Arjun Khemani

In 1994, Steve Jobs was interviewed by the Santa Clara Valley Historical Association. (You can watch the whole interview here.) And what he said in that interview is probably the most wisdom per word ever spoken and certainly really one that just opens your mind and makes it explode! OK, maybe not explode, but you get it. Here’s some of what he said:

“So, the thing I would say is, when you grow up, you tend to get told that the world is the way it is and your life is just to live your life inside the world, try not to bash into the walls too much, try to have a nice family, have fun, save a little money. But that’s a very limited life. Life can be much broader, once you discover one simple fact, and that is, everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use.“

“… That’s maybe the most important thing – is to shake off this erroneous notion that life is there and you’re just gonna live in it, versus embrace it, change it, improve it, make your mark upon it.”

“I think that’s very important and however you learn that, once you learn it, you’ll want to change life and make it better, cause it’s kind of messed up, in a lot of ways. Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.”

I absolutely love this interview and have watched it over and over many times. Every time I do, I feel like I’m able to grasp another significant meaning from it and work out the various setbacks in my own life.

Firstly, Steve Jobs is completely right when he talks about when people grow up, they tend to believe that their job is just to live life inside their small space. Not try thinking about doing big things, do all the traditional, normal stuff. And live a “limited life”. A very insignificant and meaningless life. Many live and end their lives in that way since they are told since the beginning and made to believe about life that, “It’s just the way it is and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

But it’s not supposed to be like the helpless way it is. We can change it. Everything in front of us from computers, phones, and technologies within our reach to large skyscrapers, buildings and apartments. Every thing was made, it was created by some idea of some person who lived on this planet or still lives. The idea took form of a plan, and with the help of some people (or not in some cases) the thing was created. And so, even though this seems totally like common sense, it’s not very well understood. We have the power to change the things around us, change our own situations and circumstances, our physical and subjective worth. We have the power. We just need to better understand and comprehend the power we possess and use it to our advantage.

Those are my secrets of life. Heavily inspired by the late great Steve Jobs, completely. I hope you find that helpful. Now, go live life.