Entering adulthood in today’s world is like stepping into a high-speed intersection of technology, social change, and vast opportunity. For young people just graduating high school or entering college. The road ahead may feel a bit overwhelming but it’s also ripe with countless possibilities.
To help navigate this path. Let’s imagine what three of the most influential entrepreneurs of our time Elon Musk, Jack Ma, and Steve Jobs would say to today’s youth about creating a life of purpose, innovation, and lasting impact.
Elon Musk: Think Big, Work Hard, and Solve Real Problems
“You get paid in direct proportion to the difficulty of problems you solve.” -Elon Musk
The name Elon Musk is synonymous with ambitious space travel, Boxable tiny homes, electric cars, reusable rockets, and brain-machine interfaces such as Neuralink. What would be his message to young people?
- Aim high and solve global problems. Whether it’s lowering the cost of education, energy, or AI safety. Just pick something that matters in regards to solving issues that affect the future of humanity.
- Use first principles thinking. Don’t build on what’s already done. Break ideas down to their fundamental truths and build from scratch.
- Learn across disciplines. Musk didn’t just study physics. He immersed himself in many different subjects including software, manufacturing, and economics. Knowledge stacking multiplies your problem-solving ability. It also opens up new doorways to business opportunities and job offerings.
- Work ethic is a superpower. Musk famously says: “If you work 80–100 hours a week while others work 40, you’ll achieve in 4 months what takes them a year.”
Key Takeaway:
Don’t chase comfort but rather chase meaningful problems and tackle them with relentless energy.
Jack Ma: Focus on People Not Just Profits
“Your attitude is more important than your capabilities. Your decision is more important than your capabilities.” -Jack Ma
Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, grew up with rejection by facing failed college entrance exams, job interviews (even KFC turned him down), and early ventures. Yet, he built one of the largest tech companies in the world. His eCommerce store provides products to people all across the globe. What is his advice for the next generation?
- In your 20s, don’t chase money. Chase experience. Work for someone you admire, learn from someone about how businesses run, and build resilience from facing failure.
- EQ is more important than IQ. Emotional intelligence encompassing empathy, teamwork, and leadership will help define how far you go in your lifetime.
- Adapt to change. The world is evolving fast. Stay flexible and curious. Be a lifelong learner and develop a hunger to learn new things.
- Build with heart. If your company is only about making money, it won’t last. Purpose matters more than profit.
Key Takeaway:
The best businesses are built on trust, humility, and service to others. Not through excess ego or greed.
Steve Jobs: Follow Your Inner Voice and Build With Obsession
“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” -Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs was a master of design, storytelling, and ruthless focus. His approach was deeply spiritual. Be creative, make art, not just products. What would be his advice?
- Follow your passion relentlessly. Don’t settle for work that doesn’t fire you up. The only way to do great work is to love what you do.
- Say no to distractions. Jobs believed that focus is about saying no. Prioritize what truly matters, and cut out the excess distractions and noise.
- Build products that change lives. Don’t just solve problems. Try your best to curate things and make things more beautiful, intuitive, and useful. Touch the soul of the user.
- Trust the dots will connect. Jobs once dropped out of college and took a calligraphy class that had no practical use—until it shaped the typography of the first Mac. Trust your intuition.
Key Takeaway:
Craft your life like a finely tuned product. Create something elegant, focused, and uniquely yours.
Final Thoughts: Advice That Carries Forward Generations
While Musk, Ma, and Jobs had vastly different life paths. It was ultimately their guidance that converged upon a few timeless truths:
- Be relentlessly curious. Learn constantly. Read. Ask questions. Experiment.
- Serve someone or something bigger than yourself. Impact will always outlive income.
- Get comfortable with failure. It’s not the opposite of success it’s part of the journey towards it.
- Work with great people. Who you surround yourself with will ultimately shape who you become.
- Start now, don’t procrastinate. You’ll never have more energy, time, or freedom than you do today.
What Will You Build?
The world doesn’t need more followers. The social media world has created a world that encourages more people to spend their days following others. This is largely how social media companies make money through people joining their internet accounts and data brokers and advertisers selling their information. The world needs builders, rebels, and dreamers. Whether you’re starting college, skipping it, or forging your own path entirely. Just remember: the future isn’t something you inherit. It’s something that you create by taking continuous action every day.
And as Steve Jobs would say: “Go make a dent in the universe.”
References:
- Blundel, R., Lockett, N. and Wang, C (2017). Exploring Entrepreneurship. Sage, vol.42, no.1, pp.82-110.
- Business Insider (2018).The Rags-to-Riches Life Story of Alibaba Founder Jack Ma, Icon of Entrepreneurship, Retrieved from, https://www.inc.com/business-insider/alibaba-jack-ma-life-story.html [Accessed on September 11 2018].
- Clark, D (2016). Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built, Business & Economics, HarperCollins.
- Influential Individuals. (2017). Elon Musk: The Life, Lessons & Rules for Success. Independently Published.
- Isaacson, W.(2011). Steve Jobs, Biography & Autobiography – Simon and Schuster.
- Jobs, S (2011). I, Steve: Steve Jobs in His Own Words, Biography and Autobiography, B2 Books.
- Kariv, D (2011). Entrepreneurship: An international introduction. Routledge
- Vance, Ashlee. Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future. First Edition, Ecco, Harper Collins Publishers, 2015. Print.
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