The Delhi Girl Explores

“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. 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.”

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs Amen Buddy Amen! This blog is sprinkled with quotes I love woven with a very important message to develop a wide range of interests. It starts on a late sunny afternoon, the storm clouds reside, the windows rattle with the hurricane sort of wind, and I sitting on my bed with a Bira decided to write about today’s learning.

“You get ideas from daydreaming. You get ideas from being bored. You get ideas all the time. The only difference between writers and other people is we notice when we’re doing it.”

Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman, English author, comic book creator, screenwriter never fails to astonish me. While Hilary Clinton, an American Politician, lawyer, the writer has a very intriguing habit. While attending press conferences, Hilary Clinton notes down ideas while listening to the speaker, stuffing them into her pockets, wherein later on her team sit down and discuss them in detail later turning them into policies.

Both of them together have inspired me, to adopt their philosophies in noticing ideas and quickly writing them down later turning them into a blog post.

Recently I watched a webinar titled, ‘Hungry Young Entrepreneurs’, where the host talks about the importance of developing a wide range of interests.

We live in a world that pushes its youth towards specialization. As the host continues he points out to a book he had recently read titled, ‘Range’ by David Epstein.

He begins by saying Mr Epstien researched artists, musicians, inventors to understand whether the above-mentioned career artists would have excelled in their respective careers if they started late. Epstein ends up giving us startling new insights on the matter and breaks every conventional thought of the 10,000-hour rule.

I too am a huge believer in developing a wide interest. We are obsessed with experts advice and specialization. Working in the social sector for over two years, having graduated from media, and having an inclination to social work, I began my journey working on waste management that further interested me in picking up a job in education. Random for you, however working in the waste sector, I was introduced to teaching in schools.

Both these jobs have taught me that if I want to make a difference in the lives of the rural folk, it begins with the children. Children being young, impressionable & eager to try out new things were perfect in starting our waste segregation campaign, introducing them to the world of waste, the harmful effects of throwing plastic on animals and so on, which would lead them to pester their parents and therefore making the slightest of changes. This idea fascinated me, therefore, leading me to pick up work in schools.

Developing a broad palette of interest and knowledge only aids the journey when connecting the dots.

Post Malone for instance, started his singing career at the tender age of 12 which inevitably got his first gig when he was 18. A self-taught guitarist made its way to the billboards with four straight hits. What I loved about Malone was that while he was crashing on friends couches and playing gigs in local clubs he learned a lot of different music forms, which later helped him in his career. I felt this strengthened the points mentioned by David Epstein in his book & Steve Jobs quote on connecting dots and broadening your interests in your career.

Inspired by the book: Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari