If you’re over 50, this Steve Jobs tip could change your life

Steve Jobs is well known as the co-founder of Apple, a company that transformed the daily lives of billions of people around the world. But you don’t get to that point without a little common sense about business and life in general. Those of us in our 50s can use this kind of advice. We are in the middle and taking stock of where we are and where we are going. In this article, we’ve selected some of Jobs’ quotes that Gen Xers can find particularly inspiring for their personal and professional goals.

1. You have nothing to lose

• “Remembering that you will die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already empty. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

Steve Jobs passed away at the young age of 56, which is sobering for those of us on or near that day. When we are younger, death seems such a distant concern that it has little to do with all the exciting lives we live. As the years pass, seemingly at an accelerated pace, we can feel that our best achievements are behind us and we spend our time living in the past. Steve reminds us that thinking about death doesn’t have to be depressing. Instead, it can free us to realize that we have nothing to lose by living, truly living, and creating the life situation we want to experience in the time we have.

2. Time is the most precious resource

• “My favorite things in life don’t cost a penny. It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time.”

This is a touching quote from a man who died young. However, it’s also clear that Jobs used his time incredibly effectively, creating a trillion dollar company with products that affected almost everyone’s life. What’s important, though, is that he was doing what he wanted to do with his time, not wasting it on priorities that weren’t his. How can you free up your time from obligations that are not taking you in the direction you want to go in the coming years?

3. Small things are important

• “Things don’t have to change the world to be important.”

It is easy to imagine how playing a game, reading a book or watching a cartoon with your child are small things that are important. They build a relationship and build your child’s knowledge and sense of security. This can have a lifelong impact on the quality of their relationships. But other little things are important too.

This world is a miracle, an intricate ecosystem with beauty and drama at every scale, from the sub-atomic to the cosmic. And you can only experience it once. So spending 5 minutes marveling at the beauty and precision of a hummingbird sipping from a flower can be a great use of your time. The hummingbird, the flower, and you will never again be aligned at that moment. Taking a moment to question everything can help you recognize your place in the universe and be sure that what concerns you will pass.

4. Being fired sets you free

• “I didn’t see it at the time, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful has been replaced by the ease of being a beginner again, less sure of everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.”

In 1985, Apple’s board fired Jobs for interpersonal problems, particularly his confrontational style. After a 12-year hiatus, he again served as CEO from 1997-2011. Most of us have had the experience of being fired at some point in our careers. This can be especially troubling when it comes later in our working lives, leaving us worried about whether we’ll be able to find something else that pays enough to support our families and meet our financial goals.

Jobs realized that being fired was a blessing in disguise, freeing him from heavy obligations and freeing him to pursue other creative projects. Even if your current job is secure, it’s worth considering whether you want to switch to something else to experience the same kind of release and burst of creativity.

5. You need a team

• “My model for business is The Beatles: they were four guys who kept each other’s negative tendencies in check; they balanced each other. And the whole was greater than the sum of the parts.”

Who is on your team and who might need to be fired? These questions apply not only to managers who need to find the optimal mix of employees to create productive synergy. But we all need to look at who we allow into our lives: employers, clients, friends, family, neighbors. We can “pull” any of these that bring nothing but toxicity to our lives, even if it means distancing ourselves from relatives who bring us down.

But notice what Jobs pointed out about the Beatles: they held each other’s negative tendencies in check and balanced each other out. Some people in your life may annoy you by calling attention to your faults or by setting limits that you feel are unfair. Or they might annoy you because their personalities and interests are so different from yours. But do they bring you an element of responsibility for calling you out on BS? And do they broaden your horizons and show you different ways of looking at problems? Some of the most annoying people might actually be the most helpful members of your personal “team.”

6. Have unique experiences

• “If you want to make connections that are innovative … you don’t have to have the same package of experiences as everyone else.”

Steve Jobs had a lot of diverse interests, including dancing, calligraphy, and Western history. He became a practitioner of Zen Buddhism and spent 7 months in India to explore it more deeply. These decidedly non-technical experiences influenced his ideas for Apple products, especially his passion for simplicity and clean, elegant design.

And you? Just because everyone else is playing pickleball doesn’t mean it’s for you. Try Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Whatever you pursue will help shape your mind, body, and spirit into a unique combination that is “you.” And that unique “you” will bring new perspective, energy and innovation to everything you do.

7. Do something awesome

• “It doesn’t matter to me to be the richest man in the cemetery. To go to bed at night saying I’ve done something wonderful, that’s what matters to me.”

Would you trade your life for Steve Jobs? What if that meant your life would be as short as his was? Would the money, the transformation of the world, the place in the history books be worth it to you? What if that meant you didn’t have your current spouse, kids, or friends? Would you give it all up to achieve the kind of material success that Steve has had?

It is more than a hypothetical question. Every day, ordinary people make hundreds of daily choices about how they will spend their time and money. For some, work is all-consuming, at the expense of relationships. At the end of the day, are you going to be happy being the “richest man in the graveyard” if there’s no one who cares enough about you to complain? Or is there a more wonderful way to spend your time?

8. Love what you do

• “Your work will fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you think is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As in all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”

Let’s be honest here. When you’re a billionaire, yes, you have infinite options to explore and find exactly how you’d most like to spend your time. Ordinary people living paycheck to paycheck often have to hide their feelings and do what they can to support their families.

Your attitude towards your current job can make a difference in how you feel about it. Two guys were laying bricks. When asked what they were doing, one of them replied “laying bricks”, while the other said “building a big cathedral”. Your job may be mundane, but you can see how it fits into a bigger picture, even if that picture is just building muscle, developing character traits like patience and perseverance, or making a noble sacrifice for your family your? Attaching a larger meaning to what you do, whether it’s your ultimate dream or not, can help you not just tolerate it, but maybe even thrive in it.

9. Time for a change

• “For the past 33 years, I’ve looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself, ‘If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I’m about to do today?’ And whenever the answer has been ‘No’ for too many days in a row, I know I have to change something.”

If you actually knew that today was the last day of your life, you might make some choices that aren’t really sustainable. It might be quite satisfying to quit your job, eat all the bacon you want, blow your bank account on a motorcycle, or lie in the grass watching the clouds go by. But you can’t live your whole life like that.

Maybe instead we could ask ourselves, “If every day of my life was like today, would I want to do what I’m about to do today?” How could you create a rhythm of work, rest, and social life that feels fulfilling, but still be disciplined enough to push through things you don’t like to achieve important goals?

10. Don’t be a One-Man Show

• “Great things in business are never done by one person. They are made by a team of people.”

“It takes a village” not only to raise a child, but also a leader. Steve Jobs could not have revolutionized the world with his products without teammates who brought knowledge, skills and connections that he did not have. He needed help establishing his manufacturing process, hiring and training the right workers, distributing and marketing his products, crossing the i’s and dotting the t’s legally, and communicating effectively with the public. Apple became a force to be reckoned with not just because of Jobs, but because of the hundreds of thousands of people who made his visionary ideas possible and practical.

It makes sense for each of us to realize that we stand on the shoulders of others to achieve what we have. No one makes their way to the top on their own. All along the way, we’ve had people in our lives to teach us and guide us, correct us, and do things for us that we can’t do for ourselves. Remembering this can help us be more humble and grateful, and those qualities in turn can attract quality people to our team who feel equally grateful to be there and ready to contribute their best efforts.

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