"You canÂ’'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.”

What a very blunt, real, big-picture, if somewhat humanistic, perspective! Way too often we spend time focused on the rearview mirror instead of dreaming about what is ahead. Whether fear, lack of confidence, or resistance to change restrains us, we must train ourselves to both figuratively and literally keep our eyes up and forward. (It helps if you know where your trust lies...)

"Getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.”

There is something truly invigorating about shedding the burdens that we pile on ourselves and just setting our minds on what lies ahead...especially when holding the self-awareness and confidence of a wealth of experience. After 30 years in business, the world moves a little slower. Note that I didn't say that I have slowed down...the excitement of being a beginner again frees me to run and to do without shackles. But the wealth of experience makes all of the moving parts in the business world SO much easier to follow and forecast.