This Steve Jobs Quote Will Change Your Perspective Forever

“Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it, you can influence it… Once you learn that, you’ll never be the same again.” — Steve Jobs

You know the feeling, you’re going through the motions again. You’re commuting in traffic, paying bills, arguing with family.

Life can sometimes feel like it closes in on us. Like it is telling us what to do. What to think. How to feel. Who to be.

But the mega-genius Steve Jobs rightly points out to us that it doesn’t have to be your reality.

And he lived it. He talked the talk and walked the walk.

He was brash. He made mistakes. Chased what he wanted and built really cool things that changed the world.

He understood that he had it in him to make an impact on the world around.

First Defeat Self Limiting Beliefs

Maybe you had a reputation as a screw up in high school. Maybe you’ve always been overweight and you haven’t been able to shake the pounds or the self image that goes with it.

In order to change the world around us, first we need to defeat our self limiting beliefs.

Self-limiting beliefs are those stories that we tell ourselves about who we are.

“I’m a fat person, it’s who I am.”

“I’ll never be disciplined, I’m lazy.”

“I’ve never been able to start that business I’ve always wanted. I’m a failure.”

“I’m bad with money. So were my parents. It runs in the family.”

When we repeat those things to ourselves either consciously or through habit, we are setting ourselves up for more of the same failure.

You Can Make Good Things Happen

Once you understand that the world around you has been designed and built by human beings just like yourself, you can start to make the changes and impact you’ve always thought was out of reach.

When we are on the offense in life, we will eventually score. We’ll be empowered to identify what it is that we want, how it is we’ll get it, and what the tangible steps are to getting there.

On the contrary, if we’re always playing defense, always waiting for something to go wrong, only reacting to what happens to us, then we’ll get nowhere.

Sitting in place hoping that you end up in France is a bad plan. The wind isn’t going to pick you up and drop you at the feet of the Eiffel Tower.

No, you have to plan, strategize, save money, look at maps, and set a date.

You make it happen with intentionality and action.

You Can Design The Life You Want

Average life expectancy in the U.S. is around 76. That is to say our time is limited.

Jobs didn’t care if he had a reputation as a blustery, rough edged guy. He was too busy taking action towards what he wanted to achieve.

That’s not to say we should bulldoze our way through life.

But odds are most people nowadays in the age of social media care way too much what people think, not too little.

Follow Jared Walls on Twitter @jtwalls7