I actually felt a pang in my chest when I learned of Steve Jobs’ death. I felt like I’ve known him for decades, though we have never actually met. I was an early adopter back in the days when he was building computers from his garage. I used the Apple II and IIe before the first Macintosh came out.
I remember working for a large firm back then, and having the partner in charge of my office place a Mac on my desk. “Learn what this thing can do and share it with us at the staff meeting tomorrow.” I remember thinking how cool it was that I could carry that little Mac home. It had an awesome shape and it was a nifty all-in-one machine. Its screen was so big compared to the Compaq (all, what, eight inches?). Wow, the memory, a full 128K! (Imagine, this blog file is probably all that could fit on a floppy disk back then!)
Back then, Steve gave me the first inkling of what would become a large part of my future. I did not know what entrepreneurship was, nor did I have any desire to work 24/7 trying to run my own business. What I didn’t know then, and what Steve would himself later discover, is that passion is what makes all that possible and desirable. If you are passionate about what you are doing, if you are following your dream, you will work as long and hard as it takes to make it successful. (And following your dream is what makes life worth living.) Look at what Steve did for Apple.
Steve showed me that you don’t have to begin a business as a big business. You can start that business right in your own home (or that of others) and grow it into your vision. It starts with a thought and is embellished with vision. Steve had that in spades.
Many years later, I came to be known as a small business advocate—“The Business Instigator.” I helped thousands of would be business owners to launch their ventures. I helped hundreds, maybe thousands, more to secure the financing they needed to set their dreams afloat. Many had dreams of creating the next big thing (NeXt didn’t work out so well for Steve). Many had dreams of creating a venture that they could pass on to their children. Many just wanted to do what they loved for as long as they could. Again, there is Steve. He did what he loved for as long as he could. I still admire him, after all these years of using the Mac and teaching others how to use it. I admire him for continually giving me the resources I needed to use his inspired creations. I admire his vision, his tenacity, and his out-of-the box mentality. He was a true entrepreneur.
Buy the Kindle e-book on Amazon
So, just last month I wrote an e-book about an iPad, and now I am musing over the beloved creator of the company that provided that to me. I had no idea his loss would have such a profound impact. Now, the vintage Macintosh Plus computer that I have under my desk that I was planning to sell on Craigslist is likely to stay here with me. (It was the second Mac ever made and had a full 1MB of storage!) It is a relic/memory of the great things that Steve Jobs started so long ago. And I was there and a part of the journey the whole time. Thanks, Steve. It was a great ride.
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Tanya is the author of the e-book, The iPad, the Manifestation, and the Law of Attraction, now available on Amazon Kindle (see http://tinyurl.com/iPadandLOA). Tanya is also the owner/editor at Hallagen Ink (www.HallagenInk.com), an editorial services firm providing copyediting, proofreading, and publishing consulting services to award-winning authors and successful entrepreneurs. It is also the distributor of The Loan Solution, a book for small businesses seeking to use debt capital to leverage their resources (LoanSolutionBook.com). To order a PDF version of Tanya’s latest iPad e-book, send an e-mail query to Tanya@HallagenInk.com.
