I finished reading the book "Creation" last month and found out that the author is the creator of the iPod. It reminded me of the iPod I bought when I first started working. The iPod was indeed an amazing product. I was earning 1,000 yuan a month at that time, so I didn’t hesitate to spend 2,000+ on it, and it stayed with me until we entered the smartphone era. What will "Creation" be about? I started the reading journey of this book with some doubts and expectations. After reading it, I found that it is more like a semi-autobiographical reflection of the author, writing more about how to create his own life journey.
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There are roughly three stages in the life journey. The first stage can be called: desire and growth.
The author also started writing when he just graduated. He was a geek, and as a geek, his biggest desire at that time was to make the "coolest" things. He hoped to go to a cool geek company, which was the common ideal place for many geeks at the time:
At a time when people were sleeping on the steps of this company to get an interview, I was just an unknown geek from Michigan.
Later, the author entered this company as he wished, where he was indeed making some cool products with a group of talented geeks. But these products and technologies were too advanced. "We were developing similar products more than ten years before the iPhone became the future in Steve Jobs's eyes." In the end, no users paid for the products that were too advanced, and they all failed. Although I didn't accomplish anything here, I accumulated the underlying technology needed to make an iPod many years later.
The author works more than 100 hours a week, focusing on the products and technologies that he thinks are the coolest. But the hard work will definitely pay off, but it may not necessarily turn into obvious achievements. Desire drove him to pursue more significant achievements, and in the next stage he started a business.
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The entrepreneurial journey defines the author’s second phase, which can be called: career and achievement.
That was 1999, a time when Silicon Valley was bursting with money, talent, and ideas, and we were forging ahead. I am inspired and determined. Nothing can stop us. It’s this sentiment that drives many startups into dire straits. In April 2000, the Internet bubble burst. Just when I started looking for funds, the money that had flowed into Silicon Valley like a waterfall disappeared without a trace overnight.
The road to entrepreneurship suddenly entered a life-and-death moment, and the company was about to fail. Then I met Apple and Steve Jobs, who had just returned to Apple. "At first, I just took a consulting job from Apple. I hoped to make money through it. It was a long shot to have enough money to support my employees or to take advantage of the opportunity for Apple to acquire my company. At that time, Steve Jobs had returned to the helm of Apple, but in the previous 10 years , Apple had been in a death spiral, launching a slew of mediocre products that brought it to the brink of collapse. The Macintosh had less than 2% of the U.S. market, and its computer sales were stagnant. Apple's market cap is about $4 billion, and Microsoft's is $250 billion. Even though Apple was dying, my company was dying faster. So I took the job at Apple."
Everyone is familiar with the subsequent story. Apple came back to life with the help of the iPod, and the author's company was merged into Apple. He worked at Apple for another ten years and became an Apple executive. With a career and achievements, it was time for the author to leave Apple, and the next stage was unveiled.
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How should the next stage be defined? The author says:
Leaving the team and leaving Steve Jobs is not an easy thing. I know this is the right choice. After 10 years of dedicated work at Apple, it's time for me to say goodbye. Sometimes all the calculations, negotiations, arguments with your boss, and meetings with HR are irrelevant. Sometimes, it's just time to go. When that moment really comes, you may understand everything. Get away and do what you love.
It's not easy to find something you like. Sometimes life is like this. You imagine that you like it, but you can't know if you really like it until you do it yourself. For example, many people pursue financial freedom, but if you are not yet free, you cannot actually evaluate your status and preferences when you are free. The author was already wealthy and free when he left Apple, and later started a second business, which was later acquired by Google. Until he left Google again, his thoughts were:
Only when you have dealt with all these things will you forget the past and start to feel bored. Boredom is a necessary step. You definitely need to get through a period of boredom before you can find a new source of inspiration. It also takes about six months to reintegrate into the world. You stop dwelling on the mistakes you made before, start learning new things, and regain your curiosity about the world. Then for the next six months, you'll see your life with fresh eyes. You will be attracted to other things. You'll get excited and start thinking about what to do next. You don't need to go back to the track you left a year ago. Just because you were a CEO before doesn't mean you need to be a CEO again. You can always find or create new opportunities for yourself. You can always learn, grow and change. Seize the moment and become the person you want to be.
Maybe this is the next stage of freedom. Recently, Wanwei Gang also introduced a book called "Wild Questions: A Guide to Life Decision-Making", which mentions a new concept: prosperity - "Prosperity means that people should live fully and use their various possibilities. Spread out; like a tree, with blossoms, fruits, and branches.”
Perhaps this is the third stage of life: freedom and prosperity.
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After reading this book, I generally saw this life journey: the desire to pull, the soaring career, the freedom that follows the wind, and the prosperity that takes root.
