#Video: Steve Jobs on how to live before you die

Sep 20

I posted on this back in January, but I watched it again this morning, and the meaning has only gotten stronger. This is the commencement speech el senor Steve Jobs gave to the 2005 graduating class of Stanford University. Yeah ... lucky bastards!!!

Here are some of my current take-aways:

Believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well worn path, and that will make all the difference.

You've got to find what you love.That is as true for your work as it is for your lovers.

When I was 17 I read a quote that went something like "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have 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 am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "no" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important thing I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life, because almost everything--all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure--these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.