In 2005, Steve Jobs gave the commencement speech at Stanford University. It’s an excellent speech, and you should consider watching it or reading the entire script. He’s an interesting guy. One of my favorite parts of his story is that he was actually fired from Apple (AAPL), the company he started, by Apple’s board. He went on to start a couple of other companies, including one that was eventually bought by Apple (Next) and helped fuel their rejuvenation (the other was Pixar, which is now owned by Disney [DIS] – Jobs is actually Disney’s largest shareholder). Apple really bounced back when he took the reins back. He ended his speech with the sendoff, “Stay hungry. Stay foolish.”
The other day, I was reminded of those words while talking to a good friend of mine. My friend lives in New York, and is trying to survive as an actor. He’s had some early success, but things have been pretty slow since summer started. He makes plenty of money doing other things, and survival hasn’t been a problem. When we talk, I tend to try to brainstorm about things he might like to do on the side while still pursuing acting. I tend to try to find something that would allow him to make good money while he waits for things to pick back up.
But for him ideas and jobs aren’t the problem. He has been offered several opportunities (even now, in this economy) that would be lucrative. He’s a talented guy. There are lots of things he could do. After one of my suggestions, he stopped me. The problem with that, he told me, is that if I were making that amount of money, I don’t think I would be able to stay hungry enough to put up with the life you have to live as an actor.
I really liked the way he framed that. He started telling me horror stories about what you’re sometimes expected to do at auditions. Most of the things were things that I don’t think I would do. I’m not hungry enough. It’s an excellent point, and the one Jobs was trying to make. My friend is trying to do what he loves and believes in. In Jobs speech, he says, “the only way to do great work, is to do something you love.”
Eventually, people reach a point where they have all the money they need. At that point, they could easily just keep doing what they’re doing. Carve out a living and go about their business. If you have a dream, though, like my friend, you can’t just get up and drift from day to day. You have to be hungry to chase success under those circumstances.
I think the advice, “stay foolish” comes into play as well. Because he’s doing something that someone else might view as foolish. He’s living a more difficult life than he has to in order to pursue what he wants to do with his life. I don’t think it’s much different than the entrepreneur who loses everything and claws his way back towards success. It’s a big, difficult undertaking. So difficult that only someone really hungry could succeed under those circumstances.
All of this has made me wonder, am I hungry enough to succeed? Am I growing complacent? What am I doing to make sure I keep pushing? Are you doing anything to ensure you haven’t grown complacent? Are you staying hungry and foolish? I hope you are. Good luck and thanks for reading.
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Great post, Todd! Reminds me that I haven’t told that friend from New York how awesome he is lately!
Your comments definitely hit home. I read an article recently that was also stating how, after a certain point, more money doesn’t make you happier. I hope I always remember that and don’t find myself so tied to a certain standard of living that I can’t afford take the necessary risks to find something I really love.
As an observer, I think you’re staying hungry and I’m proud of all you’ve accomplished! I’m sure it won’t be too difficult for you to master the staying foolish part either.
Good work, Todd! I love that speech. I have watched it a couple of times, but my takeaways were never as good as you have put it here. One of the things that I have always struggled with, is whether to give up everything else and focus on Chess, which is my passion, and I think I am pretty good at it, and I could get a lot better, or carve out a safety net, and then play Chess afterwards. It is something I have never been able to resolve. I guess it’s sort of resolved since I will probably be a CPA in the next 3 months and safety appears to rule.
One thing I can say is that the times when I played Chess as if my life depended on it, i.e. I was hungry, I played the best Chess, enjoyed the most, and won stuff. My dream is to be a memorable Chess GrandMaster, some day.
Thanks for bringing back the conversation into my mind.