What Steve Jobs Knew at 12 That I Learned at 40
I'm typing this on my MacBook Pro, with my iPhone charging beside me, AirPods in my ears, and an iPad nearby. Yet at 12, Steve Jobs had already learned something I wouldn't grasp for four decades: he picked up a phone book, called the CEO of Hewlett-Packard, and got himself a summer job. At that same age, I was an Egyptian immigrant afraid to raise my hand in class.
The World Is More Hackable Than You Think
Life isn't a fixed set of rules we have to accept. When Jobs said
"Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you,"
he was handing us the keys to innovation. Most of us grow up being told to color within the lines, follow the path, and not rock the boat too much. But what if those lines, paths, and boats were all just created by regular people who decided to try something different? The world suddenly becomes more malleable when you realize this truth.
The Simple Power of Just Asking
Most people never act on their dreams because they're afraid to ask. Jobs didn't just philosophize - at 12, he looked up Bill Hewlett's number in the phone book and called him directly about spare parts. That bold move earned him not just parts, but a summer job at HP. The difference between dreamers and doers often comes down to this simple act: picking up the phone and asking. I wish I'd understood the power of this simple act three decades ago.
Teaching the Next Generation to Push on Life
Our children deserve to know that they can shape the world, not just live in it. I'm teaching my kids that life isn't about staying safely within the walls - it's about pushing on them to see what moves. Sadly most of the institutions they interact with at a young age (schools and churches, etc) are teaching structure, and the virtue of following strict guidelines. They're growing up surrounded by technology that emerged from Jobs' vision, but more importantly, I want them to inherit his mindset: the understanding that everything around them is changeable, improvable, hackable. The future belongs to those who are bold enough to ask and brave enough to push.
