Steve Jobs, you are an inspiration like no other. No one else has pushed the boundaries of modern technology, innovated beyond what we thought was possible, and influenced the future, quite like Steve. Perhaps more importantly, no one else has made us believe like Steve has. We look up to Steve because he shows that it’s possible to have an incredible impact on the world with one’s work and innovation. Now, we live in an era without Steve. We have to look at Steve’s work and let it inspire us to build our vision of the future. We have Steve to remind us of how much of an impact we can make on the world, and to realize that we only have a finite amount of time to do so. Thank you, Steve, for inspiring us and making us believe. You made a lasting larger-than-life influence, and not even death can take that away. Your legacy lives on and will continue to inspire us.
Sebastian Marshall wrote a great article about a way to prevent yourself from “giving in” when you’re working towards a goal. Often times, I say “screw it, I finished such-and-such medium-sized project, let’s dig into some steak/these brownies/some dessert… I haven’t in a long time.” Not only is it dangerous, but you eventually lower the criteria for “event for celebration”, and it’s so easy to give in.
One way to suppress this urge to give in, says Sebastian, is thinking the following: “Self destruction is generally counterproductive.” It’s smart. The idea is that, all things considered, giving in is almost always net negative. So why do it?
The thought goes from appealing to counterintuitive—usually, at least. Sometimes those brownies just smell too good.
* * *
It’s important to think about why this works, since that could tell us what makes it so effective, and maybe we could apply this thinking elsewhere. When you get into a stage where you’ve done away with something and used your self-control to do so, you eventually fatigue of doing the correct, but enormously less satisfying thing. (At least, that’s what dieting tastes like.) Rewarding yourself is now appealing and your self-discipline is weak.
So how does it work? My thought is: getting this reminder triggers a subconscious memory of when you first decided to set the goal, and reminds you of why you did it and what you imagined the end result to be. With this perspective floating in your mind, the urge to do better and be better, because indulging does mean a net negative, overpowers the nagging thought of the satisfaction of indulgence. This reminder gets you into the perspective and mindset from when you set your goal.
Another method for reconsidering the decision to indulge (or in this case, to drop the ball) is the well-known Seinfeld rule of “don’t break the chain” for keeping habits. I think there are a lot of ways this can be triggered.
However, rewards are definitely important, and sometimes indulging is the right thing to do. The problem lies with that it’s too easy to get into a habit of bad rewards. The idea of repositioning your perspective to see things from a past mindset can help set better, net-positive rewards. It’s powerful because one thing that is incredibly hard to hold on to is a mindset you had in the past, which you used to set a goal. Sometimes, after a short while of inspiration and discipline, it deteriorates, while the urge to defect becomes stronger. Being in the original mindset is a good way to hold fast to your original goal.
Steve Jobs’ magnum opus—his life’s great work—will be not just Apple, but creating an Apple that will continue to revolutionize without him.
It’s one extraordinary feat to build a company from near-collapse 14 years ago, to one of the most innovative companies today.
It’s a whole different story for Jobs to look back on what he’s done and try to build the company to follow the dynamics of his leadership and his direction to continue without him. To reflect on what worked and replicate that success. To reflect on what didn’t work and avoid those in the future. To train his succeeding leaders on what he’s learned and how to implement that knowledge.
If Jobs succeeds, then he was able to isolate the secret sauce of building one of the most innovative and disruptive companies, with all of its leadership dynamics, strategy, operational procedures and everything else—and implement it, so that the company operates on cruise control with help from the leaders he’s trained, and continues its unmatched innovation.
Doing what Steve did—building a revolutionary company—is something that few have done. He will have taken this a step further, if this switch succeeds. Steve Jobs would have achieved his magnum opus: understanding why what he did worked, and implementing it so that Apple can continue revolutionizing technology.
That’s the barometer of meaningful work.
Don’t work to be famous and be on the minds of those that don’t intend to do anything with their lives and go day after day without ambition.
Change the lives of the individuals that are making change themselves.
Success and failure, they are separated mainly by those who try, those who don’t, and all the subtle levels in between. To try means to move your ass, get out there, and hustle. The whole fucking world is open to you. Everything you love in this world that nature didn’t deliver to you was created by a hustler. By those who try. All the billions of people on this planet, they each need help with almost every detail of their existence. You can certainly be of value somehow.
Had to share this. From Judd Weiss’ about page.
0 Comments