Watching This Video Is As Good As Graduating From Stanford…Or Better!
At the end of this video, I felt as if I was reborn with a
new-found wisdom.
A new-found wisdom that could neither be found in text-books
nor lecture-rooms.
I believe that was clearly shown in yesterday’s thought-provoking
video.
Your next 15 minutes might be the most enlightening 15 minutes
of 2008.
That last part about death was paradigm-shifting wasn’t it?
Imagine the extraordinary things you could be doing now had
you asked yourself that one question every morning!
But before you do, let’s recap the important points made in Steve
Job’s speech.
Connecting The Dots
This insight is very important as it would help us in having
gratitude now – which if you’ve read my book, you’d know is the
greatest accelerator in living a life of abundance.
“Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking
forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking
backwards ten years later.”
Now, let’s find out why this is important:
1) It’s impossible to know what the benefit of something seemingly
disastrous and tragic is in the future.
In Steve Job’s example, getting fired from his own start-up company
proved to be what he needed in order to go through the best phase of
his life to date.
“It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life…
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.”
Steve Jobs founded NeXT.
He also founded Pixar, which produced one of the best animated
movies so far – I know Toy Story was really a bundle of joy for me
and millions of kids worldwide.
He also found the love of his life.
How could we use this newly-found insight to our advantage?
Simple.
If we were to encounter something as or more disastrous and tragic
than what Steve Jobs did, we only have to have faith and trust that
the Universe has something GREATER in store for us.
Of course, we’ll have to look for the opportunity behind the
adversity and remember:
“It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it.”
Steve Jobs also gave us a word of encouragement to continue doing
what we love, no matter what, and NOT TO SETTLE.
Just like how Sylvester Stallone did - like I discussed in a previous post.
Just like every success story we’ve heard and we’ll hear in the years to
come.
Just like the success stories you and I, my friend, are going to create.
Again, this is discussed in more detail in my book which you can
get for free at the “A Gift For You” section.
2) Live every day as if it was your last.
I know that sounds clichéd, but I just tried asking myself this question
for a few hours and it has really led me to doing things that I would
never have otherwise done.
Like how I smiled at a stranger at the mosque.
Or how I decided to write this post for you although I’m working early
tomorrow.
So I suggest you try it out to feel an inner peace like you’ve never
felt before.
Ask yourself:
“If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what
I am about to do today?”
Because when you ask that question, like Steve Jobs said “There is
no reason not to follow your heart.”
Because almost everything — all external expectations, all
pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away
in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.
Read that again, it’s very important.
Are you starting to see what have been stopping us from living
life to the fullest?
It’s our Ego’s my friend.
If we get rid of that, I believe it would lead us to a life of divine
guidance, and thus definitely a life of abundance.
3) Live YOUR life.
Or better put by Bon Jovi, “It’s MY life, It’s NOW or NEVER!”
“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.”
I couldn’t have put it any better myself.
That’s great, great advice!
Wonderful! Thank you Steve!
I think as teens and youths, we sometimes feel obliged to live by
the rules set by adults, or at least by our parents.
I feel that a lot, simply because I believe they’ve been around longer
but recently I realized that the rules are set more to restrict than to
keep things in order
So that’s going out of the window! ;)
What’s in now?
“STAY HUNGRY. STAY FOOLISH”
Didn’t I tell you that watching this video is as good as graduating
from Stanford, and dare I say better.
So my friend, start living these principles.
I know I have already set the wheels in motion.
Saif Improvement for the day: Connecting the dots can only
be done in the future so have a little faith whenever something
seemingly disastrous turns up.
Ask “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what
I’m about to do today?” and lastly,”STAY HUNGRY, STAY FOOLISH”
Is success evading you? I’m talking about real SUCCESS. You know that one goal you’ve had for some time now and still haven’t achieved it.. Then, I want you to have my book “Secrets of the Overachiever : 5 Magic Steps To Turn Your Thoughts Into Money Or Anything Else”. I guarantee you that it will bring you tremendous results - Simply click here to claim your FREE copy now!.
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Great video man. Lots to learn from there. I would like to share the story about a zen master and a boy. It goes like this.
A Zen master observes the people of his village celebrating a young boy’s new horse as a wonderful gift. Everyone think he is lucky to have such a wonderful present. “We’ll see,” the Zen master says. When the boy falls off the horse and breaks a leg, everyone says the horse is a curse. “We’ll see,” says the master. Then war breaks out, the boy cannot be conscripted because of his injury, and everyone now says the horse was a fortunate gift. “We’ll see,” the master says again.
So, you’ll never know what is in store for you in the future and to believe what people think about your situation will just distract you from what is in your heart. I guess the story want us to look at a bigger picture and not just an incident. Connecting larger dots.
Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish & Stay True to Your Heart
Indigo Child | Jan 11, 2008 | Reply
Thanks for the story my friend!
That’s true! You can’t connect the dots and cross the T’s at the moment, only at the outset!
I also want to share with you one thing about being in seemingly disastrous situations.
Anthony Robbins once said,”Nothing has any meaning except the meaning you give it!”
Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish!
To CANI,
SaiF
Saif | Jan 28, 2008 | Reply
Hi SaiF
I’ve come across this ‘What would you do if today were the last day of your life?” question before, and I have to say, it doesn’t motivate me at all!
Really - what WOULD you do if it was truly the last day of your life that was work oriented at all?
I have six beautiful children and a husband I adore…and if, God forbid, I had but one day to live, I would spend every last second with them, doing nothing but loving them and soaking up every precious moment.
Sure…I want World Peace. Sure…I want to live, and have lived, a rich, exciting, abundant life.
But let’s get real here.
If the day before you die, all you can think of is ‘Powering up to do some amazing piece of business’, all I can say is…you gotta be VERY LONELY!!!
Apart from that,acting from the idea that our life here could end tomorrow, is more likely to paralyse me OUT of inspired, creative action!
On the other hand…I DO find it motivating to realise that every day…we ONLY have THIS moment, the present moment, in which to live our dreams. I strive to live each moment as fully as possible - open to inspiration, and staying IN the moment. In this way, all the joy and creativity of life is mine, every minute of every day, without the shadow of a future passing there to spoil it.
That said…I think what you’re doing on your site is FANTASTIC! As well as all my creative pursuits, I teach teenagers (not to mention my own oldest child who is 15). I will be sure to send them along!
Keep up the great work
Kate
http://www.cloud9books.com.au
http://www.shlobaglob.com.au
Kate | Mar 30, 2008 | Reply
Hey Kate!
The original phrasing of the question is:
“If today were the last day of my life, would I WANT to do what I am about to do today?â€
Do you see how that’s different from what you asked, “What would you do if today were the last day of your life?”
And I don’t think he said you should devote the last day of your life to the business..
I think he was implying that you should devote your time to what you love, and in your case - your family! =)
I hope that clears things up for you, Kate! Nuances of words can be a pain in the arse sometimes lol
Thank you for the compliments Kate! =) I took a peek at your site just now and I realised you do theatre as well. That holboglob piece looks rather interesting ;)
To CANI!
SaiF
SaiF | Mar 30, 2008 | Reply
great post, and a great video
sir jorge | Nov 11, 2008 | Reply
The more I think back on my own life. I think everything happened for a reason. It happens so that we can learn from it and it is like a reflection for our future.
Personally, at some time I thought of University as a waste of time when I look back. When I think back now, I am grateful for that experience because I was able to learn more about business and this is the passion I have now.
I don;t know all the answers but I learn something new everyday and I am open to changes.
When we look at the news and see articles about CEO’s we think they are just ordinary humans but this video shows that they are very inspirational ordinary humans.
Thanks for the video Saiful.
tom | Dec 22, 2008 | Reply
Thankyou so much for the video Saif!
I was in a job 2 yrs ago that I loathe.
I made good money and had great benefits.
One day though I got completely fed up with that job and walked out the door; Never to look back!
You see my Mother had passed away 3 months before.
She died a very unhappy person.
All I could think about was how unhappy she was.
Then it dawned on me how unhappy I was; and had been for the last 8 yrs at that job.
And I knew without any hesitation that if I did not leave right then and there, I would be slated the same as my Mother.
So I physically ran out that building, and haven’t looked back.
I have been doing things I love since then.
I don’t have another job yet, but I don’t focus on that.
I know another job that I will love, and make about the same pay or more is right around the corner.
I’ve learned so much in these 2 yrs, it flabbergast even myself!!!
Bold, wonderful, exciting adventures are in my forcast.
I learned then that “If today were the last day of my life would I want to do what Iam about to do today?” The answer for me was NO!
Thans for reading.
Lynn M.
Lynn | Dec 23, 2008 | Reply
So You’re wondering what the Toy Story 3d trailers are going to be like. Well let me tell you that the movie is being so awesomely produced that right now it is rare to see some of those movie trailers right now. because toy story is supposed to be the top movie in 2010. The toy story 3d movie trailer will probably not come out until 2009.
Toy Story Toyss last blog post..Toy Story 3d Trailers
Toy Story Toys | Apr 20, 2009 | Reply
It is really interesting. Perhaps we can re-post in our blog?
Hire Teen | Nov 6, 2009 | Reply
This is really cool. Thanks for sharing this.
Part Time Jobs for Teenagers | Jan 4, 2010 | Reply