is essentially the message of Jobs address.
Throughout the speech, Jobs shows that he is very well aware of his accomplishments. He is happy and proud of it. He loves what he is doing. He uses his life and experiences to inspire the students to seek what they love and do this exceedingly well. To drive home his point, he told three stories: connecting the dots, love and loss, and death.
Connecting the Dots
Addressing young students, Jobs stresses that they should not take for granted whatever it is they are doing now. Every experience, every encounter that people have in their lives is important. It may seem so trivial or unimportant at present but would become very valuable in the future. Thus, one can conclude that one must do well everything he undertakes. All these would be clear in hindsight. Unfortunately, one would not see the importance of certain things until the end.
He tries often to appeal to emotions. He begins his story with his being given up for adoption. His realization of that led him to search for love. In the process of searching, one stumbles along the way. Sometimes, those failures or seemingly wrong decisions would lead one to the right path.
He cites as an example what he did after he dropped out of college. Instead of taking regular classes, he sat in at classes he liked and found interesting. Of all things, he took up calligraphy classes. Nobody would understand why anyone should take a course that would have no practical value in life. That calligraphy course set the foundation in the development of the McIntosh ten years later. The Mac used beautiful typography with proportional spacing. Today, this is something that is standard in the user interface of personal computers. Had not Jobs attended those calligraphy classes, the use of these fonts on computers may have never happened. “Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. ”
The road to finally enjoying what one wants may not always be easy. However, that is the path toward fulfillment, a difficult path that is not usually taken.
Love and Loss
Jobs road to success had not been easy. He suffered a lot of losses. He stumbled through life, but he always made sure that he always stood up. Failure and suffering are simply part of the challenges of doing what one wants to do. “Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith.”
He narrated his experiences after he was eased out of Apple. It did not seem to be a likely event, but he was fired from the company he founded. It was a tragic and embarrassing event. Rather than be discouraged, he rose again. He pursued and continued to do what he loved.
In hindsight, his being fired from Apple turned out to be some kind of blessing that would lead to better things. He founded Pixar which produced the movie Toy Story and the company became the number one animation firm in the world. He also founded next which ironically was acquired by Apple, paving the way for his return. When he came back to Apple, his experiences outside proved to be very useful in turning around the company and producing some of the best technological products around.
In a way, especially before he got married, Jobs found his love in his work. His work gave him fulfillment and happiness. It also brought him fame and fortune. It seems to be the biggest part of his life. “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.”
Thinking of Death
He continuously stresses the importance of doing what one loves and doing this well to the extent that he uses the idea of death. He says that thinking of death is the best way to help one decide to pursue what one wants. He says that if this is going to be your last day to live, would you be doing what you are doing now. “Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”
Everybody will die. Everybody knows it. However, no one really wants to die—even who think about going to heaven. Since that is the case, why should not one do what he truly wants to do? When should start? He did not directly ask this question. One can easily deduce it from what he was finally saying.
“If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today? And whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.”
The knowledge and consciousness of death forces one to think more deeply and more introspectively. One seeks to do the best with what he loves.
Jobs had been diagnosed with cancer of the pancreas. He was suffering from an incurable cancer. He was already preparing for his death. As he was contemplating his own life, he realized that that is the best way to truly do what one loves. “Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”
Doing What One Loves
Jobs calls on everyone, especially the young graduates of this love, to find and the do what they love. He had been lucky to have found that out early in life. He encourages every one not settle for anything less. One should not follow other people or try to be like other people. One could not find “Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice.”
Jobs sums up everything towards the close of his address, “have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
Works Cited
Jobs, Steve. "Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address." 14 Jun 2005. YouTube. Stanford University. Address, Video. 20 Oct 2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc>.
