Steve Jobs born February 24, 1955 was an American inventor and businessman who co-founded Apple, Pixar and Next. Though he never completed his graduation from college but he was a learner all his life. Steve Job’s philosophy and his passion for providing quality and life changing products to his customer is legendary. Though he made many valuable contributions to the world, we have compiled a list of some of the golden rules as laid down by him.

1. Don’t live a limited life

People usually live life as is expected of them within the societal frame work and as is dictated to them by others. But Steve Jobs used to say life as it is around you is made by people who were no smarter than you and once you realize this you too will be able to challenge the various notions of life as it is and change it for the betterment of the world and have your influence on it.

2. Have Passion

Any new job or challenge is very difficult for any person to bear and usually, on facing difficulties, people quit . Only those who genuinely love their job and have a strong passion persevere and continue on the path, which for common people would be insane. As he once famously quoted: Those who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, usually do.

3. Build a great team

Most of the people have enough intelligence that they don’t require to be managed at every single step of the job. The job of the leaders is to articulate the vision properly to his people and bring them on a consensus and a common ground, after that they will themselves look after what is to be done and will not require to be managed at all. So the primary job of a great leader is high quality recruiting, and make his team a cohesive unit with clear vision. A great manager needs to be a great individual contributor.

4. Don’t do it for money

Steve jobs used to say, “Don’t do it for money.” Money, he said, is a wonderful thing because it enables you to do things and implement your ideas but besides that if you do it for money only, then the company and products will not make you feel more passionate and you will make decisions only on commercial considerations which may not be good for your products or company in the long run.

5. Be proud of your product

Premium product or services should remain the focus of your company and you should set such high standards for yourself that you feel proud of your product. Do not offer a stripped down version of your products just to compete on price with competition. Work on adding value to your product and there will be even bigger markets opening up for you. Work on making your product so superior that even if you were not part of the company, it would have been your first choice to buy.

6. Build around customers

Start with the customer and work backwards toward technology and not to focus on technology, and then figure out where to sell your product. Just figure out what benefits you can give to customer who should remain at the center of your product design strategy. Always ask yourself the question, whether what we are doing is useful and compelling for our customers or not.

7. Marketing is about values

Today markets are so crowded and competitive that we will not get much chance to get people to remember much about us so be very clear what you want your customer to know about you. Your marketing strategies should convey your values to the customer in very clear terms. You should think beyond the product, beyond money and more towards something higher. Why your product should be customer’s choice, how it helps them in emotional bonding and satisfaction of their desires.

8. Stay hungry, stay foolish

A lot of things happen in  your life which you are not able to understand at that time but as time passes their significance dawn on you and you could connect the dots looking backwards. Believe in destiny and all will work out well. Sometimes life will hit you on the head but keep going and do what you love, keep looking and don’t settle.

Remembering you are going to die soon is one of the best ways to not fall in trap of thinking you have something to loose. You have no reason not to follow your heart. No one wants to die and still death is the destination that we all share and no one has ever escaped it which means that our time is limited so don’t end up living somebody else’s life, don’t let the other people’s opinion drown down your own inner voice and have courage to follow your heart. As Steve Jobs famous words were, Always stay hungry, stay foolish.

In 2003 Steve Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer which took a lot of toll on his life but he still remained active and very much involved in designing new products and promoting his philosophy. On October 5, 2011 Jobs  died after making his contributions to this world.

His life will always be remembered and remain a source of continuous inspiration to million of people who want to make their mark.

Also read: Success Rules By John Maxwell