Great minds think differently. And it is one of the reasons for their greatness.

When I try to think of a successful person whose thinking and vision was so innovative it shaped the way we interact with the world – Steve Jobs immediately comes to mind. His powerful creative drive, endless search for perfection, and unconventional thinking made him a legend of this generation.

And while Steve Jobs is no longer with us, his ideas, his vision and his personal success story continues to affect and inspire millions of people in every part of the world.

Here are 9 Guidelines of Life that Steve Jobs himself preached and followed, be it when creating his latest iPhone, building multi-million dollar companies or when facing personal and professional setbacks.

1. Do what you love

“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”

“Follow your passion and money will follow” – is advice that has been repeated by so many successful people it almost sounds like a cliché. Yet when it comes to making a career and professional decisions, many of us believe that achieving success is about being practical, not about doing what makes us happy day in and day out.

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Probably like everyone else, I have tried to understand why when some people achieve stellar success and enjoy every second of their lives, while others spend their days in misery and poverty.

People who fail to achieve their goals usually put it down to unsupportive parents and family, lack of education, poor financial situation, lack of “connections”, ill-health, lack of time, personal characteristics or bad economy.

Most of us have been told since early childhood that, “You have to work hard for your money”, that “All successful people are evil, cunning, selfish, and greedy”, that “You have to have money/connections to make money and become successful”, and that “Some people are born under a lucky star, while others are followed by “bad luck”.

Indeed, the lives of many successful and wealthy people seem perfect and care-free. They live in gorgeous mansions, drive expensive cars, wear stylish clothes, go on vacations to exotic countries, date and marry beautiful people, appear on TV, or are smiling happily at us from magazine covers.

It is easy to believe that success and wealth has come to them easily and effortlessly. Whenever, we talk or read about famous people, we never equate ourselves with them. It is almost as if they belong to a “special group”. We can either envy or admire them, but rarely do we think of them as “regular” or “ordinary” (just like me or you).

I believe it happens because few of us realize that most successful people came from poor families, have had abusive parents, started at the very bottom and climb their way up, faced multiple setbacks, and made hundreds of mistakes before they achieved their goals.

These people have changed this world and demonstrated by their own example that nothing is impossible. We should seek inspiration in their success stories, learn from them, adopt similar mindset, develop success habits, and apply what we have learned to our own life.

No one has ever become wealthier from counting other people’s money or happier from discussing their personal life. But every success story can be used and applied as a method, technique or a guidebook for you to become successful.

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Napoleon Hill