Today the news of Steve Jobs passing away hit me just like many other people, in a iOS notification from a news app on my iPhone. Growing up in the Silicon Valley it’s a sad day for this area and industry to loose such a innovative leader. Although today’s post isn’t directly about photography I wanted to share some thoughts on Steve Jobs and things that I have learned that I think can help us all grow as artists.

I never was able to meet Steve in person but when I got my first computer back in my early teen years in the 80’s (an Apple II) it started a love for technology that has always remained persistent in my life. Over the years I have always followed Apple and have studied how the company operates and markets themselves. There are many lessons that we can all learn from their failures and successes over the past 30 years. Part of this has been watching the rise and fall and then rising again of Steve Jobs as the head of Apple. Tonight as I read the stories steaming around the internet about Jobs and the mark that he left on this world my mind is racing with many emotions. I wanted to share some thoughts with everyone and some quotes from Steve that can give us all a little inspiration.

One thing that has always struck me and inspired me about Steve Jobs is his tenacity. He was a man who knew what he wanted and never settled for anything less. He was passionate about what he created and believed in following his heart. One quote from his commencement speech at Stanford years ago that has always stuck with me is:

“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.”

Some of his quotes have always reminded me to keep my focus on what I love to do. Distractions can come up in life and start to veer you down many different paths, but we need to always keep our focus on what we are here on this earth to do. We all are here for a purpose and since our work does fill up so much of our lives it should be something that we absolutely love.

Another great quote from Steve Jobs:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

He had a vision for something and stuck to that vision no matter what everyone else told him. Sometimes he failed but he stuck to his vision. He never used focus groups for new products but followed his heart and quoted Henry Ford: “If I had asked my customers what they wanted, they would have said a faster horse.” I think we can all learn from this to follow our heart, when we really believe in something and are passionate about it we should pursue it with all of our might!

Steve Jobs will be missed, but his legacy will live on. For me his words and examples will always remind me to pursue my own dreams and to never waiver. I will always push forward with my dreams of changing this world and leaving my own mark here. Thank you Steve for all that you left us, we will miss you.

What are your thoughts or memories of Steve Jobs? Leave a comment below.

To end here is one of my favorite commercials of all time but narrated by Steve Jobs himself:

Also check out a few of our past articles about Apple here:
Thinking Different About Your Photography
Marketing your photography – what does your message convey?

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