For some time now, we have discussed the habits of individuals who are alive and a living symbol of success today. Let us also commend the accomplishments and understand the various habits of another individual who although may no longer be alive, but is remembered today as the man who ingeniously spearheaded the innovative mindset of Apple Inc. that exists even today. This man guided the company that eventually went on to create the iPod, Macintosh, iPhone, which were the first of its kind in each of their respective industries. Apple singlehandedly, as only one company, entered, disrupted, and killed entire industries by “doing it better.” Not only that, but using this individual’s mentality, the company created entirely new industries within personal computing, music, and digital communications sectors. This individual is no other than Steve Jobs.
So, here it goes…some of Jobs’ habits that help him achieve the success he had.
- Be selective & simple in picking goals and have an unrelenting drive in accomplishing those few goals
Since his college years, Jobs prided himself on one thing: being simplistic. He never had an admiration for the status quo or how much more wealthy one was than him; in fact, he was so simple that he often did not even wear shoes on the college campus and walked around bare feet. His understood very early on that it is just impossible to try to achieve everything; he is going to have to be selective of what he wants to get done in a day but he tremendous efforts and diligence in making those few things happening correctly. This simplistic nature of his personality is visible in Apple products (iPhones that only included one home button, one logo, and volume keys) and business decisions (as Interim CEO, Jobs removed nearly 70% of Apple’s product line to focus on only 4 prime products), alike.
To be more productive, understand that you will have to sacrifice certain elements of your life to fully engross in fully achieving the few goals that you selected. Learn to say “no” as one who is always ready to say “yes” to everything that comes their way is on everyone’s schedule but their own.
- Have a schedule–down to the every hour of the day
On face value, one might say Steve Jobs had it all: founding a trillion-dollar company (Apple), pioneering a computer and software company (NeXT), They may be right but it is important to realize the number of years of hard work, amounts of sacrifices Jobs made to get all that. His family and friends always complained that he did not spend enough time with them.
Writing out each of the activities and responsibilities that one has to accomplish in a day is one of the best ways to gauge that they are being productive. From details about from what time you plan to have lunch, eat dinner, spend 30 minutes to relax to when you will make your project submission, plan everything that you would like to accomplish in a day. In life, I will call a man without a plan only what I see him to be: lost.
This is really interesting! People are always telling you to “dream big” and to “reach for the stars”, when no one ever talks about the smaller goals that it may take to reach those big dreams. It’s so important to set small and attainable goals that are relatively challenging, but still achievable. Sometimes people focus too much on the big picture and not enough on the details. Having a very planned schedule is also something that is necessary for success. I am a huge planner, my friends and boyfriend think I’m super annoying, but I like to have everything planned out and in front of me. It helps me organize my day and plan what I am able to accomplish within a certain time period.
I found this post to be pretty interesting, I knew Steve Jobs was all about simplicity but I didn’t realize he cut 70% of Apple’s product line. That’s a bold gamble but obviously he knew what he was doing. I definitely think there’a a lot to be learned from Steve Jobs when it comes to business and life. Is your last sentence a quote? Is it by him, or just from someone else? Maybe it’s not a quote at all and you came up with it.
I think Jobs was practicing “mindfulness” before it was popular to do so. I appreciate that Jobs admits that it is impossible to accomplish everything, and you can’t spread yourself too thin. I oftentimes have trouble taking on too much at once, and not being able to complete my tasks as well as I would like to. I think as we all get older, we get a better understanding of what we deem valuable, and are able to adjust our goals to accomplish these things.