Steve Jobs was a zealot and a narcissist. Does the world forgive him for those qualities?
The plight of the stubborn visionary.
There are few others with the (supportive) karma to encourage you to stay the course past the point where you have made significant progress.
This is a huge threshold to cross, but it’s still not enough to prove you are right.
So…
This is the point where the name callers – zealot, crazy, misfit, fool, narcissist, idiot – start looking and sounding like the Sirens call from Greek mythology.
The name callers want you to fall prey to their predictions.
At this point, more than any other in your journey, you cannot back down – even as the psychological pain begins to suffocate you.
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This website is about our mental attitude. To leave this site to read today’s post on my physical health website, click here.
This Teddy Bear has been traveling for a decade. Ski jumping is big in Finland.
The things my child needs to know, it’s my responsibility to teach it to him. But i get busy with a career and putting out life’s fires.
i was lucky, a wakeup call brought me to my knees.
Sounds cliche, but finally i started listening to my heart.
Disney (30 years worth) taught me the profound power in intentionality. About over managing things others under manage or ignore.
Life taught me the profound power of regret. And that regret breeds prolifically from excuses.
The marriage of those two – excuses and regret – produced my first book. It was written for a little boy (who turned 15 yesterday) in case something bad ever happened to his dad.
If i could give free copies to anyone wanting it, i would.
Not interested (anymore) in making money from this book. In fact, the proceeds are so small, it’s not worth the effort to compete for people’s precious attention.
But for reasons that readers share with me, i want as many people as possible to have a copy.
When you retire from Carnegie Mellon University, you get to give one last lecture.
Randy Pausch retired in 2007 and gave his final lecture.
A New York Times journalist, Jeffrey Zaslow, published the highlights. A You Tube video of the same lecture later went viral.
Randy retired because his days were numbered.
Watching the video in the Fall of 2007 helped change my life.
And a few days ago, stumbled upon this 1997 Apple confidential video. At the time it was recorded, Steve had been back for about two months.
Steve is speaking to Apple’s internal leadership team. He shared his vision.
The video is 16 minutes. Sorry. Sometimes, there are things we cannot afford to miss. This is one of them.
Backstory for where this is going: Agreed to meet a potential client at Columbia Harbor House at Magic Kingdom during Spring Break. Tables are at a premium during Spring break. I arrived early to pick out a table in a quiet spot. He was running late so i decided to eat lunch without him.
When he finally arrived he asked, “What are you really good at? Think about it while go order lunch.”
“I’m really good at thinking differently”, was the spontaneous reply. He had not even pushed his chair in and he had the answer.
He asked a question all of us should be able to answer instantaneously.
Can you? Right now? Like you were talking to a CEO who can green light a big contract?
One of the main points Steve covered was Apple’s new marketing campaign.
Coincidence?
Remember, the video is old. It will be temping to get frustrated midway when the audio isn’t synched with his lips. Go with it.
Today, July 25, Randy has been gone eight years.
Thank you Randy and Steve.
Some people’s lives have been transformed by the inspiration you two created.
Miss you guys.
PS. Went to the “big meeting” in cut-off jeans and a tee-shirt.
The inspiration for taking action is the harsh reality of secondary worries. Colon cancer.
Why did jeff noel found Mid Life Celebration six years ago?
Because action cures fear.
For more than six years jeff has been working towards the ability to raise (a ton of) money to donate to the good people looking for a cure for something currently incurable.
The President of the Foundation in New York has agreed to meet to hear the crazy idea.
Steve Jobs would have been 60 yesterday, February 24, 2015….
Dear Steve, thank you for saying this:
“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
So yeah, retired from Disney to raise money to give to the good people searching for a cure for Crohn’s. A great speaker with an amazing platform can make a lot of money.
Kinda like a for-profit, non-profit.
Crazy.
In a small way, next time you’re on Amazon consider typing “jeff noel”… there you can read the first few pages for free and if it intrigues you, and you buy the book, you’ll be helping. Plus, decent chance the one-hour read might contain enough crazy ideas to change you. Forever.
Crazy.
Today is not a good day to put your dreams on hold.
