I’m posting this in advance of the actual 19th anniversary that this speech was made.
Back on June 12, 2005, Steve Jobs gave this incredible commencement speech at Stanford (transcription). I previously mentioned this in brief passing in this investing related post back in 2012. His speech about death (starting at the 9-minute mark) is salient in so many regards. In Walter Isaacson’s authorized biography of Jobs (page 262), it is uncanny that one of the reasons that he was so driven/impatient, was because he had a belief early on that he would not have a long life. Jobs talked about his 2004 pancreatic cancer diagnosis in the above. At the time of this speech, it seemed like the procedure that he had, worked (but as we know, that wasn’t the case).
That initial experience facing his own mortality, paved the way for the rest of that part of the speech where the following is something I have long taken to heart (especially after health-related incidences recently and in the past, plus one of my good friends and college classmates passing away way too early while in their 30’s).
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.
As we all know, life is in fact too short. It is way too short to be consumed by constant negativity. It is way too short to not be enjoying the things you enjoy doing. Sure, I also know that this aspect is often times very difficult because of this thing called the real world where we have bills to pay and many obligations to deal with. There is also the reality that many are living paycheck to paycheck and that it is not as simple as living everyday as if it were your last day on this planet.
The point however is to try and not be constantly consumed by things that are completely outside one’s control and to not be held back from pursuing those dreams (because all too often, you will hear the constant din of “that is not possible”, “how are you going to do that?”, “where are you going to get the money?”, etc. My “investing adventures of a dumbass” monologue was one of those personal journeys of not living someone else’s life or being trapped by other people’s thinking. I also learned that it is better to surround yourself with those who are positive, but also realistic.
This story is also something that I never did follow up since posting it 12 years ago (except noting vaguely on several occasions that it afforded me the opportunity to early retire by the time I was in my 40’s). And yes, if I hadn’t made some self-inflicted mistakes, that early retirement would’ve happened in my 30’s. The point is that it wasn’t all roses and I needed to hold myself accountable for lousy decisions. Like everything else in life, it’s about learning from those failures and mistakes, and hoping you come out better/wiser.
Wealth is all too often measured in monetary units. Money is just a means to an end to provide financial freedom where you aren’t worrying about how to pay the bills or having to be that good worker bee in that time consuming task known as a job. Financial freedom allows one to be able to free up the limited time that we all have, to do those things that we would like to be able to do. The reality is too many people spend more than they can actually afford. Even some of these financially wealthy individuals in the millionaire’s club get caught in the lifestyle trap by becoming involved in high class (high priced) social circles, end up buying multiple properties, expensive vehicles, and just continue racking up bills (requiring this cycle of needing even more money to feed this endless pit of consumption).
The “wealthiest” people that I’ve met are the ones who have adventured, experienced life, and pursued their dreams. They may not be wealthy monetarily, but they are wealthy by engaging in this very short/limited thing that we call life. Parts of me wished I had this way of thinking while I was in my 20’s, but I know that I cannot go back and re-live that past. All I can do is move forward and make the most of things going forward.
This “your time is limited” aspect was also one of the other things that was bothering me with the “couch potato” role (besides the Malama Life video which just reinforced all of this) that I had drawn myself into over the past 6 months with watching way too many Twitch IRL channels as I looked for other hobbies to supplant gaming (which I did in moderation). For whatever reason, this turned into chain watching sessions where hours would pass suddenly. I reached a point in April that this is not how I wanted to spend my time, that there were more productive endeavors that I could be engaging in let alone going outside more often to “touch grass”.
All of this initially led to this, before I decided (after Sophie’s latest video) that yes, taking an actual break would also be a good idea. I have no idea how long this will be either since the previous time, nearly 6 years passed before I logged back in to Twitch in January 2024.
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