Musings – Abhay S. Kushwaha

So I found myself reading the transcript of Steve Jobs’ Commencement address at Stanford University on June 12, 2005. It runs into about 4 pages (yes I printed it) and through personal example, Steve set forth, or rather paraphrased in his unique manner, a few very interesting and useful ideas for anybody who’s starting out on a career and is in the middle of one, questioning it.

#1:

you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.

#2:

You’ve got to find what you love.

#3:

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.

These are the things perhaps each of us know and will never pay much attention to. Some may even end up retorting, “So what’s new in what he said? We know that.” I ask them if anybody ever remembers it all in our regular daily lives. There really is no answer to that question. Some will retort back an affirmative, while some might be pushed into a little deeper meditation on it.

The problem I’ve seen is this: We listen. We agree. We don’t act.

Note to self:

• Inertia… got to get that out of our system, and keep it out.
• Change… got to embrace that, not fight it.
• Faith… got to build it in yourself about yourself, and keep strengthening it.