enJOY it

I salute you, Mr. Steve Jobs, for two reasons.  Firstly, for the 4GB iPod Nano.  And secondly, for the speech you gave to the 2005 graduating class at Stanford University.  In it, you said that "the only way to do great work is to love what you do."

I will assume that you gave this speech without the aid of a powerpoint presentation.  But I will imagine that if you had made a powerpoint you would have dedicated a whole slide to this concept.  I bet you would have even italicized the font.  Because, Dude, if I can call you Dude, those are some good words. 

But Mr. Jobs, what you forgot to mention is that it can be difficult to do what you love.  You forgot to mention how easy it is to get caught up in the shoulds and the coulds.  You did not acknowledge that we often confuse external praise with internal desire.  You did not say that we can forget what we love to do.

I have realized that to determine my future post-graduation I must return to the basics.  I have to remember what I always wanted.  And in 5th grade that was to "work in a tall building and wear a suit."  A lot has changed in the past eleven years, but my desire to do business for an established company has never wavered.  So hopefully, Mr. Jobs, it is what I will love to do.

Mr. Jobs, I was not smart enough to get into Stanford so I could listen to your speeches in person.  However, I am cool enough to own an iPod.  So I would really appreciate it if you would create podcasts of yourself saying smart things.  I will download them and let them be my daily mantras.  Additionally, I will continue to salute you and buy all the new versions of the iPod that you release every other week.

Which, clearly, Mr. Jobs, is exactly what you love to do.