Good evening. Cheers, happy Friday. I hope you’ve all had a fabulous week. And whatever’s going on this week in terms of your state, territory, country, with … What’s the word I’m looking for? Relaxing. Thank you. [inaudible 00:00:21] releasing. Relaxing the rules around isolation, et cetera. Don’t go out and be idiots. Be safe. Just because they say you can possibly do something doesn’t mean you actually should do it. Just be mindful of that stuff. I know we can be a little bit like children when any of these things happen. It’s like, “Oh, you can have one lolly.”
… but no one’s looking, so you grab half the jar. Don’t do that, in terms of thinking, “I can have a couple of friends over. Oh, look, I’ll have 50.”
No, not cool okay. Just be careful. Anyway, that’s got nothing to do with my live for tonight but I thought I’d get on my soap box anyway. I heard this the other day and I’ve heard little … [inaudible 00:01:02] to you. I’ve heard little pieces of them throughout the years of what Steve Jobs’s rules for success were and rules for life. There can be success in life, et cetera. People put a different terminology around it but it’s basically the same 10 things over and over again. And as I said, I’d heard bits of them but I hadn’t actually sat down and gone, “Oh, these were the 10 of them.”
And they’re really fricking good. And I wanted to share them. And I think having a conversation about them with clients, with family or friends or in a live like this, is actually a really good thing. This is one of those lives where I do need to look at my screen, so sorry about that people but I’m sure that’s okay. I don’t do it very often. You’ll probably forgive me. And it’s not a teleprompter, so I’m not going … Okay.
Number one, I love this one and I didn’t know it was his number one rule for success, was live a limitless life. What do I have tattooed on my wrist? Limitless. I know, love that one. To me, that is just everything. Everything, okay. It’s about not constraining yourself to the box of what people think you should do or say you should do or a constraint in your mind about what you’re capable of. It’s about being bigger, thinking bigger, thinking … There really are no limits to imagination. If there was a limit to imagination, I wouldn’t be talking on this telephone or the funny little light above of it that I push a button and it makes my face go a different color. Think limitless in every thing you do. It’s just brilliant. I’m like, “Steve, got my little limitless tat.”
Number two, have passion for what you’re doing. Again, a big thing for me. I teach people the passion test. It’s one of my greatest tools that I work with. I believe everybody should live a passionate life and not just that kissy kissy, smoochy, smoochy kind of passion, that deep heart centered love for whatever you do, whatever you have, where you live, the people you hang around. It’s so, so important. And when you’re passionate, all those bumps along the road that are always going to happen, you’re never not going to have a bump in life but if you’re really passionate about what you’re doing, where you’re going, who you’re with, those bumps are like tiny speed humps and you can get over them without too much drama. Have passion for what you’re doing, is really, really important.
Number three, focus on what’s good. Now, when he’s talking about that, he’s talking about products but as many of the things I’ve read about how people have interpreted his 10 rules, it’s think of the good in everything. As I said in the live the other day, we have these newsfeeds with negative, negative, negative, negative. We have the conspiracy theorists with … Wow, a whole lot of stuff. Then we can be reading lots of crime fiction or we can be watching lots of documentaries about axe murderers and things like that. We need to balance that out and think about the good more often.
And it’s better for us if we can focus totally on the good. Now, I understand that that’s not always realistic. And I for one don’t always just … I’m not a Pollyanna. I don’t always focus on the good because life is 50/50 but definitely get that balance. And when you can, focus on the good, not the bad, okay people because it will just upset you.
Number four, it’s not about the money, money, money. Oh, bugger. No, it’s really not, honestly. And I like money. Most of us like money. Money makes the world go round, all those things but if you’re really chasing something in life to be successful, just because of the money, it not good. It not going to work. Remember that focusing on the good stuff. You will come unstuck, at some point. The money will put a cloud over every decision that you make because that’s your focus point. It’ll stop being about your driver or your passion or about the service you’re providing or the people you’re with or any of those kind of things, if you’re just chasing … I’ve got a million dollar chocolate bar up here. If you’re just chasing that million dollar chocolate bar … Yeah, it’s not good for your soul. It’s really not. Greed is not good. It’s not, okay.
Having money is a great thing. Wanting money is a great thing. Being in the pursuit of financial reward for what you do is a great thing but it should be based on what you do and the value, not the money. Okay, not the money.
Number five, be proud of your products. For those people that I’ve seen recently, who are releasing things that they’re probably not that proud of but they’re in that … They’re probably in a chasing the money, negative spiral, not focusing on the good. And they’re just trying to get stuff out there to get the stuff out there, get stuff out there. And it’s not necessarily their best offering or a true indication of who they are or what they do. It’s not great. If you have a product you’re proud of, regardless if … Say you have a product you’re really, really, really proud of. It could be a book for example and you get 10 bad reviews and then you get one review of that book changed someone’s life dramatically. The pride that you have in the product you created will help you buffer out any of that criticism. Steve jobs, for example. When he started creating products that were a bit out there, the iPod, et cetera. Everyone was like, “Dude, really?”
… but he was so proud of the technology, the aesthetic, everything about it. And look where we are now. You’ve got to believe in what you’re doing. Whether you’re a speaker, a coach, a chef, a dancer, be willing to stand up and stand behind everything you put out into the world with absolute pride. Pride is not a bad thing when it’s about something of service or value, okay. It’s not, okay. Be proud.
Number six, okay. My fingers are up. Design for yourself. In his context, it’s about your life. And I know exercises I do with a lot of my clients, I do a design your day, design your life, design your week. We do a mirror exercise. It’s all sorts of things about designing who you are and who you want to be and what the life around you looks like. You are the ultimate creator of your life. You’re it. No book can tell you how to design your life better than you know how you want it to be. Take the time to think about where you want to be, who you want to be with, what you want to be doing, how you want to feel, the energy you want, all that stuff. If you’re not satisfied with where you are now, design a better version. It’s a blank slate people. Do whatever the hell you like but make it something you’re proud in, okay.
Number seven, have a great team. Yes, there is no I in team. We know that but honestly, you cannot grow in business or in life I don’t think, unless you have a great team. Let’s go with the growing in life concept and our great team. If you work hard in a job and you’re trying to make your life on the outside better, you might need things like a cleaning lady or a personal trainer because you’re so busy focused on work. And you want to keep making that outside work life better. You need to grow that team. If you’re in your own business, you might start with a VA an hour a week. You might start with someone that just does your bookkeeping or someone that does your Canva templates or some …
If you’re in a bigger organization, you might need to bring in coders or salespeople or waiters. Whatever the industry, you can’t do your best job if you’re trying to be the Jack or Jill of all trades. You have to grow that team, okay. It’s really, really important. And that team has to be behind you 100% with your vision, your values, your passions. Did you know you can do the passion test for businesses? Message me, vip@samanthaleith.com and I can tell you all about it. It’s great but really important.
Number eight, build whatever you’re doing around the customer. This is where ego is a bad thing. If you’re designing something, a product, whether it’s a new dish for your restaurant or a charger, a pair of glasses, an e-course. Design it for your customer, okay. Unless you’re your ideal customer, it’s got to be about what they want and what they need, not about what you want to do, okay. You also need to keep in mind that a lot of the time you need to sell your customer what they want and give them what they need. And they can often be very, very different things. There’s a whole lot of clever stuff that goes on with that but always do … If you’re in a service or product based business, do it all based around your customer. Really important, okay, if you want to stay in business for a long time.
Number nine, marketing is about your values, okay. I’ve done a couple of values exercises with you guys in the lives. There’s a gazillion books on values. Knowing your values is really important. And I know for myself personally, if I’m slipping in some area of my life within my values, I start to feel like shit. I really do. It’s not good for you. They have to be forefront, okay. If one of your values is excellent customer service, for example. And at the moment, things have gone a bit pear shaped and instead of three people doing your customer service, you’ve got half a person one day a week doing your customer service and that’s really dropped, you’re probably feeling really, really bad. You might need to look at, “Well, what resources can I pull from a different area, to make sure that customer service focus is back to that number one value within the business? And for me because I’ll feel better and my customers will do better.”
If one of your values is not cheating on your spouse, stop flirting. It’ll make you feel bad. See, it doesn’t matter what the value is. You’ve got to stay true to it. And the bigger your company gets, your company has to stay true to your values, okay. And you have to let people know those values. Your values should be not necessarily, “Hi, welcome to Company Sam. I’m just going to tell you my top 10 values.”
… with a big smile. No, not like that but they should know them and feel them because of what you say because of what you do, okay. They’re a part of you. Really, really important.
And number 10, I love this one. It’s like the bookends of my two favorites, limitless and number 10, stay hungry, stay foolish. Now, for a lot of people, foolish, they go, “I don’t want to be foolish. What do I want to be foolish for? That’s ridiculous.”
No, the best ideas come out of foolishness. I see that foolishness as a bit of that creativity thing, that possibility thing. Think the most crazy things, okay. Half the time they’re going to be really foolish and not going to work but within those foolish moments of thinking something, there are going to be absolute gold nuggets. And if you can strain yourself back to thinking properly … And, “Oh, I should just think in this little box.”
You will never have those thoughts. All those amazing things won’t happen, so stay hungry, stay foolish. Stay going after something, whether it’s a dream or a goal or a client or a new product or whatever you’re going for, keep that hunger alive because that hunger that you’re keeping alive, will encourage you to learn. It will encourage you to grow. It’ll encourage you to take chances. It’ll encourage you to think limitless. It’ll encourage you to stick by your values. It’ll encourage you to think with passion, all of those things. And the minute you stop being hungry, some of those will dissipate and then you’re standing still. And if you’re standing still, you [inaudible 00:14:38] yourself away and die. Don’t stand still, stay hungry and foolish.
There you go. I just wanted to share those tips with you because I think they’re fricking awesome. And I didn’t really know them. And he was a pretty cool dude, Steve Jobs. I know people have worked for him and they say other things but we wouldn’t be doing so many of the things we’re doing in the world today, if he hadn’t lived by those 10 rules. And I think he really did, absolutely think he really did. If I can give you any words of encouragement this weekend, as you know I like to do, just think of those 10 rules.
I’ll go over them one more time, just so you know what they are. Number one, be limitless. Number two, have passion for what you’re doing. Number three, focus on what is good. Number four, it’s not about the money. Number five, be proud of your product. Number six, design for yourself. Number seven, have a great team. [inaudible 00:15:39]. Number eight, build around your customer. Number nine, marketing is about values. I think I missed design. Oh, no. I did that one, build around the customer. Number nine, marketing is about values. And number 10, stay hungry, stay foolish.
Let me know what you’re up to on this fabulous weekend in Sydney or anywhere else around the world or Australia. And if you do like what I say, there’s only 38, 39 days left. Make sure you head on over to samanthaleith.com and jump on the email bandwagon, so you can stay up to date with what I’m doing after this 365 days or Facebook lives come to an end. Will you miss me? I’m going to miss doing it. I’ll still be doing it in some form but not every day. Okay, bye. Have a great weekend.