Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

It's late and, as usual, I have an early flight to catch.

Instead of sleeping, I'm thinking about ambition and purpose. I am drawn to ambitious, passionate people who are hungry to achieve an audacious goal. They are wholly committed to a vision and are willing to work like trojans to make their vision a reality.

In order to contextualize my drowsy thoughts, I tried to think of my first memory of being inspired by this brand of ambition and purpose.

I immediately recalled the day my brother showed me one of the earliest Macintosh computers. Hidden inside that unassuming beige case is something surprising and spectacular: the individual signatures of the Macintosh creators. My brother and I stared at them, picking out familiar names like Steve Jobs and Steve "Woz" Wozniak.

I love the implication of this subtle detail. Since the Macintosh team considered themselves artists and took great pride in their creation, it was appropriate that they sign their work! Steve Jobs came up with the idea of having each team member's signature engraved on the plastic case, so they appeared inside every Mac that rolled off the production line.

Years later, Steve Jobs delivered a reflective speech to the graduating class of Stanford University. My Dad sent me and my brother the entire transcript. My favorite part is this quote:

"You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. 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. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on.

I believe that ambitious seekers like Steve Jobs love their work and don't even consider it a burden. Their work is an artistic, joyful, fulfilling, highly organizing principle of life. By viewing work this way, it's possible to remove the ultimate creative block: money. What we want to do is what we're meant to do. By working hard to follow a vision, money comes, doors open and work seems like play. Creativity lies within a paradox: Serious art is born from serious play.