Steve Jobs is an Awe-Inspiring Failure

Steve Jobs is an awe-inspiring failure. Truly, an inspiration to failures everywhere. Because when Steve Jobs fails, his success is undeniable.

As Jobs retires from his position as the CEO of Apple, I am reminded of his 2005 commencement address at Stanford University. That day, Jobs listed some of his favorite failures—dropping out of college, being fired from Apple at the age of 30, and the apparent failure of his body in the face of a terrifying cancer diagnosis.

Each of these so-called failures resulted in periods of tremendous creativity for him. As he put it regarding his termination from Apple: “The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.”

I believe that Jobs’ emotional agility to let go of a life that has gone out-of-whack (even when forced to let go of it) is one of the greatest secrets to his success. In my research working with Echoing Green Fellows, I noticed the same thing. Almost all of them have a similar story—tales of experiences in which they had to reassess their heart and their head, bringing these two elements back into balance in order to find their hustle.
 
In his commencement address, Jobs’ stated:
I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love...and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe 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 with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it.

It has been said that Jobs taught entrepreneurs to think “in terms of innovation and design.” But this is not only how Jobs navigated product creation; it is also how he navigated life and career creation. In today’s job market, one must understand one’s product—his or herself—inside and out, innovate when necessary and design a life and a career that is uniquely right for them in order to succeed. With this in mind, I have some input: Experiment! While holding onto the integrity of what you know is your unique contribution to the world, as Jobs did, by finding what you love.

I am excited to see what Steve Jobs will do next. Because we have seen what happens to Steve Jobs when something ends: Something begins.

My wish is that each of us might fail like Steve Jobs, with the gall to step outside of ourselves and look at our lives for what they really are and for what they could be.