The Cat Dish
  • Musings
  • Food
  • #CatTravels
  • #BabyFox
  • #40trails
  • Videos
  • About Me
  • Contact

What would Steve Jobs do?

By Catherine Toth Fox • October 6, 2011 • Musings, The Daily Dish

I’ll be honest: I didn’t know much about Apple co-founder Steve Jobs until he died yesterday.

Sure, I knew that he as the visionary behind the once-floundering tech company, changing the way we navigate the web — and, let’s face it, life — with iTunes, the iPod and, most recently, the tablet. Because of his design and ingenuity, we browse the web, get our news, communicate with friends and share our lives differently.

And yeah, I knew that he was a college drop-out — what amazing person isn’t these days — and made the smartest (if not luckiest) business decision to buy Pixar Animation Studios right before “Toy Story” hit theaters.

But I didn’t know one thing: how passionate he was about this job that he loved. I mean, really loved.

We all have those moments where we’re sitting in our cubicle, pondering how we got there. You hate your job, you hate your boss, you hate the fact that you do nothing productive or meaningful for 40, 50, 60 hours a week. That’s a lot of time to waste — and you’re doing it.

You always hear people talk about loving your job, working in a career that you love so it doesn’t feel like work at all. Yeah, yeah, whatever. Try paying a mortgage, student loans and credit card bills from Christmas 2007 on an [insert dream job] salary.

But it was something Jobs said during a commencement address at Stanford University in 2005 that really struck me:

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on.”


Watch the entire commencement address

He’s right.

Life is too short to do something we hate 2,080 hours a year.

So look around. If you’re not happy, if you’re not passionate about what you’re doing, if you feel like you’re living an unfilled life — stop, drop and roll. Happiness may be waiting for you to clock out.

AppleCaliforniacommencementHawaiiiRememberStevejobStanford UniversitySteve Jobsworkplace
Tweet
14
Good night, Steve Jobs
Sick? Eat pho

About the Author

Catherine Toth Fox

You Might Also Like

  • Anyone Else Feeling Like You’re Failing at This?

  • It’s Hard To Say Goodbye—So I Won’t

  • Was 2020 Really That Bad?

  • Here’s What Happened To My Dog Indy

14 Comments

  • Reply David Jackson October 6, 2011 at 1:42 am

    See you on the other side of the interface Steve, thanks for everything except the Apple Lisa. Isn’t it interesting that all the truly successful people dropped out of college. and all the really interesting people as well. While others study entrepreneurship, people like you, you had what it took to be one. An unfailing belief in the future, a superhuman ability to live with uncertainty, and an ever present optimism of spirit. You believed you could change the world and in many ways did.

    RIP, you will be missed in totality.

  • Reply MaxMaxMax October 6, 2011 at 1:46 am

    I’m wondering if the graduating class there was quite aware of just how landmark and quotable that commencement speech would become, and especially now will continue to become…

    Steve’s contribution goes well beyond e-gadgets. Another little known fact is that his computer company that he started after he was booted from Apple, NeXT, would bear the computer that the world wide web was created on–meaning the graphical browser interface of the internet. Somehow, it’s not surprising that something so innovative was born from a Steve Jobs device.

    And Pixar was more than a lucky decision, it was calculated. He bought it in 1986 when it was just a George Lucas side project. Over the next ten years he fostered it into the what would be known as Pixar today. Pixar was all Steve. And like all things Steve, Pixar set the standard.

    I’m not normally so affected by the deaths of people I don’t personally know. In fact, the last time I can remember being this greatly affected was from Michael Hedges’ death in 1997, (one of the greatest guitarists ever). But I’ve been a Mac user since 1985… for real, haha! And since 1990 or so, I have followed the story of Steve Jobs, and suffice it to say, he is indeed an idol of mine.

    Great post Cat.

  • Reply Patrick October 6, 2011 at 5:50 am

    “And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”

    Amen to that.

    • Reply Catherine Toth October 9, 2011 at 8:27 pm

      I’m really taking this to heart. Really.

  • Reply zzzzzz October 6, 2011 at 9:28 am

    “I didn’t know much about Apple co-founder Steve Jobs until he died yesterday.”

    I’ve had a similar experience many times–I go to someone’s funeral, or read an obituary, and hear that person’s life story and discover all sorts of things of which I had no idea while that person was alive. This being Hawai’i, I’ve discovered all sorts of personal connections when people died.

    E.g., I had no idea of any connection to someone in my office, and found out when her dad died that my dad was the best man at her parents’ wedding.

    At another funeral, I found out another co-worker’s husband and my dad are calabash cousins.

  • Reply jaydee October 6, 2011 at 10:54 am

    Apples that changed the world:

    The apple that Eve ate; the apple that fell on Sir Isaac Newton’s head; and the Apple that Steve helped create. RIP Steve….

  • Reply Bumper October 6, 2011 at 11:37 am

    Well said!

  • Reply touchthestick? October 6, 2011 at 2:34 pm

    “did not know much about Jobs . . .”

    To add to our knowledge (especially from a local angle), might you get us some stories or insights about the halcyon days of Apple (when Jobs was with Woz) by interviewing Guy Kawasaki?

    Thanks.

    • Reply Catherine Toth October 9, 2011 at 8:28 pm

      That would be great, actually. I wish I had access to folks who knew him personally. That’s the thing, I think he was a really private person… I’ll see what I can do.

  • Reply WildeOscar October 6, 2011 at 3:19 pm

    He’s right and you are too. Still, happiness seems to me an unworthy goal. A sense of purpose and meaning is the key for me. If happiness is its companion, fantastic. If not, that’s OK too.

  • Reply Cody Zamboni October 6, 2011 at 9:11 pm

    I’m still using my Apple II from 1977. Thank you Steve Jobs.

  • Reply Chris Durietz October 6, 2011 at 9:21 pm

    I watched this video, (yet, again) and it’s still a never-ending source of inspiration. But watching it again tonight makes my eyes leak, as they did last night. I woke up this morning and felt a new mission to work harder and push myself more. Some of my (very few) jobs are awesome and some are relatively boring. But, I’m glad that I least I found something that I love to do. Thanks for sharing, Cat.

    • Reply Catherine Toth October 9, 2011 at 8:28 pm

      You’re welcome! Glad it resonated with you!

  • Reply Lisa October 10, 2011 at 3:52 pm

    It’s a great reminder to never give up finding a passion in your life. Great speech!!

Leave a Reply Cancel Reply

About Me

About Me
Born and raised on O‘ahu, Hawaiʻi, Catherine Toth Fox has been chronicling her adventures in her blog, The Cat Dish, for more than a decade. She worked as a newspaper reporter in Hawai‘i for 10 years and continues to freelance—in between teaching journalism, hitting the surf and eating everything in sight—for national and local print and online publications. She’s currently the editor of HAWAIʻI Magazine.

Latest Posts

  • Anyone Else Feeling Like You’re Failing at This?

    March 8, 2022
  • It’s Hard To Say Goodbye—So I Won’t

    January 29, 2021
  • Was 2020 Really That Bad?

    December 31, 2020
  • Here’s What Happened To My Dog Indy

    December 10, 2020
  • I Did Noom For a Month and Here’s What Happened

    October 7, 2020

Made with in Seattle

© 2013 Solo Pine Designs, Inc. All rights reserved.