Watch the video below. Then, leave TWO takeaways from it. After that, leave TWO reactions to the takeaways from your peers. Be sure that your takeaways and reactions save and publish. If they don't, you won't receive points for them. This will be worth 100 points (25 points per response).
There are so many takeaways - 1. College (like high school) rarely prepares us to excel in the real world. At least how most students approach it. You know the routine - get the A with as little effort as possible. Get the highest possible ACT score so I can get a few more dollars for college. Focus on sports, friends, and other social activities. N wonder 60% of people leave college without a degree.
ReplyDeleteJobs illustrates this when he acknowledges that he never got close to graduating college. Yet, here is an entrepreneur and businessman and thought leader who changed the world in numerous ways. He did this all despite a very lackluster high school GPA and dropping out of college. As Tony Wagner said: "The World doesn't care what you know. The world only cares about what you can do with what you know."
Luckily for Jobs, he could do a ton of things with what he knew. And he didn't gain all of that knowledge from school. In fact, he might have gained his knowledge in spite of school.
Takeaway 2 - Follow your passion. Do what you love. Find your element.
ReplyDeleteThese are what we are told. But, unfortunately, just scratches the surface. I was one of the lucky few (and outside of Mr. Zutz and a few others I know) I truly can say that I have the greatest job in the world. As I was saying, I was one of the lucky few who found a passion early on (reading and writing). As a result, I let that passion drive me to read (one summer I polished off 75 horror novels) and write (filling notebook after notebook with lyrics (god awful lyrics), stories, and poems). In fact, by the time I graduated high school, I had easily amassed the magic number of 10,000 hours (more on this later) in order to get really good reading and writing.
So I was one of the lucky few who knew exactly what I wanted to do when I enrolled in college. I let that focus and my passion and my skill drive me towards my degree.
But when I actually began teaching, something funny happened: I hated it. I mean I freaking hated it. The kids were rude. They didn't listen. They didn't take notes. They didn't do their homework.
I hated it. I hated it so much that I applied at UPS. Had they hired me, I would have quit before Christmas vacation.
Thankfully, though, they didn't hire me. And I gutted it out. What I didn't realize back then, though, was that I was again working on getting in my 10,000 hours of teaching and getting better at it.
I was able to lean into the dip that was teaching. Then after three years I went to graduate school, where I again began working on another set of 10,000 hours, this time in the area of composition theory.
All of that work leads me to the key point about following your passion that no one ever really talks about . . . you have to find FIRST what you are really, really good at.
This reminds me of some vital advice Amy Chua (the infamous Tiger Mother of "Why Chinese Mothers are Superior" fame) - "Nothing is fun until you're really good at it."
And this is where following your passion relates to Cal Newport's book, So Good They Can't Ignore You: once you are very, very good at something, something odd actually happens . . . you develop a passion and love for what you are doing (usually).
Mr. Zutz is living proof of that. So is Reese, H, Mumm, Kahlhammer, Wheeler, and just about every other person who you might find having work that they really, really love.
So the big takeaway is that Jobs found what he loved and then ALSO put the work in (at Apple, Pixar, and back at Apple finally) to become so good no one could ignore him.
I thought it was a good illustration about connecting the dots. You won't always know where you're going or what you're going to need to know or do in the future, but it will work out. As long as you keep on moving forward and doing new things it will all come together and work out in the end.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, we may not know where we're going but we have to trust it will all work out in the end.
DeleteI also thought his comments about death were very important. Death is the great equalizer and removes all reasons to worry about appearance or being foolish. Don't hold anything back and live as much as you can while you still can. Death is coming, so don't worry about little mistakes, just keep trying to make an impact.
ReplyDeletePeter, I agree. I like the "Ra-Ra"nature of this speech and all the follow your passion stuff, but the most poignant message here are his comments on life and death.
DeleteThis is a great, Peter. I love how you talk about how
Deletedeath is the great equalizer and removes all reasons to worry about appearance or being foolish." We all need to live for our age and for the moment. We must not be intimidated by life itself.
first take away is not knowing is alright. Just because everyone else is going to college doesn't mean you have to just because everyone else is doing it. Not knowing or dropping out can help you. The dots will somehow connect in the future.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you completely. There is certainly value in not knowing what you want to do, and also gaining valuable experience through other mediums. You may not know what will help you the most for the future, but in reality, everything will help. Overall, you have to just hope that it will all work out, and it usually does.
DeleteI agree with you. Why waste your money if you don't know what you want to do? Find what you love and go with it, wether college is in the picture or not. Eventually you will find what it is that best fits you and you will strive in it, rather than going into something you are unsure about.
DeleteSecond takeaway is love what you do. You have to find what you love. Jobs was fired from his own company, but created more businesses from that. Keep looking and don't settle. He got re-hired to Apple because he created a better program from his own initial idea. If you don't truly love what you do then you will never work a day in your life.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is your passion that will get you through the hard times. Life will throw curveballs at you constantly, but if you maintain your passion, you will be perfectly fine. Hopefully we are all fortunate enough to find a career that is also our passion.
DeleteI agree with Peter on his comment on death. The thing everyone has in common is death. Death clears out the old and makes way for the new. Time is limited so think for yourself and follow your heart.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Reynold on his first takeaway. We are told from an early start that finishing high school and going to college will make us successful. That if we don't go to college and graduate that we will never find a successful job. But in Steve's personal story college isn't everything. He managed to create an empire from dropping out of college and pursuing what he was passionate about.
ReplyDeleteTakeaway 1- My first takeaway is with regards to Jobs' adopted quote: "stay hungry, stay foolish." I think it is so vitally important to maintain an inquisitive nature throughout your entire life. You should never be content or rest on your laurels. You must maintain an attitude of "what next." Jobs had based his entire career off of innovation that is a by-product of this mindset.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this takeaway. However, many people are too lazy to maintain this mindset. Some people just want the easy road out. They just want to manage and nothing more. Imagine what could be done if people did not just settle, but "stayed hungry."
DeleteI agree with you on this takeaway Brandon. We should always be looking for the next level and not settling on what is easy. I also find it interesting how society wants us to try new experiences and grow. For example, if we aren't satisfied with a job we should move onto another. Yet why do businesses or careers only give you slight benefit increases, such as vacation time or pay raises, after you have stuck with a job for a long period of time?
DeleteTakeaway 2- My second takeaway is with respect to Jobs' postsecondary education. He makes an intriguing point with regards to a liberal arts education. He states his disagreement with taking the classes that he has no interest in; however, he essentially shows the value in this system with the calligraphy class. He does state that he had an interest in it, yet it showed no real value at the time. He shows that through a liberal arts education, you may have to take classes that you like or dislike, but the real value in this system comes from creating a more diverse culmination of educational experiences. Even though you may be upset with the requirement of a prerequisite for graduating, you may never the value it may hold.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very good point. Many people often make fun of liberal arts and those classes, but they really are good eye openers. They may not affect your career or life in general, but most people will probably find an interest or hobby out of these classes that they will cherish.
DeleteMy first takeaway is what Jobs says about connecting the dots. I have no idea what I want to do in the future, like Jobs, and those dots could connect in so many different ways. One thing Jobs said that stuck with me was “..you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.” Looking forward you do not always know what is coming but when you look back you can see all that you have accomplished has led you to the moment you know what you want to do.
ReplyDeleteI think Jobs' message about "connecting the dots" is a very important lesson. So many people, especially students, are so worried that they do not have life completely set up in a step-by-step planner. That is not the point of life, though. It is not meant to be perfect or planned out. It will, however, all make sense in the end.
DeleteI agree with your point. Especially at this point in our lives no one really knows what they will be doing in a couple years. It's important to just keep moving forward and bettering yourself until you can see the dots connect behind you.
DeleteI agree with the concept of connecting the dots. Sure it can be scary to not know what is happening in the future for a person but we just have to believe that we will be guided to our own path eventually.
DeleteMy second takeaway is about finding what you love. When you find what you are passionate about things might not always work out; for example, Jobs liked his original job and then he got fired. Getting fired did not stop him for long. He still loved what he was doing so he created many other companies, like Pixar and NeXT. When you cannot do something that you love you have to work harder to get back to where you were. When things got hard for Jobs he fought back to the top. I think that is what we should all takeaway, when things get hard or do not go our way we should fight back, and when we do, things could turn out better than we ever thought possible.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this takeaway. If you love something, you need to work hard at it. If you end up failing or falling out, you need to work harder to find something better. You won't find something you love without trying.
DeleteFirst Takeaway-
ReplyDeleteSimilarly to what Reynolds stated in his first takeaway, college is not for everyone. High school may not even be for everyone either yet society makes us believe that we need to be educated and succeed but only in the courses that society chooses for us. Society has these guidelines for us that we must follow otherwise we are failures. How do they expect everyone to excel at everything? College is not a step towards being successful. Hard work and determination is. That is what I got out of Steve Job's speech.
I definitely agree. The traditional approach for college is not for everyone. We can't expect everyone to exceed at everything because not everyone can become doctors, teachers, or people in law enforcement. Since there are so many kinds of backgrounds people come from, whether it be from divorcee parents or even an adopted household, I believe each individual's experience shapes how they contribute to society for the better.
DeleteGreta I couldn't have said it any better then you did. Society has its guidelines for what they think that we should be succeeding in. They don't encourage the thought of being successful at something that doesn't include the use higher education.
DeleteI agree with this 100%. Society thinks that it knows what's best for everyone, that there is only one path to success. It's a shame, because I wonder how much talent has been wasted because of this. Going outside of these guidelines is when great things happen. I'd rather create my own path than follow one that society thinks I should.
DeleteSecond Takeaway-
ReplyDeleteLive everyday like it is your last and do not expect everything to go as planned. A person should never be scared to try something because they think they might fail. They should have the mindset that every day could be their last and just do things. Do not be scared to make those seemingly giant leaps in life. This ties into not expecting everything to go as planned. If you expect everything to roll smoothly, you will most likely be disappointed a lot of the time. Life is not smooth. Be flexible and accepting and never give up.
I agree with you Greta. People need to take chances and not be scared if they fail. Learn from your mistakes and take risks. Live everyday like its your last or you may be disappointed when you look back on your life.
DeleteI agree with you, we should live like it could be our last day and not be afraid of failure. If you don't try new things in life, by the end you might regret not trying.
DeleteFirst Takeaway-
ReplyDeleteYou can’t connect the dots going forward, you can only connect them looking backward. No one knows exactly what lies ahead in their future. You have to hope that in the end, you dots will connect. Jobs talked about his college experience, and how he didn’t know what to do, so he dropped out. This allowed him to study things he was interested in, rather than focusing on required classes. If he had never dropped out, he would have never found his passion for computers and we may not have Apple today. So, don’t focus on the dots as your growing and learning. But, focus on them when you find your passion and see how far you’ve come.
I agree Bailey, you do not know what life has in store for you in the future. You must just work hard to make sure all the dots connect in the end. Everything happens for a reason. I also agree that you must focus on your loves and passions.
DeleteSecond Takeaway-
ReplyDeleteEverything happens for a reason. Jobs was fired from his one company, and everyone else in the community knew it. Even though he was fired, he still loved what he did with Apple. Now looking back, he was glad he was fired. He was able to start over again and create. He made Pixar and eventually brought him back to Apple. Also, when he dropped out of college he didn’t know what to do. He struggled for a while, but eventually got back on his feet. Now he’s produced so much and is doing better than he ever thought he would.
I'm definitely one of those people who believes everything happens for a reason. His quote which resonated with me the most was, "You have to trust in something." Whether it be you gut, destiny, or karma because that's what gives us confidence to make a difference at the end of the day.
DeleteOne of my takeaways after watching this speech is, that you should enjoy your job, or career. If you aren't enjoying what you are doing anymore you should change something. Jobs goes on to say that we are only living for a limited amount of time, so why should we be putting up with something that we don't enjoy. He goes on to say that after we die what we were doing, career wise, will just be dropped off. It won't matter if you were liking what you were doing or not, it will just be done. You owe it to yourself to do something that you enjoy.
ReplyDeleteHailey I agree with you. I thought that part about things aren't going to matter after we die was interesting. It reminds me of speeches where people say that after you die it isn't going to matter if you had a huge house or lots of money because all of that gets left behind. You can't take it with you.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with with the connect the dot speech. There are so many dreams I want to accomplish, and I'm not even sure if I'll ever be able to achieve them. I don't want to be the person who goes to college on her parent's wishes and money to become someone mediocre if that person I'm going to become isn't me. I feel like if I don't take a step forward and risk something, I'll never reach my full potential. Thus not being able to contribute to the world as well.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Isha. We need to move forward and take risks because that's when we grow and learn the most! I like what you said about "not being able to contribute to the world." We all have something to give to this world and if we don't take that leap of faith, we'll gip the world!
DeleteFirst Takeaway~
ReplyDeleteAs Jobs describes in the video, "You can't connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backwards." This is very much true in everyday life. We all get so frustrated when something doesn't work out as planned, we like to be in control of our lives, and everything needs to be perfect. We need to put this aside and be trusting in the fact that everything happens for a reason, and trust that the future will work out in the end.
I liked when he talked about connecting the dots. Just because life does not go the way we thought it would does not mean that it still won't be great. Everything happens for a reason whether we know the reason or not. We just have to have faith.
DeleteI loved this part. It is so true, that we like to be in control of our lives. We need to just let things happen and trust that it'll work out. As long as we follow what we love, things will work out. Sometimes you'll find yourself doing something you never thought of and you just might end up loving it. Always stay faithful.
DeleteSecond Takeaway~
ReplyDeleteI found that Jobs' perspective on death was very true. In reality death is like an invention. An invention created by God. Right now we are the young ones and we can't waste our short time living someone else's life, because then we will never truly be happy. I often find that when people are asked what their future plans are, someone tries to shoot them down, because they most likely aren't following the "trend" of today's society.
I agree completely with everything you said. I have made that same observation with when people ask our future plans. It seems like if your future plans are something that people couldn't really see you doing, or like you said the "trend" you do get shot down almost immediately.
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ReplyDeleteMy second takeaway is, sometimes what you first decide to do isn't what you will be doing years down the road. He told us about his encounter with this. He always knew that he was going to college, but when he got there he quickly decided it wasn't for him. I think that this really applies to our lives now because we all have a little bit of an idea what we want to do for the rest of our lives. What we don't know what we will be doing years down the road, it could be something totally different.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good takeaway too. People change their mind a lot and they need to know that that is okay. Just because you once wanted to do something doesn't mean you have to stick with it your whole life. Sometimes it can turn out to be great, just like what happened with Steve Jobs.
DeleteI totally agree with Hailey. It is okay to change your mind. I think a lot of people have an idea of what they want to do after school but a lot of them will end up changing their mind. There is nothing wrong with that.
DeleteMy first takeaway is that quitting can lead you in the right direction. "It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back, it was one of the best decisions I had ever made. The minute I dropped out, I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked far more interesting." He also said following his curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. This instantly reminded me of Seth Godin's "The Dip". I thought that it was ironic when he talked about how great it was to drop out of college at a college graduation ceremony. This also leans toward quitting to follow your passion.
ReplyDeleteI agree Brenna, sometimes quoting something that isn't for you can be the best thing you can do. It allows you to have more time to focus and search for the things that are. Passions are sometimes hard to find at first, but eventually things will fall in place.
DeleteI also agree with you. When you take a step back from what you are doing, whether from failure or not, you can see things more clear. You gain ideas that you may not have thought of before, and can create some really incredible things. Failures are just steps to success.
DeleteI also thought about how weird it was that he was talking about 'how it was a good idea to drop out of college' to a bunch of people who just finished college. I like how this relates to the dip because quitting something we don't like can help us stop wasting our time and find something new that we do like.
DeleteMy second takeaway would be about doing what you love. I liked when Steve Jobs said: "Sometimes life is gonna hit you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love." He then continued to talk about how you will be satisfied by doing what you believe is great work, and the only way to do great work is to love what you do. I think that everyone should have this in mind when they decide on what they are going to do for college and a career. This also connects with following your passion and doing what you love.
ReplyDeleteMy first takeaway is that sometimes things don't go as planned. Life is crazy and unpredictable. You can still find success even if it isn't how you thought you'd find it. Sometimes going "off the well worn path" can lead you to a whole new place, a better place.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this. Sometimes going off the well worn path can lead you to a better place. A lot of us think that after high school they need to go to some sort of college or else they will not be successful. That is not true. If college isn't for you, you don't have to go.
DeleteMy second takeaway is do things you love. Jobs love for what he did kept him going, even after he was fired from his own company. He said he felt rejected, but he was still in love. He also said that the only thing that kept him going was his love for what he did. Don't settle for anything less then what you want most. You must continue to search for your passion and never quit.
ReplyDeleteGoes back to the Dip and knowing when to quit and when to stick it out. It must have been tough to start from the ground up with a new company. It's funny how it was acquired by Apple later.
DeleteFirst Take Away-
ReplyDeleteAs morbid as this may sound, I like when he talks about death. There will come a day for all of us that we will no longer be able to provide a service to the world, and be laid to rest. Until that time comes, why aren't we doing the things that are most important to us? Why aren't we doing the things we want to do, instead of focusing on what others think we should do. If you really think about this message, it is extremely valuable.
I agree completely. We waste our precious time being concerned about things that seem earth-shattering to us at the moment, that actually turn out to be minuscule. It's really sad how we can lose sight of what really matters and shuffle around our priorities so easily.
DeleteSecond Take Away-
ReplyDeleteDo things that interest you, even if it doesn't tie in to your career. Take a variety of different classes and gain knowledge in things that aren't directly involved with your career. You never know when the dots will connect later in life. When you have the opportunity to learn something that interests you, why not take the chance to do it?
I agree with you. Many people don't truly know what their passion is because they haven't really experienced much. Doing things that interest you, will allow you to experience more. Taking the opportunities could end up leading you to something you never knew that you were passionate for.
DeleteMy first take away: "Sometimes life is going to hit you in the head with a brick, stay faithful." I love this. Steve was absolutely devastated when he was fired from apple. It was what he loved to do. Instead of quitting, he went on to create Next and PIxar which in time became huge things as well. He found what he loved and stuck to it. He didn't let failure get in the way. He said that the love for what he was doing was what kept him going. Instead of getting discouraged, he started as a beginner once again and little by little became successful again.
ReplyDeleteI agree with jobs and how he needed to get back out there and do great things again. Im sure jobs could have very easily left the valley area and given up on what he loves but he stuck to it and created 2 more very successful businesses.
DeleteMy second take away: "If today where my last day of life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" I love how he said if the answer is ever 'no' too many days in a row, he knew he had to change something. That is such a great perspective to have on things. Life is too short to not do what you love and what you are passionate about. "There is no reason to not to follow your heart." When he talks about him finding out he has cancer, that really hit me. You just truly never know when your last day could be, so stop doing the things you don't like and start doing what you love.
ReplyDeleteI have never really thought of this until now. I could just die right now and never get to do things that I have always wanted to. Jobs makes a great point with this, you're right. We live our lives thinking that we have forever to do the things we want, but in reality, we don't. We need to live our lives to the fullest and love every minute that we have on earth.
DeleteI liked this part of his speech too. I think too many of us get into doing the same boring routine everyday, and we don't realize that we aren't doing anything that we love. This relates to a video Reese showed us in choir a couple weeks ago about how we should fill our jars (lives) with big rocks (important things we love) instead of small pebbles (not important things we don't like).
DeleteI've had quite a few death experiences, more than I'd like to admit. All of them involved being in a car. After they were over, I'd run to my parents and hug them, thankful that I was still alive. I remember telling myself each day after the experiences that I was going to live everyday like it was my last day, but after a while I'd go back to my daily routing of school, homework etc. I guess when a person is this young we don't believe life could be taken away from us. When in reality lives are taken every minute.
ReplyDeleteI like when Steve Jobs pointed out "don't live with dogma." That meant living with results of other people's thinking. I feel like most of society praises those who have high standing degrees and higher incomes. Instead we should praise those who do what they love, because even if they feel judgement, they are still doing what makes them happy at the end of the day. I believe that is what gives kids confidence to be whoever they want.
I agree that society praises people who have high degrees and high incomes. I feel like people just work for the money and not because they love what they do. I feel like our generation is more expecting of people expressing who they want to be.
DeleteMy first takeaway is we have to trust everything is going to work out the way it's supposed to. We may not see how the dots connect now, but we need to trust that they will contribute to great things down the road. Jobs trusted in his decision to drop out of college, which eventually lead to personal computers having beautiful typography. This trust he had in his decision gave him the confidence to follow his heart, even though it lead him off the well-worn path.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. We have to have trust in ourselves. All of our challenges and failures will only help us to succeed in the end but we have to trust that there will be success waiting in the future.
DeleteMy second take away:
ReplyDelete"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work, and the only way to do great work is to love what you do." *drops mic
Dang, I love this. Why would you want to something you don't love? I guarantee if you don't love what you're doing it's going to be extremely hard to do great work–and who doesn't want to do great work?
I agree with this. I think that if you don't love what you do, it will be so hard to do great work and to even just go to work.
DeleteI completely agree, mic drop and all! Too many people are following the social norm of getting a job to earning money, when people should be finding something they love to work and do great things at.
DeleteTakeaway 1-
ReplyDeleteI really like when he talks about connecting the dots. Everything in your life is going to happen for a reason. All of the risks and opportunities you take will end up working out. Steve Jobs, for example, took the risk to drop out of college and stick around as a drop in. At the time he thought that it was a crazy decision, but it turned out to be one of the best decisions of his life. “You can’t connect the dots looking forwards, you can only connect them looking backwards.” If you spend all of your time trying to plan out your future, you will miss many opportunities to follow your heart.
I 100% agree with you Lindsey. Everything does happen for a reason whether we know why or not. We have to have our eyes open instead of doing what society wants us to. Our choices might seem crazy at the time, like with Steve Jobs, but look where it got him! He now looks back and knows that it was because of him dropping out of college that he has as successful of a career as he does.
DeleteTakeaway 2-
ReplyDeleteLive everyday as if it is your last. If you are doing something that you do not love, you should change it so that you are happy about what you did that day. People conform to the social norm, because they are afraid to take chances and make mistakes. “You are already naked, there is no reason not to follow your heart.” Don’t be afraid to take chances in life and do what goes against the social norm. If you don’t, you may find one day, that it is to late to go back and do what you truly loved.
This is one of my I guess you could say moral codes. I realized that life isn't forever, so do some things that are out of comfort. Then you can look in the mirror and say "I'm glad I went out and did that today." You can also find new experiences that might become your passions.
DeleteOne takeaway I got is connecting the dots that Jobs says. It is a real way to look at life. You never really know what is going to happen in your future, but one day you can look back and say, "If I didn't do that, I never would've become what I am today." All those dots will eventually connect and form your future.
ReplyDeleteI like the way he said this with the dots. I mean, it can be really scary to not know what is going to happen in the future but sometimes we have to ride in the backseat and let things happen for themselves. Sometimes the best stage of life is watching those dots connect because each dot makes you the person you are each and everyday.
DeleteAnother takeaway is that college doesn't get you ready for the real world. College is for some people, and it is definitely not for others. We have so many examples of people who didn't go to college and are very successful in life. College isn't a place where success happens. Success happens with hard work and determination.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you Sara. Growing up, a lot of people are expected to go to college, so they can have a "happy life", but college just isn't for everyone. People can get just as far as some with a college degree as long as they are willing to work hard for it.
DeleteMy first taken away:
ReplyDeleteEven if you don't know where you want to go or what you want to be everything will work out. It might not seem like it but when you look back the dots will connect. You just have to have trust along the way.
That is why I don't see college as a need right out of High School. I still need to find out who I am and what type of person I want to be. College can be a useful tool, but it can also be a trap where you lose yourself or stray down the wrong path and change who you could be.
DeleteMy second take away:
ReplyDeleteEven though Jobs got fired he still loved what he did. He made two different businesses and still loved them. So even if things don't work out right away, don't give up. Job says that being fired was the best thing that could have happened to him. It lead him to be the entrepreneur is was.
I love that statement. I firmly believe that life is gonna throw curve-balls so even if you aren't doing what is planned you can still be happy with what your given.
DeleteFirst Takeaway- You can't connect the dots looking forward, only when you are looking backwards. You just have to find trust in something that the dots will all fall into place. This will give you the confidence to always follow your heart and take the path less traveled, your own. "Sometimes life will hit you in the head with a brick, Don't lose Faith."
ReplyDeleteSecond Takeaway- Death is the best invention, because it is the agent for change. We all share this. It limits your time, so you better not waste it following the path that wasn't made for you. Death clears out old and obsolete ideas. "Stay Hungry and Stay Foolish." Never settle always keep improving and feeding your knowledge. Always be yourself and dream. Be a fool because that means you are perceived to be different. You are special.
I really like the points you made about being yourself. I agree that you should always follow your heart even if others think differently. You are your own individual, unlike any other.
DeleteI agree with your first takeaway. In school the teachers always push us to never look back but it's good to look back and see what you have done and what you've accomplished. You can look back and see what kind of trail you have left behind. As a freshman I would've never imagined myself being where I am today and finding success in the things that I excel at today.
DeleteMy first Take away is knowing that what seems to be mistakes now, can be successes down the road in the future. When Steve jobs dropped out of college I bet that he was looked at like a failure. But because of him dropping out he was able to create the idea of Apple, a company that we all know and love. So when you have made a "Mistake" turn it around into a success story, like a multi billion dollar company.
ReplyDeleteI agree, some people get really down on themselves when they make a mistake. At the time, they don't realize that later down the road, it won't be such big deal and they may even benefit from it. You have to look at all of your experiences in a positive way, even if it doesn't seem like it at the time.
DeleteMy second takeaway is love what you do. You might think that you will love something by looking at the reviews of a job, but like Steve you will never know if you truly love it until you try it. So don't rule out a certain job because you don't think you'll like it. If the opportunity arrives take a shot at it.
ReplyDeleteFind what you love.
I agree with this, 100%. There are so many people now days that do certain jobs for the money of it all. Yes the money is helping you live, but you're not living as a person. We all need to find what we love and go for it
DeleteTake away #1: maybe you don't know what you are going to do with your future but that's okay. Sometimes people don't know what they are doing with their lives at the moment but eventually they stumble across a guiding path to their meant-to-be future. Steve didn't exactly feel like a failure of dropping out because he soon found his real guiding path and look at where he went from there. If he wouldn't have dropped out of his other classes, he wouldn't have been able to be in the classes that gave him the information he needed to succeed.
ReplyDeleteTake away #2: You need to find what you love because death can happen at anytime. If we spend our time away doing things that we don't enjoy, we are wasting our time away. We need to find what we love so that we do what we love and love what we do so when death does come, our lives weren't a waste for ourselves. Keep looking until you find what you truly love and don't give up on it. Steve says that remembering that death can come at anytime, it helps him decide on many decisions. 'There is no reason not to follow your heart'.
ReplyDelete'Sometimes life his you in the head with a brick'. You never know what is going to happen.
I agree completely, life is too precious to spend time doing things we don't enjoy. It'd be foolish to live your entire life for something that you don't care about.
DeleteHe spoke out to me when he was talking about seeing his future as unclear and undecided. When he all but gave up on his college education he founded one of the most successful companies ever. To me that says that even though you might not do what is expected of you, you can still do great things.
ReplyDeleteHis other statement that really hit me was "I'll be dead soon." That stood out because you should be able to enjoy what your doing and be able to die happy that day if needed. Showing that life always finds ways to throw misfortune to you but if your happy it will be easy to accept or even overcome.
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ReplyDeleteTake Away 1: One of the quotes he said was, "Because believing that the dots will connect down the road, it will give you the confidence to follow your heart even when it leads you off of the well worn path and that will make all the difference." I like what he said about that class he took because at the time he didn't think anything of it, but later in life that class became very important when designing the Mac. Another way to word his quote would be that everything will make an impact in your life whether you realize it now or later. I like this because I truly think that everything happens for a reason.
ReplyDeleteTake Away 2: Another quote he said at the end of his speech was, "Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life." I like what he said here because I think too many of us are just following what everyone else is doing just to fit in, even though it doesn't make us happy. We need to start living by makes us happy and stop doing just what everyone else lives by because we are all different.
ReplyDeleteI think that there was some good advice (like the live everyday like you're dying). I don't know that I would take it though. I wouldn't want to risk everything based on how the winds move at 2:30 pm on a Sunday. I want to be able to leave something after I die, maybe not in the form of a huge corporation, but in the form of a letter to a family member. I'm okay with staying small and unrecognizable. That's probably not the point of this video with the "Don't settle" bit, but I'm okay being comfortable wherever I find myself in life.
ReplyDeleteTake Away 1: One thing that really caught my attention was when Jobs said "You cannot connect the dots by looking forward, you can only connect them by looking back." Now days people are always telling you to look towards the future, and to never look back. I think when people do this, they are losing a piece of themselves on the way. What Jobs says after that quotes give a little advice as to how to survive while keeping your past in your life. "Believing that the dots will connect down the road, will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even if it leads you off the worn path." Within explaining how he views the past, he also tells us how it is okay to fray from a road that it often well traveled. We need to experience life for ourselves in a way that we want and need to do it.
ReplyDeleteI think you are right-on with "they are losing a piece of themselves on the way". Our pasts don't define us, but they help shape who we are.
DeleteTake Away 2: Death. For me death is something that has always gotten under my skin. No one can define the inevitable, and one day it will all hit us. But for now, I find it just as important to live each day as its your last, just like Jobs. Jobs said "Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose." Everyone needs to live for the moment and not regret what they are doing. If we don't do that we really are losing at life. Jobs continues and states, "We are already naked, there is no reason not to follow your heart." This all keeps me thinking because I want to be happy looking back on my past, knowing that I was my best possible self, and know I did what I wanted to do. We as a society should want to be whole like that, and full of exceptional things.
ReplyDelete#1 Can you imagine getting fired from the company you started? What was the focus of most of your adult life, stripped away from you by the people you hired? Steve described it as ‘devastating’. I would call it traumatizing. He says though, that this is what let him be free and curious again, leading to the founding of ‘Next’ and Pixar. But you also need an incredible kind of attitude and aptitude to get through that and come out on top. But I guess that’s all you really can do, is get back to it, if it’s something you love. And if you truly love it, rejection can’t kill it.
ReplyDelete#2 Although it’s morbid, thinking about the morality and fragility of your existence can open new doors for you. He mentions that it is dangerous to fall into the trap of thinking ‘you have something to lose’. I find that remarkably profound, and I’ll definitely be processing that further, but my immediate reaction is that this goes beyond the saying of ‘live this day as if it’s your last’ (which we’ve sadly become desensitized to) and takes it one step further. The only thing holding ourselves back, is us. With college just around the corner, and a career after that, we don’t have time to not be sure. When we’re faced with a tough decision, we know what we want to do, we’re just afraid of what the consequences might be. Steve said that our hearts and intuition usually know what we want to do, somehow, somewhere deep inside of us. We need to be brave, but that doesn’t mean not being afraid. Being brave is about what we do when we do feel afraid. Mr. Jobs was brave, and I hope I can be too.
My first take away is that if you don't know what you want to do, it is okay. I think a lot of us are worried that we have to pick everything about our future right now. We have time. If Steve had not dropped out of his other classes, he wouldn't have had the opportunity to be in the classes that he needed to succeed. I think that means, when one door closes another one opens. Failing in one thing may be a good thing, it may take you other great places.
ReplyDeleteThis is extremely true for the majority of us. We all think we are supposed to have our lives mapped out, but that is just unrealistic.
DeleteMy second take away is to find something you love to do and make a career out of it. In the video, he says, "Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work, and the only way to do great work is to love what you do." You should not spend your life going to work 40 hours a week doing something you hate or that is boring. Your life is short, make the most of it. If you love what you do you will never work a day in your life.
ReplyDeleteI agree I think you should find something that you love and that will make you happy. That way your job wont ever feel like work.
DeleteMy first take away is don't live someone else's life. Don't think exactly what other's think; instead learn from other's and develop your own true self. Just because your friends are going to college, it doesn't mean that you should go to college. You should follow your own path and be yourself while you're doing it. There's no better you than you.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a great point. Each person has a different skills set than the next one. Trying to live someone else's life won't do you or the world any good. You last sentence is true also: "There's no better you than you."
DeleteMy second take away is to live each day as if it were your last. I liked how he asked himself each day if he were happy about what he was doing that day. I believe that the most important part of life is to be happy. Even if you have something you absolutely have to do that you don't enjoy, you need to look at it from a positive perspective. When you are optimistic about your day, there is more of a chance that you will enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteI agree I think it is really important to be happy with your life and live your life like your dying.
DeleteMy first takeaway is if you love what you do, you will create great work. This relates a lot to me in school. In classes that I love, I put more time and effort into everything I do. Mostly because I like to do it, but for the classes that I don't enjoy I usually tend to slack off and just try to get by with an easy A with the least effort possible. He says the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you think is great work and the only way to do great work is to love what you do and not settle for anything less. I think it is very important that you find your own path love what you do. Even if it is not your passion you need to find a passion in your work.
ReplyDeleteMy second takeaway is that failure can help you to succeed. Steve Jobs failed countless times throughout his life. He almost didn't even get adopted because his adoption parents thought he wouldn't be motivated or want to be educated, just like his birth parents. When he finally went to college, he dropped out after six months. He was practically homeless and would just roam around living life. Because of his failure he got to take different classes he wanted that shaped his future. He got fired from his own company at 30 and he said that this was one of the best things that had ever happened to him. He began to be extremely creative. He created multiple companies, met his wife, and eventually ended up back in charge of apple after they bought his company "next". He would not be have started pixar or next if he had not been fired. He would not have been as creative and would not have been nearly as successful. Failing was a key element in his life leading to success.
My first takeaway is to not try to connect the dots looking forward. There is absolutely no way of telling what the future will bring. You just have to trust that what you are dong now will lead to where you are supposed to be in the future. Once you look back on your life, you will be able to see where the dots connect. In Steve Jobs' case, dropping out of college lead to him being able to sit in on a calligraphy course which came back later in life in helping him design the Macintosh.
ReplyDeleteMy second takeaway is to live everyday as if it was your last. I thought it was a good idea that he asked himself if what he was doing on that day would make him happy if he were to die that day. Again, there is no telling what the future holds. Any day could be your last. Nobody wants to have an unfulfilling last day. It is important to not just look to the future but to also look at the present.
My first take away is to connect the dots. I think its really encouraging that even though we might not see it now, everything works together to work out in the end. That helps you be confident in the decisions you make even when you cant see the future.
ReplyDeleteMy second take away is to live every moment like its your last. I had no idea that Jobs was diagnosed with cancer and I think that is so scary. It shows you that you never know how much time you have so you have to make it count. Your going to die anyways so might as well live how you want.