Dots on the Map
Dots on the Map
Dots on the Map
Dots on the Map
Dots on the map
One of Steve Jobs's most notable speeches is his 2005 Stanford commencement address.
In it, he talks about “connecting the dots” and famously describes how he took a calligraphy class at Reed College.
At the time, he was just pursuing his authentic interests and natural drift. Taking the class wasn’t a calculated maneuver…it was just Steve being Steve.
Looking back, everybody could clearly see how that experience influenced the font design for all Apple computers.
The dots only connect looking backwards is the infamous lesson.
But to me, this is only half of the lesson.
The other half, is that you actually need to put unique dots on the map for there to be something novel to connect.
Dots are authentic, organic experiences that you want to pursue. It’s what you find interesting and cool.
Too many people curate their life with a backdrop of, “Would others find this cool?”
This leads them to plot the same dots as everyone else…meaning when they go to connect those dots later, their lines aren’t unique.
The “Steve Jobs like” revelations come from the uniqueness of the dots.
Here’s a funny story about how this relates to me…
When I graduated college, I worked as a consultant…and hated it.
Before that, I had been creative & spontaneous. Consulting was sandpaper that ground me down into a uniform cog.
To resist this convergence to the middle, I started rapping in my hotel room when I was on the road.
Every night, no matter what time I got back from the office, I wouldn’t sleep until I finished a song.
An intro, 2 verses and 2 hooks.
I had been freestyling in college at parties, but never made proper music. I had no idea what I was doing, but was determined to figure it out.
After many months doing this, I self-produced my first album, Misunderstood.
On Spotify, the 3rd song Cool Cool was up to 100K plays (sadly the album isn’t on Spotify anymore).
At the time, making music was my escape hatch…a creative outlet.
I never truly believed I was going to become a professional rapper, just that there was power in learning how to dream things in my head and create them from nothing.
But fast forward seven years and now I make videos, delivered in a bit of a unique style…almost as if I’m rapping or speaking the words rhythmically.
I also write in metaphors, and frame my thoughts in layers, kind of like a rap verse.
Because of my experience as a rapper, I understand writing and delivering vocals in a unique way.
This is me connecting the dots looking backwards.
It would have been easier for me to have never made music.
I didn’t know how to do it, my friends made fun of me for it, and it was an unlikely road to monetize in any significant way.
But I did it anyways…I put the dot on the map.
— — — — — — — — — — — — —
If you enjoyed this post and want more like it, you should subscribe to me weekly creator journal, Blueprint. Each week, I share metrics, ideas, frameworks, and experiments designed to supercharge your thinking about content & brand building in the modern age.
Dots on the map
One of Steve Jobs's most notable speeches is his 2005 Stanford commencement address.
In it, he talks about “connecting the dots” and famously describes how he took a calligraphy class at Reed College.
At the time, he was just pursuing his authentic interests and natural drift. Taking the class wasn’t a calculated maneuver…it was just Steve being Steve.
Looking back, everybody could clearly see how that experience influenced the font design for all Apple computers.
The dots only connect looking backwards is the infamous lesson.
But to me, this is only half of the lesson.
The other half, is that you actually need to put unique dots on the map for there to be something novel to connect.
Dots are authentic, organic experiences that you want to pursue. It’s what you find interesting and cool.
Too many people curate their life with a backdrop of, “Would others find this cool?”
This leads them to plot the same dots as everyone else…meaning when they go to connect those dots later, their lines aren’t unique.
The “Steve Jobs like” revelations come from the uniqueness of the dots.
Here’s a funny story about how this relates to me…
When I graduated college, I worked as a consultant…and hated it.
Before that, I had been creative & spontaneous. Consulting was sandpaper that ground me down into a uniform cog.
To resist this convergence to the middle, I started rapping in my hotel room when I was on the road.
Every night, no matter what time I got back from the office, I wouldn’t sleep until I finished a song.
An intro, 2 verses and 2 hooks.
I had been freestyling in college at parties, but never made proper music. I had no idea what I was doing, but was determined to figure it out.
After many months doing this, I self-produced my first album, Misunderstood.
On Spotify, the 3rd song Cool Cool was up to 100K plays (sadly the album isn’t on Spotify anymore).
At the time, making music was my escape hatch…a creative outlet.
I never truly believed I was going to become a professional rapper, just that there was power in learning how to dream things in my head and create them from nothing.
But fast forward seven years and now I make videos, delivered in a bit of a unique style…almost as if I’m rapping or speaking the words rhythmically.
I also write in metaphors, and frame my thoughts in layers, kind of like a rap verse.
Because of my experience as a rapper, I understand writing and delivering vocals in a unique way.
This is me connecting the dots looking backwards.
It would have been easier for me to have never made music.
I didn’t know how to do it, my friends made fun of me for it, and it was an unlikely road to monetize in any significant way.
But I did it anyways…I put the dot on the map.
— — — — — — — — — — — — —
If you enjoyed this post and want more like it, you should subscribe to me weekly creator journal, Blueprint. Each week, I share metrics, ideas, frameworks, and experiments designed to supercharge your thinking about content & brand building in the modern age.
Dots on the map
One of Steve Jobs's most notable speeches is his 2005 Stanford commencement address.
In it, he talks about “connecting the dots” and famously describes how he took a calligraphy class at Reed College.
At the time, he was just pursuing his authentic interests and natural drift. Taking the class wasn’t a calculated maneuver…it was just Steve being Steve.
Looking back, everybody could clearly see how that experience influenced the font design for all Apple computers.
The dots only connect looking backwards is the infamous lesson.
But to me, this is only half of the lesson.
The other half, is that you actually need to put unique dots on the map for there to be something novel to connect.
Dots are authentic, organic experiences that you want to pursue. It’s what you find interesting and cool.
Too many people curate their life with a backdrop of, “Would others find this cool?”
This leads them to plot the same dots as everyone else…meaning when they go to connect those dots later, their lines aren’t unique.
The “Steve Jobs like” revelations come from the uniqueness of the dots.
Here’s a funny story about how this relates to me…
When I graduated college, I worked as a consultant…and hated it.
Before that, I had been creative & spontaneous. Consulting was sandpaper that ground me down into a uniform cog.
To resist this convergence to the middle, I started rapping in my hotel room when I was on the road.
Every night, no matter what time I got back from the office, I wouldn’t sleep until I finished a song.
An intro, 2 verses and 2 hooks.
I had been freestyling in college at parties, but never made proper music. I had no idea what I was doing, but was determined to figure it out.
After many months doing this, I self-produced my first album, Misunderstood.
On Spotify, the 3rd song Cool Cool was up to 100K plays (sadly the album isn’t on Spotify anymore).
At the time, making music was my escape hatch…a creative outlet.
I never truly believed I was going to become a professional rapper, just that there was power in learning how to dream things in my head and create them from nothing.
But fast forward seven years and now I make videos, delivered in a bit of a unique style…almost as if I’m rapping or speaking the words rhythmically.
I also write in metaphors, and frame my thoughts in layers, kind of like a rap verse.
Because of my experience as a rapper, I understand writing and delivering vocals in a unique way.
This is me connecting the dots looking backwards.
It would have been easier for me to have never made music.
I didn’t know how to do it, my friends made fun of me for it, and it was an unlikely road to monetize in any significant way.
But I did it anyways…I put the dot on the map.
— — — — — — — — — — — — —
If you enjoyed this post and want more like it, you should subscribe to me weekly creator journal, Blueprint. Each week, I share metrics, ideas, frameworks, and experiments designed to supercharge your thinking about content & brand building in the modern age.
Dots on the map
One of Steve Jobs's most notable speeches is his 2005 Stanford commencement address.
In it, he talks about “connecting the dots” and famously describes how he took a calligraphy class at Reed College.
At the time, he was just pursuing his authentic interests and natural drift. Taking the class wasn’t a calculated maneuver…it was just Steve being Steve.
Looking back, everybody could clearly see how that experience influenced the font design for all Apple computers.
The dots only connect looking backwards is the infamous lesson.
But to me, this is only half of the lesson.
The other half, is that you actually need to put unique dots on the map for there to be something novel to connect.
Dots are authentic, organic experiences that you want to pursue. It’s what you find interesting and cool.
Too many people curate their life with a backdrop of, “Would others find this cool?”
This leads them to plot the same dots as everyone else…meaning when they go to connect those dots later, their lines aren’t unique.
The “Steve Jobs like” revelations come from the uniqueness of the dots.
Here’s a funny story about how this relates to me…
When I graduated college, I worked as a consultant…and hated it.
Before that, I had been creative & spontaneous. Consulting was sandpaper that ground me down into a uniform cog.
To resist this convergence to the middle, I started rapping in my hotel room when I was on the road.
Every night, no matter what time I got back from the office, I wouldn’t sleep until I finished a song.
An intro, 2 verses and 2 hooks.
I had been freestyling in college at parties, but never made proper music. I had no idea what I was doing, but was determined to figure it out.
After many months doing this, I self-produced my first album, Misunderstood.
On Spotify, the 3rd song Cool Cool was up to 100K plays (sadly the album isn’t on Spotify anymore).
At the time, making music was my escape hatch…a creative outlet.
I never truly believed I was going to become a professional rapper, just that there was power in learning how to dream things in my head and create them from nothing.
But fast forward seven years and now I make videos, delivered in a bit of a unique style…almost as if I’m rapping or speaking the words rhythmically.
I also write in metaphors, and frame my thoughts in layers, kind of like a rap verse.
Because of my experience as a rapper, I understand writing and delivering vocals in a unique way.
This is me connecting the dots looking backwards.
It would have been easier for me to have never made music.
I didn’t know how to do it, my friends made fun of me for it, and it was an unlikely road to monetize in any significant way.
But I did it anyways…I put the dot on the map.
— — — — — — — — — — — — —
If you enjoyed this post and want more like it, you should subscribe to me weekly creator journal, Blueprint. Each week, I share metrics, ideas, frameworks, and experiments designed to supercharge your thinking about content & brand building in the modern age.