Believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart

Today I bumped into two new TAFE students in an elevator. They looked lost and dazed after just signing up for a course. I asked what they were studying and they said an IT course. This was in the same room that I studied IT back in the mid 1990s at the Tamworth TAFE Campus.

In the short elevator journey I explained how much fun I had and what jobs that course opened up for me, such as computer sales and repair, programming, software development, help desk, web administration and much more. I could tell that these students were encouraged by this short two-minute chance conversation and its simple premise - don't underestimate where learning will take you.

I always feel inspired when I listen to Steve Jobs talk about "connecting the dots" (video below). In his talk Steve famously says:

[quote]You can't connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backwards... 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. - Steve Jobs[/quote]

Jonathan Rosenberg, Senior Vice President, Product Management at Google gives his "rules to success". Jonathan says to "find the smartest people you can, join them, observe them, learn from them, take what you can learn and help them." But most importantly "educate your mind to make your own observations".

Jonathan says "Never stop learning, school is never out, there are always more classes you can take". These don't have to be paid courses - they can be in the form of books, online videos or challenges from goals you set.

Albert Einstein said "I have no special talent, I am only passionately curious". Set some goals and tell people what they are; take a course, ask for help, create learning networks with like-minded people, learn as much as you can, do what you love, do great work. And who knows where you'll be in 20 years.

Let me know how you get on in 2033 by emailing me at simon@fearby.com (if email still exists).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc