I love the commencement speech that the late Steve Jobs, former CEO of Apple, delivered at Stanford in 2005. I've had the video in the sidebar on this site for a couple of weeks now, and I have it embedded at the bottom of this post as well. You should absolutely watch it when you have the chance. Steve Jobs structured his speech by telling three stories, each with an accompanying lesson. I thought I'd share some of the highlights.
From his first story:
You have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.
You have to trust in something: your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart even when it leads you off the well-worn path, and that will make all the difference.
From his second story:
Sometimes life hits 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.
And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. 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.
If you haven't found it yet, keep looking, and don't settle.
As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on.
So keep looking; don't settle.
And from the third story:
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 others' 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...
And Steve leaves us with this final bit of advice:
Stay hungry. Stay foolish.
I love it. Thanks, Steve, for the inspiration.