In his commencement speech at the Stanford University, in 2005, he told three stories of his life- one about connecting dots, one about love and loss and the last about death. He spoke about how his biological mother wanted him to go to college, but couldn’t sustain and dropped out. He spoke about how he took calligraphy classes, and later how does calligraphy classes proved beneficial in designing the first Macintosh computers. He spoke about how he started Apple in his parents’ garage when he was just 20. He spoke on how he was fired from the company he started. He spoke about how he started NeXT and Pixar. He spoke about his wonderful wife. He spoke about the time when he discovered he had pancreatic cancer, and had no more than 3-6 months to live.
In the end he asked everyone to Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish.
What are the ingredients of success?
– Ambition and the Courage to take risks.
It is easy to presume that once you’ve achieved what you wanted, you can sit back and relax. But success, my friend, isn’t a destination, but a journey. When life is good, we are often tempted to become stagnant, and stay satisfied with how things are functioning currently. It is often said that good is the enemy of great. You did not wake up today to be mediocre. “Ambition is the path to success and perseverance is the vehicle you arrive in.” Hunger for more is your driving force
It is always comfortable to play it safe, staying in your region. But the real game begins when you decide to step out of your zone of comfort. Life is much broader and much interesting than the traditional paths. Success comes to those who dare to take risks. People will call you foolish, but do all wise people touch the stars?
About Carson Derrow
