Hopefully my post from last week, Coffee Is For Closers, woke some of you up and made you realize life is not a waiting line. Not only do you not deserve anything, but you shouldn't be standing around waiting for it to come to you. You need to seize every day and opportunity, but at the same time, you cannot make your life solely about work.
But what happens when you actually get to the point where all that hard work has finally paid off and you can rest easy from your ivory tower? Well, hopefully you continue to press forward because unless you are retired the status quo is never acceptable.
I have made no attempt to hide my true feelings about Apple. Obviously they are a successful company worth billions of dollars, but for the past several years, they have still been trying to ride the wave of previous successes. Success, in my opinion, attributed solely to their one true god, Steve Jobs and an extremely loyal fan base. I digress, as this post isn't about Apple. I wanted to use Steve Jobs as an example of a man that had to climb to the top several times.
Fast forward to the mid1980s where Apple is on its way as a computer company having already released the Macintosh computer. Jobs had lured a man named John Sculley away from his position as President of Pepsi at the time to come be the CEO of Apple computers. Poor sales at Apple resulted in tensions between Sculley and Jobs causing a power struggle. Eventually, a board meeting was held where its members sided with Sculley and stripped Jobs of all his managerial duties. He was essentially exiled from his own company only to resign a few months later. Not technically fired, but, fired in so many words.
Imagine creating a company from scratch, pouring everything you have into it, only to be ousted. Jobs didn’t wallow on this experience and claim defeat. Instead, he allowed a fire to roar inside of him. With that fire, he created NeXT Computer. I won’t bore you with the details of NeXT computer. All you really need to know is it was initially financially backed by Ross Perot and eventually purchased by Apple for half a billion dollars in the late 90s, ultimately bringing Jobs back to the company he created and putting him right back in charge (and a little wealthier).
Job’s was quoted in a speech given to Stanford University in 2005 regarding his ousting as saying:
The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life – I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful-tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it
From here, everyone knows the rest of the story, he went on to pioneer .mp3 devices and smart phones, etc, most of which using technology and designs he had created at NeXT. This, my friends, is a perfect example of not accepting the status quo, not giving up, and always striving for more. This can be translated into your work, your path to promotions, raises, and even your personal life.
But what about your personal life? Often times we get so wrapped up in our careers, and constantly wanting to climb, that we forget to actually enjoy life and more importantly, take care of ourselves and the ones we love. I mean, for fucks sake, you spend more time with that piece of shit in the cube next to you that probably reeks of BO and is all around useless to humanity than you do your own wife, family, or friends. I remember not too long ago realizing that I worked with some people that were so irrelevant to my life and I couldn't care less about that if I were told they were hit by a bus, I wouldn't bat an eye and would just move on with my day, only to realize I see that person more every week than I do my own wife.
Where am I going with this? Make every second count. If you are putting in the hard work and never accepting the status quo, your time will come professionally, I promise – but don’t devote your life to your work, you will only regret it in the long run. There needs to be a balance. While Steve Jobs’ time on this planet will have a lasting impact, I am sure his family will all agree that 56 years of age is much too short – and I am sure his wife and kids would have liked to have spent just a little bit more time with him.
Ask Steve Jobs, wealth don’t buy health - Pusha T
+SB, this is the way I look at life at the moment----I reach one goal and I'm already trying to achieve the next one---as in I can always do better. When I tell my friends and family who ask about my goals, I usually say it in monetary or materialistic terms for them to understand. Therefore they think I'm greedy as fuck. So be it, but I'm not the type of person who likes to settle. There's always something better to strive for.
Great post and great points. I definitely agree here, and this goes hand in hand with CIFC.
pusha T quote is very fitting
There goes Nefarious again, always writing some of the best posts on here. SB'ed.
Good, but lacking the rawness of CIFG
More feel goodery. Sorry dude, but have you actually worked a shit job? Have you tried to make "every second count"? Your intentions are good but I don't see any practical advice in your post. I have seen plenty of my friends, hard working motivated ones, turn into dead eyed robots by the time they had worked 3 years or so. They are too exhausted by the end of the day to do anything, the boss constantly calls them into the office on weekends and days blur into weeks and weeks blur into months and years and so on. They don't even work in banking.
Maybe I'll come up with a more coherent post if I can write down my thoughts better.
For the sake of avoiding getting into a bitch fest on the internet, I won't fully engage your ridiculous reply or offer you a list of jobs I have worked in my life; however, I will let you know that I spent one summer working as a cook at Waffle House.
I wrote a big reply but I agree, let's avoid a bitchfest, so I won't argue the point.
I see a lot of such status messages and all on my FB feed. It's become a hip thing to say such stuff. Nobody I know actually follows up on any of it. They do click "share" though.
I totally agree with this what a great post. It's all about changing your outlook on the things you do everyday.
I really enjoy your posts. A little motivation goes a long way. SB
Great post, would SB if I could. All good points. Sometimes its hard to not focus solely on one aspect of your life, especially the aspect you deem the most important at the time. But if you don't, you definitely risk missing out on so many things you wish you hadn't. I've already had a few of those moments happen, and I'm striving to allow as few as possible in the future.
Good followup @Nefarious-, but I'm still waiting on that post about drinking like a man.
Oh, I forgot about that. I'll see if I can find some time to put that together.
Awesome post once again Nefarious-!
@Nefarious- maybe have one post apiece on beer, scotch, and rum, since those are the only "acceptable" man drinks...
vodka is acceptable straight, or mixed with vermouth, or an olive.
I thought "clear liquor is for rich women on diets?"
thank you!
Great post; how do you personally balance your work life and your personal life?
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