Like many I am saddened by the world’s loss of Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, creator of my iPhone, and man of wisdom. As I read the many tributes to him, I found myself returning to his inspirational quotes, especially one. It reads:
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
Of all the quotes, and there are so many that inspire, why did I keep reading this one over and over? I think it’s because it speaks to the struggles we have in all aspects of our lives, including our work.
How many of us spend endless hours feeling trapped in work that we chose based on others’ opinions? How many of us are even at this moment listening to our own inner voice when it comes to the direction our lives are taking? And how do we uncover what our heart and intuition already know about us?
Just think about how you chose your career path. Whose opinions, yours or others, guided this choice? Are you right now acknowledging or pushing down that little voice inside you that says maybe it’s time to make a career change?
I love that Steve Jobs’ last name relates to work – but I love even more that in all the times he shared his wisdom, he often tied what he did for work within the context of his life. He had clarity in what was important to him in his life and carried it over to his work. I think we can all agree his work was outstanding.
What would make your work outstanding? I think it’s worth asking.
Thanks, Steve, for being such a great example of what it means to love your work.
