Do you remember drawing lines between dots and -surprise, surpise- a picture appears?

‘Dots to dots-puzzles were generally created for children. Back in the days, these drawings were so easy to make. In the end, you were sure to get a great result, a simple picture made out of lines from connecting dots. It was really that simple. You were totally happy and started turning the next page to draw another one, because it really got me or us hooked?!

With advancing years, life can get more complicated and so I started reading and watching videos and books from brilliant minds. One of them said that it is important to ‘stay hungry’ and to ‘stay foolish’ in life. Adults phrase ‘connecting the dots’ as a metaphor to illustrate an ability to associate one idea with another, to find the ‘big picture’. This brings me to my personal story about dots – not only life, but also in technology.

Connecting the Dots

About 10 years ago, I watched a remarkable speech from Steve Jobs (recorded in 2015 at Stanford University). I can definitely say: it changed my life forever. His first story was about connecting the dots. If you aren’t sure what to do with your life, think of things you are proud of, good at and that delight you to do.

You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. 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.

In other words: a choice of today will effect your future. Try to find the pattern to these things (by connecting the dots) and I am sure you will come up with a satisfactory. Steve Jobs did believe, that everything you do in life will make sense one day, even though you cannot connect each part at that particular time.

You’ve got to find what you love. I thankfully found it already. I found my passion after a while: working in IT and publishing this blog ‘dots and bots’. I am very grateful I never stopped loving what I do.

Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.

If you haven’t seen this great speech, please take few minutes and watch it on YouTube. I hope it inspires you as much as it inspired me: ‘Connecting the Dots’ by Steve Jobs. I am sure it will!

If you want to read the full text to this Video, you can also read it on the Website of Stanford University.

Stay hungry. Stay foolish.