Steve Jobs and the Seven Rules of Success

Steve Jobs' impact on your life cannot be overestimated. His innovations have likely touched nearly every aspect -- computers, movies, music and mobile. As a communications coach, I learned from Jobs that a presentation can, indeed, inspire. For entrepreneurs, Jobs' greatest legacy is the set of principles that drove his success.

Over the years, I've become a student of sorts of Jobs' career and life. Here's my take on the rules and values underpinning his success. Any of us can adopt them to unleash our "inner Steve Jobs."

1. Do what you love. Jobs once said, "People with passion can change the world for the better." Asked about the advice he would offer would-be entrepreneurs, he said, "I'd get a job as a busboy or something until I figured out what I was really passionate about." That's how much it meant to him. Passion is everything.

2. Put a dent in the universe. Jobs believed in the power of vision. He once asked then-Pepsi President, John Sculley, "Do you want to spend your life selling sugar water or do you want to change the world?" Don't lose sight of the big vision.

3. Make connections. Jobs once said creativity is connecting things. He meant that people with a broad set of life experiences can often see things that others miss. He took calligraphy classes that didn't have any practical use in his life -- until he built the Macintosh. Jobs traveled to India and Asia. He studied design and hospitality. Don't live in a bubble. Connect ideas from different fields.

4. Say no to 1,000 things. Jobs was as proud of what Apple chose not to do as he was of what Apple did. When he returned in Apple in 1997, he took a company with 350 products and reduced them to 10 products in a two-year period. Why? So he could put the "A-Team" on each product. What are you saying "no" to?

5. Create insanely different experiences. Jobs also sought innovation in the customer-service experience. When he first came up with the concept for the Apple Stores, he said they would be different because instead of just moving boxes, the stores would enrich lives. Everything about the experience you have when you walk into an Apple store is intended to enrich your life and to create an emotional connection between you and the Apple brand. What are you doing to enrich the lives of your customers?

6. Master the message. You can have the greatest idea in the world, but if you can't communicate your ideas, it doesn't matter. Jobs was the world's greatest corporate storyteller. Instead of simply delivering a presentation like most people do, he informed, he educated, he inspired and he entertained, all in one presentation.

7. Sell dreams, not products. Jobs captured our imagination because he really understood his customer. He knew that tablets would not capture our imaginations if they were too complicated. The result? One button on the front of an iPad. It's so simple, a 2-year-old can use it. Your customers don't care about your product. They care about themselves, their hopes, their ambitions. Jobs taught us that if you help your customers reach their dreams, you'll win them over.

There's one story that I think sums up Jobs' career at Apple. An executive who had the job of reinventing the Disney Store once called up Jobs and asked for advice. His counsel? Dream bigger. I think that's the best advice he could leave us with. See genius in your craziness, believe in yourself, believe in your vision, and be constantly prepared to defend those ideas.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/220515

My 12 Rules For Success In Life And Business

Few days ago I decided to throw on paper some rules for success I’ve
discovered and implemented in my life over the years. I’ve come up with
about fifty rules, many of which are very similar or duplicate, many that
are not so impactful.

Here I share with you twelve rules I picked which I consider to be the most
important and actionable. I believe these are necessary to use in your life
and business to achieve great results and get the most out of life. I think
of this rules as a cheat sheet that you can take out when you encounter
any situation and check what to do.


1. Never say “I can’t” and ”It’s hard”.

You may be thinking what difference does it make what I say.

In my experience it makes all the difference.

When you say “I can’t” it creates a habit of saying “I can’t” and you will be
saying it more and more until you truly start to believe that you can’t do it.

I’ve seen many times people persuade themselves into thinking all sorts of
things. Persuading yourself that you “can’t” and that “it’s hard’ is the worst
mindset you could get.

To deal with this problem be conscious of whether you are saying it. Catch
yourself saying it and quickly replace it with “I can” and “it’s easy”.


2. Always think that you can and you will be right.

Henry Ford said it best:

“Whether you believe you can, or you can't, you are right”

Nothing is impossible.

This is the basic of the basics. The biggest change in my life occurred when
I realized I could do anything I want if only I invested enough time and effort.

I believe this is the most important thing for success - knowing, beyond
a shadow of a doubt, that you will succeed no matter what.

Next time when you think that you can’t do something ask yourself - Why
can’t you do it? Many people throughout the history have done things no
one had done before them. They were pioneers in whatever areas. That’s
how we got all the inventions today. That’s how we got world records, first
man ever to climb Mount Everest. Why not be that man?

But, you don’t need to do something no one has ever done before to be
successful. Do something good that many people have done before you.
If someone has already done it - it’s easy. Just follow his steps and do
what he has done and you will get there for sure.


3. When you fall – immediately get up.

This is a no-brainer and one of the most important if not the most important
rule. One of the simplest definitions of success is getting up one more time
than you’ve fallen down. As Rocky said “It’s not how hard you can hit but
how hard you can GET hit and keep moving forward”.

It is so easy to stay down and give up and so hard to persist and move forward.
It hurts to persist, but if you give up you will be in pain forever. It is extremely
tempting to give up, to take the easier way out. The danger of going to the
other side is lurking constantly. We need to remind ourselves all the time why
are we doing what we are doing and keep moving forward.

Also, if you give up once, you will give up again, you will always give up,
it creates a habit of giving up.

If you persist, it creates a momentum, a habit of going forward and you will
always go forward.


4. Everything you do, do it the best you can, give your 100%.

This is the simple but often overlooked rule and in my experience hardly
anyone applies it. So many people just want to “get by”, to get the job
done, without making the effort. If you are already doing something why
not make the effort and do it the best you can. That would immediately
put you above your peers who won’t make that effort.


5. If you want something - go get it, nothing ever comes free.

This is for all those waiting for something to happen. Waiting for someone
to give them something. Waiting to win the lottery, for government to give
them job, for economy to get better.

How come some people don’t mind the economy? How come some people
are successful no matter what?

They don’t wait for anything to happen – they make it happen. You think you
are better than others and that you deserve more? – Go out there and prove it.


6. Accept responsibility for everything that happens to you –
- never complain, never explain.

This one is tightly connected to the previous one.

When you complain about something you only succeed in creating negative
energy. Nothing is going to change with complaining. Instead, if you have
energy to complain, put it into something productive. If you think something
is wrong then take responsibility, go change it, or just forget about it. You
won’t achieve anything with complaining.

Another common consequence of not taking responsibility is blaming others.

It is much easier for people to find someone to blame than to admit and
accept that they are not good enough and that they are the problem. It
can be incredibly hard to accept and admit your shortcomings. But, it is
the only way to improvement.

The biggest problem with blaming others is that you will persuade yourself
that it’s not your fault. You are right but others are wrong. You are perfect
others are flawed. It’s always someone else’s fault.

Needless to say, by believing you don’t have a problem you will never solve
it. By believing you are perfectly fine you are unable to see the flaws and
work on improving yourself. In such circumstances you are doomed to stay
where you are and not move an inch. It’s a surefire road to failure.


7. Don’t cry about loss, nothing ever lasts forever.

This is something I don’t see often discussed but I feel it is essential for happy life.

All too often we burden ourselves heavily when we lose things. Juice spills,
glass breaks, shirt tears, computer stops working, show gets canceled.

What do you achieve by doing it, what is the purpose?

It is gone, it stopped existing, accept that and move on.

I’m no scientist or something but this I know - one of the basic principles
of the universe is that everything must have a beginning and end. That’s
how things work. Even our planet will not last forever. Don’t let what you
don’t have prevent you to appreciate what you have.


8. Appreciate what you have, be happy about it.

Many people often say “If I had this thing I’d be happy”. Then they get
that thing and immediately forget about it. Again they say “Now, if I only
had this thing I’d be really happy”. It’s a never-ending circle. We have
probably all done it at some point.

As soon as we get what we strive for we immediately forget about it and
focus on the next thing we don’t have. That’s a deadly mindset that is
very common and to get out of it you need to step back and recognize it
when it appears so you can effectively eliminate it.

See what you have. It is good to write it on paper. If you do that you will
see that you have much more than you thought you had, and much more
than the majority of people have.

Having a family is one of the greatest things in the world and one of the
most under appreciated. Next time your parents or kids make you angry,
think about people who would give everything they have just to have kids
and about people who never knew their parents but they so wish they did.

On the flip side, don’t let being content with what you have stop you from
wanting to improve and get more. In other words, you need to be both happy
with what you have and want to improve, to get more, to be even happier.


9. Always think positive and look for good in everything.

Positive thinking.

You don’t do the world nor yourself any favors by thinking negative.

Everything has at least two sides to it. Nothing is inherently good or bad.
It is what we make of it. Choose to see the good side of everything and
you will see great changes in your life.

There is already so much negativity in the world. Don’t add to it. Instead,
be a beacon of light and think of the best even when things look the
worst. By shining like that you will help not only yourself but also your
family and people around you.

Also, only by thinking positive and being open to the world will you see
opportunities that are everywhere around us and be able to act on them.


10. Take those shots. You miss every shot you don’t take.

This is the quote I heard from Michael Jordan, considered to be one of the
best of all time in his area. It comes to the basic principle of taking action,
taking chances, taking shots.

All too often we hinder ourselves in our actions. You want to do something,
your brain comes up with thousand reasons why you shouldn’t do it and
thousand horrible things that could happen.

You have to get out of your comfort zone. It’s not easy, but there’s no
other way. Give yourself a little courage. Think rationally about what’s the
worst that could happen. Chances are, it’s not nearly as bad as you thought
it would be. Act as if it were impossible to fail. If you can say “I don’t care
what happens I’m gonna do it”, you win.

Then, you realize that you are still standing, that nothing happened of the
things you thought it would. Now you can do it again and it is a bit easier,
then it creates a momentum and every next time it gets easier and easier
until it becomes the integral part of you.


11. Don't fear difficult moments, the best comes from them.

It’s those hard times when we grow the most. it’s those challenges that
we have to overcome to improve. It’s when hurts the most you need to
work the hardest to succeed. Embrace difficulties, work to overcome them,
learn from them and become a better man when you emerge victorious.


12. Shoot for the Moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.

This may be a bit controversial and many probably won’t agree. Often you
will hear to set realistic goals. Even some of the most successful
self-development authors say to set realistic goals. But what goals are
realistic? How do the others know what is your limit? How do you know
your limit unless you push it?

I say don’t be afraid to dream big.

The biggest issue with so called “unrealistic” goals is the fear that you won’t
be able to achieve them.

What if you don’t hit your goal? Won’t you get disappointed and give up?
Should you give up on it since you didn’t reach it when you though you
should? Absolutely not. All you need to do is set a new deadline! That’s the
beauty of it. If you don’t reach the goal you set a new deadline and
continue working towards it.

If you set a goal you may succeed in reaching it or not, but if you don’t
set it I guarantee you that you won’t reach it.

Without big dreams, even the unrealistic ones, we wouldn’t have many
things we have today. By daring to dream big many people have achieved
greatness and history remembers them.

In this poetic manner I finish my list, please say what you think about it,
do you agree, disagree, what would you add to it.

Best of luck,

Zak Exel War Room Member

http://www.warriorforum.com/mind-warriors-success-power-self-improvement/601136-my-12-rules-success-life-business.html