Life Lessons All Can Learn From Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs was a legend, he was a person. We can’t all be Steve Jobs, but we can all learn from his extraordinary life.

In high school, Steve Jobs attended lectures at a small computer technology company called Hewlett-Packard. Before turning 21, Steve had worked for both HP and Atari. He saw what these companies were doing and learned what he can do.

Because Steve Jobs was still a sponge-brained teenager when he started working with computers, he learned quickly. It also helps that he started Apple in his early 20’s: when he was still full of energy, fresh ideas, and not yet restrained by a family or career.

Reed University was expensive and Steve Jobs didn’t want to drain his parents’ savings. If Steve Jobs hadn’t dropped out, he would have been a junior in 1975. He co-founded Apple Computer that year instead.

The year before he founded Apple, Steve Jobs journeyed to India. Travel has a way of broadening a person’s perspective and expanding their sense of what’s possible – good traits in an entrepreneur.

Steve Jobs wasn’t a great computer engineer. Apple would have had no chance if Jobs was the only one building the computers. That’s why he recruited Steve Wozniak. Through the years, Jobs’ companies have blossomed thanks to the brilliant people he’s brought on board – like Apple CEO Tim Cook and Pixar CCO (Chief Creative Officer) John Lasseter.

People tend to rise to expectations.

Steve Jobs and Wozniak ran out of money while developing the first Apple computer. Instead of giving in, Jobs sold his van and Wozniak sold his graphing calculator. When there’s a will, there’s a way.

As CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs earned $1 a year. Jobs wasn’t incentivized by his salary, but by his own unrelenting pursuit of excellence.

Steve Jobs hired passionate people and cultivated exceptional company cultures at both Apple and Pixar – and their work speaks for itself.

Jobs was willing to cannibalize his company’s products in the name of progress. Many CEOs would have been hesitant to develop the iPhone, knowing full well that it would help to make the iPod obsolete – but Jobs did it anyway. Don’t be afraid to take risks. Especially smart ones.

Steve Jobs was one of the first people to recognize the growing importance of personal brands in the Internet age. His black turtle neck is as instantly recognizable as the Apple logo.

Steve Jobs once said, “We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise, why else even be here?” Having a higher purpose doesn’t just help you find success. It redefines the meaning of the word.

Buddha said, “We are what we think. All that we arise with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.” Jobs has turned his vision into reality since he began practicing Buddhism in the 1970’s.