Steve Jobs 2005 年在 Stanford University 畢業典禮時給這個的 talk, 非常經典, 敍事結構, 講故事的能力, 情緒渲染力, 內容的啟發性, 用字遺詞, 發音, 語調, 都非常傑出, 當年每次開車時, 就反覆播來聽, 順便訓練英文聽力.
演講以 Steve Jobs 親身經歷的 3 個故事為主軸:
1. Connecting the dots.
Steve Jobs 唸大學 (Reed College) 時, 因為學費昂貴, 又感受不到其中的價值, 因此半學期後決定退學.
退學後, Steven Jobs 發現自己反而能夠更自由自在地旁聽有興趣的科目.
舉例來說, Steve Jobs 發現校園裡海報的字體特別優美, 因此跑去旁聽一門字體課, 學到了有襯線的字體 (serif) 和無襯線 (sans serif) 的字體, 以及各種書寫優美字體的技巧.
但其實當時 Steve Jobs 也不曉得學這個實際上可以用來做什麼.
大約 10 年後, Steve Jobs 在設計第一款 Macintosh 時, 在字體課所學的知識終於派上用場, 使得全世界的電腦終於開始有了漂亮的字體 (Steve Jobs 順便酸了一下 Microsoft).
Steve Jobs 想要傳達的概念是, 遇到喜歡的事情, 就勇敢地全心全意去做, 雖然當下不一定能夠理解這對於未來會有什麼幫助, 但這些深刻的經歷, 終將會形塑出獨一無二的你!
"You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward.
So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.
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."
2. Love and loss.
Steve Jobs 在創立 Apple 10 年後被董事會 fire, 他起初感到相當挫敗, 不知何去何從.
幾個月之後, Steve Jobs 體悟到自己仍然熱愛這個產業, 被 fire 後, 反而視野變得更加寬廣.
"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."
接下來 5 年內, Steve Jobs 陸續創立了 NeXT, Pixar, 並且認識了妻子.
後來 Apple 併購了 NeXT, Steve Jobs 戲劇性地又重新回到了 Apple.
Steve Jobs 想要傳達的概念是: 勇敢地追尋你熱愛的事物, 如果還沒找到, 絕不妥協! 唯有專注於自己熱愛的事物, 才能夠成就偉大的事業.
"Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick.
Don't lose faith.
I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did.
You've got to find what you love.
And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers.
Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.
And 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."
3. Death
Steve Jobs 在 17 歲時看過一段話:
"If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right."
從此之後, Steve Jobs 每天早上都會看著鏡子問自己: 如果今天是我的最後一天, 我會想要做原本今天打算要做的事情嗎?
這樣的念死觀, 幫助 Steve Jobs 做出生命中許多重大決策.
當我們面對死亡時, 幾乎所有的事情 (例如別人對你的期望, 自尊, 害怕失敗, 害怕失去...) 都變得不再重要, 只留下真正重要的!
"You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."
"No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there."
"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life."
"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."
最後, Steve Jobs 勉勵學生們:
"Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish."
延伸閱讀
[Youtube] 演講影片.
[Stanford] 演講稿.
(photo via tenz1225)
