Steve Jobs on following the heart and the blossoming of intuition

Steve Jobs cross-legged with the first Macintosh, in 1984.

Wisdom from Steve Jobs:

… When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “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.

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.

…

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’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.

[From Steve Jobs' 2005 Stanford Commencement Address]

But then how do we get in tune with the inner voice amidst all the noise? How does one develop the intuition?

Let’s hear from Steve Jobs himself…

If you just sit and observe, you will see how restless your mind is. If you try to calm it, it only makes it worse, but over time it does calm, and when it does, there’s room to hear more subtle things — that’s when your intuition starts to blossom and you start to see things more clearly and be in the present more. Your mind just slows down, and you see a tremendous expanse in the moment. You see so much more than you could see before. It’s a discipline; you have to practice it.

[From the biography of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson]

In fact, even before Apple happened, young Steve Jobs used to spend days in meditation retreats at the Tassajara Zen Center in California. It’s very clear that Jobs’ exploration of eastern spirituality during his younger days had a big influence in his life and work later on. His Zen meditation practices really poured into his work, his ability to focus on just what’s needed, his design sensibilities, passion for perfection and the way Apple has shaped up as a brand it has come to be. He found his Zen in Apple.

Today, February 24th, is Steve Jobs’ birthday.

Planning for tomorrow Vs. Being in the present moment

“The rich man plans for tomorrow, the poor man for today.”

— Chinese Proverb

We discuss a lot about the importance of being in the present moment, so how do we reconcile being in the present moment with planning for tomorrow? The answer, simply put, is that it’s all about being fully aware in the present moment planning for tomorrow!

Now to the details…

We must remember that planning for tomorrow is not the same thing as getting anxious about tomorrow. Getting anxious about tomorrow and speculating uncertainties, we won’t be able to take any clear course of action in the present moment. Anxiety and worry is unnecessary waste of time and energy.

Considering the possibilities of tomorrow, intending how we want tomorrow to be, focusing on doing the things we have to do now that will take us there, and be totally aware and enjoy the things that we do now — this is what we mean by being in the present moment.

When you plan for tomorrow’s travel today and take the necessary actions like reserving tickets, booking accommodation, etc., you will have a ‘rich’ travel tomorrow in the sense that you will have a hassle free travel. But planning in the last moment introduces more possibilities of hassle, and hence the travel might turn out to be ‘poor’.

Planning for tomorrow (or the future) is similar to working in a team. A number of people bound together by a purpose and working together in harmony will achieve more than what all those people will achieve when they all work separately each with their own purpose. If working in a group can be considered horizontal integration, then working with a plan is vertical integration. Consider yourself to composed of many different personalities, a different person each day. When all those personalities in you work together harmoniously with a specific vision and purpose, you will have a ‘rich’ life in terms of achievement and meaningful experiences. But when each of those personalities in you have their own agenda, act on impulse and work against each other, your life will be messed up.

Planning for tomorrow, integrating different aspects of your personality and working with a clearly defined purpose is certainly not contradictory to being in the present moment. In fact, having a specific plan and clear purpose helps you avoid unnecessary speculations and helps you stay focused in the present moment. Your mind is clear of anxieties and you enjoy whatever you are doing now, that is all that matters.

Work for work’s sake (Bhagavad Gita 2.38)

Having made pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat the same, engage yourself in battle for the sake of battle; thus you shall not incur sin.

—Bhagavad Gita 2.38

Pleasure and pain are not real. These are just notions of the mind. Without this realization the mind is always busy running after something that it thinks would be pleasurable or running away from things it finds painful. With the mind running here and there we won’t be able to perform any meaningful work. Besides, our understanding gets clouded, we lose our priorities and all immoral acts proceed from the ignorance of the fact that pleasure and pain exist only in the mind, not in the thing outside.

So when you rise above pleasure and pain, you won’t do anything inappropriate or sinful. There is no question of acting out of selfishness. No harming someone else just for the sake of gaining pleasure or losing pain because you know pleasure and pain don’t exist outside. When selfishness gets out of the way, all work you do would be for the greater good of the world. And the mind remains calm, there is no pleasure to run after, there is no pain to run away from, the mind is always focused on the work on hand. A calm and focused mind just does what needs to be done irrespective of chances of success or failure. Such a mind that works for work’s sake always turns out high quality work.

But can this level-headed-ness in success and failure be practical? Well, we should just try as much as we can, try for trial’s sake! If you want a practical example you should get to know MS Dhoni, who has this ‘ability to remain level-headed, at the height of success or depths of failure’. MSD is the current captain of the Indian cricket team and one of the most successful captains in Indian cricket.