You Haven't Wasted Your Life; You Just Haven't Yet Seen the Big Picture

Connecting the dots backward and having trust in the future

I started a youtube channel just last month and it has been one of the best decisions I have ever done in my life. I love every aspect of making videos on youtube - the writing, editing, making thumbnails and not but not the least the feeling of uploading a finished video and seeing the feedback.  The more I do it, the happier but I also feel a tinge of regret not having started this earlier. Where would I be now if I had started 10 years ago? I knew for a long time, I was unhappy with my corporate career- why didn’t I quit earlier? I was looking for a framework to help ground me when such anxieties occur and Steve Jobs Stanford commencement address really helped me find peace and grounding.

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

Chapter 1: You can only connect dots looking backwards.

In other words, everything I have been working on has led me to this moment. I’m exactly where I’m meant to be. 

I started a youtube channel because I have a lot of things to say. I have a lot of things to say because I have a lot of life experiences. There is no way to get these experiences without spending the time and energy on them which has been the last 10 years. I would be a totally different person if not for the failures or successes for the past 10 years so there is no point of regret.

And about not quitting corporate life sooner, my job has what has given me experiences, many of which were expensive. And I learnt so much about frameworks around ideation, market research and analytics all of which I’m using in my youtube journey now. Both journeys begin with an innovative idea, a vision to fill a specific niche or address a particular need in the market. Just as tech entrepreneurs dream of disrupting industries, aspiring YouTubers aim to carve out their unique space in the vast digital landscape. The skills are transferable in several places.

The truth is I’m in the right place at the right time. I have experienced what I needed in order to evolve, just that it necessarily didn’t happen the way I wanted. I’m exactly where I’m meant to be.

Chapter 2: You have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future

This conflicts with what I have often been told - I needed to be data driven in my decision making. I need to analyze the pros and cons of every choice and take the option which will ultimately benefit me more. Against that scientific framework, starting a youtube channel makes zero sense. There is very little money to be made and there is so much competition. For me the trust comes from 2 places: my religious faith and my personal experiences. 

Religious faith:

My religious beliefs state that if I keep doing the morally right thing, which is to help others through my work,  I can simply trust that things will just fall in place and that God will take care of the rest. Just thinking about this during times of stress somehow makes me calm and relaxed. This is backed by research which suggests better outcomes are possible by trusting and not being attached to outcomes. Even when we do want the external outcomes, this posture towards life might be even more fruitful than following the "data”. This is also backed by works of philosophy like Synchronicity by Carl Jung which states that connections between events are meaningful and orchestrated on a level beyond simple cause and effect. Similar to my religious faith, the book argues that there is a cosmic order that orchestrates these occurrences in meaningful ways.  I recognize that sometimes it's best to let go and trust that things will go according to the bigger plan. 

Personal experiences: 

I have been lucky enough to do some crazy adventures in my 20s. I sumitted Mount Rainier, ran several marathons, boxed in the ring and did a half iron man. For each of these endeavors, I did not think through what might go wrong. I thought of them as adventures and pursued them without thinking through consequences. Granted, I still had a job when I pursued them and there is no financial consequence for going wrong but these were hard things and I achieved them successfully. So having the faith that if I could do those hard things, I could do anything else gives me the peace of mind that everything will be okay. These experiences also taught me blind faith may not be blind after all - some of the trust in the future does come from our past experiences and how we have been brought up in this world.

Trusting doesn't mean disregarding data or analysis entirely. Rather, it involves acknowledging that some decisions require a leap of faith, trusting that opportunities will emerge along the way. While I remain open to adapting my approach based on outcomes, trust provides the conviction and peace of mind needed to navigate uncertain paths.

Chapter 3: Final thoughts

Steve Job’s commencement address was one of the greatest speeches I've heard and I listen to it at least once every year. In spite of having a framework to manage regret, it still causes me anxiety at times. During those, I just try to remember to be grateful. Connecting the dots needs to be always linked with gratitude for what we have gone through and what we have. Personally, every individual and experience I have crossed paths with has taught me something and created a rippling effect which has helped me in someway. I have to trust that something I saw weeks ago will inspire a new idea for the future. Ultimately connecting the dots backwards is about appreciating how the past has brought us to this point and having trust in the future is about having an open mind towards whatever the possibilities of the future are.