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Steve Jobs would like to have a word with you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

You should listen to the commencement speech he made in 2005 at Stanford https://youtu.be/D1R-jKKp3NA

Steve Jobs commencement speech

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

That's also what Steve Jobs said in his commencement speech. He talked about the DTP industry not existing before the Mac, but by adding greatly designed fonts to the system a whole new market was created. And Steve got the fonts idea back from his college years, when he followed a calligraphy class at Reed college [0].

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[0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA&feature=youtu.be...

⬐ bayer_rggb

Similar to what UWaterloo Prof. Larry Smith says https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Titm4d1lt74

The single best motivator for me is remembering that I'm going to die one day. I think often about the commencement speech Steve Jobs made in 2005. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.

Here's a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

I still allow myself time to relax/slack off, but if I had intended to only watch a few episodes before getting down to working on something I'm passionate about, and then have the urge to just do the easy thing and keep watching instead of doing whatever I'd planned to do, I remember that my time is slowly running out and if I don't take steps to achieve my dreams now, then I will likely never achieve them before there's no time left.

This applies to everything in life, not just work. Travel, falling in love, learning new things--you name it--everything is affected by how limited your time is. Time and your body (there's a direct relationship between them) are the most limited resources you have, and even if you strike it rich you can never rewind the clock. This is what motivates me more than anything else to get shit done. On a related note, once you realize just how limited your time is, you realize how pointless it is to live your life for other people or be constrained by dogma. Anyway, at this point I'm just rehashing the speech, and Jobs says all this much better than I do. If you haven't seen it yet, go watch it. If you have seen it, go watch it again and listen very carefully to what he says.

⬐ aadilrazvi

Thanks for this reminder, as this is what I used to use. I had a friend of mine very abruptly pass away and the months following his death, I motivated myself just as you are describing. As time has passed, I have forgotten about this. I appreciate your input.

⬐ jesseendahl

One more thing:

I have a strong urge to not be the kind of person who tells people he's going to do something and then doesn't. So if I really want to make sure I accomplish something, what I do is tell a bunch of people about my goals and set a realistic date where I want to have met some certain metric, and then I ask them to ask me about about my progress on a regular basis. If I tell enough people, then usually at least one of them remembers to ask about every other week, and after awhile I'll go "shit, if I don't actually do this, I'm not going to reach my goal and everyone will know." It's basically manufacturing peer pressure for a positive purpose. It's really scary to do this (at least for me), but that's also what makes it effective.

Is the main point of this article, to work on unimportant problems as you can never know how important they may actually become, essentially the same as that of Steve Jobs in the Stanford commencement speech? E.g. at the time of of taking calligraphy classes, he could not know that this would majorly impact OS font handling? [www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA]

How come no one mentioned Steve Jobs and his commencement speech at Stanford? It is absolutely one of my favorites. I watch it everytime i feel that i could use a dose of motivation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

Please listen to the famous Stanford Commencement Speech by Steve Jobs. It has helped me greatly in situations I feel depressed about life. I still listen to it again and again! worth every second!

Here's the youtube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

Your life is essentially a series of experiences unfolding in ways you are likely to never predict with any reasonable degree of accuracy.

Steve Job's graduation commencement speech touches on this idea of being unable to "connect the dots in your life" forward, one can only do it retrospectively. It is a keen observation and is certainly worth listening to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

Try and minimize the amount of time you let your mind spend regretting a decision you made in March and focus more on looking forward and taking the next positive step in your life.

You are only 20 and are bound to make many more decisions that you may consider to be a mistake in the short-term, but you have no idea how your life will ultimately unfold.

What you once considered to be a mistake could turn out to be a great decision, even if it only serves the purpose of teaching you some lessons to grow yourself further.

Kudos on your bravery to take a risk, I'm sorry to hear it isn't working out at the moment but I assure you it is totally within your domain of influence to change things around for yourself and realize new opportunities.

Just take it one step at a time and try and frame the experience as simply an opportunity to grow through a challenge.

I read edw519's comment and he is certainly right, we do care and things are never as bad as they may seem.

A true pioneer of the computing industry - farewell.

His Standford graduation talk, always inspiring: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

By, when you get to the point where you have to choose with either your heart or your head (wallet, benchmarks etc.) picking the former.

Oh, and watch Steve Jobs at Stanford on this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

For some reason I am reminded for Steve Jobs' Stanford graduation speech when he says "you will die one day." In the video, it seems to roll off the audience as a cliche. But, it seems to have tempered much of his career with fearlessness, and the willingness to take risks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

⬐ rmobin

It's so hard to think like this. I've read and watched this speech many times over the years, and I always thought it was awesome - but it never changed my behavior. I'm working on that more recently because I realize the power of understanding how many things "fall away in the face of death".

Cool, I will just simply tell you my opinion, in the end it is you who should make the decision, for me school is for people who don't have imagination and courage to learn by themselves. But in early age and with lack of experience it is easy to get carried away and take the wrong direction.

If you already found your passion and you are sure that whatever is it, it is what you want to do for next few years of your life. Take the 6 months off and go explore in that direction and see what you get. Otherwise if you are not sure yet, stay in school and try to find what you like to do, you still have long way and if the next 6 months are not them, be patient sooner or later you will find what you like to do. Then everything is going to be clear.

Explore and try to meet people and talk to them whether in school or off school.

Check this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

Good Luck.

It's not a myth or legend. I look up to great people that moved our species forward. Here is where I learned some of this 'crap':

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

And, the rest is from Steve Wozinack's autobiography...

Steve is a polarizing figure with a vision that unites spirituality with technology. That's why Apple keeps attracting more and more attention...

IMHO, pales in comparison to the address of his Steveness: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

You shouldn't deny your curiosities, because you never know what they'll lead to.

Steve Jobs once dropped in on a Calligraphy class, and fell in love with beautiful typography. It had no practical purpose to him at the time, but later in life, when he was building the Mac, he built that beautiful typography into it, changing computers into a design tool.*

Taking time to play the piano will help you relax and think more creatively. Additionally, as your mind makes connections between notes and identifies patterns, it will find parallels in the challenges you face in your startup.

*Story from Jobs's Stanford Commencement Address: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

That's always been one of my favorite speeches. I highly recommend it to anyone who's never heard (or seen) it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

⬐ None

None

⬐ vinhboy

"Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking"

I can't decide if this is good or bad advice. How do you find the fine line between being ambitious, and being arrogant?

⬐ condor

the way I look at it, ambition is your own personal goal/view/desire (directed inward) . . . arrogance is when you push your ambitions on others (directed outward).

⬐ Readmore

I've seen this multiple times but now I'm going to have to watch it again.

Thanks for posting.

⬐ billclerico

loved the quote at the end. "stay hungry, stay foolish"

⬐ amohr

Here's the issue he's talking about http://www.wholeearth.com/issue-electronic-edition.php?iss=1... - it's on the back cover. This is one of the many 'last' Whole Earth Catalogs.

⬐ manbearpig

This is definitely one of my favorite speeches of all time. It's so inspirational, particularly for a young college student aspiring to be a great entrepreneur.

Too bad they couldn't find someone better than Anthony Kennedy for the '09 Commencement.

⬐ scorxn

One of the last things I bothered printing was a transcript of this. http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-06150...

Jobs was quoting the last issue of the Whole Earth Catalog. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA starting at about 12:50.

⬐ dualogy

Whoa, I forgot that and now remembered... thanks!

This is no doubt one of the best speech i ever heard. It gives me a lot of new perspectives when i heard it for the first time back in 2006. Here's the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

I find it strange how the imminent demise of another makes me reflect upon myself: I found myself wondering what I would write in the same situation, and then realizing that this is a fate that I cannot escape.

I like to watch Steve Jobs' Stanford commencement speech, every now and again, to remind me of that fact:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

Transcribed: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html

⬐ ilitirit

> imminent demise

Just in case some people don't know, Fravia passed away 2 days ago (2009/05/03)

Jobs gave an address to Stanford university's graduating class in 2005. Here's a link to youtube if you want to watch it:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

It was quite interesting and spoke deeply to me.

⬐ jim-greer

He covered his health in that speech, but according to this CNN piece he was pretty misleading.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/03/02/news/companies/elkind_jobs.f... (Scroll about 1/4 of the way down)

If he's going to talk about his health, he should be more straightforward than this.

I think once you're the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, your responsibilities to your shareholders mean that you need to be more forthcoming about your health than he has been.

⬐ redrobot5050

No, you need to be more forthcoming with your board of directors, some of which (Al Gore) are close personal friends and can keep their mouth shut to the press if it really is a "private matter".

The fact that Apple's board hadn't take any action was (to me) a clear indication that he was A-Ok. Steve might be exceptional, but the rest of the senior management has Sarbanes-Oxley to contend with -- meaning they could face jailtime for any intentional falsification or misleading statements given to the board of directors. And the board/stockholders have been extremely watchful ever since the backdating options/SEC Probe scandal a year or so back.

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish! - Thats all matters I think.

Steve Jobs Speech: http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

Exactly, do what you love doing. For inspiration, watch Steve's speech at Stanford.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

⬐ matt1

I just got around to watching it and really enjoyed it.

Thank you for the inspiration.

I find Steve Jobs' Stanford commencement speech to be a very good real life advice. If you are graduating this year, please watch it and learn from his experience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

Here's that Stanford speech quoted in the article: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

⬐ axiom

Bill Gates' Harvard graduation speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXCVYtYWVyU&NR=1

It's hilarious, he's like the anti-Steve Jobs. Corporate, insincere, forced humor.

⬐ henning

Yep, Bill Gates is kind of a megalomaniacal dickhead. Then again, how many billions of dollars have you committed to giving to fight disease in poor countries?

⬐ alaskamiller

On the contrary, having actually seen Steve in action I have come to believe he's the megalomaniac dickhead. Bill Gates has now gotten old and to the point where he isn't too concerned about tinkering with phones and computers and sees that as being secondary to solving real problems on this world.

What's really interesting though is how both men being college dropouts (although for Steve that's a bit generous) and here they are, old and experienced, explaining how the problems (for Steve being creativity and Bill diseases) isn't so much something that can be solved by the collective brain power in college. It requires people to just make an effort and try.

⬐ axiom

"Bill Gates has now gotten old and to the point where he isn't too concerned about tinkering with phones and computers and sees that as being secondary to solving real problems on this world."

This is bizarre in the extreme. The reason Bill Gates has the money to deal with "real world problems" is because his company created something valuable that increased people's productivity. Could he have started his foundation without creating a Microsoft?

In general, the road to solving what you call real world problems takes you straight through solving more mundane problems like getting iron out of the ground and figuring out a more efficient process for managing inventory.

⬐ alaskamiller

I was trying to draw parallels about how after achieving great amount of money and success in both man, Gates is no longer too interested in running his company or product development and rather wants to focus on humanitarian causes. His speech was to focus on that, to convince those that are in power, privileged, and in a position to help, to really go out and help. Gates has grown from worrying and fretting about his company to do other things while Steve is still driven to make computers and won't stop until he's dead.

⬐ dcurtis

He's obviously much worse at orating, but he seems sincere and his speech is pretty inspirational.

Although his voice... reminds me of a slightly lower pitched Mickey Mouse.

⬐ shayan

I am not sure how many times I have seen this video, I love it, I love this man, I love his speech and I truly can't get enough of it... sometimes I have some doubts and there is few things that can clear them out for me, this video might be one of them ... I just watched it again, and I am pumped

⬐ Tichy

Creidt: found in Jared Kim's weblog: http://blog.jaredkim.com/

⬐ Sam_Odio

This was probably one of the more motivating speeches I've heard in a while. It's especially significant once you've watched Pirates of Silicon Valley.

I can only hope that - in the next decade - some of us will be giving speeches this memorable and inspiring.

Here's a commercial I like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=No1MxAnHuJM

And a news story that you might recall:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6cOp6EDFlI

A commencement speech:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

Which ones are your favorites?

⬐ rms

Not a video, but... this is the only inspirational thing I have ever read. A blind entrepreneur gets a stem cell transplant and he can see again, but his brain has to learn how to process information.

http://web.archive.org/web/20040401192741/www.senderogroup.com/mikejournal.htm

⬐ zkinion

Yeah, I remember this. It's classical.

Jobs' speech is about 1.5 years old. It's probably a classic for this audience, but the few who've slipped through the cracks must not be denied this utterly inspiring speech. We should be so lucky to one day be able to give a speech that chronicles a life of amazing achievements. Don't focus so much on whether what he's saying is true, of if you think he's this or that. All that matters is that if you feel something deep within you move, listen to THAT.

Also, here's the YouTube video of the speech - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA

Do enjoy!