Some time ago I found a great video on You Tube with 3 great inspiring advices from Steve Jobs. The video shows Steve Jobs holding a speech at Stanford University, in front of a graduate class. It is only 15 minutes long.
It gave me some very interesting thoughts. I noted them down for me and would like to share them with you.
For example, he says you should always follow your heart and instincts. It will lead you to more happiness and success in your life.
Imagine you have the choice between two job offers. Offer A offers a lot of money, an interesting topic, and nice colleagues.
Offer B offers less money, the topic doesn’t seem to be the latest and greatest. But somehow you hear tells you to go in that direction.
Choose offer B!
I was in this situation some years ago. I worked as a consultant for a company for 5 months. Suddenly, this company made me an offer. It was well paid, less working hours, better career development, more training and nice colleagues.
But somehow my feeling said “No”. I was thinking about it for a long time, especially because of the money. It was much more compared to what I earned. What I earned back then was just enough to pay our bills. Big vacation was not possible.
Finally, I refused the offer. Nobody understood why. But I was convinced it was the right decision.
It took more than one a half till the next job offer arrived. But this one was the right one. If I would have taken the offer before, I would not be a mentor, I would not be a recognized talent of the company and I would not be writing this blog and sharing my experience with you.
I would not be where I am right now. And I really love where I am right now.
I followed my heart and it worked out very well.
In the video Steve Jobs says it this way:
“You can’t connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backward.”
Follow your instincts, intuition, and feeling. Really, it will make sense sooner or later.
And further:
“You have to have the trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. Believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart even when it leaves you off the well-worn path.”
Another great thing he says is the following:
“For the past 33 years, I’ve looked in the mirror every morning and ask myself: If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I’m 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.”
I started to create a morning ritual for myself to start the day with a positive attitude. And I ask myself this question above. It works. It lets me think about the things I do and if they are things I love to do. For mentoring you the answer is always, with no exception: “Yes!” 🙂
Some other great sentences he says to the young graduates:
“Do you love what you do? You’ve got to find what you love!”
“The only way to be really satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”
Here is the full video:
I hope you find this article interesting and that it helps you to persue what you love to do!
Let me know a decision where you followed your heart instead of the facts.
