Steve Jobs's Most Important Life Advice

Hey friend!

This week I picked a great nugget from Steve Jobs.

It’s a passage from the book Make Something Wonderful — which is a compilation of Steve’s interviews, speeches and correspondence.

I hope you find it as useful as I did!

👤 Doer

💡Nugget

From the (free) Book → Make Something Wonderful

The most important thing I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices is to remember that I’ll be dead soon.

I know it sounds a bit dramatic, but it’s true. And when I remember this, I realize that all of the expectations and standards and restrictions of others and society mean nothing in the end.

I realize that I have nothing to lose by following my heart and intuition, even if I embarrass myself or fail in the eyes of others. Because I’ll be dead soon. And I realize that I don’t have forever to decide to find what my intuition tells me is waiting out there for me.

When I was 17, I read a quote that said something like

“If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.”

And since I was 17, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself

“If today was the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?”

And when the answer has been “NO” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something in my life.

Another way to think about this is that your life is a story. It’s hard to see it that way when you’re looking forward at 22. But imagine yourself as an old person looking back on your life. Your life will be a story. It will be your story, with its highs and lows, its heroes and villains, its forks in the road that mean everything.

And if you can remember that your life is a story in the making, it will help you make those important decisions. When you have to decide between taking the prestigious job that pays well, or the offbeat job with no future that makes your heart sing, just imagine yourself looking back on your life in 50 years and you’ll know what path is yours. You will give yourself the right advice. You will intuitively know if something is part of your story or not.

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💥 Stuff I Loved

I’m writing today’s letter from a super nice coffee shop (with a not-so-bad crêpe) in Granada, Spain. I just got here today (from Madrid) and will be staying until Tuesday.

Some interesting/funny things in here:

• Believe it or not, I’m staying in a cool hostel called “Black Swan” — which of course makes me think of Nassim Taleb’s wisdom a little too often 🤯 (but that’s actually great!). Ironically, I love hostels for its “serendipity” element — something I learned from Taleb!

• I’ve probably drank over a liter of water, but every 30 mins or so I get thirsty again (and without even walking). I prefer the weather of the north! 😹

I hope you enjoyed today’s edition!

Happy Friday ;)

Julio xx

P.S. If you liked this article, you'll definitely enjoy my free 80-page ebook. It’s packed with 23 big ideas (from top influential doers and entrepreneurs) to become better, richer and wiser. Download your copy here!