Steve Jobs — Here’s To The Crazy Ones! — Are You A Big Picture Thinker?

5 min readNov 26, 2015

YOU MUST REJECT COMMON THINKING IF YOU WANT TO ACHIEVE UNCOMMON RESULTS!

Listening to others who have succeeded and learning from their failures is a big key to hacking and leapfrogging for optimal performance. But I also encourage you to listen to yourself and adopt an approach that hones your intuitions just as much! Like I mentioned in other articles, the faculty of listening, just like thinking, MUST be a consistent practise if it’s going to be effective and long lasting.

When considering the big picture in anything you do, whether in business or your life, the first place to start should be listening.

You have two ears and one mouth and you should use it in that ratio! — Hearing Is Not The Same As Listening !!

And I implore you to take just as much (if not more) heed towards listening to ideas and suggestions that may be contrary to what you think and believe. You shouldn’t adopt and change for the sake of it or because someone else has told you to, but there is a lot of value in knowing what not to do as much as there is in knowing the right path to take.

The Mind Is Like A Parachute — It’s Only Useful When It Is Open! You have a responsibility to yourself to be the leader of positive change in your life, rather than being the victim of circumstance.

Big dreams are great, but they need to be filtered down very clearly and precisely into the realm of reality in order to implement them effectively and efficiently. Otherwise you might miss the boat with your game-changing idea or lose it to someone else who has more clarity of vision and purpose than you do — And this can be soul destroying!

Big picture thinkers are able to juggle ideas and have the potent skill of managing and compartmentalising ambiguity within their frame of mind.

Being comfortable with the uncomfortable is a trait very few have, and treading the path of uncertainty tends to scare people beyond belief. Even if the uncertainty has a probabilistic chance of delivering success beyond your wildest dreams, people often take the less exciting and less fulfilling path of certainty. The sad fact is, most will trade their dreams and aspirations for a comfortable, less than rewarding paycheque.

The Richest Place On Planet Earth Is The Cemetery — Les Brown

WHICH CHOICE WOULD YOU PICK vs THE CHOICE YOU HAVE ACTUALLY TAKEN?

Case Study: A Simple Choice

Option 1: Get a job with a company that pays $50,000 p/y for the first 3 years, $80,000 p/y for the next 5 years, and then $150,000 p/y for the next 20 years. Guaranteed.

Option 2: Risk it all on trying to create a business that has a 70% chance it could fail completely, but has a 30% chance of potentially paying you nothing for the first 2 years, $1,000,000 p/y for the next 5 years and then you sell the business for $20,000,000.

Conclusion: Looking at the figures on paper, I’m sure almost everyone reading this would pick “Option 2”, while in reality 95% of people actually pick “Option 1”.

THE PRINCIPAL IS THE SAME!…. Are you listening to me people???… The principals are the same!

In fact, there is a huge number of people who go into business for themselves and make MUCH more money than detailed in “Option 2”.

So if you are thinking that you would be happy with “Option 2” if it was assured with those figures and risks — then you are always going to be the person who follows “Option 1” because you fear the uncertainty! — Sad but most likely true

You should and can make substantially more money than I detailed in the above examples, but only when you are comfortable with the uncomfortable!

People who are brave enough to follow a path of uncertainty for the prospect of fulfilling their desires and aspirations tend to be seen as crazy risk takers, or are known for going against the grain. But if you are one of these people, I’m sure you are used to being labelled as such, even though your course of action is completely sane to yourself.

Not following your dreams is what the “risk-takers” find ludicrous!

If you are one of these “crazies” I encourage you to take solace in such terms, for you are are the people who have what it takes to change the world!

DREAMING ONE SIZE BIGGER WILL FORCE YOU TO LEARN & GROW!

Steve Jobs Advocates The Following

Check out this 60 second video! — One of the best videos Apple ever made!

If, like me, you’re on your own journey of self-discovery and growth, you will find a wealth of value in my new “Reprogram Your Mind For Success” e-book.