On Humility
People don’t think of Steve Jobs as someone who stands for humility, but I think otherwise.
About a year before he died, he left a note on his iPad; it’s a note he wrote to himself.
It is so astonishing that this was what he wrote then.
Why? I can give you some color why this reflection is astonishing.
I was at Apple then, working on ramping up the production of iPhone 4. It was announced in June 2010, and met with great accolade. The renowned tech journalist, Walt Mossberg, reviewed the iPhone 4 as “the best device in its class” in the Wall Street Journal. It also met the biggest demand in Apple’s history at launch. My team’s weekly demand forecast was wrong every week, even after we applied the most optimistic assumptions (which was a happy problem). It’s not only that; the very first iPad was launched in April that year with a huge success; Apple clearly defined a brand new category of tablet computer. They “did it again”.
Apple was triumphant; so should be Steve.
Instead, he wrote this memo, reminding himself of how dependent he was for everything he needed in life and how much he owed to his fellow species including ideas he had. That’s why he wanted to do what he did with Apple; make something wonderful and put them back into the humanity to pay back and forward.
Writing my first book, there were many moments when I couldn’t help but wonder if I were just a messenger of all the great thinkers I’ve read. It’s odd to say this, but this is true, in many ways. So many great ideas by these incredible thinkers, writers, and creators have enriched my mind, provoked me to ask questions I never asked, and encouraged me to imagine. Even the title, “𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿”, randomly popped out of my morning meditation one day and fell on my lap. I cannot say I worked so hard to think of a name for my book. 😂
Below is the list of books (in an alphabeticall order) that I felt hugely inspired and nourished by for writing my book, 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿.
- [Book] The Burnout Society by Byung-Chul Han
- [Book] Creating Capabilities: The Human Development Approach by Martha Nussbaum
- [Book] Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans
- [Book] Drive by Daniel Pink
- [Book] The Fifth Discipline by Peter M. Senge
- [Book] From Strength to Strength by Arthur C. Brooks
- [Book] The Good Life by Robert Waldinger & Marc Schulz
- [Book] Hidden Potential by Adam Grant
- [Book] Let Your Life Speak by Parker J. Palmer
- [Newsletter] The Marginalian (formerly Brain Pickings) by Maria Popova
- [Book] Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
- [Book] Mind Magic by Dr. James Doty
- [Book] The Three Marriages: Reimagining Work, Self and Relationship by David Whyte
- [Book] Time Off by John Fitch and Max Frenzel
- [Book] Transcend by Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman
- [Book] Working Identity by Hermania Ibarra
- [Book] Why We Work by Barry Schwartz
My hope is that, reading 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿, you can finally meet your inner leader that always wanted to emerge and create a meaningful work for yourself with help of these amazing thinkers and their ideas.
𝗢𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝟯 𝗗𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗟𝗲𝗳𝘁 to get exclusive benefits of 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿!!!🤗
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📕 𝗣𝗿𝗲-𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 <𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿> ➡ https://lnkd.in/gJiukCYJ
