Putting the Puzzle Pieces Together: You can’t achieve Success with Hindsight

Posted by Ben Lumley on Nov 25, 2009 in Peak Performance, Thinking Differently | 0 comments

photo credit: comedy_nose

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Being able to look back and see how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together is only possible looking back as sometimes it’s impossible to figure out how all the things in life fit together when you’re slap bang in the middle of it.

Unlike a puzzle, life doesn’t always have a frame of reference to work from and often we’re not sure what the picture is supposed to look like when we start. It’s like getting a jigsaw puzzle for Christmas but there’s picture on the front of the box to look at.

A Geek’s Perspective

When Steve Jobs, of Apple, dropped out of college after only a few months he decided to take up calligraphy because it looked interesting. At the time, to him, it was just a course he enjoyed taking and was of interest  But when Apple were creating the first Macs, he revisited what he’d learn about typefaces and created a whole new list of fonts that have taken over the modern PC era. Looking back it all made sense, but at the time it didn’t.

At university I studied Education with the idea of becoming a Primary teacher but when that dream didn’t work out, I just put it down to experience and moved on. It wasn’t until 6 years later when I got the chance to work with young people in education but not in the role of a standard teacher, that all of the teaching and classroom management skills could finally be put into practice. It made me better able to approach young people and work alongside them.

Sometimes at the time what you’re doing doesn’t seem to fit in any grand plan. Just be brave and go with your gut and see where it takes you. It’ll make sense looking back, just trust in yourself.

What is your experience?

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Ben Lumley writes about Success and Personal Achievement at 6aliens.com. He is a Personal Achievement Coach and Motivational Speaker.

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