Five Lessons You Can Learn From Steve Jobs to Achieve Success

The famous logo of an apple with one bite taken from it is recognized all over the world. Steve Jobs, the man behind the Apple brainchild, will always be remembered for his brilliant mind, innovation, and successful habits.

Like the man himself once said, “I’m convinced that about half of what separates successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.”  What habits do you need to apply within your life if you want to achieve success even remotely equal to that of Apple’s former CEO, Steve Jobs?

THINK DIFFERENT

In 1997 Steve Jobs made a dramatic return to the Apple company after being fired in 1985. The company was on a downward spiral. Steve didn’t give up on the company he co-founded with Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. He immediately started brainstorming on how they can save the company and drive it to the top, once more.

Jobs addressed all Apple employees at a conference upon his return. He made a valid point by telling everyone that the company should focus on re-branding. Jobs came up with a brilliant slogan: “THINK DIFFERENT.” The motto was associated with photos of intellectual geniuses from the past like Albert Einstein and Richard Branson. Another reason why this was an extremely clever move, is that their major competitor, IBM’s slogan was plainly ‘Think.’

Jobs made it clear that branding and marketing the computer company should create a feeling of community and high-standard with consumers. He showed that approaching branding differently can make all the change.

QUALITY OVER QUANTITY

It’s easy to get stuck in loads of different projects when you are an entrepreneur trying to make ends meet. Juggling too many balls will definitely have you drop a few. According to Steve Jobs, you should focus on only a few and say ‘no’ to the rest.

When he re-joined Apple inc. in 1997, Jobs made a point of condensing their product line from 300 different products to only 10! That’s right, he scratched 290 other products from their delivery line and made sure that the ones they do produce were of the highest quality.

To this day, Apple only focuses on improving and developing the few products they have, including the Apple iPad, iMac, iPhone, and iWatch.

DON’T DO IT (just) FOR THE MONEY 

You might be thinking, ‘but how will I pay my rent?’ If you do something out of the sheer passion for it, the money will follow. Never once did Steve Jobs mentions that his mission in life was to make passive income. He wanted to make a significant change in the world, and by doing so, he made billions.

Jobs has encouraged many young entrepreneurs and older business owners to do what they are passionate about. When your whole focus is based on materialistic gain or making profits, you will be missing the point.

DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME

Jobs once told that he asked himself every morning, “If today were the last day of your life, would you want to do what you are about to do today?” He had confessed that answering “No” a few days in a row would kick him up the rear to change what he was doing from then on.

Stop wasting your time on things that don’t matter or that you don’t want to be doing. Plan your day carefully, even hour for an hour if you have to, and tick things off your list. At all costs, avoid wasting one more minute on something unworthy of your talents and thoughts.

MOVE ON

Jobs is known for not celebrating any of his accomplishments. Yes, that’s right, even when he (almost) single-handedly led the company out of bankruptcy into a profit of $309 million back in 2008.

He has said that you shouldn’t dwell too much on what you have achieved and that you should immediately think of what is next.

This success habit is also applicable when trying new ideas that failed or got bad reviews. Never fear to be innovative. If it doesn’t work out, then thankfully, you won’t regret not doing anything at all. Move on, as quickly as you can, and try again.

No matter how old you are, it’s never too late to apply successful habits into your life. Even though our idea of success change over the years, it is still possible to reach whatever dreams you set your mind to.

Steve Jobs will remain a figure of success and achievement, motivating aspiring entrepreneurs for many years. His contribution to the world exceeds even his remarkable business accomplishments.