Our world lost a great man yesterday – Steve Jobs.
Jobs impacted my life in numerous ways through not only his great innovations and style, but also in his words.
Here’s my top 10 list of Steve Job quotes that have resonated with me over the years.
God bless you Steve and many thanks. You’ll be missed.
Steve Jobs Top 10 Best Quotes
- “We’re here to put a dent in the universe, otherwise why else even be here?”
- “Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.”
- “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”
- “That’s been one of my mantras – focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex. You need to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple, but it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”
- “I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.”
- Remembering that you’re going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.”
- “Stay hungry, stay foolish.”
- “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.”
- “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone elses 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.”
- We don’t get a chance to do that many things and every one should be really excellent because this is our life.”
…And, one more thing!
10+. “You know a design is good when you want to lick it.” … And, “Design is not what it looks like. Design is how it works.”
“True nobility is not about being better than anyone else, it’s about being better than you used to be.”
The halfway point of the 2011, was at noon on July 1st, exactly 182 1/2 days left before we ring in 2012.
So how are you doing on your New Year resolutions?
Personally, did you lose the weight you were trying to lose?
Professionally, are you hitting your sales goals?
Have you taken a hard look at your results to date and put a plan in place to finish what you started or are your goals out of whack, meaningless and unimportant?
It’s never too late to late, to improve, to succeed.
You have plenty of time, it’s just that you’re not using it properly and majoring in minor things.
Think (and do) about setting clearer goals for the rest of your year and think about (and do) easier ways to achieve them.
For example, if you’re like me and don’t always have time to go to a gym to workout, do you just give up?
Or, do you find an easier way to accomplish your fitness goals by working out at home using your own body weight, doing pushups, situps, skipping rope etc.?
If you’re not hitting your sales goals, do you know why? Do you know your sales ratios (e.g., how many calls/communiques lead to appointments to contracts)? Is it a simple matter of just making more contacts?
My goals are quite simple and they’re based on improving my own situation and being better than I used to be, not better than someone else.
“IT” should always be about you!
In short, my overarching simple goal is to improve my states of peace, love and happiness and I look at making plans for each many roles as a small business owner, marketing professional, husband, son, brother, uncle, friend, community member and most important ME (spirit, soul, being) and craft simple strategies, objectives and tactics to follow to improve my states of peace, love and happiness.
And, how to I get there?
I work on ‘getting there’ via several ways such as:
- Being in the moment and focusing on being fully engaged
- Delegating to great people
- Working in process improvement (checklists – group similar activities together)
- Waking up early (not watching much TV etc.)
- Saying ‘no’ to things that don’t help me achieve my goals (like lots of meetings when a phone call would do)
And lots more, because this is a journey!
And, hey I don’t always get there, but my batting average has increased over time with practice.
Focus on your being better than YOU used to be and your happiness because when you’re happy you’ll find that it’s contagious.
Don’t waste your time.
Learn to let go of – and don’t sweat – the minor things and focus on what’s really important to you, to your business etc., and see your happiness soar!
How high is up? As high as YOU want to make it! It’s always been about YOU and no one else.
L-R - Priory co-owners Suzanne and John Graf and GM Tim McGlothlin. (Photo/Kelly Thomas)
Congratulations to a great client and family – the Graf family, owners of the Priory Hospitality Group in Pittsburgh, PA – for being recognized by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) as the Family Owned Business of the Year!
All of us at BrandMill are proud to serve as a marketing partner of the Priory Hospitality Group.
A little over a year ago, I toured the Fort Myers, FL winter estates of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford two of my favorite business heroes.
Edison and Ford’s fascinating friendship is a story of mutual admiration and a story of curiosity, experimentation, persistence, inventions, failures, achievements and brand legacies.
Both had little formal education – Edison left school at age 8 and Ford had about 3 years – however, both achieved great success through radical life improving innovations that we continue to enjoy to this day.
In my business engagements, regardless of brand size, I’m discouraged by the lack of courage and innovation by most brand leaders. And, it’s sad.
It’s sad, because innovation can be achieved when you desire, demand and plan for it.
Both Edison and Ford believed in dreaming big and visualizing the impossible and making it possible. The had invention factories and labs (at work and at their vacation homes) and they believed in open collaboration and getting things done – acting on things – and fast failing.
So, my question is, “Where’s your invention factory?”
“What’s your process and how do you plan for it?
Are you a trailblazer, an industry leader or a simple follower?
For some time, I’ve felt that Americans have lost their innovation edge and others do agree, but brands such as Apple and Starbucks offer hope and guideposts (just wish I saw more American manufacturing innovators).
Much like Edison and Ford who believed in collaborative innovation work, Starbucks’ modern spin is its highly successful “My Starbucks Idea” which is an online crowdsourcing initiative that enables its raving fans to offer new ideas for products, brand experiences and involvement improvements.
My Starbucks Idea is celebrating its 3rd anniversary this month – and it’s Starbucks 40th anniversary too (read about their four new products)!
MSI is an awesome crowdsourced innovation tool. To date, it has generated (as of a few minutes ago) 107,450 ideas and launched 130 new ideas. In addition, people get to view ideas in action and see which ones are under review have been reviewed are in the works, and have been launched and demonstrates that Starbucks is a listening and caring brand.
In fact, customer input on My Starbucks Idea led to the development of the Starbucks Card Mobile App for select BlackBerry smartphones last September and the “Give a Gift” feature – the 100th MSI.
I love the MSI concept and I’ll bet there is an crowdsourcing idea here worth exploring for you.
Think about ways to create your own invention or innovation factory be it online (Starbucks uses Salesforce.Com) or offline or a combination of both.
For example, you could simply start with having bi-weekly meetings with your staff to brainstorm innovative cost saving or revenue producing ideas.
However, if you don’t plan for ‘it,’ I guarantee you ‘it’ won’t happen for you!
P.S.: For more about Edison, check out Time Magazine’s feature, The Making of America: Thomas Edison. I found it ironic that there was a Starbucks banner ad when I first clicked on the link.
P.P.S: A great source of innovative companies to research and model is provided by Fast Company Magazine every year. Check out Fast Company’s 2011 Most Innovative Companies.
