“We think the soul is for nature, we identify ourselves with nature, that spirit is for flesh and man “lives to eat” rather than “eats to live.” We are continually making this mistake; we are regarding nature as ourselves and becoming attached to it. This attachment creates a deep impression on the soul, making us work like slaves.” — Swami Vivekananda
Do you know what Steve Jobs’ final gift was? At his memorial service, attendees—most of whom were influential leaders—were handed a copy of the Autobiography of a Yogi.
One person who attended the event was Jobs’ old friend and CEO of Salesforce Mark Benioff. He later said, “That was his message. Actualize yourself… He had this incredible realization that his intuition was his greatest gift, and he needed to look at the world from inside out.”
Looking from inside out made Steve Jobs, Steve Jobs. He was not afraid to question the status quo—rather, he reveled in it. He could infuse philosophies of unrelated products into Apple’s offering. He demanded improvements from his team, many of which seemed impossible at that time. Yet, he lived a simple and minimalistic life.
But the rest of us see ourselves from the outside in: How do I stack up against the metrics that the world values? Fame, fortune, pleasure, opinions, possessions. And all it brings is misery.
To outgrow this misery, we must adopt the inside-out approach too. This means conducting ourselves as per our values, accepting the consequences of our actions, and seeing karma as a means for personal and spiritual growth rather a punishment. This helps us build fortitude, find happiness, and unearth our capabilities.
As the saying goes, “Know your limits, then go beyond them.”