Deciding to follow your dream and live a tumultuous life as an entrepreneur is not for the faint of heart. You’ll face economic challenges, relationship upheavals, and even self-recrimination. It can be tough to hold your head up high and press onward when doubt-ridden ghosts are perched upon your shoulder, whispering warnings of impending failure in your ear. Instead of giving in to those prophesies of doom and gloom, let the words of the late Steve Jobs resonate in your entrepreneur’s soul. You’ll be motivated enough to charge forward and even more sure of your life choices.
Five Inspiring Life Lessons You Can Learn From Steve Jobs:
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”
You can’t fulfill the dreams others have for your future. From your parents to your spouse, numerous individuals will have visions for who you are supposed to be and which career path you’re supposed to follow. They each have their own life to live; it’s not your job to live your life according to their wishes. If you don’t want to lie on your death bed wracked with pangs of regret over the dreams you should have chased, it is imperative you follow your gut and chase your entrepreneurial dream.
“My favorite things in life don’t cost any money. It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time.”
While you’re fulfilling your fantasy of becoming a successful entrepreneur, focus not on success as your destination, but on the joys along your journey. From the camaraderie of coworkers knee-deep in innovative technologies to the sunsets spent with your spouse and children, reveling in the daily joys life brings your way is crucial to your happiness. Becoming a financial success as an entrepreneur pales when compared to the joyous heart of an entrepreneur who is living his/her best life.
“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.”
When you realize you have nothing to lose, it makes following your heart a less fearful endeavor. Knowing you only have one life to live and it is up to you to live your own truth, makes becoming an entrepreneur more of a calling and less of a choice. To avoid living your entire life with a haunted heart, use Steve’s words to lighten your load. Whether it is guilt over choosing an uncertain financial future or concerns over appearing to be a failure in the eyes of others, living the life of an entrepreneur can place a heavy burden on your psyche. Let Steve Jobs’ imagery resonate in your soul as you build the life you’ve always dreamed of.
“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.”
Expect excellence in yourself and in those around you. From your co-founder to your employees, let the spirit of superiority be etched in every task you undertake. Perfection doesn’t need to be your motivating factor; striving for excellence is far more rewarding. Knowing you each gave it your all and attempted to put forth the best possible product or service is reward enough in itself.
“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”
You may not change the world with your entrepreneurial endeavors, but you sure as heck can have fun trying. Just because something has never been done before or there are imposing challengers towering in your way, there’s no reason not to at least attempt to innovate. If entrepreneurs and inventors hadn’t bet on themselves and charged forward, there would be no electricity, flight, or astronauts landing on the moon. If you’re crazy enough to believe you can build a successful business, you just might be impetuous enough to see your dream through to fruition.
Steve Jobs left this world far too early and left a myriad of miracles undiscovered. If you want to do one thing to honor his memory, live your best life and chase your entrepreneurial dream. Who knows; he might even be cheering you on from his iCloud.
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Of course, a great, innovative man. Just about anything that he says is a great quote for inspiration.
There seems to be an underlying theme to all this and it’s that you have no time. Everyone thinks they have time to do something. There’s infinite things you will want to do with a finite time to do them. It’s damn important to do what you want in this life because that’s what life is all about – experience. If you’re living life doing some bullshit you don’t want to do you will die full of regret. You have no time to do anything, so “waiting til tomorrow to kill it” is a really horrible idea. The reason is that waiting til tomorrow eventually turns into waiting til the next day after that. Sure enough you string enough of those together and you never get anything done. Implement immediately and you won’t have a problem besides having to readjust. This is a much better problem to have than inaction.
I really like the third “lesson”. Many people are thinking about the past and about the things that limit their creativity. People should relax and accept the fact that they will die one day. In other words they should live in the NOW.