In 2005, Steve Jobs walked to the podium at the Stanford University graduation and delivered a powerful address to the graduates. He indicated that he would be sharing three different stories from his life; connecting the dots, love and loss, and death. When and if you listen to the talk, it struck me that what Steve Jobs was doing that day was “musing about time”, his time on earth.
Approximately a year before delivering this address, Steve had been diagnosed with cancer, pancreatic cancer. He was told to go home in get his affairs in order, that he likely had 3-6 months of life left. Well, Steve ended up living longer than 6 months, in fact, he lived until October 5, 2011, when he finally succumbed to the battle he fought with pancreatic cancer.
It is not his death I wish to talk about, however, rather several things he said that day at Stanford that I believe are applicable to us all. He reminisced about a quote he had heard or read as a young man that went something like this “if you live each day as if was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right”. He claimed the quote left a lasting impression upon him, so much so, that he had for the 33 years since hearing it, looked at himself in the mirror each morning and posed the following question:
“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.”
As Steve continued to expand on this concept, he indicated the single best thing that helped him put things into perspective was death. Steve called death “the single best invention of life”. How so you may ask? He further explained,
Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool 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”
In re-reading this talk, it caused me to reflect on the human propensity to act with urgency whenever we think something is on a time limit. For instance, corporations will often run promotions based on a “limited-time offer”. The result, people suddenly feel motivated to act before the offer expires. Or if we have food in our refrigerator that has an expiration date, we will often find a way to use it before it “goes bad”. Or think of the last time your favorite singer, band, or Broadway play was in town for a limited-time only, you rushed to get tickets before they sold out.
Why do we do this? And what if we could capture some of this urgency that pops up in so many situations in life, and tap into it each and every day? This actually does occur for some as they journey through this life. Often, it comes out of tragedy, sickness or loss. An awakening occurs and suddenly there is a new found vigor for life, and a desire to maximize the time we have. In this same talk, Steve made another profound observation:
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other people’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
Steve Job’s time here has expired. Remarkably though, because he listened to his heart and intuition, you might be sitting quietly somewhere, literally anywhere thanks to Steve, reading this blog on your phone. He listened to his inner voice, and consequently, contributed to the way we communicate with each other in a “big” way. My wish for us all, is that we learn to look at our lives with a renewed urgency, recognizing this is a “limited time” offer. That we become more present, more tuned-in to who we truly are. Because…. “everything else is secondary”.
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