Maybe there is some irony in that a big Earthquake shook the east coast on August 23, and then a bigger one shook my world on the 24th with Steve Jobs stepping down as the CEO of apple. Alright, maybe that is a bit dramatic and corny, but I will certainly remember the 24th more than the 23rd because Jobs is one of my all-time heroes – probably one of yours as well. Inventor, visionary, leader, no B.S.-kinda guy, plus my personal fashion icon… What is there not to love about Steve Jobs?

I have been inspired by his career and creations, just as the rest of us have. For me, I remember buying my first Mac Plus eons ago and how my mother told me I was wasting money on it and that it would be a doorstop in a few years. She was right about the door-stop part, but not about wasting money buying it. I still have that Mac Plus and it sits here in my office. After it had many years of service and finally was obsolete and beyond repair, I kept it and it sits on top of my bookcase today. I have opened the case many times to look at the beauty of the circuitry inside. One little secret you may not know about these early Mac devices is that Steve Jobs and the developers all have their signatures stamped into the metal shielding inside a Mac Plus. It is like a stamp of pride in what they created without an external boost. Cranking open that case for the first time made me feel like I discovered a private thing that wasn’t supposed to be known to the consumer, but only to those who build the machines. It is like it was saying, ‘you have no idea how great all these parts you are looking at truly are.’

As Jobs steps down, I worry less about Apple Computers and think more of the man and what might be coming for him. Like the rest of the sheep-ole who watch the news, I fear that his great mind and vision might succumb to health issues and that the world will become one visionary less. Who could ever take his place? More than his computers, it is his vision that inspires me. It felt like a great day to look back on some inspirational words from Jobs and stoke the inspiration fire. If you have15 minutes to watch Jobs commencement speech at Stanford in 2005, do it! It is a great piece of motivation to refresh your vision for your station and your work.

If you can’t take the time, here are the bullet points (paraphrasing all the Job-isms):

  1. Connect the dots in your life: What are all those things you have discovered over the years that have application to your life now? How can you apply those skills to move you ahead?
  2. Love and Loss: If you love what you do you are on the right path. Be inspired to keep moving forward. Do what you believe is great work. When (or if) it is taken away from you don’t lose faith. Bigger things can come. Remember, Jobs was kicked out of the company he founded only to go on and create NEXT Computers and Pixar before taking the helm at Apple again to give us the iMac, iPod, iPad, Macbook…among other great inventions.
  3. Death: “knowing that you are going to die someday is the best way to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose,” according to Jobs. Knowing that death is inevitable is the best way to make the big choice you face easy.

Remember, this guy never graduated from college! Job’s has risen from the ashes so many times that I hope his departure can’t signifying anything more than his vision is taking him onto new paths. Rock on Steve!