This is one of my favorite speeches of all times and was given by Steve Jobs at Stanford’s 2005 graduation ceremony. His philosophy of life and business is very similar to what I also believe in. That’s why, he’s truly a rock star and huge mentor to our industry. Hopefully, one day I also have the chance to share a similar message in a similar ceremony. Enjoy!

I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That’s it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: “We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?” They said: “Of course.” My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents’ savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn’t see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn’t interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn’t all romantic. I didn’t have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends’ rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn’t have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can’t capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. 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.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn’t know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down – that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. 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.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple’s current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

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. 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. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

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. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn’t even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor’s code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you’d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I’m fine now.

This was the closest I’ve been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. 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 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.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s 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.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960’s, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

I heard a lot of things about “The Secret” but never really got the chance to read it or watch the movie that came out in 2006. I have a general stereotype about most self-help books – I don’t think most of them really do what they are made out to do. However, to my surprise – The Secret is completely different since it shares a similar philosophy to what I wrote in “The Dream.”

Our individual laws of attraction in the universe dictate our future. We choose our destiny by the decisions, feelings, and thoughts we make. When you look at your life – we all have moments we might think were miracles – but when we dig deeper we begin to realize – we created that positive energy to win and individually made them happen. When we were unsure about something, we dwelled about things, made negative energy consume us and never executed on what it was that we truly wanted.

Even as I went through the exercise of writing “The Dream” I began to have a flashback of all the great moments in my life – where failure was written all over it – but I chose to pick myself up and keep the eye on the prize. I didn’t let the negative noise around me stop me from pursuing any of them.

Everything starts with a dream – that singular emotion we all resonate is the beginning of our future. And that’s why; we all have that power to shape our own destiny.

Here’s also the first 20 minutes of The Secret Video:

It’s amazing when we are young – the more fearless we are. The older we get, the more fearful we become. I think it comes down to the idea of failure consuming us. Meet the most fearless 4 year old you will ever meet, Kaitlyn Maher. I saw her on TV today performing on a TV show.

As you watch this – you’ll realize that she’s not only talented but completely fearless of her surroundings. Perhaps, that’s what the beauty of being young is – you really don’t know what failure is – so you don’t spend any time thinking about it and you end up just doing what you love best.

I’ve been risk taker all my life – but I ended up taking my first risk at 16, not 4. So, even for me, this was great to watch someone so adorable, talented, and amazing perform to her best talents.

If at 4 she is this fearless, I am sure she’s going to live up to her dreams. I wish Katilyn Maher the very best.

It’s not every day – you’re a flipping through channels (especially when you don’t watch much TV) and come across something that truly inspires you. Well for me that day was today. I ran across Dr. Randy Pausch. He recapped the original speech he had given as his “last lecture” at Carnegie Mellon. The wrinkle in all of this, he is dying from pancreatic cancer. Therefore, he used his last lecture to discuss the life lessons he learned and gave advice on how you can achieve your very own childhood dreams. The truth was, he really didn’t create this speech for his 400 people at Carnegie Mellon who came; he did it for only three people, his three children.

Here are some notable quotes that Randy said that stuck with me:

•    The Inspiration and Permission to Dream is Huge.

•    You can’t control the cards you’re dealt, just how you play the hand.

•    Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.

•    If there’s anything I want to do so badly, I should have already done it.

•    Find the best in everybody. Wait long enough, and people will surprise and impress you. It might even take years, but people will show you their good side. Just keep waiting.

•    If you want to achieve your dreams, you better learn to work and play well with others. You have to live with integrity.

•    When you are doing something badly and no one’s bothering to tell you anymore, that’s a very bad place to be. Your critics are the ones still telling you they love you and care.

•    Better to fail spectacularly than do something mediocre.

•    Understand the importance of People vs. Things

•    Brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want something badly enough. They are there to keep out the other people.

•    Be prepared. Luck is where preparation meets opportunity.

And my favorite quote from his lecture was:

•    Never stop dreaming. If you live your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself, and the dreams will come to you.

I believe Dr. Randy Pauch’s philosophy and courage is a true inspiration for all of us. Hopefully we can all ground ourselves this way, as we choose the way we live our lives.

I realized that the show I had just watched was an actual rerun but then found the original lecture. For those of you that haven’t heard his entire speech by now, I encourage you all to dedicate at least 77 minutes and watch it here:

It will inspire you, as it inspired me.

I’ll probably have to say not only in the world of business – but in the grand scheme of things…in order to thrive in today’s society – you have to grow a thick skin. In most instances, we do live in a world that can provide ample negative energy. And if all you do is – dwell on that energy – you basically become a weaker person and move further away from your goals. Countless times, I’ve heard people tell me that I was going to fail or that I shouldn’t do X, Y or Z (I’ve got plenty of those examples in my book). Or, more or less distract me from the end game, which was pursuing something I really wanted to do (let that be in business or personal).

So, one of the things I did very early on in life is grow a very thick skin. Some people live in a world of pessimism and that translates to the negative energy they exude. I like to live in a world of optimism – which is if I believe I want to do something – I’m not going to let anyone stop me for doing it.

That independence leads to confidence which becomes the only voice that matters. I encourage all of you to follow your heart’s desire on any matter – and never let anyone stop you from doing what you love. It might be painful – but after a while – the skin becomes thick enough to handle anything…

It works for me.

Two very different things. And also something a lot of people get confused with a lot. Many try to exude confidence through arrogance. I consider myself very confident but at the same time grounded enough to never be arrogant. The difference between the two in my perspective is simple. When your confident about something no matter how sure you are – you look around yourself and never insult or degrade anyone, diplomatically you listen and then you behave the same way you want to be treated. When you’re arrogant, you tend to be insecure of your surroundings and tend to offend others.

Recently, I was at a black tie event and I was introduced to a couple. I didn’t know who they were or the fact they were wealthy (since that doesn’t really matter to me, I’m not really into researching anyone else’s W-2). When the wife looked at me, she saw an unfamiliar face of youth and with her first few comments made it seem as if I didn’t belong there. Later, that evening after learning who I was – she tried to revive things. I never struck a chord with her again. I was polite, smiled and walked away. I guess, that’s an example of knowing who you are and sticking to it (confidently) – rather than let arrogance of others force you to react a certain way.

I’ve been through the phase of having everyone wanting to be around you because of what you have – and not who you are. That phase never appealed to me. Because, life really is too short. If at the end of the day you have a handful of friends and family around you – you end up living a very rich life…

I’m not literally asking the question, but posing a question that we face every day. This is something we think about in all the different decisions we go through in life. It can range from career, financial and personal matters that are all dear to us. I’ve got a slightly different perspective on this topic.

All my life – I’ve faced this dilemma and I’ve realized the formula that works for me. I choose to run. Whatever the situation maybe, but when that inexplicable feeling inside me tells me to go for it – I choose to listen to it. What I’ve realized is that when you decide to go 110% on your chosen path, the energy and time you normally would put at the fear of failure – goes away. You have no option to fail and you choose to put all your energies on the positives. Failure never becomes an option and it shouldn’t be. Life doesn’t always work that way – but the chances are – if you build your DNA to grow a wall that can eliminate any negative noise – your chance of success just grows astronomically. Always stand up for what you believe or want. That inner voice is your friend.

Now – I’m not saying I jump into everything “gung-ho” – there are limitations here. Look at the state of our economy it’s the result of the build-up from the credit crisis we face today. That’s a mistake that’s costing many Americans and the overall economy dearly. The difference here is – separating tangible risk with material risk. If we choose to invest materially into something that we can’t have control of – like money – the risk of failure increases. However, if we choose to invest our time, focus, energy, discipline, values on all the tangible goals we have in life – you begin to build that inner-confidence that defines your DNA to succeed.

So, as even Nike says, JUST DO IT.

I was fortunate this weekend as I got to celebrate a lot of things. On Friday it was my elder brother’s birthday, Saturday was my nephew’s birthday, and of course Sunday was Mothers day. It was a memorable time since I cherished every moment with my family. It’s not too often we’re all in the same place for 72 hours.

I also spent a lot of 1:1 time with my father, whom I admire greatly. Given the success I’ve had in my life – he also knows the great struggles and problems it comes with. As well as, the shift in how society ends up labeling and taunting you when you become more visible. Therefore, he reminded me of a famous shayari (poem) that he heard. It was great to be reminded of these words. I’ve translated the words from hindi to the best of my capability – as I think the words are beautiful and powerful and the underlying theme is something we can all relate to.

Chal Rahe ho tho – bathani ki zaroot nahin
As you begin to reach your destiny – there is no reason to say

Chal Rahe ho tho – bathani ki zaroot nahin
As you begin to reach your destiny – there is no reason to say

Rukh ge jis din – pooche ga koi nahin
Because, if you ever fail – no one will ever ask

Jhante he jo – dhol vo peethe nahin
But, those who know – will never expose their noise

Chalte rahte hein bas – mor kar dekhte nahin
They will simply march toward their destiny – with never looking in the past…

This week I was interviewed by the New York Times, and during the interview process – I was asked what famous quote, if any, I live by. After thinking about it, I had an instant flashback. When I was 16 – I took Philosophy 101 – and did a paper on Socrates. I’m not going to say that I’m philosopher by any degree – but I remember one quote that I read about that stood out. And you can say that – I’ve lived exactly like that over the last nine years.

“Remember that there is nothing stable in human affairs; therefore avoid undue elation in prosperity, and undue depression in adversity.”

Read it a few times, as it may have an entirely different meaning for you. But, in my eyes – the way I see it – success is a virtue of control. The more control you have of your success – the more you will continue to rise. Don’t get too cocky or think you are a god – since that’s what will eventually bring you down. And when you fail – it’s not the end of the world – since every true success has had its failures.

In my book – you’ll hear a lot more examples of how I saw my success and managed it carefully. At the end of the day, don’t change who you are as a human being – no matter how successful you get. I’ve seen it happen too many times and that in essence becomes the ultimate fall. Stay humble. Live for yourself and don’t let life, live for you…