Steve Jobs left us in 2011, but he will forever be one of the most innovative businesspeople in history.
Steve Jobs is responsible for developing many of Apple’s most successful products, including the iPhone and iPad. However, what made Steve Jobs’s career so successful was his ability to outsmart everyone else in boardrooms across America. His success secrets helped make him one of the wealthiest men in the world.
While Steve Jobs’s story is a remarkable one, many times, success secrets can be found where you least expect them—in your own life. So what are some of the most powerful secrets that propelled Jobs to such great heights? Here are ten to get you started:
1. Don’t Be Afraid To Follow Your Heart And Pursue What You Really Love
When Steve Jobs was fired from Apple in 1985, he founded NeXT computer because it’s what he loved to do. He didn’t let financial struggles keep him away from his passion for technology or influence him to stop pursuing what made him happy. Today, the company that originally fired Steve Jobs is one of its greatest assets. Without his passion for NeXT, there would be no Apple today.
2. Never Sacrifice Your Integrity For Anyone Or Anything
Steve Jobs lost a great deal of money in 1985 when he was fired from Apple. However, he never compromised his values or gave up on his dreams because of it—he continued to work on NeXT because he loved it. According to Steve Jobs, his experiences taught him what was really important in life—never compromise your integrity for anything or anyone.
3. You Can’t Look Back And Doubt Yourself If You Want To Be Successful
Many people tend to doubt themselves when things get tough, but Jobs recognized early on in his career that second-guessing yourself is a recipe for disaster. Instead, to achieve success in life, you need to look forward and recognize the opportunity in every obstacle you face. If you don’t, then your past failures will haunt you.
4. Find Your Workplace Mentor And Stick With Them Whenever You Can
After Steve Jobs was forced out of Apple, he managed to work for a little while with Bill Gates at Microsoft. Although the experience didn’t last long, it helped Jobs gain some valuable mentorship about running a company. He studied under various successful people throughout his life to learning valuable business lessons that he would later apply to Apple. If you’re a business professional, then you should do the same.
5. You Can’t Do It Alone—Surround Yourself With The Best People Possible
Did you know that one of Steve Jobs’s most valuable assets during his career was a college dropout named Jonathan Ive? In 2012, Jonathan Ive was named a knight by Queen Elizabeth II for his contributions to the British economy. The fact that Steve Jobs saw so much potential in this college dropout is a testament to his understanding that it takes more than just one person to make a business successful. To be successful, you need an excellent support system backing you up at all times.
6. Stop Competing Against Others And Start Competing Against Yourself
Many business people tend to compete against others when trying to become successful in life, but Steve Jobs recognized early on that this was a bad idea. If you want to be successful in anything—running a business or working out at the gym—you need to stop competing against others and instead compete against yourself. The only person you should ever be focused on beating is your past self.
7. Let Your Imagination Guide You And Inspire You To Discover New Possibilities
According to Steve Jobs, imagination is one of the most powerful forces in the world—and it should never be ignored. Without imagination, most of the things we have today wouldn’t be here. For example, Apple has a long history of being the first to market whenever new technologies become available—and that’s because they let their imagination guide them to discover new possibilities that no one else had yet considered.
8. You Can Either Change The World Or Be Complacent—There’s No In-Between
According to Steve Jobs, being complacent is what leads to failure in life. You can either change the world or be complacent because there’s no middle ground—you have to have a goal that you’re constantly working toward if you ever want to achieve success. Even when you reach your goal, you don’t ever stop working toward your next goal because that’s what keeps you moving forward.
9. Technology Isn’t The End-All Be-All—It Has To Relate To People
Technology is constantly changing, which means that successful people have to change along with it. This has been a key philosophy of Steve Jobs throughout his career. Since he has always tried to ensure his technology relates to the people who are using it. He never let any of his products become stagnant—if they weren’t relevant anymore, then he improved them or gave them a major update.
10. Don’t Let Negative People Bring You Down—Concentrate On Doing What’s Right
Steve Jobs never let anyone or anything bring him down during his career. Instead, he always focused on doing what he knew was right—and that’s the best thing you can do if you ever want to be successful in your own life. No matter how hard things get, focus on doing the right things and moving forward, and you’ll find yourself becoming more and more successful over time.
Conclusion
Everyone can be successful if they’re willing to learn from other people’s mistakes and experiences. This approach is by far the most effective way of becoming successful in life, business, or anything else that you might want to succeed at.