But a recent email contained the link to an interview former Apple CEO John Sculley conducted with Steve Jobs, Apple's visionary co-founder. The lengthy interview is interesting on business grounds, but it also contained a quote relevant to decluttering. "What makes Steve’s methodology different from everyone else’s is that he always believed the most important decisions you make are not the things you do – but the things that you decide not to do. He’s a minimalist," Sculley said.
It makes sense. We all know that visionaries don't change the culture by trying to do everything. They focus on one thing, at most a small handful of things, passionately, even if others can't figure out why they're doing it. But following that model is easier said than done. Right now, I'm struggling with getting even minor things off my desk, schedule, and mind. Everything, and everyone, seems equally important, and it feels hard if not impossible to find the time I need to get in touch with what truly matters.
It's tempting to think that famous, accomplished people don't experience that kind of struggle...that it's somehow easy for them to decide what to do and what not to. But that fantasy isn't borne out when you look at Steve Jobs' life, or the life of any other topnotch creative. As far back as his decision to drop out of college, Jobs has clearly experienced just as many points of confusion and choice as us "ordinary people" do.
But as Sculley noted, he's clearly also learned how to clear out, let go, and move on. And because he's so famous, we can get some glimpses of how he does it.Here's one such glimpse, from his 2005 commencement address at Stanford University. (Watch the speech here—it's inspiring throughout.) I love the last two lines:
"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 thing 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."
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