What Steve Jobs Taught About Playing Big

It was Marianne Williamson who famously stated, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.’ We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.”

A few years ago a revolutionary happiness study was conducted by Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ken Sheldon, and David Schkade. They found about 50% of a person’s happiness is their natural biological makeup. Surprisingly circumstances made up the next 10%, far less than people often think.

The study found that the secret to happiness is found in the remaining 40%, which is made up of intentional thoughts and actions a person takes on a daily basis.

The key is finding activities that provide lasting fulfillment. There are countless temporary things that are fun for a moment, but durable fulfillment comes from working to make others happy and pursuing and completing meaningful goals on a regular basis.

Michelangelo shared, “The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.” As Marianne Williamson noted above, playing small serves no one.

In short, your happiness is directly related to how diligently you pursue significant goals on a daily basis. So aim high, in doing so you not only impact yourself, but inspire others along the way.

Want to improve on any existing goal? Find a way to use your dream to serve others. Part of your gift is to work each day to help others find happiness.

There are 168 hours in every week. The average American watches close to 50 hours of television in that same week. What if you personally cut that number down significantly and used that extra time to move towards a compelling future?

It doesn’t matter what your dream is or how crazy it may sound, what matters is the joy it will bring you and others.

When Steve Jobs wanted to release the iPhone, he wanted the face to be made of glass. Not just any glass, but one that didn’t even exist at the time. He gave his vision to the right team telling them, “Don’t be afraid. You can do this.” And he was right, in six months the glass was invented, and the rest is history.

So play big, commit to follow through daily on your goal, and aim high!