adler training

There has already been a stream of tributes to Steve Jobs so I won't write another one. Well, I will..sort of. But it will be from a different angle than just Apple.

Sure he gave us the iPod, iPhone, etc., but those that know me are aware of the fact that I am not all that tech savvy. I can hardly handle a keyboard for that matter.

Here is what impressed me about Steve Jobs: his philosophy as summed up in his commencement speech at Stanford. It wasn't another "follow your dreams and love happy" talk, it was a modern memento mori without the moralizing aspect. "Do what you love, you are already naked."

Anyone who has watched "GoodFellas" (if you haven't, you should) will remember the opening scene when Henry Hill says: "All my life, I always wanted to be a gangster."

In a way, that holds true for me as well. Ever since I watched Terminator in 1990, I wanted to be a bodybuilder and a trainer. My life took me through some interesting twists and turns, but in the end I ended up where I felt I belonged. But It wasn't a smooth transition by any means. I had to decide between giving up my job in finance and to embark on the rather uncertain path as an independent personal trainer.

However, the choice was very clear to me. In the years leading up to the transition, I was held to my job by my immigration visa (Thanks, GW) so a certain amount of freedom was taken away from me. When I finally received my green card, I quit within minutes and never looked back.

This is how I relate to Steve Jobs.