Be hungry, be foolish

Another brilliant post on my pal Fievel's blog on what it means to be happy and I am eternally grateful to him for reminding me again what it is supposed to be all about. Despite my mounting pile of work on my desk, I feel compelled to write a blog post about this gem of a speech by Steve Jobs, one of the most inspiring characters of our generation. Steve Jobs gave the speech at the graduating class of 2005 from Stanford University. He spoke about 3 episodes in his life to convey to the group of graduates a very important message, one that we often forget or choose to ignore in our busy Singapore way of life. After hearing his speech, I started thinking about the stark contrast between his experiences/views and that of a typical Singaporean, myself included, and wondered if we have completely missed the point of what it means to be happy and alive.

Episode 1 – Connecting the Dots

Jobs talks about the financial sacrifice his working-class parents had to make to send him to college which he subsequently dropped out. It wasn't that Jobs didn't like school or hard work but he didn't enjoy the prescribed course of learning that regular under-graduates had to endure as part of their university curriculum. Then he dropped out of college but still hung around school, only to attend the classes which he found interesting and engaging. His journey down this un-trodden path of learning led him to discover calligraphy and 10 years later, helped create the wonderful typography we see on our Macs today. What started as a seemingly frivolous interest in calligraphy, turned out to be one of the cornerstones of Job's legacy to the world. "…..You cannot connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backwards…..", he explained. I wonder how many of us in Singapore try to do the exact opposite.

I started thinking the hordes of young adults entering our local colleges, and like Jobs, they have no idea what they wanted to do with their lives. Most of they would try for the Medicine, Law, Business Ed, Accountancy and Engineering Faculties (which is indeed the sequence of choices in terms of popularity and desirability). These are the "safe" choices. The parents advise the benefits of such courses, the government advocates them on national media and even your friends see you in a different light if you are a future lawyer. Try telling your friends and family that you want to quit medical school to pursue a career in creative arts and I can guarantee that you will get looks of incredulity as if you had told them that you can fly. Here in Singapore, we connect our dots forwards. We care about what is apparent, what is immediately ahead of us, for the next few months or years. For most of us, we have neither the patience nor foresight to see that the dots connect backwards. A quick check on our property prices as well as the forecasted results for the next general election will confirms my assertion.

Episode 2 – Love and Loss

He then touches on his ouster from Apple at age 30 and his subsequent reunion with Apple after she acquired his new startup. "…..the heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again…..". After his departure from Apple, relieved of the pressure of living up to society's expectations and proprieties, he rediscovered his zeal for life and creativity energy. In this period, he founded startups Next and Pixar as well as married the love of his life. "….the only thing that kept me going is that I loved what I did. You got to find what you love…..if you haven't found it yet, keep looking, don't settle…..". Jobs correctly pointed out that a large part of our lives will be consumed by work. If we cannot love what we do or have passion and belief for that major component of our lives, how can it be possible for us to rise above mediocrity to become great at what we do. Without that passion, our work becomes a merely a job, a means of earning the dough needed to carry on an uninspired, unfulfilling existence.

I have worked with many people that complained about their jobs being boring, meaningless and unfulfilling. Yet these very same people persist in performing the most menial and trivial of tasks, contented to fill their working day by pushing emails and repeating laborious paper work while simultaneously rejecting or avoiding the more creative or original assignments. Ask these people if they are willing to switch to more fulfilling and enriching roles, they will often cite the lack of financial stability or other excuses as reasons why they have to continue doing what they are doing, even if they dislike or even hate it. Many Singaporean, myself included, suffer from the "heaviness of being successful" indeed. Perhaps it is the way the Singaporean social society is setup, perhaps it is the lack of social security here or perhaps it is the suffocating costs of goods and services in Singapore. Whatever the reason, the "lightness of being a beginner again" seems like a forlorn ambition that adult Singaporeans can only dream to have but unfit to pursue. A lot of Singaporeans do not love what they do and in the rare instance that one has found what they love, Singaporeans are pre-disposed to discard that love and settle for a lesser, albeit more practical, alternative.

Episode 3 – Death

Job's recent health problems made the headlines and in the absence of Apple's charismatic leader, the shares plummeted. Jobs puts it very eloquently in his speech, "…..for the past 33 years, every morning I look myself in the mirror and asked myself 'If today was the last day of my life, would I 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…..". In the initial prognosis of his pancreatic cancer, his doctor told him that he had less than 6 months to live and advised him to make preparations for his impending death. Later it turned out that his cancer was actually not fatal and Apple today still enjoys the impeccable wisdom and guidance of its founder. Death, according to him, was the most effective tool to help him make the big choices in life, the best way to avoid the trap of thinking that one has too much to lose. "…..Death is the best invention of life, it clears away the old and introduces the new…..Death is the common destination for all of us…..your life is limited, don't spend your time living someone else's life…..".

This is a simple yet profound truth behind the meaning of our very existence. Our jobs, the money we have in the bank, the number of properties or cars we own etc., all of these things are accessories to a meaning and fulfilling existence. They are only material things, dead unloving possessions. They should rightly be secondary to the primary aim, which is to live a full and rewarding life. Instead, more and more, life itself takes a backseat to the pursuit of these material things. Somehow for many people, they have changed to become slaves to the very objects that they ought to master, as they are nothing but tools to help achieve a higher, ultimate aim. Do we have to be at our deathbeds, tethering on the brink of life, before we fully grasp what it means to be living and appreciate what we really should be living for?

In the near future, I hope to be embarking on my adventure for a more meaningful existence. Things will be tough and I will have doubts about the "things" I am giving up to follow my heart and intuition. When I do, I hope I will always remember this speech by Jobs and these poetic words from the Whole Earth Catalogue, "Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish". I rather be hungry but foolish then to settle for a less inspired and mediocre existence instead.

Pls enjoy the original speech by Jobs.