Connecting the dots
I am not sure, how many people have seen / heard this
Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech 2005
He talks about three important things in this wonderful speech.
- Connecting the dots
- Love and loss
- Death
So, I would like to share my experience a.k.a experiments with few of his story. Also, I would like to add one more important thing to this mix. That is Learning from mistakes.
He beautifully says
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.
And, the link that it would really get connected is because of what he mentions in his second story.
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.
I consider myself successful (many may disagree). Mine may not be great comeback, but every one has the right to believe theirs is one of their greatest comeback. So, back to my story. I was doing pretty good at my studies till my 10th. Then in my higher secondary, I lost miserably. I was able to score just 80% with which I am not even eligible for an Enginnering college. But, I was passionate towards computers. I was way involved into programming. So, my Dad made a gamble and believed in me and got me a seat in a good professional college. In college, I did above average. After three years of college, it all came down to what I was expecting for last three years. Campus interviews.
The first one to visit our campus was big consultancy which has more than a lakh employee strength. I was rejected in HR as, I didnot answer questions other than programming properly. (It was something related differentiation and integration). I didnot bother and had my belief that, this may not be the right place for me. The second one was another MNC with nearly 50K employee base. I did great in technical round. But I was not able to do good in HR where I was given a stress test.
So, the LESSON LEARNT at that time,is to handle the pressure which STILL helps me in my job. That experiment made me to figure out how to make my brain work under pressure. How to concentrate on the work and ignore other external factors. Third company is my current employer with 10K employee base. From there, I got a good recognition for my work, and right now as I write this I am representing my company at my client location in US for last 5 months and I keep learning new things daily required when you develop a new application. And all this happened in just 2 years time frame.
From my failure in higher secondary to my current status, I feel I am successful. so, if I connect the dots, everything happened for a purpose. The credit to this, should go to the confidence my dad had on me and on my passion – computers and coding and most importantly the lessons LEARNT from my failures.
And for every one of you, who are starring at the dark or not happy with what you currently in do, believe in what you love. keep looking. Don’t settle. Keep learning and the dots would connect eventually.
