I’ve been sitting around thinking about how Steve Jobs changed the technological world and was wondering how I could relate that to getting and staying organized. It finally dawned on me that it was Steve’s attitude, determination, and passion that kept him going. He was a forward thinker and wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of completing a task.
My clients tell me all the time that they feel overwhelmed and don’t know how and/or where to start, let alone finish any of their organizing projects. They look at their piles and either leave them there or close the doors on those rooms that do have doors. Eventually, those piles build up, they can never find anything, and they haven’t been able to complete even the smallest task. Perhaps the organizing products they bought were the wrong size, wrong color, or just don’t fit their needs. The end result is the piles are still there, and they buy the same things over and over again because they can’t find what was originally bought.
Just as Steve Jobs didn’t let things get him down (well, maybe for a bit – think when Apple fired him and before he started NeXT), your clutter doesn’t have to get you down. Here is part of a direct quote from his 2005 Stanford University Commencement Address. I hope you find it as inspirational as I did.
“I really didn’t know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down – that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me – I loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.
I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.
During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the world’s first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple’s current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.”
The same thinking can be applied to organizing. There is NO need NOT to start organizing NOW just because it didn’t work before. Just imagine how you would feel if you were not overwhelmed, felt more productive and efficient, and actually had the time to do those things that were more important to you.
If you would like help to get started and to feel inspired and motivated while having fun, please contact me. Steve Jobs’ passion was in the technology field. My passion is in helping others get and stay organized.
Referrals are the best compliments.
BB’s Clutter Solutions, LLC is located in Cherry Hill, NJ and serves New Jersey (north and south), Philadelphia and its Pennsylvania suburbs, and New York City.
