Line and dot

I don’t see the path to success as a “line”—I see it as a series of “dots.” By this I mean both the “path” and “success” itself are nothing more than dots strung together. The number of dots varies for each person. Even for the same success, I might need more dots at one stage of life than at another. Two people may achieve the same outcome, but with completely different numbers of dots.

Take public speaking, for example. Success on a big stage, which might only come once in a while, is built from countless small dots—daily small talk, standups, or conversations with people around me. The same goes for design work. Each finished piece comes from accumulating dots of trial and error, day after day. The more dots we collect, the more freedom and variety we have to draw our own lines.

The beauty of dots is that we can create them anytime we want. I believe we can make something—anything—whenever we choose. Plotting these dots is never wasted effort; it’s an investment that compounds like interest. If today you don’t yet know how to draw your own line, I’d suggest simply starting with a dot. After all, success itself is just another dot on your line. So enjoy the process of dot, dot, dot.