Steve Jobs: Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish...

Hi

I read what has apparently become the well-known talk Steve Jobs (CEO of Apple and Pixar for you ignant folks) gave at the commencement ceremony at Standford Univ this past summer. I have to say that I am really impressed with his speech. He made really good points that encourages the reader to make some serious introspection...

Jobs shares three insightful stories about his personal life that profoundly impacted (and continues to do so) his outlook on life. Allow me to break 'em down for you:

Story #1 - Connecting the Dots
Jobs talks about his college career and how he never finished school. Haha, I immediately thought that he was going to tell people that college was a waste and not to do it, but he didn't. Frick! Instead, Jobs focuses on how he dropped out of Reed College and sat-in on classes that he found appealing and not the classes he was required to enroll into. One such class that caught Job's attention was a caligraphy class which later proved to be instrumental in creating the first Mac. So, while he took that class back in college purely out of interest and not so much because he knew he was going to create a great computer operating system with nice typography, he had no idea that the class obviously had some purpose of which he realized later in life. In his own words: "...you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust in something -- your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."

Amen brother! Such hikmah! If you're living life aimlessly, then what the heck is the point, right? Alhamdullilah the "something" I blelieve in is Islam, the most beautiful way of life. Having a belief is at the core of the human intellect, no matter the level of understanding. Even if you are not inclined to believe in God. Such people nonetheless, I'm sure of it, have a purpose of some sort in life (i.e., trying to prove that there is no God). Unfortunately, that belief (in my opinion) is, well, whack and non-sensical. But now I'm digressing. Seriously, think about it: What is life without a purpose? If you're living day-to-day without a goal in sight, what are you accomplishing? For the mu'mins out there, if you're living a life day-to-day without asking, "What have I done in my life or even just today that makes me a Muslim?" then you're inherently missing the point...

And when you miss the point, I don't think you can ever find real happiness.

Story #2 - Love and Loss
Ahh, yes. The hopeless romantic in me really propped up when I began reading this part of his speech...

Jobs talks about the importance of pursuing love by any means you can. Alright, Steve, now you're getting into some straight up sufi talk! Allow me to break this down from three different perspectives:

The spiritual level:
In our tradition, our esteemed and beloved scholars talk about the need of increasing one's love for Allah. And that once you have a taste of that love (inshaAllah), then that love is the only thing you desire. It will be your only satisfaction in life, if you (and me) are so lucky and fortunate to receive it. And if we don't, to realize that we must pursue it and never settle. MashaAllah, we're lucky to have the Beloved of Allah (sw) as a guide and example on what to do to follow that path of love.

I do want to improve upon my state of iman constantly inshaAllah. To where I'm ever increasing myself in closeness to Allah and His Messenger (sw). This is the ultimate and most important goal. It's the goal that gives me life and blesses me with sakoon, tears, and joy. May Allah guide me and us all to love in this sense. Allah huma salay Allah Muhammad. Ameen.

The business level:
Jobs talk really hit me on this level, too. I recently put a blog posting called "Ode to ClinPhone," which shows my sense of loyalty and sense of pride I take in the work I do. In the business world, those are two important characterisitics of love. Anyway, while I do like what I do and am extremely thankful for it, I have to wonder if this is something that I love? Something that provides me satisfaction on a day-to-day basis. Something that makes me want to come in to work knowing that I have an ultimate goal. Sure, I do have my daily goals and career goals within my industry, but is it really my passion? So the more I asked this of myself, the more medical school keeps popping in my mind...

There is a part of me that regrets having a poor attitude (i.e., not being serious enough) on pursuing medicine in my early college days. There is also another part of me that is like, Imran, you totally should do what it takes to go to med school and manifest your lifelong dream of being a doctor; even if that means going to the Carribean or Pakistan. But then the practicle side also kicks in (no, I do NOT have multiple personality disorder, I assure you!) and is like, Imran, you have a good career track, mA, and many other good opportunities, so stop thinking ideally and focus on fricken reality (yeah, that side of me is such a pain, dude). We won't even go into the sides of me (okay, now I'm scaring myself) that have other fantasies (but kinda serious fantasies) of pursuing a PhD or becoming a teacher...

So I guess what Jobs has kinda prompted me to think about is what DO I want to do with my life? I obviously won't answer that tonight. Or perhaps not even soon, but at least I know that it's somewhere to start and reflect upon. InshaAllah, Allah guides me to what is best. I do know this: I would love to do something where I'm helping people out. Yeah, that's kinda broad and I'm not sure if that's a good/bad thing, but I do know that once I figure out how I can do this for other people, I will pursue that to no end, inshaAllah. And all success, satisfaction, and power is with Allah.

Jobs: "If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle."

The oh-la-la level:
Haha, my favorite. The romantic level. What I liked is when Jobs said the following: "You've got to find what you love. And that's true for your work as it is for your lovers." "And like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on." Man, Jobs, you're the fricken man! Well said. Of course, for the mu'min out there, I don't think that this should be taken as an invite into pursuing girls (in the dating, pre-martial sex, etc. sense) and convincing yourself that your girlfriend (azubillah) is the person you love. I prefer to look at this type of love on a deeper level. But I'll save this insight for my wife inshaAllah. :)

Seriously, I think that this bit of advice is important to keep in mind when you're married. I really hope and pray to avoid situations where the guy or girl is getting tired/bored of his/her significant other and they start to lose the flame. Instead, their love should continue to grow more and more as the days and seconds pass by. And that love will inevitably take on variant forms, but the flame should never extinguish. Jeez, I feel like a friggen metrosexual for typing that. And a girly one at that. Moving on...!

So, ideally, all three levels I identified above should be connected to one another. And the last two (business and romantic) levels should be used as gateways for pursuing that first level of love -- the Divine/spiritual level.

Story # 3 - Death
Wow. This one was the most poignant. It really blew me away. Jobs talked about how he was diagnosed with cancer and was told by his doctors to make the relevant preparations (i.e., tell people that he was going to die soon). Fortunately for him, the pancreatic cancer was a rare type that was curable. This example serves as an obvious reminder on the importance of living life everyday, if you know what I mean. We shouldn't be wasting a second of it and live each day as if it were our last.

Here are some quotes that I liked:
- "Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything--all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure--these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important"
- "No one has ever escaped it [death]. 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 new 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."

You gotta admit, that's pretty profound. I mean, sure, we all can accept these as simple ideas, but to actually act upon it is entirely different. A lot of what Jobs talked about with his 3rd story is undoubtedly Islamic. We've been told in our deen that we're essentially replaceable in the sense that Allah doesn't need us, but we need Him. As such, wasting our time with frivolity will cause us to lose sight of what's important (the deen) and for such people, Allah obviously has no need of. Of course, Allah is Absolute and is not in need of any of us, but through His Mercy, those that remember Him are then Remembered by Him (inshaAllah).

Imam Ghazali best breaks this concept down for us by stating the following:
"You should not neglect your time or use it haphazardly; on the contrary you should bring yourself to account, structure your litanies and other practices during each day and night, and assign to each period a fixed and specific function. This is how to bring out the spiritual blessing (baraka) in each period.

But if you leave yourself adrift, aimlessly wandering as cattle do, not knowing how to occupy yourself at every moment, your time will be lost. It is nothing other than your life, and your life is the capital that you make use of to reach perpetual felicity in the proximity of God the Exalted.

Each of your breaths is a priceless jewel, since each of them is irreplaceable and, once gone, can never be retrieved. Do not be like that deceived fools who are joyous because each day their wealth increases while their life shortens.

What good is an increase in wealth when life grows ever shorter? Therefore be joyous only for an increase in knowledge or in good works, for they are your two companions who will accompany you in your grave when your family, wealth, children and friends stay behind.”

Imam Al Ghazali (May Allah have mercy on him) wrote this in his book: ‘The Beginning of Guidance’ "

SubhanAllah (thanks SunniPath.com).

Obviously, we can use the same concepts in the application of our daily lives. Spending time with your family, being respectful, working hard, studying hard, keeping fit, etc. are all things we (most definitely me) should try to excel and take advantage of daily.

Anyway, these are some thoughts that I wanted to share after reading the speech. Let me know if you want a copy and I can fwd it to you.

And keep me in your duas. It's always easy to talk a good game, but much harder to play...

much love