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Steve Jobs talks about finding what you love, and I have to say that this speech moved me somewhat. I’d always had a kinda skewed impression of Jobs, completely from what I read on the web and in the press, so some of the stuff that he talks about is new to me.

And boy does it add respect.

I was part of my own startup not so long ago, and at some stage I think I stopped loving what I was doing, so I made a tough call and left. In retrospect it was totally the right thing or me to do then. At the time, it felt like I was ripping my own guts out, and was incredibly painful. Jobs’ words ring so true with me now. I’ve also had two grandparents die of cancer, so I have an inkling of what he went through, and again, it seems the most rational thing in the world – “love what you do”, yet so few of us do that. I can think of so many people I know that seem to be making the irrational decision of doing what they don’t love. Why?

I reckon that if you can get that sorted, then everything else falls into place. You want to become more productive so that you can fit more of what you love into the day. You learn as much about whatever you love, so that you can be the best at it, and make a success of it. You learn that you need to build something that is sustainable so that you can continue doing what you love. You learn that people are the most important asset that you have, because when the chips are down it’s the people that you love, that will love you back and get you through the rough times. You learn to swallow your pride because somewhere along the way you meet people who know more about what you love, and you know you really need to listen to them.

If you’re at a crossroads, then read it.
If you need to find inspiration to make to through the day, read it.
If you’re a startup and you don’t know what the next step is, read it.