Steve Jobs on the value of death - Part 4
"Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent."
What's interesting about the reality of death, and the concept as well, is in both instances people resist the end results. Yet, it is the one destination every human being on earth shares. It is there where everything is the same for all people.
Even though some are trying to, there is no escaping it: it's inevitable.
From one perspective - the one we usually don't like to think about - it involves us in the sense that it clears out the old, while making way for the new. No matter how we spin this, it is true.
Now on the other hand, as far as death as a principle goes, it's not related to age, but to renewal. I've met people at the age of 16, who has far as ever going in forward in life, are already dead. At the same time I've met people much older than me that make me feel old, in relationship to the endless number of ideas and thoughts flowing through their being.
In other words, death as a principle, isn't related to age, but what's inside of you. Those who are able to experience an ongoing renewal within, will never be dead while they're on the earth. They'll be productive and full of life no matter what they choose to do.
Think now on the idea of clearing away the old to make way for the new. While that can be literal, in our own eventual physical death, it is also definitely real in relationship to life and creativity. In a way, we must be willing and able to clear stuff out of ourselves and our businesses whenever the need arises. That's part of the way of life ... to allow things to die, so others things can replace them.
Interestingly, when we fall in love with something or someone, we don't want to let it go, even though it's part of life. While it's definitely understandable with people we care about ... with products or services, to not clear the old out when needed, means it's already dead; it's only a matter of time before the market lets you know it.
That's the deception of the market, it makes you think something is still alive, because there's just enough interest in it to give you that perception.
It's like a car riding down the road that then runs out of gas. Even though it goes forward based on momentum for a little ways, it's not long before it simply stops on the road: dead in its tracks.
So death as a principle, means that the old always will have to make way for the new. Just like the human body, you can repair it and make some changes to prolong its life, but sooner or later it will die, no matter how much you work on it. The same is true in business, and the products and services we offer.
Other Steve Jobs Resources:
You've got to find what you love
Steve Jobs, Business Personality
Steve Jobs' Greatest Presentation
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