A couple weeks ago I finished the new biography of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. And although I buy all my music from iTunes and listen to it on my iPod, I’m afraid I’d definitely be the ‘PC guy’ in the ‘Mac versus PC’ commercials. Nonetheless, I marvel at all of the incredible products that Steve Jobs’ team has created over the years and look forward to what they come up with next.

Now, I won’t try to write a book review or give away the ending, but I will tell you this… I found Steve Jobs’ life story to be quite surprising. As wealthy and successful as he was, Jobs was a complex person who loved simplicity. He was obsessed with creating beautifully designed and perfectly engineered products that people want. For Steve Jobs, it seems that the journey was the reward. Year after year, he was more concerned with the journey of creating products that would “change the world”, than the reward of financial success that came with each new invention.

And sure, when your net worth hits $200 million by the time you’re twenty-five, it’s probably a lot easier to enjoy the journey when you’ve already got the reward. But Jobs didn’t inherit his $200 million in his twenties… he created it. His extreme good fortune was the result of combining extreme intelligence, vision, passion, persuasion, and execution.

And even though Steve Jobs completed his professional journey on top, his road was just as long and bumpy as that of most highly accomplished people. While Jobs suffered many financial and emotional losses along the way, most of us only see the good times he enjoyed in the past few years and have no idea what kind of adversities he endured to get to the part of the story that most of us are familiar with.

Ultimately, it’s easy for us to look at Steve Jobs and Apple and see a brilliant businessman and a forward-thinking tech company. But that’s not the whole story. That only recognizes the reward at the end, not the journey that led up to it.

 So what do you think matters more… the journey or the reward?

Let’s face it. As long as we all have bills to pay and people to take care of, the financial reward has to matter to some degree. But at the same time, many of us have already seen that financial success isn’t the only reward. When you do what you love, the enjoyment of the journey often helps sustain your efforts.

Of course, every one of us has a unique journey that leads us to our own reward. And as different as we all are, the truth is that most of us discover the reward looks less like money and more like the fulfillment, satisfaction, peace, and purpose that we encounter along the way.

Chances are every one of us knows people who think they’re always right. It’s pretty tough dealing with them, isn’t it? At some point, it’s just easier to give in or give up.

Of course, thinking that you’re always right and actually being right are two completely different things. And if you’re a parent who has teenagers, this scenario probably describes a day in your life right now!

Fortunately, the older we get, the more self-aware we become and it’s easier to accept when we’re wrong. Nonetheless, hopefully you’re right more often than you’re not.

Now, if you’re honest and willing to admit that you think you’re never wrong, what do you think the real problem is? And no, it’s not that you’re surrounded by a bunch of idiots!  Although you could probably make a long list of all the ‘real’ problems that come with thinking you’re always right, the REAL problem is that you don’t give yourself the opportunity to stop and start over.

You see, we’re all pretty similar. Like everyone else, you’re going to make some bad decisions. But sometimes, out of sheer stubbornness, it’s easy to defend a poor one and follow it down the path of many more. Essentially you try to convince yourself that your previous decisions were right all along. Similar to telling a lie, one bad decision leads to another one.

Whether it’s out of ignorance or foolish pride, you’re compelled to defend your position and justify your decisions to yourself and those around you. And what’s the best way to do that? Repeat them! In Vegas they call it ‘throwing good money after bad’. And as most experienced gamblers will tell you… at some point, you have to cut your losses.

Ultimately, most of your current and future decisions are built upon your previous ones. If you’re unable or unwilling to admit that your earlier decisions were wrong, you risk making a long string of costly mistakes that could have easily been avoided.

The reality is that no one is right all the time. Be honest with yourself and admit what everyone else already knows. It’ll be okay… you’ve been wrong before.