I'm sure most of you know but the fellow in the picture is Steve Jobs, former CEO of Apple. One of Steve's famous quotes is "The journey is the reward". In fact it wasn't a quote of his. It is much older than that as it is a Zen (Buddhism) saying. Steve was a passionate follower of Zen right through to his death last year and it was arguably due to his Zen beliefs that he was able to achieve the unbelievable success he did. When I began my acquisition of knowledge and realised where I was destined to go, my dream DotsHQ, I began not just reading about Steve and Apple but studying meticulously everything I could get my hands on. But I did this with all of the prominent CEOs of successful startups such as Bill Gates, Larry and Sergey, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuk...... It wasn't until the day after Steve's death that the significance of my journey hit me. Because it was then, while reading all of the dedications on the web, that I came across an address he gave to Stanford students back in 2005 http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html. Because it was when I read this speech that it was like reading my own obituary. I swear he somehow read my book 7 years before it was published!
In the speech he said he wanted to tell a story (like I do). He told three of them about connecting the dots backwards, life and love, and death. My book is titled "Working Backwards, Miser-ee To Destin-ee To Happy-Me". Within the book is a Chapter titled "Dots". Hmmmm......
My book also reflects on my past experiences (as opposed to my past!) and using my knowledge and past experiences to determine my future. Steve reflects on his very public dismissal from hs own Company and the part that the hand of Destin-ee played on his return. Hmmmmm.....
Finally Steve talks about death and how it (death that is) is life's greatest change agent. In my book I talk about the number of seconds, breaths and heartbeats in our very shortlives. And I talk about "Memento Mori", Latin for "Remember You Will Die". Hmmmm......
In the speech he said he wanted to tell a story (like I do). He told three of them about connecting the dots backwards, life and love, and death. My book is titled "Working Backwards, Miser-ee To Destin-ee To Happy-Me". Within the book is a Chapter titled "Dots". Hmmmm......
My book also reflects on my past experiences (as opposed to my past!) and using my knowledge and past experiences to determine my future. Steve reflects on his very public dismissal from hs own Company and the part that the hand of Destin-ee played on his return. Hmmmmm.....
Finally Steve talks about death and how it (death that is) is life's greatest change agent. In my book I talk about the number of seconds, breaths and heartbeats in our very shortlives. And I talk about "Memento Mori", Latin for "Remember You Will Die". Hmmmm......
There are just too many similarities within that one presentation to discard it as co-incidence, particularly having designed the applications for DotsHQ that I have. But when I read, and read, and re-read that commencement speech, I had the confirmation that I needed to know that I was being GUIDED by the hand of DESTIN-EE. Every blog, every media contact, every story, is a STEP. One step closer to where my future lies. And so I am creating my future, just as Steve did. He was not my hero or my idol but there was much to be admired about his achievements in revolutionising six different industries, a feat that will most likely never be achieved again. Creativity at its most brilliant. I do not want to be Steve Jobs. I want to be ME.....and I will be!
We should all strive to be the person we can be.
BE YOU
We should all strive to be the person we can be.
BE YOU
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