Introduction and Background:

Steve Jobs shares personal stories in a commencement speech at a leading university. Despite not having a college degree himself, he aims to impart valuable life lessons to the graduating students.

Early Life and Adoption:

Jobs begins by discussing his early life, highlighting that he was put up for adoption by his biological mother. A key condition for his adoption was that he must attend college, a commitment his adoptive parents were willing to make.

College Experience and Drop Out:

Jobs attended Reed College but dropped out after six months due to the high tuition costs and uncertainty about his future. This decision was pivotal, as it allowed him to attend only classes that interested him, despite facing financial hardships.

Unexpected Benefits of Curiosity:

One of these classes was calligraphy. While it seemed irrelevant at the time, the skills he gained played a significant role in the development of typography for the Macintosh computer years later. This led to a revolution in personal computer typography.

Connecting the Dots:

Jobs emphasizes that life’s dots can only be connected looking backward. He encourages students to trust in something—be it intuition, destiny, or karma—as this trust will guide them in making unconventional choices that could have profound implications for their future.

Early Success and Abrupt Exit:

Steve Jobs shares the early success of Apple, a company he co-founded in his parents’ garage at the age of 20. Within a decade, it grew to a $2 billion entity. However, he was fired from his own company at 30 due to a divergence in visions and a fallout with the board and another executive.

Devastation and Self-Reflection:

The firing was a low point in Jobs’ life, prompting him to question his capabilities and even consider leaving Silicon Valley. He sought counsel from respected entrepreneurs like David Packard and Bob Noyce, feeling that he had let them down.

Love as a Driving Force:

Despite the setback, Jobs realized his love for what he did remained undiminished. This epiphany led him to start anew, pushing him into one of his most creative periods.

Rebirth through New Ventures:

This phase saw him founding NeXT and Pixar. The former was eventually acquired by Apple, marking his return and contributing to Apple’s subsequent renaissance. Pixar revolutionized the animation industry. Additionally, Jobs met and married his wife, Lorene, during this period.

Life Lessons:

Jobs concludes that enduring setbacks, even devastating ones like getting fired, can open doors to new opportunities and experiences. He stresses the importance of loving what you do, as it will be a major part of your life. According to him, this love will sustain you through challenges and make your work continually fulfilling. He advises not to settle until you find what you love, either in work or in personal relationships.

Impact of Mortality:

Steve Jobs starts by discussing the profundity of a quote he encountered at 17, which essentially states that living each day as if it were your last makes you prioritize things differently. He reveals that the realization of mortality is a tool he used for decision-making, allowing him to shed inconsequential worries and fears.

Cancer Diagnosis and Turning Point:

Jobs shares his personal experience of being diagnosed with what was initially thought to be terminal cancer. The diagnosis forced him to confront his mortality in a very direct way and caused him to reflect on what he wanted to communicate to his loved ones. However, a subsequent biopsy revealed that he had a rare, curable form of pancreatic cancer, which he survived through surgery.

Death as Life’s Agent:

After his brush with death, Jobs posits that death is life’s change agent, clearing out the old to make way for the new. This perspective underscores the importance of embracing change and valuing time, as it is limited.

The Importance of Authenticity:

Jobs emphasizes the critical role of following one’s heart and intuition, rather than adhering to external expectations or societal norms. He cautions against allowing the opinions of others to drown out one’s inner voice and stresses the significance of pursuing what one truly desires.

Legacy and Final Message:

Jobs ends by referencing the final issue of “The Whole Earth Catalog,” a publication from the 1970s that inspired him. The back cover featured a farewell message that resonated with him: “Stay hungry, stay foolish.” Jobs expresses this wish for his audience as they graduate and begin a new chapter in life.