If every smartphone user were to reach into their pocket right now and pull out their phone, approximately 45% of people would pull out an iPhone. iPhone is, of course, the ground-breaking invention initially created by Steve Jobs and his team at Apple. The co-founder and former CEO of Apple Inc. was a brilliant innovator and famously forward-thinking. Naturally enough, after being raised in a Protestant family, he sought further answers as a young adult. After dropping out of college his freshman year, he traveled through India to seek enlightenment and study Buddhism.
While Jobs never breached the threshold of the full truth through Catholicism, he did adopt certain philosophical beliefs that mirrored aspects of Catholicism.
People would often contact Jobs regarding a ban he had placed on pornographic apps. To one, Jobs responded, 鈥淲e believe we have a moral responsibility to keep porn off of the iPhone. Folks who want porn can buy an Android.鈥� Another who disagreed with the ban happened to be a tech author. He asked Jobs if he thought Bob Dylan would have thought Apple products had 鈥渢he faintest thing to do with revolution.鈥� After all, revolution is about freedom. Jobs replied, 鈥淵ep. Freedom. Freedom from programs that steal your private data. Freedom from programs that trash your battery. Freedom from porn. Yep, freedom. The times they are a-changin’. And some traditional PC folks feel like their world is slipping away. It is.鈥�
Steve Jobs was a revolutionary who wasn鈥檛 going to simply let others steamroll his design. Recently on The Cale Clarke Show, Cale looked at 10 quotes from Jobs that we can learn from and apply to our lives.
- 鈥淵our work is going to fill a large part of your life. And the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven鈥檛 found it yet, keep looking. Don鈥檛 settle.鈥� Mediocrity is a dream killer. One of the daily tragedies of today鈥檚 workforce is the willingness to settle for satisfactory when greatness is attainable.
- 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backwards. So, you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.鈥� We don鈥檛 know the future, so it鈥檚 pointless to fret about the uncontrollable aspects of God鈥檚 plan. We should always seek to carry out His will, but it鈥檚 only looking back that we will understand the benefit of God鈥檚 plan for us.
- 鈥淪imple can be harder than complex. You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it鈥檚 worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.鈥� In many regards, that can be applied to God. Yes, He is deep, and there are complex aspects wrapped up in the Christian understanding of what God is, but at His core, God is simple. God is one. God is all-powerful. God is love.
- 鈥淏e a yardstick of quality. Some people aren鈥檛 used to an environment where excellence is expected.鈥� Part of sanctifying our work is doing the best that we can on any given task. We can say we鈥檙e sanctifying our work all we want, but if we don鈥檛 put in a lot of effort, that sanctification is lacking. We are offering poor or mediocre work to God.
- 鈥淩emembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.鈥� We are all mortal. We are all going to die, and we are going to spend an eternity in one of two places. Why do we place so much stock in our fears of failure, ridicule, or derision? We don鈥檛 want to die with regret.
- 鈥淓verything around you that you call 鈥榣ife鈥� was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it. You can influence it. Once you learn that, you鈥檒l never be the same again.鈥� We often see trailblazers like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk and think of them as another species. They鈥檙e above us, untouchable. But if we could only realize that we can influence people and bring about change, we could achieve just as much.
- 鈥淚鈥檓 as proud of many of the things we haven鈥檛 done as the things we have done. Innovation is saying 鈥榥o鈥� to a thousand things.鈥� It鈥檚 easy to take a look at the industry or world around you and adopt the trends of others. It鈥檚 much bolder to refuse the popular ideas and think about how to make things better, how to make ourselves better.
- 鈥淚 think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what鈥檚 next.鈥� Cale compared this quote to something that Tom Brady once said. He said that when he鈥檚 on the field in a huddle with his teammates, those guys around him don鈥檛 care that he鈥檚 won 7 Super Bowls. They don鈥檛 care about his past accomplishments. They need him to go out and perform now. We don鈥檛 want to be one-hit wonders. We should continually look for opportunities to win, in everything we do.
- 鈥淭hings don鈥檛 have to change the world to be important.鈥� Two saints who were known for emphasizing the little things were St. Therese of Lisieux and St. Josemaria Escriva. St. Therese is known for the way that she led a relatively quiet life in her convent, but she became a saint through the little daily mortifications and sanctifications. And St. Josemaria who was the founder of Opus Dei emphasized the little things because those were integral to living our faith out in the world! Do the little things right, and you will become leaders and guides.
- 鈥淭he people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.鈥� Being Catholic is not a walk in the park. People will call you crazy for having a big family, being pro-life, waiting until marriage, refusing certain substances, or any number of things. But that鈥檚 a good thing. We have countercultural beliefs and we may just be crazy enough to change the world.
Listen to the full discussion below:
Steve Jobs and the Catholic Faith
Tune in to The Cale Clarke Show weekdays at 5pm CT
