Sunday, August 18, 2013

Top 5 Learnings from the most Successful Entrepreneur of all Times - Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs is irreplaceable. The world will never see a man like him again. A great innovator, leader and a very simple man. There are countless cases on his style of leadership and management. There are just a handful of successful entrepreneurs like him who has given so much to man kind.

Here is the list of my 5 Life Lessons that Steve Jobs has Taught us

Love. Sacrifice. Humility. The ability to overcome. Steve Jobs has taught us many valuable lessons throughout his lifetime, some of which we may not even be aware of. Through the ups and downs, the positives and negatives, the happy times and hardships, Steve Jobs muddled his way onwards, teaching us along the way.

1.0 Family Isn't Just Blood

Steve Jobs was born in 1955 to two graduate student, Syrian political science professor Abdulfattah "John" Jandali and speech therapist Joanne Simpson. Unable to cope with raising a child, Simpson wanted to give Jobs up for adoption, and Jandali obliged. Shortly after he was placed for adoption, however, Jandali and Simpson married and had another child, Mona Simpson. Ah, the irony.

Jobs was quickly adopted by Clara and Paul Jobs – he was still an infant when his new parents found him. He spent his childhood tinkering with electronics with his dad in the old family garage – this would later help his successful entrepreneur career in the technology field. Jobs didn't even know about his biological parents until he was well into his late twenties, when his real father finally contacted him.

How would you feel if at 27 you discover your mom didn't want to, your dad willingly gave you up for her, and then they had your sister and kept her?

 If there's anything to learn from Jobs' experience with being raised and loved by people that didn't have him by birth, it's that you don't have to be blood to be someone's family.  Another lesson here is that you have the ability to forgive, if it's in your heart to do so.

Would you forgive your parents were you in Jobs' position?

2.0 You Don't Have to Have a College Degree to Achieve Greatness

Jobs dropped out of college in his first semester. And Jobs isn't the only successful entrepreneur to achieve amazing things without any degree at all. Microsoft's Bill Gates and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg both dropped out of Harward. Kodak's George Eastman didn't even finish high school!

Have you ever been told that you can't do anything more than flipping burgers or pushing carts without academic achievement?

Next time someone tells you who you can and can't be because of your education level, don't listen.

Who decides what level of success you can be except you?

The facts are simple. It doesn't take a genius education to actually be educated. You don't need a degree to succeed. You don't need to get into the best school possible to succeed. You just have to believe in yourself, and never let anyone else get in the way of your dreams.

3.0 There's a Reason for Everything

At 30 years old, Steve Jobs was actually fired from Apple – the company he'd helped create! But instead of giving up, Jobs leapt on what he saw as an opportunity and got right back on the horse. He bought Pixar Animation Studios from the famous and beloved George Lucas for only $10 million. Jobs then went on to learn about computer animation, tinkering with things and ideas along the way. Before long, he'd created a full-length film known today as Toy Story. From this adorable movie came hundreds of others, earning Jobs billions of dollars in the pro cess.

"I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me," Jobs said. "The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life."

Within the year, this successful entrepreneur also invented the NeXT computer, which caused a major decrease in income to Apple's company. He was hired back to Apple as an advisor soon after, and became CEO a year later. Jobs knack for bouncing back and hitting the ground running earned him a lot more than even he could've expected, and it goes to show that sometimes bad things can happen to trigger amazing outcomes.

- Ever fallen off the horse, unable to get back up?

- Ever took a swing and missed, or even hit a foul?

 - Ever give up?

Next time you face impossibility; always believe you can surpass it. Never go for second best, never stop in the middle of a race.

Because giving up is never the answer.

4.0 Life is Short, Full of Surprises, and Not a Thing to Waste

After a long battle with pancreatic cancer, the amazingly successful entrepreneur Steve Jobs died at 56, on October 5, 2011. But it was not his death that was a lesson, but the things he said about life and death.

"If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right," Jobs said. "For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am 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."

The things we learn here are obvious and simple; life ends too quickly to live any day like the last. Be original, be unique, and don't just live, but live.

What are your dreams, your aspirations? What are the goals you've written down on a forgotten list that you thought you'd do one day but never did? Do the things you've always wanted to do, achieve what you've been wanting to achieve, and don't let anyone or anything stop you before death does.  All you have to do is take the first step.

5.0 Sometimes Less is More

Rather than do just like all the other companies did, Apple went along under the supervision and aid of Steve Jobs in making a very simple and standard line of product. Rather than giving his customers too many decisions to choose from, this successful entrepreneur made the choice for them by only building a certain amount of different computers and devices. He simplified the technology world and revolutionized the idea of modern thinking this way.

Rather than go with everyone else's ideas, rather than do what everybody else does, rather than not think for yourself, go after that one thought in your head that's completely unique. You don't have to "go with the flow" or be a brainless follower. What makes you unique? What are your own qualities that make you stand out from the crowd? You're the minority in your way of thinking, and that's how it should be.

If you've learned anything from Steve Jobs yourself, please tell us.

We read just as well as we write, and we're willing to listen. What are some things he's taught you about life; about being a successful entrepreneur; about anything? What are some things anyone's taught you that you're willing to share?

Please post your views in the comments section below. We're waiting. [more]


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