A few weeks ago we heard with surprise that Steve Jobs was stepping down from the helm of Apple Inc. Jobs is the legendary visionary who brought us a different operating system and then changed the way we listen to music, browse the Internet, talk on our phones. His iconic leadership had everyone from news to technology pundits wondering what this meant for the future of Apple.
What most people are quick to gloss over, however, is the fact that Jobs developed his signature style and ability to not only set trends but establish markets through a tumultuous upbringing including beginning life as a child given up for adoption. He dropped out of college, relied on the technical knowledge of his friend Steve Wozniak to impress people at Atari, did drugs. In short, he wasn’t the kind of person you’d talk about to high school kids as a role model – that is until he became one.
Jobs’ story is not that different from many other successful people. The truth is that we like to focus on the now, the moment of brilliance, rather than the hours, days, years, or all the people and resources that helped a successful person achieve their moment(s) of fame.
The truth is it’s easier to think that it was easy for Jobs to become a tech guru, for Beyoncé to establish herself as a soloist, for Spielberg to make films about aliens. Thinking of success as an overnight flash in the pan, shooting to the bestseller list, absolves us of the hard work that these and other household names put in night after night, year after year.
A New York Times bestselling novelist once laughed when someone asked her how it felt to be an overnight bestseller. “It took me nine years to publish my first book,” she said. “That was one very long night.” You may have read some of her work: Jodi Picoult, author of My Sister’s Keeper among other some nineteen plus novels.
You want to be successful? You want people to know who you are, respect your ethics, admire your ideas? Then put the time in to make it the strongest, biggest, best, -- not of the world – but that you can do. And keep doing it. Eventually it will pay off. The question is: how serious are you about your dream?
What most people are quick to gloss over, however, is the fact that Jobs developed his signature style and ability to not only set trends but establish markets through a tumultuous upbringing including beginning life as a child given up for adoption. He dropped out of college, relied on the technical knowledge of his friend Steve Wozniak to impress people at Atari, did drugs. In short, he wasn’t the kind of person you’d talk about to high school kids as a role model – that is until he became one.
Jobs’ story is not that different from many other successful people. The truth is that we like to focus on the now, the moment of brilliance, rather than the hours, days, years, or all the people and resources that helped a successful person achieve their moment(s) of fame.
The truth is it’s easier to think that it was easy for Jobs to become a tech guru, for Beyoncé to establish herself as a soloist, for Spielberg to make films about aliens. Thinking of success as an overnight flash in the pan, shooting to the bestseller list, absolves us of the hard work that these and other household names put in night after night, year after year.
A New York Times bestselling novelist once laughed when someone asked her how it felt to be an overnight bestseller. “It took me nine years to publish my first book,” she said. “That was one very long night.” You may have read some of her work: Jodi Picoult, author of My Sister’s Keeper among other some nineteen plus novels.
You want to be successful? You want people to know who you are, respect your ethics, admire your ideas? Then put the time in to make it the strongest, biggest, best, -- not of the world – but that you can do. And keep doing it. Eventually it will pay off. The question is: how serious are you about your dream?
