Feel dejected with life and bogged down with failures and uncertainties? Take a cue from the life of Steve Jobs. As one of the biggest names in the corporate world, Steve has passed through many life’s challenges prior to making one of the biggest comebacks in corporate history. It would have been easy to give up at any stage, however, Jobs never quit. He always listened to his heart and his heart said,

You’ve got to find what you love. Keep looking…don’t settle.”

Have the courage to follow your heart: Young Steve was adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs after his biological mother, a young unwed graduate student put him up for adoption. After high school, Jobs went to college for only six months after which he dropped out!! Jobs realized it was too costly for his parents and he just couldn’t see value in this type of education. At this point, Jobs had absolutely no idea what he wanted to do with his life. He claims, however, that this was one of the best decisions he ever made. He began taking classes that he found interesting. He took calligraphy class and though he didn’t know it then, he now credits this as the inspiration for the world’s most widely utilized computer fonts. He went to India to travel and find enlightenment. Jobs followed his instincts and trusted that the dots would somehow connect in the future. As Jobs explains,

You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.”

Don’t lose faith: Steve finally got in touch with former co-worker, Steve Wozniak, and they decided to partner together to work on a project in personal computing technology. Jobs and Wozniak started Apple Computers in the Jobs family garage. In the span of ten years, Apple grew to become a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. And then just when everything was going well, after the first Macintosh was release, life thru Jobs another curveball and he was fired by the board of directors! He was publicly ousted; it was humiliating. Jobs questioned,

How do get fired from a company you started???”

After realizing that he still loved what he was doing, Steve Jobs made a big decision-he decided to start all over again. Not even a handful of people would have the courage to stick it out, in spite of such difficulties. He didn’t have an image to take care of now, and he soon enjoyed one of the most creative periods of his life. He learned,

To live today as if were the last day of your life. If it were, would you want to do what you are doing today? If the answer is no too many days in a row, you are doing something wrong.

Jobs went on to start another company called NeXT and then, of course, Pixar. As fate would have it, Apple then acquired NeXT and Jobs came full circle back to Apple Computers going on to take the CEO position. Jobs again made history by bringing Apple back with avengeance with the advent of the newer Apple computers and the revolutionary iPod.

These feats of Steve Jobs are extraordinary and unparalleled. He never gave up at any point in time, even when things seemed to turn ugly. Jobs persisted when the tide was against him and continued to do what he loved to do. If you want to keep going ahead in life, you should never give up on what is close to your heart; take a cue from Steve Jobs and always persist in the face of adversity.

Please watch one of the most inspirational speeches I have ever seen. Steve Jobs at a Stanford Graduation Commencement 2005: