Let’s take a look at just a few of the ways he did it.

Jobs condensed Apple’s offerings and made it easy to pick a Mac.

Jobs didn’t just do this with Apple.

He’d pass along the advice to just about anyone who asked.

Hetold Nike to cut the crappy stuff as well:

“Do you have any advice?”

“Well, just one thing,” said Jobs.

“Nike makes some of the best products in the world.

Products that you lust after.

But you also make a lot of crap.

Just get rid of the crappy stuff and focus on the good stuff.”

Parker said Jobs paused and Parker filled the quiet with a chuckle.

But Jobs didn’t laugh.

“He was absolutely right,” said Parker.

“We had to edit.”

Jobs' point here can easily be applied to everyday life.

If you have too much going on,start saying nomore often.

Get rid of any activities that aren’t actually helping you in your career and life.

If you have too much going on, focus in on what matters.

Delegate Responsibilities

Of course, focusing on what matters is easier said than done.

During meetings Jobs would assign tasks and a person responsible for them.

For the rest of us, the lesson here is about delegation.

so that do your best work, you needto stop multitaskingand concentrate on one task at a time.

Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed.

None of this had even a hope of any practical tool in my life.

And we designed it all into the Mac.

It was the first computer with beautiful typography.

And since Windows just copied the Mac, it’s likely that no personal computer would have them.

Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college.

But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

It seemed obvious to them after a while.

That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things.

Unfortunately, that’s too rare a commodity.

A lot of people in our industry haven’t had very diverse experiences.

The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have.

Which is to say, the more diverse your experiences, the better.

We’vetalked about this plentyof times before, but it’s always worth repeating.

The more time and money you spend on diversifying what you do, the better off you’ll be.

You are already naked.

There is no reason not to follow your heart.

If things aren’t looking so good, it’s probably time toswitch careers.

Photos byMackenzie Kosut,A2gemma, andClare Bell.