The Next Steve Jobs

Photo by Saulo Mohana on UnsplashWhen I was in high school, people asked me…Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

“What do you want to be?”

“I want to be a doctor,” I answered.

And, that was a total lie. I never want to be a doctor. Biology has never been my favourite subject. I’m fear of blood. The smell of hospital gives me panic attack. But I didn’t have any opportunity. The society has set a rule: If you want to be successful, be a doctor.

But I know my limit. My scores wouldn’t get me to the medical university, anyway. So, I put it aside. I chose to study Informatics Engineering.

After graduated, I had a new dream.Photo by Vasily Koloda on Unsplash

I wanted to be a young CEO of successful startup. I wanted to be the next Steve Jobs, the next Mark Zuckerberg, the next Jack Ma, the next Bill Gates, and the list goes on. To be honest, I didn’t have any choice. All I know was that I wanted to be successful. The media and the society have set a rule: If you want to be successful, be the Next Steve Jobs.

So, I tried.

I really tried my best.

And, I failed hard, real hard.

I didn’t know what I wanted to be.

The pressure was all on me.

All these words played in my head.

If you want to be successful, be a doctor.

If you want to be successful, be a young CEO of a successful startup.

If you want to be successful, be the next Steve Jobs.

If you want to be successful, be overly rich and post all those beautiful lives on Facebook and Instagram.

I felt more depressed.

Because I’m so far, far, far from that.

I used to spend my time alone, walking on the road, looking at the sky, and thinking, wondering, dreaming.

In one quite afternoon…,Photo by SHTTEFAN on Unsplash

I tried to listen to my heart, I tried to see my inner potential, and I found one thing:

I love writing.

I’ve always been writing, in fact.

I used to write books, but the society retreated me.

“It’s not promising. You won’t be rich if you become a writer.”

No, I won’t listen to the society anymore.

So, I came back to my old routine, going back to the old me that I’ve missed a lot: Be a writer.

In my writing, I turn my failures into an inspiring story. I write peacefully, never felt so content. I share my writing on Instagram, consistently. I keep writing like I’ve never been failed before. I believe that I’m going to be the exceptional writer even though I live in a country with low literacy rate. My books will spread all over the world. People will know my name. People will say thank you for all the failures that I’ve turned into an inspiring story. You will find my book on the bookstore and bring it home. I’m going to be influential. And, I will travel around the world, giving lectures at the top universities about the definition of “success” that I’ve expanded:

That you don’t have to be a doctor to be successful.

That you don’t have to be the Next Steve Jobs to be successful.

That you don’t have to be overly rich to be successful.

You can be anything yet still successful.

Be exceptional, be something new, and define it as “success”.

I’m writing this piece of article like I’m a successful person, and I feel like I am because I’ve never felt so content in my life, I’ve never felt so happy, even though I’m not a doctor, I’m not the Next Steve Jobs, I’m not rich.

Slowly, I see this happening.Photo by Henry Be on Unsplash

People recognize my writing on the Internet.

I started it from zero reader, now I have more than 100,000 readers on Instagram, more than 25,000 readers on Wattpad, and the list goes on. I got hundred of comments every day, all those messages saying thank-you-for-writing-this. People remember my name for my writing.

I’m still far away from my big dreams. My books are still on the work. I don’t know how to get my books translated all over the world. But I know I’m going to be something big and influential. Because, just like Steve Jobs, Jack Ma, Bill Gates, and all those successful people the society told, I am dreaming, I am believing, I am loving what I am doing, I am working on it, and I am breaking the rules:

That you don’t have to be the Next Steve Jobs to be successful.

So, wait for me, at all those top universities, at all the bookstores worldwide.

And, if you’ll never see me successful and big and influential, know that I already feel successful today. What else do I need?

Hi, my name is Alvi Syahrin, and, yes, I am going to be something big and influential. Need my help? DM me on  Twitter .

The Next Steve Jobs was originally published in successful on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.