Dots only connect backwards
It’s that weird time of year when we all reflect (some of us judge) our own work, lives and what we’ve achieved. I’m particularly guilty of verging on the judgement side.
Where was I last year? Has my business developed? Have I developed? Have I improved my skills as a filmmaker and an entrepreneur? Will I ever ‘make it’?
Living life as an entrepreneur can be crushing emotionally as much as it can be exhilarating and joyous — you believe in your product/service so much that you’ll do anything to make it a reality. But to me it’s not like TV where I have an idea no one else has really thought of or that no one thinks it’s a good idea. The difference is I’ve just done it without thinking and analysing from the start.
Entrepreneurs are often represented as being against the world and having people tell them their idea is stupid or not possible — I’ve never felt like that about Empathy Week. Yet I think this is what adds to my frustration I feel currently. People say what a great business and what a great idea it is to me but it doesn’t often lead to action on their side (e.g. sharing it with teachers they know). It doesn’t propel my idea forward as much as I think it should. I can’t even get some of my friends of years who are also teachers to engage fully.
I’ve realised I’m up against time — people’s time in a time-poor and heavily distracted world. I used to get really frustrated, particularly with those teacher friends of mine (not that they knew).
It’s made me question my actions in my business, question whether I’m doing the right thing. Do I need to market it differently? Should we do this? Have we tried this? It’s relentless as an entrepreneur — you think about your idea, look for opportunity and try to find a way through to your target audience all the time.
But I want to end the year thinking about one quote that has changed my thinking and I believe is relatable to everyone. It’s a quote from Steve Jobs:
“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 trust in something; your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever! Because believing that the dots will connect down the road, will give you the confidence to follow your heart even when it leads you off the well-worn path and that will make all the difference.”
It makes perfect sense yet everyone thinks in the opposite way, we’re always trying to predict the future and protect ourselves in the process.
What makes it particularly powerful is that it’s relatable to everyone both professionally and personally. So many conversations I have with friends these days (we’re mostly turning 30 this year) are around making good life decisions and in trying to do so, also trying to predict the future.
But if there’s anything that the past two years have taught us — the future is unpredictable. It’s impossible to connect the dots looking forwards but if we look back on our lives we can pick key events that changed our trajectories significantly. Whether that was asking someone on a date, going for that job interview or maybe even turning down that job.
So our only option moving forward is to stop predicting and do our best. Trust that somehow, the dots will connect. Go for that new job, put yourself out there to do more in your role, start a new hobby, build that business. Because you never know nor can predict where you might end up.
It gives me some comfort to just trust the process going into 2022(even though it’s a cringe phrase).
I’m going to continuing to build Empathy Week along with the amazing people that have supported me along the way and just trusting that, somehow, the dots will connect.
