ENTREPRENEURS all over the globe admire Steve Jobs, and for good reason; he was a bold visionary who completely revolutionized the tech industry. Even today, many years after his death, people still consider Jobs a role model worth emulating.

Passion

During the D5 Conference in 2007, an audience member asked Jobs what single piece of advice he would give entrepreneurs on building valuable companies. Jobs answered the question plainly: In order to be successful, you must be passionate about the work you’re doing. Jobs also explained the reason success is dependent upon loving what you do — because that’s the only way you’ll persevere.

As Jobs explained, building a business is not an easy task. To be successful, you must work hard and overcome repeated challenges over a long period of time without giving up. When faced with these ongoing challenges, most people will quit. But those who love what they’re doing will persevere because they’re driven by their passion, not by external rewards.

Curiosity and intuition

In his commencement address at Stanford University in 2005, Jobs emphasized the importance of trusting your gut and following your curiosity. Jobs encouraged students to pursue their interests, even if they seem impractical at the time. He believed that much of his success could be attributed to this philosophy.

To illustrate this point, Jobs described what happened after he dropped out of Reed College. Since he no longer had to worry about meeting specific course requirements, Jobs was free to audit whatever class piqued his interest.

For example, Jobs took a class on calligraphy. He found the class fascinating but at the time it seemed to serve no practical purpose. It was only later, in looking back on his life, that Jobs recognized the importance of that calligraphy class; it gave him an understanding of great typography which he later applied when designing the Macintosh computer.

Remember there’s a deadline

Steve Jobs knew what it was like to be constantly aware of your own mortality. He was first diagnosed with cancer in 2003 but didn’t succumb to the disease until October 2011.

But even before his diagnosis, Jobs understood that every day is important because our time on this planet is limited.

Jobs relayed this valuable piece of wisdom during his 2005 commencement address. In it, Jobs describes how at the age of 17, he read a quote that would provide guidance throughout his life. The quote was, “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.”

Jobs then illustrated how this quote helped shape his life by saying, “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.”

Ignore the expectations of others

In a 1994 interview with The Santa Clara Valley Historical Association, Jobs discussed the false nature of society’s boundaries and stated his belief that people should question those limitations. He believed that people have the power to changes lives — their own and those of others — if they’re willing to challenge the status quo.

Jobs reiterated this point in his Stanford commencement address. In it, he said, “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.”(SD-Agencies)