A colleague passed me this link to a commencement address Steve Jobs gave at Stanford some time ago. I wish I had seen it earlier. I've intuitively practiced the same principles in life's decision making process as Jobs, but this crystallizes the process for me.
Here, in point form, is the advice Jobs gave to the graduating class:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html