Connecting the Dots
You have to believe the dots will connect down the road
Believe it or not. Oscar’s Notes was born from the idea of “connecting the dots” - an idea I learned from the famous speech Steve Jobs gave at Stanford University in 2005.
So, it made perfect sense that I start the new chapter of Oscar’s Notes with this very idea from Steve Jobs.
The idea of “connecting the dots” is very similar to the well known phrase “everything happens for a reason”. But with one key difference and that is:
Instead of just letting things happen and/or going with the flow. In “connecting the dots”, the actions you take are intentional. You make the conscious decision to take those specific actions.
There are three parts to the idea of “connecting the dots”:
We cannot see the future. Therefore, we cannot connect the dots by looking forward.
We can only connect the dots by looking backward. Therefore, we have to trust that the dots would somehow connect in the future.
Whatever you believe in, you will need to have a strong conviction that the dots will connect down the road. This is what will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well-worn path. (and this is what makes all the difference.)
Revisiting Steve Jobs’ example that he shared in his Stanford University speech.
Steve Jobs during his uni days had no idea what he was doing and was simply following his heart and attending classes that interested him. But looking back, we can see how attending those classes connected down the road.
If Steve Jobs didn’t follow his heart and gone off the well-worn path, things would most likely have turned out quite differently.
In short, “connecting the dots” is about having blind faith in what you are doing will have a meaningful impact in the future.
So, trust in your gut or whatever, and follow your heart and curiosity to where it may lead you, even when it takes you off the well-worn path.