I’m listening to the new Steve Jobs biography. It’s a great modeling project and I’ll share insights here as I work through the 25 hours.

History will look back on Jobs as being the man who really gave us the personal computer. As important as Henry Ford and the automobile, Carnegie and steel, or any of the great American inventors that really made America great.

In the first hour, I’ve already heard some core beliefs that are truly empowering and describe Jobs:

1. I’m special. – Though some said his birth parents ‘”abandoned” him he, with the help of his adoptive parents, turned the story into “I’m special.” It’s all just a story.
2. I can build anything. – He played with electronics as a kid and started out with Heathkits. They were electronics kits many of us asked our parents for. Many kids enjoyed building things instead of veg out on Facebook or Xbox. After building his first kit he built more complicated ones and formed this belief.
3. I know the real value of things. – His father would take him to car auctions and taught him he could learn what parts were really worth and buy them much cheaper because other people didn’t know the value. he loved selling things because he knew what they were really worth.

Put these beliefs together and you can see how Jobs led his field, constantly pushed to build more amazing products, and was able to not only charge a premium for them but also negotiate great deals so the profits we high.

We just described Apple Inc. in the last decade under Jobs. They went from a laughable company in the nineties, under the leadership of a Coca Cola exec focused only on profits to the most valuable company on earth.

You can learn a lot by listening for people’s beliefs. Our beliefs create our destiny. Destiny is not written on some magic tablet in the sky. Beliefs make the difference between feeling abandoned and unloved OR feeling special with a contribution to give the world. It’s all just made up beliefs.

Post on the blog what you discover from his biography and we’ll compare notes.

Back on June 10th, 2009 I wrote an article titled “A multi-billion dollar idea!” My premise was that Facebook worked great for kids, who want popularity and everyone as their friend. But, adults actually have circles of trust, of friends. Not everyone is a friend. Not everyone is trustable or shares the same values we have in a given context. It’s something we must teach children. My prediction was that adults would start leaving Facebook as the novelty of “everyone is a friend” would prove to be unworkable. It’s OK for marketers and kids, but not human adults. It seemed that an adult way of working with human smaller circles had to happen.

Well, Google is getting close to launching their own social network with “Circles” as a major component. Soon you will be able to socially network as adults actually do in real life. You can have a circle of your closest friends. Some of them may overlap with your political friends or your volleyball friends. You’ll be able to reach more people the way you actually think, with circles joined by invisible links to each person. We’ll of course see Facebook follow with their own upgrade as they see what works and doesn’t with Circles.

Thanks dad for teaching me chess when I was little! We never know how some odd learning later helps us see the world in a different way so we can help others. Chess helped me see multiple scenarios into the future. Steve Jobs learned calligraphy and it helped him invent the Macintosh. Everything you’ve ever learned is a hidden gift waiting to be expressed.

Learn more about the coming Google+ here: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/28/google-launches-all-out-social-networking-assault-with-google/

The founder faced incredible odds, delays, law suits, you name it. But, business is just a game and games have obstacles if they are any fun. This article is inspiring as you will probably realize you don’t really have that many obstacles in your business.

Tip #1 is terrific: Keep the idea simple enough to draw on a napkin.

If you are in business, or have ever wanted to start a business, read this. Here’s the article: http://spiritmag.com/features/article/40_lessons_to_learn_from_southwest/

Do make some comments on the blog from what you learn and share with everyone else.

Getting a logo can seem complicated. I just ran across this tip from one of my clients for a web site where you can get lots of things done for $5. Yes, just one Abraham Lincoln. Here’s a guy that says he’ll do 5 professional logos for $5. Phil Knight of Nike spent just $50 on his Nike Swoosh.

http://www.fiverr.com/users/sreejan/gigs/make-5-professional-looking-high-quality-logos-for-your-site-business-or-company

Check out the home page of Fiverr for other things people will do for just $5. You can find someone to write & produce a theme song or get you a bunch of twitter followers. The world is indeed flat and competition is good!

No wonder why Apple’s stock is almost back to pre-crash levels while other companies are figuring out what to do. We can learn from a leader. What if you talked about your spouse this way?

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