Transform Like Steve Jobs into the Apple of Your Niche with This Secret Sauce

Richie Norton

Published in

Mission.org

13 min readNov 28, 2017

“I want to put a dent in the universe.” — Steve Jobs

COMMIT 100% EVEN WHEN THEY THINK YOUR IDEA IS “THE WORST” (AND PERSEVERE)

“I’m convinced that about half of what separates successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.” — Steve Jobs

“1984” is a legendary Apple commercial that ran during the 1984 Super Bowl. TV Guide hailed it as “the greatest commercial of all time.”

But the story behind the story is that the advertisement almost didn’t make it on the air.

The ad was intended to highlight the launch of the Macintosh personal computer, but not even once did the commercial show the product. Instead, the advertisement showed a woman, running with a sledgehammer, smashing an image of “Big Brother,” reminisent of George Orwell’s book 1984.

The board at Apple wasn’t thrilled. In fact, when Steve Jobs presented it to them, they “thought it was the worst commercial they had ever seen.”

“Jobs was beside himself.”

He went to cofounder, Steve Wozniak, and showed him the ad.

Wozniak “thought it was the most incredible thing.”

Jobs told Wozniak about the board’s decision to scrap the ad for the Super Bowl time slot and explained that they consequently needed to sell the air time. But Wozniak was committed.

He asked the cost of the Super Bowl slot, and when Jobs said it was $800,000, Wozniak replied, “Well, I’ll pay half if you will.”

In the end, Jobs and Wozniak didn’t have to pony up the money for the ad, but they were completely prepared to, and that’s commitment. That’s 100%.

Becoming the Apple of your niche requires committing to follow through with your ideas and projects.

…commit to give them your 100%.

“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” — Apple’s “Think Different” commercial, 1997

FOCUS ON PRINCIPLE-BASED SUCCESS-ACCELERATING PROJECTS

“Although widely recognized as a marketing and technology guru, Jobs in my estimation was largely successful because of his project based thought process for running his business and bringing products to market. As a matter of fact, he may be the most transcendent business change agent in terms of an approach to executing projects that ultimately changed not just the business world, but the world we live in. “ — Darton Group

Chances are, you won’t have to cough up $800,000 to run an ad during the Super Bowl, but there will be obstacles.

It’s part of the process of experimenting; it’s part of blazing your own trail.

But that’s the beauty of a project in the first place — you don’t have to commit to forever, it has a beginning and an end.

The first project Steve Jobs did with Wozniak was a high school prank.

Jobs last project?

The $5 billion dollar Apple campus.

(It’s also rumored that Jobs was working on an Apple TV Set “project” to change the television industry the way he changed the music industry (not that thing we have now).)

“Projects” are a wonderful opportunity to ensure you’re on the right path, but unless you commit to follow your project through to completion, even when the going gets rough and you’re tempted to jump ship, you’ll forever wonder what could have potentially been just around the next bend.

TO ACCELERATE SUCCESS, we must get as close to our dreams as possible, as soon as possible.

Principle-based decisions bridge the gap between where we currently stand, and where we ultimately want to be.

When authentically embraced, core principles help us to identify and perform the right kind of work — the work that makes our specific goals possible — as soon as possible.

Principles are commonly believed to be fundamental truths — “the foundation for a system of belief or behavior” — however a principle is much, much more than that.

The Latin root for principles is principium meaning “source,” and princeps or princip meaning “first” or “chief.”

Thus a principle is not merely a fundamental truth, but principles must serve as the very first source of every decision we make along the road to success.

If embodied in all facets of business and life, the principles taught in this section will serve as a rock solid foundation for the meaningful, purpose-driven, sustainable success you seek.

Look for “success accelerators,” as I call them. These are your next big projects that aren’t urgent, but are critical to making everything else you do fall into place.

On project builds on top of the other. Like a stack. I call it “project stacking” — a life-changing term form me that I coined that I will define and expand upon in another article soon for greater productivity (follow me :-)).

GET OUT OF YOUR SHELL

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.” — Steve Jobs

The shell that contains you from becoming the Apple of your niche is comprised of four parts that you must crack:

Fear
Pride
Procrastination
Lack of Authenticity (Scarcity Mentality)

…no matter how cliche these four parts holding you back may sound, it doesn’t make it any less true.

To illustrate, imagine what happens to a chicken that stays inside its egg.

(It dies.)

Likewise, there is a metaphorical egg that keeps us trapped.

We must break through these damming barriers to success in order to reclaim our confidence and our ability to act on what matters most to our most meaningful success.

Until we break free from the comfort of that egg, our most authentic goals and desires for our selves are suffocated within its confines.

If you look into Jobs’ history, you’ll notice that every time a new, big project came to life and he showed it to the world (as the great showman he was), and it was almost always called “a breakthrough.”

What’s your breakthough?

“I finally cracked it.” — Steve Jobs

INTUITION > INTELLECT

“I began to realize that an intuitive understanding and consciousness was more significant than abstract thinking and intellectual logical analysis…intuition is a very powerful thing, more powerful than intellect, in my opinion. That’s had a big impact on my work.” — Steve Jobs

Intuition will help you connect with others, gain credibility and contribute to the world in significant ways (that scientists acknowledge, but may never understand).

As Jobs biographer, Walter Isaacson quoted Jobs,

“Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page,” Jobs explained. Instead of relying on market research, he honed his version of empathy — an intimate intuition about the desires of his customers. He developed his appreciation for intuition — feelings that are based on accumulated experiential wisdom — while he was studying Buddhism in India as a college dropout. “The people in the Indian countryside don’t use their intellect like we do; they use their intuition instead,” he recalled. “Intuition is a very powerful thing — more powerful than intellect, in my opinion.”

One of the ways Steve became so innovative and intuitive was by combining humanities with the sciences.

Isaacson continues quoting Jobs,

“I always thought of myself as a humanities person as a kid, but I liked electronics,” Jobs told me on the day he decided to cooperate on a biography. “Then I read something that one of my heroes, Edwin Land of Polaroid, said about the importance of people who could stand at the intersection of humanities and sciences, and I decided that’s what I wanted to do.” It was as if he was describing the theme of his life, and the more I studied him, the more I realized that this was, indeed, the essence of his tale.”

Once we’ve broken out of our shell and created a trusted network with the power of intution, we’re prepared to maximize efforts and propel us toward our meaningful goals — more effectively than we ever could otherwise.

In my study of success through The Power of Starting Something Stupid, I have found time and time again this powerful truth:

The first, governing sources of behavior for project success are 1) commitment to a project 2) driven by intuition and 3) smartly executed by combining humanities and science.

When these first, governing behaviors are combined, you create an authentic experience for yourself and your audience.

CREATE A TEAM-BASED BUSINESS MODEL, JUST LIKE THIS

“My model for business is The Beatles. They were four guys who kept each other’s kind of negative tendencies in check. They balanced each other, and the total was greater than the sum of the parts. That’s how I see business: Great things in business are never done by one person, they’re done by a team of people.” — Steve Jobs

Who would Jobs be without Woz?

Build your team with people who care, like this:

“It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.” — Steve Jobs
“I noticed that the dynamic range between what an average person could accomplish and what the best person could accomplish was 50 or 100 to 1.Given that, you’re well advised to go after the cream of the cream … A small team of A+ players can run circles around a giant team of B and C players.” — Steve Jobs
“I’ve learned over the years that, when you have really good people, you don’t have to baby them. By expecting them to do great things, you can get them to do great things. The original Mac team taught me that A-plus players like to work together, and they don’t like it if you tolerate B-grade work.” — Steve Jobs
“Assume you’re by yourself in a start-up and you want a partner. You’d take a lot of time finding the partner, right? He would be half of your company. Why should you take any less time finding a third of your company or a fourth of your company or a fifth of your company? When you’re in a start-up, the first ten people will determine whether the company succeeds or not. Each is 10% of the company. So why wouldn’t you take as much time as necessary to find all the A-players? If three were not so great, why would you want a company where 30% of your people are not so great? A small company depends on great people much more than a big company does.” — Steve Jobs
“We hire people who want to make the best things in the world.” — Steve Jobs

These team-forming principles are not gimmicks or maps or systems or shortcuts. Those types of plans are often shallow and superficial and begin to fall apart when we hit even the smallest bump in the road.

Rather, these principles are a way of life.

Living them helps us to not only accelerate our success, but to build a solid framework that will prepare us to effectively respond when unexpected obstacles appear before us.

When fully embraced, these principles propel us toward meaningful, purpose driven, sustainable success.

INNOVATE LIKE A BOSS

“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”

Three Jobisms on innovation.

One of the most important things you can do to innovate is to be just as specific about what you won’t do as what you will do.

“I’m as proud of what we don’t do as I am of what we do.” — Steve Jobs

2. Then, admit your mistakes when you make them…as fast as you recognize them. One of the smartest things I’ve ever heard someone say came from my roommate in college. He said, “The stupidest thing people do is follow through with their dumb ideas.” What is it about following through on things we know are wrong to prove we are right?

Jobs said, “Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.”

3. When you’re in a bind, don’t cost-cut; innovate.

“The cure for Apple is not cost-cutting. The cure for Apple is to innovate its way out of its current predicament.”

If you can ask yourself a better question, you can find a better answer.

Greater innovations come from better questions.

AVOID PRIDE CREEP: EMBRACE THE HUMBLE POWER ALTERNATIVE

“Bottom line is, I didn’t return to Apple to make a fortune. I’ve been very lucky in my life and already have one. When I was 25, my net worth was $100 million or so. I decided then that I wasn’t going to let it ruin my life. There’s no way you could ever spend it all, and I don’t view wealth as something that validates my intelligence.” — Steve Jobs

It’s common to blur the line between pride and confidence, and it’s just as common for people to confuse humility with weakness. These misconceptions must end here, or the potential for highest possible achievement will unavoidably falter.

There is a lot said about Jobs as a good leader or bad leader or crazy or his “reality distortion field.”

Anyway you look at it, he was a man of contradictions and passions, but he know what he wanted and he went after it.

There is power born of humility.

Was Steve Jobs humble?

Drawing again from Good to Great, Collins asserts that great leaders “are resolved to do whatever it takes to make the company great, no matter how big or hard the decisions.”

In essence, Collins suggests that high-achieving leaders have the ability to seek the greatest good of the company — without letting personal agenda or personal pride get in the way.

This is humility, and in this context, there’s absolutely nothing weak about it.

Humility, when embodied in this way, demonstrates insightfulness, courage, self-control, and integrity.

Humility, in business and in life, is a powerful asset and does not denote lowliness, unimportance, or self-deprecation.

In fact, authentic self-confidence should be sought after and diligently increased. Authentic confidence in our ability to perform is essential to attaining our highest potential achievements.

In these ways, self-confidence clearly differs from pride. If someone has significant confidence in their ability to perform, that person is not necessarily full of pride.

“Your 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’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.” — Steve Jobs

GET AN ENLIGHTENED UNDERSTANDING OF EGO

An enlightened understanding of ego is essential to fully appreciate the importance of self-confidence in peak performance and success.

For most, the word “ego” has an immediately negative connotation.

In the compelling book, Egonomics, authors David Marcum and Steven Smith discuss the ironic “dual nature” of ego, stating, “it is both a valuable asset, and a deep liability.” The authors assert, “In the right amount, ego is inherently positive and provides a healthy level of confidence and ambition — driving out insecurity, fear, and apathy.” The danger comes when ego is “left unchecked.”

When ego is kept within the healthy bounds of humility, it lends itself to high performance — in the form of qualities such as self-confidence, innovation, and courage (all components of the New Smart).

When ego abandons humility and gives way to pride, however, it can turn our greatest strengths into our most damaging weaknesses — “self-confident” becomes “self-absorbed,” “innovative” becomes “impractical,” and “courage” becomes “reckless.”

The phenomenon we observe when ego is left unchecked and gives way to pride, is what I call pride creep.

Pride creep is detrimental to high-potential success and must be avoided at all costs. We free ourselves from the damaging effects of pride creep when we embrace the Humble Power Alternative. This powerful alternative is achieved by working to keep our egos in check.

To employ the Humble Power Alternative:

Instead of being too prideful to risk appearing stupid, courageously lean into what Jobs called putting a “dent in the universe.”
Instead of insisting that what you’ve already done is enough, do more.
Instead of blaming others for your lack of success, take ownership.
Instead of hoping others will fail, encourage their success.

Practice the Humble Power Alternative and achieve greater satisfaction and success in all aspects of business and life.

“My favorite things in life don’t cost any money. It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time.” — Steve Jobs

CAN YOU BE THE STEVE JOBS OR APPLE OF YOUR INDUSTRY?

Why not?

“Sometimes life is going to hit you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith.” — Steve Jobs

Your niche wants to buy from YOU. They don’t care if someone else makes a product. Your product, service, your BEING inspires them to be creative, to live to make stuff happen.

You can be the push someone needs with the tools they love to help them make their dreams happen. This is what Steve Jobs is to so many millions world-wide — an icon — but more than an a story, bust or old painting. Steve Jobs did three things to enter into our homes where we never want him to leave:

He inspired us.
He taught us.
He put tools in our hands to take that inspiration and knowledge so we can create ourselves…like he did.

I’m writing, publishing and reading this from Apple products. 🍎

Are you?

You have this — you do. No more waiting. If you keep overcomplicating your dreams, you’ll never learn how wonderful it feels to actually step into them. Take a deep breath, and simply experiment with what’s right in front of you by starting a stupid project. It’s time to blaze your own trail. It’s time to start living your dreams.

“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.” — Steve Jobs

Making your “stupid idea” to transform into the Steve Jobs or Apple of your industry happen won’t be easy.

In fact, I bet Steve would die twice thinking of anyone wanting to be him. Inspired by him? Yes. But to be him? No.

I imagine Steve wants us to be crazy in our own way. Make our own dent. Love our own own great work.

You have to be committed. Not halfway committed — you need to commit 100%. At times, you may stand all alone in your efforts to engage your courage, but standing alone is part of standing out, and standing out is often what it takes to inspire meaningful change — and it’s all a part of embracing stupid.

“Think Different.”

HOW CAN I FIND MY INNER STEVE JOBS AND BECOME THE APPLE OF MY NICHE?

I created a free challenge to get crazy stupid. It’s been taken by tens of thousands. It’s simple, effective and has started some of the most innovative startups and lives that you would never know…why? It all starts with a crazy idea.