Death inspires the quest.
Justin Cohen
1) The death of Steve Jobs.
2) How copper could save your life.
The death of Steve Jobs
A few weeks ago Apple briefly became the world’s most valuable company. It continues to be one of the most loved. Macs, Iphones, Ipods, and Ipads may not have changed the world but they’ve certainly made it a more pleasurable, aesthetically pleasing place to hang out. Here’s the thing, the magnitude of his accomplishments are in no small part due to his death. This is how he put it at a graduation speech at Stanford:
“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important…there is no reason not to follow your heart.”
Death reminds us that we can’t keep putting it off until tomorrow. It presents us with the ultimate deadline one which allows for no rescheduling. It does us no good to blindfold ourselves to death. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about the possibility of not making it to see another day. This keeps the fire burning in my belly. I’ve got to race if I’m going to leave a mark on this place. That sense of urgency is what pushes me to complete my fourth book: Quest Inc. If I don’t get on with it I may miss my deadline and then what will my life have meant? Sure, the quest never really ends and whenever I do die I’m bound to leave something unfinished but that sense of urgency is what pushes us to create. You can call it ego, I call it the desire to leave this place a little better than I found it.
Along the way I’m bound to fail. What Jobs reminded me is that being on this planet for no more than a cosmic blink of the eye is also a good reason not to worry too much about having a bit of egg on my face. From dust to dust, with a bit of stardust in between! Let’s make our stardust count.
Go to your quest!
How copper could save your life
We recently created a Big Little Story for the Copper Development Association, Africa. Up to 40 000 people die of hospital-acquired infections each year. Copper is an antimicrobial agent that kills the majority of all bacteria. By introducing copper surfaces in hospitals we could prevent almost all these deaths. Watch our BigLittleStory to see the power of this life-saving metal.
What’s your quest?
Justin Cohen
International speaker and author
“I think the standing ovation Justin got says it all.”
Leanne Burrows, Key Accounts Executive, STER KINEKOR