1st Sem. 2010-2011 Assignment 4: Commencement Address of Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs again? What’s new? This was the first thing that enters my mind when our facilitator gave us this assignment. As I read the commencement address of Steve Jobs, it was a different story, a story of failure, success and full of life. I found him so much interesting. Why? Because I see and appreciate how Steve Jobs survive from his challenges, obstacles, and adversity in his career as a public figure and his personal life. I did realized that successful people also faces a big bang! in their career. I mean, people who are in the highest pick of their career may also fall. He was able to find an opportunity in time of his adversity and it generates new and unique ideas. The whole message was of his commencement address was great. It inspired me in my studies and finding what I really love to do. There were 3 stories that he mentioned. The first was about connecting the dots, second were about love and loss and the last was death.
“CONNECTING THE DOTS”
As I remember, our facilitator gave as an exercise wherein the main goal was to connect 9 dots in 4 strokes without lifting the pen. Few of us got the idea, but most of us didn’t figure it out. The main thought of that exercise is to think outside the box. If we based it on the dots we really cannot connect it if we focused inside but when we think outside the box we can connect it.
Steve Job’s life wasn’t very much fortunate like most of successful people have. Aside from being a dropped out student, his parents was also not a college graduate. Even though he had been given the chances to finish a degree in an expensive university, he decided to dropped out because he couldn’t see the value in it and he have no idea how college would help him on what he really wanted to do to his life.
Some people would think that Steve Jobs really messed up during these days. But it gave him opportunities to find and do what he loves. From that day that he decided to dropped his subjects, He have the chance to took those subjects that made him interesting and fascinating. Despite of those consequences for those decisions, it made him happy living in a simple life doing what he love, and it turned out later on to be priceless because of his achievements. He build Apple Company and became a big tower in the technopreneurship industry. Maybe if Steve Jobs was not a dropped out student there would be no modern computers with excellent interface and functionality (Mac).
It is impossible to connect the dots looking forward not unless we realized that those decisions that we made by now can be the key that will mold on who we are in the future. We should trust our decisions if we want to be somebody in the future.

“LOVE AND LOSS”
Finding what we love will lead us to success. If we love on what we are doing we will do our best to achieve it and become more inspired despite of the challenges that we may encounter. Loss generates new opportunity for a new wonderful chapter of our life. It seems so hard when we loss but always remember that winners never quit! If you want reach success, never quit on finding what you love and loving what you are doing. When Steve Job got fired from his own company, he didn’t give up on doing what he loves and on what makes him happy. But instead he decided to start over. “Getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me”. It was the best thing ever happened to him because of less responsibility from being a successful to beginner and the freedom.
If we haven’t found what we love, don’t settle and keep looking until you find it because it is where you can do great achievements. And that’s the only time wherein you can still say “yes” despite of all the failures and hardships that you encounter along the way. No matter how high you fall you are always willing to accept the challenge.
“DEATH”
Everybody is afraid to death even how religious and devoted you are, you still don’t want to die to be in heaven. We all know that all of us will surely face death because it is part of receiving the gift of life from God. We only borrowed the life that we had from him, so let’s make the best in it.
“If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” this quote motivates Steve Job to do what he loves. Knowing that we will be dead soon is a driving factor that motivates us to follow our heart in everything that we do. If I will live each day as if it was my last, I would choose to do the things that I love and do my very best for it. Finding our life’s purpose on earth through the will of heart makes us happy in every aspect of our life. Cherish every moment of our life because when we die all of our failures and hardships fades away leaving only what is truly important. The achievement of following our heart’s will, will bring to success and strengthen us as time goes by.
Remembering that you are going to die is the best way to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. Give the best in the doing the things that you love. It’s better to do what you really love than doing nothing at all because of fear that you may have something to lose.
Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Our heart is the core of our personality, it guides us in all aspect of your life. We know that we will die soon, follow what your heart says. Don’t live in the footprints of someone else’s life because you’ll never able to follow what really makes you happy. It’s hard to push yourself in doing the things that you don’t love because every day of your life you will notice that there is always a missing piece in the picture of who you are.
“Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish.”
Stay hungry for more learning to come, for more experiences that will strengthen our foundation, for more challenge to accept and for more opportunity to come. Don’t be afraid to be criticized follow our will and follow our heart.