Steve Jobs Advice: “Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish”

With the above parting admonition, Steve Jobs closed his commencement address at Stanford University in 2005. No matter your age, there is a message in this for each of us. Jobs’ speech had three main points.

1. Dots will somehow connect in your future.
2. Find what you love.
3. Death is the destination we all share.

Dots Will Somehow Connect in Your Future

You probably know that Jobs dropped out of college. He reasoned that he didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life, he didn’t see how college would play a role, and he didn’t want to spend his parents’ money foolishly. He trusted that it would all work out and, of course, his curiosity and intuition turned him into a successful entrepreneur.

I am nowhere near as successful as Steve Jobs, but I have made some drastic changes in my career that also supported my growth. My first job out of college was as a pricing analyst with Caterpillar Tractor Company. That was not the career I had in mind, but it served a purpose – it brought in a paycheck. I really wanted to be a banker.

As an economics major, my favorite course was Money and Banking. The role of the Federal Reserve in managing the money supply, their methods, and the daily ramifications in the financial markets intrigued me. They still do! After two years with Caterpillar (and a supervisor who thought women did not belong in the work force), I decided to leave and pursue my dream.

It happened that one of the banks I talked to had a position available in the trust department. The position was in investment trading, and that role began my love affair with investments. It also dropped my salary by almost half! I never regretted that move and through the years the financial world rewarded me financially, too.

Much later in my career, I left a company without another job because of human resource expectations that I did not feel were fair or ethical. I was a sales manager at the time, and it was painful for me to say goodbye to the staff I loved and the accomplishments we made. The steps leading to my decision happened quickly, I had no other job, had not started looking for a job, but I knew that this was the correct move for me. I could not continue to function in an unworkable environment.

As I reassessed my future, I kept in touch with my network. A professional acquaintance approached me about an open position in her company. That did not happen right away, however. I had to be patient, which is not one of my strengths. The time I was “forced” to spend in reflection was beneficial to both my personal growth and my career.

In my new role in a large wealth management firm, I once again worked directly with clients face-to-face, and I rediscovered my passion. The knowledge I learned about both exchange-traded funds and leadership from my former position was not lost. In fact, one way or another, I used everything I learned in all my previous financial jobs. The dots connect!

Find What You Love

Every position I held, including the first one at Caterpillar, taught me something that enhanced my life and my career. I went through excellent training programs at two top notch financial companies. I learned the ins and outs of bonds, money market instruments, stocks, mutual funds, and exchange-traded funds. And I learned about asset and liability management of a bank as a senior officer. My career included roles in investment management, operations, trading, and sales functions. My professional activities taught me leadership skills and gave me opportunities to practice them.

As I mentioned above, I found my passion in working directly with clients to help them solve financial problems, make their lives better, and support their goals. Some of their financial lives were simple and others were complicated. I used many resources from my collection of experiences and training and loved every minute. I especially liked working with and teaching beginners in the world of investments.

When I reached my retirement goal and stopped working one-on-one with clients, I knew there was something left for me to do and COVID gave me that opportunity. I wrote a book for women who are beginning investors. It is called, How to Dress a Naked Portfolio: A Tailored Introduction to Investing for Women. My passion to help others continues in my blogs as well.

Death Is the Destination We All Share

What did Jobs mean by this? He was challenging us to live each day as if it were our last and to be true to ourselves. That especially had meaning for him as he had been diagnosed with cancer, but remember he said this to a group of college graduates.

I am now retired and once again have time for reflection. COVID also gave me time to think about what is important to me. My partner of five years and I discussed our separate priorities and together decided what would be workable for our life together. We are frustrated that some of our plans have not worked out, but we trust that, in time, the dots will connect. In the meantime, we continue to discover what we can live with and without.

Family, friends, spouses/partners, children, and work associates all have expectations that affect us and, at times, weigh heavy. It is sometimes difficult to honor ourselves and deliver a difficult message in a respectful manner. I struggle with setting relationship boundaries and continue to work on that. I expect it will be a project for the rest of my life. In the meantime, I celebrate the dawn of each new day and wonder what I will learn in its course.

Let’s Have a Conversation:

What from Steve Jobs’ address hit home to you? Have you found what you love? What was, or is, your journey like? How do you make the most of each day?