“We cannot connect the dots moving forward” says Steve Jobs as he addressed those Stanford University graduates in 2005.

When we focus on our passion, not trying to connect the dots, they’ll just start connecting. But if we anxiously look for the dots to connect, we can find ourselves stuck, waiting to see the dotted pattern of our lives.

If Steve Jobs hadn’t “dropped out of college to drop in” on the courses he really wanted to take, namely calligraphy, we may not have had the Macintosh computer. “We have to trust that the dots will connect in the future”, he says. That gets you right to the present, living a more fulfilling, truthful life.

Jobs goes on to say, “Believing that the dots will connect down the road, gives us the confidence to follow our heart.” We have to trust that the “how” will work itself out.

When I quit my secure 9-5 job in 2006, I had no idea how the dots would connect. I trusted that they would, following my heart. I had some previous dot connecting experience. The dots had connected beautifully when I left my old San Francisco life for a new, uncertain life in Los Angeles.

Like both adventures, there were lots of (and still are) lonely, disconnected days. I was tempted to run back to my old city. Tempted to run back to the security of that full time job. That’s where trust comes in. And if we don’t trust, we may quit just when things are about to turn around.

My adventure continues to unfold  as I build “Adventurize Your Life.”  I’m trusting that the dots will continue to connect. Besides, dots are like those “adventure pebbles in the pond” leading to new adventures and a more expansive life. Jobs said, “Believing helps you to follow your heart.”

Steve Jobs’ dots in this lifetime are all connected. But, we can look to his life lessons and learn about connecting dots in our own lives.  It’s pretty simple. Just do what you love, and the dots will follow.

-Tracy Pattin

 

Tags: adventure, college, commencement speeches, graduation, life, risk taking, Stanford University, Steve Jobs