“You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” - Steve Jobs
I was surfing around TED.com (see sites sidebar) a couple of weeks ago and stumbled across a speech Steve Jobs (of AAPL and PIXR fame) gave at the 2005 Stanford University commencement ceremony. I like to multitask, so I was also checking email and reading the news as I watched. Jobs’ speech fell on distracted ears. What a waste. I missed it. Luckily the universe had other plans, and I was again exposed to Jobs’ advice while reading The World is Flat (Friedman) just a week later. What are the odds?
Now I don’t care what you think of Jobs. Maybe he parks in handicap parking spaces, maybe PC’s are better than Macs, maybe you saw Pirates of Silicone Valley...Whatever. The fact that enough iPods were sold in 2009 to circle the earth 5.6 times (225 million iPods, and yes I did the math) should be reason enough to respect his advice, which I believe, is saturated with truth and applicability to my own life.
I never knew at the time, but everything I’ve ever done has directly translated into who and where I am today. I’m on my computer (a Mac by the way), sitting at my desk, a thousand miles from the place I grew up, in college studying Physics and living with friends who, just 3 years ago, were complete strangers. Could I have connected those dots looking forward? Of course not, but looking back everything makes perfect logical sense. We create ourselves every day, but are never conscious (and if we are, inaccurately so) of this ‘establishment of self.’ My high school AP history teacher, a brilliant man who is now a college professor, always said that history takes 30 years to be history. Similarly, the effects of your actions today cannot be appreciated tomorrow or next week, but much further down the road.
So the next time you get caught up in the small choices, or the “important” decisions that you think will define your future..STOP. Take a deep breath and remember the pieces always fall into place if you believe they will.
(Check out the speech here)
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After reading this, I felt that something was missing. So I read and reread it, until I realized that my perception of life is just somewhat different. I agree, you can't connect the dots looking forward, but it’s because you can't predict the future, you can't connect what isn't there. Jobs assumes this, "external locus of control" outlook on life, implying that you have to trust that external factors will cause everything to fall into place - "gut" "destiny" or even as vague as "life." It's hard for me to completely swallow, because I believe that I have a pretty strong grasp on where I place my dots. The decisions I make determine where my dots are places...and sometimes I change my mind and that changes the position of my dot, and in essence changes the picture of my life and perhaps even who I am as a person. But, I have control of that - maybe not complete control, but I don't think my dots have just magically appeared, either. I don't believe they are already set out for me to connect and look back on and say "HEY! Would ya look at that! I got lucky, huh?" You may not be conscious of how each decision you make is shaping your final picture, but you for sure have an idea of what you want it to look like. Yeah, things will work out...but not if you don't try.
ReplyDeleteYou're who and where you are today because you've made choices. Decisions.
Does everything you do make perfect, logical sense? Or are you just looking at the dots you kept, and didn't move? The ones that are creating the picture of who you want to be and what you want out of life. Of course it's easier to look in hindsight and connect those dots that are "still there" and appreciate them more because they’re the choices that are congruent to your goals in life. When you look back at these dots, I don’t think you pay attention to any of the dots you corrected, but having the option to change your dots, well that’s just the true beauty of life…
So, I agree, yet disagree...in this weird mess of thoughts that run through my brain. I guess I just don’t believe Steve Jobs invented and sold enough iPods to circle the earth 5.6 million times, solely because he “went with the flow.” But yeah, things will all work out in the end :)